grunt-replace

Replace text patterns with applause.

Install

From NPM:

npm install grunt-replace --save-dev

Replace Task

Assuming installation via NPM, you can use grunt-replace in your gruntfile like this:

module.exports = function (grunt) {
  grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-replace');
  grunt.initConfig({
    replace: {
      dist: {
        options: {
          patterns: [
            {
              match: 'foo',
              replacement: 'bar'
            }
          ]
        },
        files: [
          {expand: true, flatten: true, src: ['src/index.html'], dest: 'build/'}
        ]
      }
    }
  });
  grunt.registerTask('default', 'replace');
};

Options

patterns

Type: Array

Define patterns that will be used to replace the contents of source files.

patterns.match

Type: String|RegExp

Indicates the matching expression.

If matching type is String we use a simple variable lookup mechanism @@string (in any other case we use the default regexp replace logic):

{
  patterns: [
    {
      match: 'foo',
      replacement: 'bar'  // replaces "@@foo" to "bar"
    }
  ]
}

patterns.replacement

Type: String|Function|Object

Indicates the replacement for match, for more information about replacement check out the String.replace.

You can specify a function as replacement. In this case, the function will be invoked after the match has been performed. The function's result (return value) will be used as the replacement string.

{
  patterns: [
    {
      match: /foo/g,
      replacement: function () {
        return 'bar'; // replaces "foo" to "bar"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Also supports object as replacement (we create string representation of object using JSON.stringify):

{
  patterns: [
    {
      match: /foo/g,
      replacement: [1, 2, 3] // replaces "foo" with string representation of "array" object
    }
  ]
}

patterns.json

Type: Object

If an attribute json found in pattern definition we flatten the object using delimiter concatenation and each key–value pair will be used for the replacement (simple variable lookup mechanism and no regexp support).

{
  patterns: [
    {
      json: {
        "key": "value" // replaces "@@key" to "value"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Also supports nested objects:

{
  patterns: [
    {
      json: {
        "key": "value",   // replaces "@@key" to "value"
        "inner": {        // replaces "@@inner" with string representation of "inner" object
          "key": "value"  // replaces "@@inner.key" to "value"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

patterns.yaml

Type: String

If an attribute yaml found in pattern definition will be converted and then processed like json attribute.

{
  patterns: [
    {
      yaml: 'key: value'  // replaces "@@key" to "value"
    }
  ]
}

patterns.cson

Type: String

If an attribute cson found in pattern definition will be converted and then processed like json attribute.

{
  patterns: [
    {
      cson: 'key: \'value\''
    }
  ]
}

variables

Type: Object

This is the old way to define patterns using plain object (simple variable lookup mechanism and no regexp support), you can still using but for more control you should use the new patterns way.

{
  variables: {
    'key': 'value' // replaces "@@key" to "value"
  }
}

prefix

Type: String Default: @@

The prefix added for matching (prevent bad replacements / easy way).

This only applies for simple variable lookup mechanism.

usePrefix

Type: Boolean Default: true

If set to false, we match the pattern without prefix concatenation (useful when you want to lookup an simple string).

This only applies for simple variable lookup mechanism.

preservePrefix

Type: Boolean Default: false

If set to true, we preserve the prefix in target.

This only applies for simple variable lookup mechanism and patterns.replacement is an string.

delimiter

Type: String Default: .

The delimiter used to flatten when using object as replacement.

preserveOrder

Type: Boolean Default: false

If set to true, we preserve the patterns definition order, otherwise these will be sorted (in ascending order) to prevent replacement issues like head / header (typo regexps will be resolved at last).

excludeBuiltins

Type: Boolean Default: false

If set to true, we exclude built-in matching rules.

force

Type: Boolean Default: false

Force the copy of files even when those files don't have any match found for replacement.

noProcess

Type: String

This option is an advanced way to control which file contents are processed.

processContentExclude has been renamed to noProcess and the option name will be removed in the future.

encoding

Type: String Default: grunt.file.defaultEncoding

The file encoding to copy files with.

mode

Type: Boolean or Number Default: false

Whether to copy or set the existing file permissions. Set to true to copy the existing file permissions. Or set to the mode, i.e.: 0644, that copied files will be set to.

Built-in Replacements

Few matching rules are provided by default and can be used anytime (these will be affected by the options given):

• __SOURCE_FILE__:

  Replace match with the source file.

• __SOURCE_PATH__:

  Replace match with the path of source file.

• __SOURCE_FILENAME__:

  Replace match with the filename of source file.

• __TARGET_FILE__:

  Replace match with the target file.

• __TARGET_PATH__:

  Replace match with the path of target file.

• __TARGET_FILENAME__:

  Replace match with the filename of target file.

If you are looking how to use an built-in replacements, check out the How to insert filename in target usage.

Usage Examples

Basic

File src/manifest.appcache:

CACHE MANIFEST
# @@timestamp

CACHE:

favicon.ico
index.html

NETWORK:
*

Gruntfile, define pattern (for timestamp) and the source files for lookup:

replace: {
  dist: {
    options: {
      patterns: [
        {
          match: 'timestamp',
          replacement: '<%= grunt.template.today() %>'
        }
      ]
    },
    files: [
      {expand: true, flatten: true, src: ['src/manifest.appcache'], dest: 'build/'}
    ]
  }
}

Multiple matching

File src/manifest.appcache:

CACHE MANIFEST
# @@timestamp

CACHE:

favicon.ico
index.html

NETWORK:
*

File src/humans.txt:

              __     _
   _    _/__  /./|,//_`
  /_//_// /_|///  //_, outaTiME v.@@version

/* TEAM */
  Web Developer / Graphic Designer: Ariel Oscar Falduto
  Site: http://www.outa.im
  Twitter: @outa7iME
  Contact: afalduto at gmail dot com
  From: Buenos Aires, Argentina

/* SITE */
  Last update: @@timestamp
  Standards: HTML5, CSS3, robotstxt.org, humanstxt.org
  Components: H5BP, Modernizr, jQuery, Twitter Bootstrap, LESS, Jade, Grunt
  Software: Sublime Text 2, Photoshop, LiveReload

Gruntfile:

replace: {
  dist: {
    options: {
      patterns: [
        {
          match: 'version',
          replacement: '<%= pkg.version %>'
        },
        {
          match: 'timestamp',
          replacement: '<%= grunt.template.today() %>'
        }
      ]
    },
    files: [
      {expand: true, flatten: true, src: ['src/manifest.appcache', 'src/humans.txt'], dest: 'build/'}
    ]
  }
}

Cache busting

File src/assets/index.html:

<head>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/style.css?rel=@@timestamp">
  <script src="/js/app.js?rel=@@timestamp"></script>
</head>

Gruntfile:

replace: {
  dist: {
    options: {
      patterns: [
        {
          match: 'timestamp',
          replacement: '<%= new Date().getTime() %>'
        }
      ]
    },
    files: [
      {src: ['src/assets/index.html'], dest: 'build/index.html'}
    ]
  }
}

Include file

File src/index.html:

<body>
  @@include
</body>

Gruntfile:

replace: {
  dist: {
    options: {
      patterns: [
        {
          match: 'include',
          replacement: '<%= grunt.file.read("includes/content.html") %>'
        }
      ]
    },
    files: [
      {expand: true, flatten: true, src: ['src/index.html'], dest: 'build/'}
    ]
  }
}

Regular expression

File src/username.txt:

John Smith

Gruntfile:

replace: {
  dist: {
    options: {
      patterns: [
        {
          match: /(\w+)\s(\w+)/,
          replacement: '$2, $1' // replaces "John Smith" to "Smith, John"
        }
      ]
    },
    files: [
      {expand: true, flatten: true, src: ['src/username.txt'], dest: 'build/'}
    ]
  }
}

Lookup for foo instead of @@foo

Gruntfile:

// option 1 (explicitly using an regexp)
replace: {
  dist: {
    options: {
      patterns: [
        {
          match: /foo/g,
          replacement: 'bar'
        }
      ]
    },
    files: [
      {expand: true, flatten: true, src: ['src/foo.txt'], dest: 'build/'}
    ]
  }
}

// option 2 (easy way)
replace: {
  dist: {
    options: {
      patterns: [
        {
          match: 'foo',
          replacement: 'bar'
        }
      ],
      usePrefix: false
    },
    files: [
      {expand: true, flatten: true, src: ['src/foo.txt'], dest: 'build/'}
    ]
  }
}

// option 3 (old way)
replace: {
  dist: {
    options: {
      patterns: [
        {
          match: 'foo',
          replacement: 'bar'
        }
      ],
      prefix: '' // remove prefix
    },
    files: [
      {expand: true, flatten: true, src: ['src/foo.txt'], dest: 'build/'}
    ]
  }
}

How to insert filename in target

File src/app.js:

// filename: @@__SOURCE_FILENAME__

var App = App || (function () {

  return {

    // app contents

  };

}());

window.App = App;

Gruntfile:

replace: {
  dist: {
    options: {
      // pass, we use built-in replacements
    },
    files: [
      {expand: true, flatten: true, src: ['src/**/*.js'], dest: 'build/'}
    ]
  }
}

Release History

• 2014-03-23   v0.7.6   Readme updated.
• 2014-03-22   v0.7.5   Modular core renamed to applause. Performance improvements. Expression flag removed. New pattern matching for CSON object. More test cases, readme updated and code cleanup.
• 2014-03-21   v0.7.4   Test cases in Mocha, readme updated and code cleanup.
• 2014-03-17   v0.7.3   Update script files for readme file generation.
• 2014-03-12   v0.7.2   Typo error, replace task name again.
• 2014-03-11   v0.7.1   Task name update.
• 2014-03-11   v0.7.0   New pattern-replace modular core for replacements.
• 2014-02-13   v0.6.2   Attach process data for function replacements (source / target). Add delimiter option for object as replacement. Dependencies updated.
• 2014-02-06   v0.6.1   Rename excludePrefix to preservePrefix (more readable) and adds usePrefix flag. Support the noProcess option like grunt-contrib-copy.
• 2014-02-05   v0.6.0   Object replacement allowed. New excludePrefix flag (thanks @shinnn). Encoding / Mode options added.
• 2013-09-18   v0.5.1   New pattern matching for JSON object.
• 2013-09-17   v0.5.0   Regular expression matching now supported and notation has been updated but is backward compatible.
• 2013-05-03   v0.4.4   Fix escape $ before performing regexp replace (thanks @warpech).
• 2013-04-14   v0.4.3   Detect path destinations correctly on Windows.
• 2013-04-02   v0.4.2   Add peerDependencies and update description.
• 2013-04-02   v0.4.1   Add trace when force flag.
• 2013-02-28   v0.4.0   First official release for Grunt 0.4.0.
• 2012-11-20   v0.3.2   New examples added.
• 2012-09-25   v0.3.1   Rename grunt-contrib-lib dep to grunt-lib-contrib, add force flag.
• 2012-09-25   v0.3.0   General cleanup and consolidation. Global options depreciated.

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Task submitted by Ariel Falduto