Jask is a simple task runner written in Javascript, and can be used with v8cgi, node.js or flusspferd. Somewhat inspired by Ruby's Rake.
In order to run Jask, you'll need:
-
One of the following JS Engines:
-
The v8cgi GetOpt Module (for command line parsing).
- v8cgi: included in the v8cgi package.
- node.js: download a copy of the module and add it to the same directory as Jask.
- flusspferd: download a copy of the module and add it to the same directory as Jask.
(Note: Flusspferd has a built-in module named getopt--but it's not compatible with the library Jask is using. You'll have to download a copy of the module and drop it on your directory.)
To install Jask:
$ git clone git://github.com/keeto/jask.git jask
$ cd jask
$ node jask # node.js
$ v8cgi jask # v8cgi
$ flusspferd jask # flusspferd
If you want to use Jask without specifying the engine, you can edit the shebang line on the Jask source:
#! /usr/bin/env v8cgi
#! /usr/bin/env node
#! /usr/bin/env flusspferd
Then copy it to somewhere accessible:
$ chmod +x jask
$ cp jask ~/sbin
$ jask
JASK: Javascript Tasks
Usage:
$ jask [-t=taskfile] [namespace:]task args
$ jask -l
Options:
-l, --list List available tasks
-t=file, --taskfile=file Set taskfile.
-q, --quiet Don't show any log messages.
-v, --verbose Show verbose logs.
-h, --help Show this help text.
When run, Jask looks for a taskfile.js file in the current directory. If you want to set the taskfile to read, use -t=filename or --taskfile=filename (omit the '.js' when specifying the taskfile). To run a specific task, you put in the task's namespace, then the taskname then arguments, if any:
$ jask [-t=taskfile] namespace:task arguments
Optionally, if you only have one namespace in your task file, you can omit the namespace and just pass the taskname:
$ jask [-t=taskfile] task arguments
To get a list of all available task, use -l or --list.
$ jask -l
Taskfiles are simple Javascript files (with the .js extension) that contain an exports declaration:
exports.myTasks = {
task1: function(name){
console.log("Hello, " + name + '!\n');
},
task2: function(name, address){
this.tast1(name);
console.log('You live in ' + address + '.\n');
this._hidden();
},
_hidden: function(){
console.log('I\'m from a hidden function!\n');
}
};
The taskfile above will create a new namespace named myTask with two tasks, task1 and task2. The function _hidden, as well as any other function that starts with an underscore, is a private function. It is absolutely necessary to add the export declaration together with the namespace, or Jask will not run.
Each task is a simple javascript function. Because task namespaces are objects, you can use this to refer to the current namespace. You also have access to the global namespace (via Engine.Global). And because taskfiles are plain javascript files, you can include any modules you'll need on your taskfile using the include and require declarations (see the v8cgi or nodejs docs for more details).
To run a task, simply pass the namespace and task name to Jask, together with your arguments, separated by spaces:
$ jask myTasks:task2 Mark Manila
Hello, Mark!
You live in Manila.
To simplify the process of including other taskfiles, you can include an Include property on your taskfile, which is an array of filenames for other taskfiles:
exports.myTasks = {
Include: ['myOtherTasks', 'moretasks/tasks.js'],
task1: function(){
console.log("Yay!");
}
};
Take note that Jask will look for files relative to the current directory where it was ran.
You can specify simple dependencies using your task names:
exports.myTasks = {
getWater: function(){
console.log("Got water!\n");
},
'drink < getWater': function(){
console.log("Drank!\n")
}
};
With this dependency declaration, getWater will be called first before drink. The name of the task should will always be on the left, and the name of the dependency on the right. You can specify whether to run the task dependancy before or after the task.
'drink < getWater' // getWater -> drink.
'drink > getWater' // drink -> getWater.
Be sure you place spaces before < and >, otherwise, your task will not be parsed. You can also specify the namespace of the task:
'drink < wells:getWater'
The arguments passed on your main task are also passed to your dependant task.
You can document your tasks by adding a Desc property on your taskfile:
exports.myTasks = {
Desc: {
getWater: ['Gets some water'],
drink: ['Drinks the water', 'name, unusedArg']
},
getWater: function(){
console.log("Got water!\n");
},
'drink < getWater': function(name, unusedArg){
console.log("Drink " + name + "\n");
},
test: function(name){
console.log("No description!")
}
};
These information will be displayed when the user runs jask -l. Public tasks with no description are also displayed, but they won't have any nice documentation:
Available Tasks:
myTasks:getWater Gets some water
myTask:drink [name] Drinks the water
myTask:test
Jask includes a built-in console object that can be used to log and time your tasks. All loggers output to os.stdout:
console.log(1, 2, 3);
/*
outputs:
1 2 3
*/
console.dir({a: 1}, {b:'string'});
/*
outputs:
{"a": 1}
{"b": "string"}
*/
console.time('id');
console.timeEnd('id');
/*
outputs:
id: 0ms.
*/
In order for Jask to run on both v8cgi and nodejs, Jask detects the engine using simple feature detection. There's a global engine object accessible to all tasks files.
-
engine.name- name of the current engine -
engine.version- version number of the current engine -
engine.global- pointer to the global object for the current engine -
engine.flusspferd- true if the current engine isflusspferd -
engine.nodejs- true if the current engine isnodejs -
engine.v8cgi- true if the current engine isv8cgi
- Keetology - The author's site.
- v8cgi - Official v8cgi repo.
- node.js - Official node.js site.
- flusspferd - Official flusspferd site.
Copyright (c) 2009 Mark Obcena http://keetology.com
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.