An unopinionated project generator for model-driven development.
Just fill a JSON file with project values, build a file tree representing the project model and add the '.thru.js' suffix to the names of files to be created on the fly. In those files - 'thru files' - write code to apply the project values.
- How..?
- Also...
- Getting started
- The demo project model
- Working with HTML
- Making changes
- Development plan
- Repository tree
Each thru file should export an object with one or more methods. Each method receives the parsed JSON as its first parameter and can return an object with a content property containing file content as a string.
The content for each file in the tree is combined and written to the equivalent file in the generated tree, with the '.thru.js' suffix removed.
Other properties on the object returned from a method are used by the generator, with most being passed back as arguments to later methods.
The forNext property on the returned object can be used to forward data to later methods in the same file.
The isReady property can be set to true to ensure that no further methods in the given file are called, while setting isEmpty to true - or to a string to be included in the progress message - ends the calling and goes further, wiping all content returned from the file thus far. Thru files that produce no content are not represented in the target file tree.
Any other properties on the returned object are placed on the store object, which is made available to later methods and later files. Any method placed on the store object with the substring 'Task' in its key will be run once after the target file tree is built.
The forNext and store objects are the second and third arguments to each method. The former starts out holding the project root path to help with importing resources and managing context.
To run preliminary tasks, just use a thru file with one or more methods that return no content. Again, thru files that produce no content are not represented in the target file tree.
When exporting the methods from a thru file, use either the ES Module export default objectName syntax or CommonJS module.exports = objectName. If the export default format is preferred, try setting type to module in the 'package.json' for the model directory.
You'll need Git & npm installed.
First, enter the directory in which you'd like to store the library and run the Git command to clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/barcek/thru.js.gitNext, enter the newly created 'thru.js' directory and run the npm command to install dependencies:
npm installFinally, run either npm run build or tsc to compile the TypeScript into a 'dist' folder.
Create the file tree for the project model. This need not have any thru files.
For a model with thru files, create a 'thru.conf.json' file with the values for the project instance. Place this in the target directory, i.e. the directory into which the project is to be generated.
When ready, in the target directory run a command with the following pattern:
node path/to/index.js path/to/model-dirAlternatively, in a directory other than the target directory, run a command with the following pattern:
node path/to/index.js path/to/model-dir path/to/target-dirThe tool logs to the console any notes and errors. It will also log progress messages if the --verbose or -v flag is included in the command anywhere after path/to/index.js, e.g.:
node path/to/index.js --verbose path/to/model-dir path/to/target-dirThe following can be passed to src/index.js:
--verbose/-v, to log progess messages--replace/-r, to replace automatically, not request confirmation, when a folder exists and files within may be overwritten
The 'demo' directory contains an initial demo project model. It presents one possible approach to the structure of the 'thru.conf.json' file and thru file resolvers and currently provides for a simple backend using Node.js with the Express.js framework, with expansion to a fuller stack solution using TypeScript to follow.
demo
├── thru
│ ├── src
│ │ └── app.js.thru.js
│ ├── .env.thru.js
│ ├── .gitignore.thru.js
│ └── package.json.thru.js
├── thru.conf.json
└── thru.utils.js
./
├── src
│ └── app.js
├── .env
├── .gitignore
└── package.json
To generate the demo project, in the root directory run npm run build or tsc, as described above, then cd demo to enter the 'demo' directory.
There, with the compiled TypeScript in the 'dist' folder, it should be possible to run the following command to generate the project:
node ../dist/index.jsOnce generated, with the file 'package.json' present, run the npm command to install the project dependencies:
npm installOnce these have been installed, the project server can be started with the following:
node src/app.jsThis sets it listening at http://localhost:3000.
If you need to generate HTML, or interact with existing snippets, you could use awb.
Running the tests after making changes and adding tests to cover new behaviour is recommended, as is a regular audit of dependencies.
The npm packages mocha, chai, sinon and ts-node are used for testing and the test files can be run with the following command:
mochaThis command is the current content of the 'test' script in the 'package.json' file, which can be run with the following:
npm testThe files themselves are in the 'test' folder and the mocha configuration file with settings to accommodate ts-node is in the root directory.
The npm audit command can be used to run a security audit on the dependencies used, with the process returning information on updates where available. The command npm audit fix can be used instead or thereafter to install compatible updates. See the npm documentation for more detail.
The following are the expected next steps in the development of the code base. The general medium-term aim is an extensible CLI project generator with a comprehensive, modular demo project model. Pull requests are welcome for these and other potential improvements.
- add comments to the remaining source files
- expand the demo project model to include:
- corresponding static files
- optional use of TypeScript
- containerization
- further generalize the implementation of CLI options
- provide a help option
- add fuller testing
./
├── demo
│ ├── thru
│ │ ├── src
│ │ │ └── app.js.thru.js
│ │ ├── .env.thru.js
│ │ ├── .gitignore.thru.js
│ │ └── package.json.thru.js
│ ├── thru.conf.json
│ └── thru.utils.js
├── src
│ ├── confs
│ │ └── index.ts
│ ├── tasks
│ │ ├── generate.ts
│ │ └── index.ts
│ ├── types
│ │ └── index.ts
│ ├── utils
│ │ ├── file.ts
│ │ ├── index.ts
│ │ ├── path.ts
│ │ ├── text.ts
│ │ ├── tree.ts
│ │ └── user.ts
│ └── index.ts
├── test
│ ├── generate.test.js
│ └── test.thru.js
│ └── utils.test.js
├── .gitignore
├── .mocharc.json
├── LICENSE.txt
├── README.md
├── package-lock.json
├── package.json
└── tsconfig.json