Replace in file

A simple utility to quickly replace text in one or more files or globs. Works synchronously or asynchronously with either promises or callbacks. Make a single replacement or multiple replacements at once.

Index

Installation
Basic usage
Advanced usage
CLI usage
Version information
License

Installation

# Using npm, installing to local project
npm i --save replace-in-file

# Using npm, installing globally for global cli usage
npm i -g replace-in-file

# Using yarn
yarn add replace-in-file

Basic usage

//Load the library and specify options
const replace = require('replace-in-file');
const options = {
  files: 'path/to/file',
  from: /foo/g,
  to: 'bar',
};

Asynchronous replacement with `async`/`await`

try {
  const changes = await replace(options)
  console.log('Modified files:', changes.join(', '));
}
catch (error) {
  console.error('Error occurred:', error);
}

Asynchronous replacement with promises

replace(options)
  .then(changes => {
    console.log('Modified files:', changes.join(', '));
  })
  .catch(error => {
    console.error('Error occurred:', error);
  });

Asynchronous replacement with callback

replace(options, (error, changes) => {
  if (error) {
    return console.error('Error occurred:', error);
  }
  console.log('Modified files:', changes.join(', '));
});

Synchronous replacement

try {
  const changes = replace.sync(options);
  console.log('Modified files:', changes.join(', '));
}
catch (error) {
  console.error('Error occurred:', error);
}

Return value

The return value of the library is an array of file names of files that were modified (e.g. had some of the contents replaced). If no replacements were made, the return array will be empty.

const changes = replace.sync({
  files: 'path/to/files/*.html',
  from: 'foo',
  to: 'bar',
});

console.log(changes);

// [
//   'path/to/files/file1.html',
//   'path/to/files/file3.html',
//   'path/to/files/file5.html',
// ]

Advanced usage

Replace a single file or glob

const options = {
  files: 'path/to/file',
};

Replace multiple files or globs

const options = {
  files: [
    'path/to/file',
    'path/to/other/file',
    'path/to/files/*.html',
    'another/**/*.path',
  ],
};

Replace first occurrence only

const options = {
  from: 'foo',
  to: 'bar',
};

Replace all occurrences

Please note that the value specified in the from parameter is passed straight to the native String replace method. As such, if you pass a string as the from parameter, it will only replace the first occurrence.

To replace multiple occurrences at once, you must use a regular expression for the from parameter with the global flag enabled, e.g. /foo/g.

const options = {
  from: /foo/g,
  to: 'bar',
};

Multiple values with the same replacement

These will be replaced sequentially.

const options = {
  from: [/foo/g, /baz/g],
  to: 'bar',
};

Multiple values with different replacements

These will be replaced sequentially.

const options = {
  from: [/foo/g, /baz/g],
  to: ['bar', 'bax'],
};

Custom regular expressions

Use the RegExp constructor to create any regular expression.

const str = 'foo';
const regex = new RegExp('^' + str + 'bar', 'i');
const options = {
  from: regex,
  to: 'bar',
};

Using callbacks for `from`

You can also specify a callback that returns a string or a regular expression. The callback receives the name of the file in which the replacement is being performed, thereby allowing the user to tailor the search string. The following example uses a callback to produce a search string dependent on the filename:

const options = {
  files: 'path/to/file',
  from: (file) => new RegExp(file, 'g'),
  to: 'bar',
};

Using callbacks for `to`

As the to parameter is passed to the native String replace method, you can also specify a callback. The following example uses a callback to convert matching strings to lowercase:

const options = {
  files: 'path/to/file',
  from: /SomePattern[A-Za-z-]+/g,
  to: (match) => match.toLowerCase(),
};

This callback provides for an extra argument above the String replace method, which is the name of the file in which the replacement is being performed. The following example replaces the matched string with the filename:

const options = {
  files: 'path/to/file',
  from: /SomePattern[A-Za-z-]+/g,
  to: (...args) => args.pop(),
};

Ignore a single file or glob

const options = {
  ignore: 'path/to/ignored/file',
};

Ignore multiple files or globs

const options = {
  ignore: [
    'path/to/ignored/file',
    'path/to/other/ignored_file',
    'path/to/ignored_files/*.html',
    'another/**/*.ignore',
  ],
};

Please note that there is an open issue with Glob that causes ignored patterns to be ignored when using a ./ prefix in your files glob. To work around this, simply remove the prefix, e.g. use **/* instead of ./**/*.

Allow empty/invalid paths

If set to true, empty or invalid paths will fail silently and no error will be thrown. For asynchronous replacement only. Defaults to false.

const options = {
  allowEmptyPaths: true,
};

Disable globs

You can disable globs if needed using this flag. Use this when you run into issues with file paths like files like //SERVER/share/file.txt. Defaults to false.

const options = {
  disableGlobs: true,
};

Specify glob configuration

Specify configuration passed to the glob call:

const options = {
  glob: {
    //Glob settings here
  },
};

Please note that the setting nodir will always be passed as false.

Specify character encoding

Use a different character encoding for reading/writing files. Defaults to utf-8.

const options = {
  encoding: 'utf8',
};

Dry run

To do a dry run without actually making replacements, for testing purposes. Defaults to false.

const options = {
  dry: true,
};

CLI usage

replace-in-file from to some/file.js,some/**/glob.js
  [--configFile=replace-config.js]
  [--ignore=ignore/files.js,ignore/**/glob.js]
  [--encoding=utf-8]
  [--disableGlobs]
  [--isRegex]
  [--verbose]
  [--dry]

Multiple files or globs can be replaced by providing a comma separated list.

The flags --disableGlobs, --ignore and --encoding are supported in the CLI.

The setting allowEmptyPaths is not supported in the CLI as the replacement is synchronous, and this setting is only relevant for asynchronous replacement.

To list the changed files, use the --verbose flag. To do a dry run, use --dry.

A regular expression may be used for the from parameter by specifying the --isRegex flag.

The from and to parameters, as well as the files list, can be omitted if you provide this information in a configuration file. You can provide a path to a configuration file (either Javascript or JSON) with the --configFile flag. This path will be resolved using Node’s built in path.resolve(), so you can pass in an absolute or relative path.

Version information

From version 3.0.0 onwards, replace in file requires Node 6 or higher. If you need support for Node 4 or 5, please use version 2.x.x.

License

(MIT License)

Copyright 2015-2018, Adam Reis, co-founder at Hello Club

webstacker/replace-in-file

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