RICADO Version File Generator

Generates a version.json file containing data extracted from the package.json file.

This file is usually generated during the build stage of an App release to a public assets folder such as /public or /static.

A Web App can later request this file (with a polling interval) to detect when a new version of the App has become available.

Inspired by morficus/version-file.

Sample outfile file content

{
  "version" : {
    "name":      "My React App",
    "buildDate": "Mon Nov 23 2019 14:26:25 GMT+0100 (CET)",
    "version":   "1.37.0"
  }
}

Config options:

Property	Type	Description
outputFile	string	The path and filename of where to store the output
template	string	The path to your template file (.ejs) or a EJS template string
packageFile	string	The path to your package.json

Templating

This modules uses EJS as its templating system. As indicated in the config options section, you can utilize your own template by either (a) passing in a path to an external file or (b) typing the template in-line.

Sample Usage:

import * as path from 'path';
import { VersionFileGenerator } from '@ricado/version-file';

function generateVersionFile() {
  const generator = new VersionFileGenerator({
    packageFile: path.join(__dirname, 'package.json'),
    template: path.join(__dirname, '../lib/version.ejs'),
    outputFile: path.join(__dirname, 'build/version.json'),
  });
  generator.generate();
}

generateVersionFile();

CLI

A CLI tool is also available to conveniently generate a version file.

CLI Options

If options are not provided, defaults listed as below will apply:

  --packageFile,  -p  Path to package.json file // defaults to <rootDir>/package.json
  --template,     -t  Path to template file     // defaults to a version.ejs template
  --outputFile,   -o  Path to output file       // defaults to a ./build/version.json

As an NPM script

An example of overwriting the default outputFile path.

{
  "scripts": {
    "version-file": "generate-version --outputFile ./build/version.json"
  }
}

Webpack

If you prefer to use Webpack, you can take advantage of the GenerateVersionPlugin Webpack Plugin and pass the configuration options as shown below:

{
  plugins: [
    production
      ? new GenerateVersionFilePlugin({ ...options })
      : undefined,
  ]
}