Bob

Convention-based build tool for Node.js projects.

This is handy for building (linting, testing the code, checking test code coverage, generating documentation, packaging artifact, etc) a Node.js project, with a minimal-or-zero configuration, by following a set of common convention.

There are two Bob modes, human and robot. By default Bob runs in human mode, generating output in human-readable format (e.g. test result in a plain text list). When robot mode is used, Bob will generate output in machine-parsable format (e.g. test result in XML), which is handy when you're using a continuous integration server that consumes XML files for rendering reports and charts.

Bob works where ever you can run make.

Installation

npm install -g bob

Project Convention

A project must contain:

• package.json file, with at least name and version info
• lib/ directory, containing *.js source files
• test/ directory, containing *.js test files

Usage

Run Bob from project directory: (same level as package.json file)

bob clean lint test coverage ...

Run Bob in robot mode: (if unspecified, BOB_MODE defaults to human)

BOB_MODE=robot bob clean lint test coverage

Run Bob with verbose output: (display make arguments and shell commands)

BOB_MODE=robot bob --verbose clean lint test coverage

Run Bob with specific environment: (if unspecified, NODE_ENV defaults to development)

NODE_ENV=production bob start

Targets

Target	Description	Types	Parameters
dep	Install dependencies specified in package.json file by executing npm install . .	-	-
rmdep	Remove dependencies in node_modules directory.	-	-
updep	Upgrade all dependencies to latest version. Only use this if you want exact dependencies.	-	-
tools	Global install the tools used by Bob (e.g. jshint, nodelint, mocha, vows, etc).	-	-
rmtools	Remove global installation of those tools.	-	-
clean	Delete .bob directory and *.log files.	-	-
lint	Lint *.js files in lib/ and test/ directories.	jshint (default), nodelint, esvalidate	bin, opts, files
complexity	Run code complexity checker against *.js files in lib/ directory.	plato (default), jscheckstyle	bin, opts, files
test	Execute unit test files in test/ directory. If {scripts.test} is configured in package.json, then npm test will be executed instead.	mocha (default), buster, nodeunit, vows	bin, opts, files
coverage	Check code coverage.	mocha (default), buster-istanbul, vows	bin, opts, files
test-integrationexperimental	Execute integration test files in test-integration/ directory.	mocha (default), buster	bin, opts, files
test-acceptanceexperimental	Execute acceptance test files in test-acceptance/ directory.	mocha (default), cucumber	bin, opts, files
doc	Generate code documentation.	dox-foundation (default)	bin, opts, files
depgraph	Generate module dependencies graph.	madge (default)	bin, opts, files
package	Create a package file in .bob/artifact/ directory, along with md5 and sha1 checksums of the artifact file.	tar.gz (default), zip	src, bin, opts
publish	Publish artifact file to an artifact repository.	npm (default), ivy	ivy: user, key, host, port, dir
send	Send the artifact file to a remote server.	scp (default), ftp	user, key, host, port, dir
stop	Stop the app by executing node {name}.js stop . If scripts.stop is configured in package.json, then npm stop will be executed instead.	-	-
start	Start the app by executing node {name}.js start . If scripts.start is configured in package.json, then npm start will be executed instead.	-	-
restart	Restart the app by executing node {name}.js restart . If scripts.restart is configured in package.json, then npm restart will be executed instead.	-	-
status	Display app status by executing node {name}.js status .	-	-
versionup	Upgrade patch version number in package.json file.	-	-
versionup-minor	Upgrade minor version number in package.json file.	-	-
versionup-major	Upgrade major version number in package.json file.	-	-
nuke	Kill all processes with command containing the word 'node' .	-	-

Config

To override the default setting, create .bob.json file in project directory (same level as package.json file). Target type and parameters can be overridden, here are some examples:

To use nodelint instead of the default jshint when running bob lint:

{
  "lint": {
    "type": "nodelint"
  }
}

To use nodelint instead of the default jshint, and to lint the files in src directory instead of the default lib and test directories, when running bob lint:

{
  "lint": {
    "type": "nodelint",
    "files": "src"
  }
}

To add an alias target (called build) which executes clean lint test coverage targets:

{
  "build": "clean lint test coverage"
}

Continuous Integration

###Travis CI

Configure Bob in .travis.yml file:

before_install: "npm install -g bob"
script: "bob clean lint test coverage"

###Jenkins CI

Configure Bob in a Jenkins job with shell script build step:

npm install -g bob
bob clean lint test coverage