### Jake -- JavaScript build tool for Node.js
### Installing with [NPM](http://npmjs.org/)
Install globally with:
npm install -g jake
Or you may also install it as a development dependency in a package.json file:
// package.json
"devDependencies": {
"jake": "latest"
}
Then install it with `npm install`
Note Jake is intended to be mostly a command-line tool, but lately there have been
changes to it so it can be either embedded, or run from inside your project.
### Installing from source
Prerequisites: Jake requires [Node.js](), and the
[utilities](https://npmjs.org/package/utilities) and
[minimatch](https://npmjs.org/package/minimatch) modules.
Get Jake:
git clone git://github.com/mde/jake.git
Build Jake:
cd jake && make && sudo make install
Even if you're installing Jake from source, you'll still need NPM for installing
the few modules Jake depends on. `make install` will do this automatically for
you.
By default Jake is installed in "/usr/local." To install it into a different
directory (e.g., one that doesn't require super-user privilege), pass the PREFIX
variable to the `make install` command. For example, to install it into a
"jake" directory in your home directory, you could use this:
make && make install PREFIX=~/jake
If do you install Jake somewhere special, you'll need to add the "bin" directory
in the install target to your PATH to get access to the `jake` executable.
### Windows, installing from source
For Windows users installing from source, there are some additional steps.
*Assumed: current directory is the same directory where node.exe is present.*
Get Jake:
git clone git://github.com/mde/jake.git node_modules/jake
Copy jake.bat and jake to the same directory as node.exe
copy node_modules/jake/jake.bat jake.bat
copy node_modules/jake/jake jake
Add the directory of node.exe to the environment PATH variable.
### Basic usage
jake [options ...] [env variables ...] target
### Description
Jake is a simple JavaScript build program with capabilities similar to the
regular make or rake command.
Jake has the following features:
* Jakefiles are in standard JavaScript syntax
* Tasks with prerequisites
* Namespaces for tasks
* Async task execution
### Options
-V/v
--version Display the Jake version.
-h
--help Display help message.
-f *FILE*
--jakefile *FILE* Use FILE as the Jakefile.
-C *DIRECTORY*
--directory *DIRECTORY* Change to DIRECTORY before running tasks.
-q
--quiet Do not log messages to standard output.
-J *JAKELIBDIR*
--jakelibdir *JAKELIBDIR* Auto-import any .jake files in JAKELIBDIR.
(default is 'jakelib')
-B
--always-make Unconditionally make all targets.
-t
--trace Enable full backtrace.
-T/ls
--tasks Display the tasks (matching optional PATTERN)
with descriptions, then exit.
### Jakefile syntax
A Jakefile is just executable JavaScript. You can include whatever JavaScript
you want in it.
## API Docs
API docs [can be found here](http://mde.github.com/jake/doc/).
## Tasks
Use `task` to define tasks. It has one required argument, the task-name, and
three optional arguments:
```javascript
task(name, [prerequisites], [action], [opts]);
```
The `name` argument is a String with the name of the task, and `prerequisites`
is an optional Array arg of the list of prerequisite tasks to perform first.
The `action` is a Function defininng the action to take for the task. (Note that
Object-literal syntax for name/prerequisites in a single argument a la Rake is
also supported, but JavaScript's lack of support for dynamic keys in Object
literals makes it not very useful.) The action is invoked with the Task object
itself as the execution context (i.e, "this" inside the action references the
Task object).
The `opts` argument is the normal JavaScript-style 'options' object. When a
task's operations are asynchronous, the `async` property should be set to
`true`, and the task must call `complete()` to signal to Jake that the task is
done, and execution can proceed. By default the `async` property is `false`.
Tasks created with `task` are always executed when asked for (or are a
prerequisite). Tasks created with `file` are only executed if no file with the
given name exists or if any of its file-prerequisites are more recent than the
file named by the task. Also, if any prerequisite is a regular task, the file
task will always be executed.
Use `desc` to add a string description of the task.
Here's an example:
```javascript
desc('This is the default task.');
task('default', function (params) {
console.log('This is the default task.');
});
desc('This task has prerequisites.');
task('hasPrereqs', ['foo', 'bar', 'baz'], function (params) {
console.log('Ran some prereqs first.');
});
```
And here's an example of an asynchronous task:
```javascript
desc('This is an asynchronous task.');
task('asyncTask', {async: true}, function () {
setTimeout(complete, 1000);
});
```
A Task is also an EventEmitter which emits the 'complete' event when it is
finished. This allows asynchronous tasks to be run from within other asked via
either `invoke` or `execute`, and ensure they will complete before the rest of
the containing task executes. See the section "Running tasks from within other
tasks," below.
### File-tasks
Create a file-task by calling `file`.
File-tasks create a file from one or more other files. With a file-task, Jake
checks both that the file exists, and also that it is not older than the files
specified by any prerequisite tasks. File-tasks are particularly useful for
compiling something from a tree of source files.
```javascript
desc('This builds a minified JS file for production.');
file('foo-minified.js', ['bar', 'foo-bar.js', 'foo-baz.js'], function () {
// Code to concat and minify goes here
});
```
### Directory-tasks
Create a directory-task by calling `directory`.
Directory-tasks create a directory for use with for file-tasks. Jake checks for
the existence of the directory, and only creates it if needed.
```javascript
desc('This creates the bar directory for use with the foo-minified.js file-task.');
directory('bar');
```
This task will create the directory when used as a prerequisite for a file-task,
or when run from the command-line.
### Namespaces
Use `namespace` to create a namespace of tasks to perform. Call it with two arguments:
```javascript
namespace(name, namespaceTasks);
```
Where is `name` is the name of the namespace, and `namespaceTasks` is a function
with calls inside it to `task` or `desc` definining all the tasks for that
namespace.
Here's an example:
```javascript
desc('This is the default task.');
task('default', function () {
console.log('This is the default task.');
});
namespace('foo', function () {
desc('This the foo:bar task');
task('bar', function () {
console.log('doing foo:bar task');
});
desc('This the foo:baz task');
task('baz', ['default', 'foo:bar'], function () {
console.log('doing foo:baz task');
});
});
```
In this example, the foo:baz task depends on the the default and foo:bar tasks.
### Passing parameters to jake
Parameters can be passed to Jake two ways: plain arguments, and environment
variables.
To pass positional arguments to the Jake tasks, enclose them in square braces,
separated by commas, after the name of the task on the command-line. For
example, with the following Jakefile:
```javascript
desc('This is an awesome task.');
task('awesome', function (a, b, c) {
console.log(a, b, c);
});
```
You could run `jake` like this:
jake awesome[foo,bar,baz]
And you'd get the following output:
foo bar baz
Note that you *cannot* uses spaces between the commas separating the parameters.
Any parameters passed after the Jake task that contain an equals sign (=) will
be added to process.env.
With the following Jakefile:
```javascript
desc('This is an awesome task.');
task('awesome', function (a, b, c) {
console.log(a, b, c);
console.log(process.env.qux, process.env.frang);
});
```
You could run `jake` like this:
jake awesome[foo,bar,baz] qux=zoobie frang=asdf
And you'd get the following output:
foo bar baz
zoobie asdf
Running `jake` with no arguments runs the default task.
__Note for zsh users__ : you will need to escape the brackets or wrap in single
quotes like this to pass parameters :
jake 'awesome[foo,bar,baz]'
An other solution is to desactivate permannently file-globbing for the `jake`
command. You can do this by adding this line to your `.zshrc` file :
alias jake="noglob jake"
### Cleanup after all tasks run, jake 'complete' event
The base 'jake' object is an EventEmitter, and fires a 'complete' event after
running all tasks.
This is sometimes useful when a task starts a process which keeps the Node
event-loop running (e.g., a database connection). If you know you want to stop
the running Node process after all tasks have finished, you can set a listener
for the 'complete' event, like so:
```javascript
jake.addListener('complete', function () {
process.exit();
});
```
### Running tasks from within other tasks
Jake supports the ability to run a task from within another task via the
`invoke` and `execute` methods.
The `invoke` method will run the desired task, along with its prerequisites:
```javascript
desc('Calls the foo:bar task and its prerequisites.');
task('invokeFooBar', function () {
// Calls foo:bar and its prereqs
jake.Task['foo:bar'].invoke();
});
```
The `invoke` method will only run the task once, even if you call it repeatedly.
```javascript
desc('Calls the foo:bar task and its prerequisites.');
task('invokeFooBar', function () {
// Calls foo:bar and its prereqs
jake.Task['foo:bar'].invoke();
// Does nothing
jake.Task['foo:bar'].invoke();
});
```
The `execute` method will run the desired task without its prerequisites:
```javascript
desc('Calls the foo:bar task without its prerequisites.');
task('executeFooBar', function () {
// Calls foo:bar without its prereqs
jake.Task['foo:baz'].execute();
});
```
Calling `execute` repeatedly will run the desired task repeatedly.
```javascript
desc('Calls the foo:bar task without its prerequisites.');
task('executeFooBar', function () {
// Calls foo:bar without its prereqs
jake.Task['foo:baz'].execute();
// Can keep running this over and over
jake.Task['foo:baz'].execute();
jake.Task['foo:baz'].execute();
});
```
If you want to run the task and its prerequisites more than once, you can use
`invoke` with the `reenable` method.
```javascript
desc('Calls the foo:bar task and its prerequisites.');
task('invokeFooBar', function () {
// Calls foo:bar and its prereqs
jake.Task['foo:bar'].invoke();
// Does nothing
jake.Task['foo:bar'].invoke();
// Only re-runs foo:bar, but not its prerequisites
jake.Task['foo:bar'].reenable();
jake.Task['foo:bar'].invoke();
});
```
The `reenable` method takes a single Boolean arg, a 'deep' flag, which reenables
the task's prerequisites if set to true.
```javascript
desc('Calls the foo:bar task and its prerequisites.');
task('invokeFooBar', function () {
// Calls foo:bar and its prereqs
jake.Task['foo:bar'].invoke();
// Does nothing
jake.Task['foo:bar'].invoke();
// Re-runs foo:bar and all of its prerequisites
jake.Task['foo:bar'].reenable(true);
jake.Task['foo:bar'].invoke();
});
```
It's easy to pass params on to a sub-task run via `invoke` or `execute`:
```javascript
desc('Passes params on to other tasks.');
task('passParams', function () {
var t = jake.Task['foo:bar'];
// Calls foo:bar, passing along current args
t.invoke.apply(t, arguments);
});
```
### Managing asynchrony without prereqs (e.g., when using `invoke`)
You can mix sync and async without problems when using normal prereqs, because
the Jake execution loop takes care of the difference for you. But when you call
`invoke` or `execute`, you have to manage the asynchrony yourself.
Here's a correct working example:
```javascript
task('async1', ['async2'], {async: true}, function () {
console.log('-- async1 start ----------------');
setTimeout(function () {
console.log('-- async1 done ----------------');
complete();
}, 1000);
});
task('async2', {async: true}, function () {
console.log('-- async2 start ----------------');
setTimeout(function () {
console.log('-- async2 done ----------------');
complete();
}, 500);
});
task('init', ['async1', 'async2'], {async: true}, function () {
console.log('-- init start ----------------');
setTimeout(function () {
console.log('-- init done ----------------');
complete();
}, 100);
});
task('default', {async: true}, function () {
console.log('-- default start ----------------');
var init = jake.Task.init;
init.addListener('complete', function () {
console.log('-- default done ----------------');
complete();
});
init.invoke();
});
```
You have to declare the "default" task as asynchronous as well, and call
`complete` on it when "init" finishes. Here's the output:
-- default start ----------------
-- async2 start ----------------
-- async2 done ----------------
-- async1 start ----------------
-- async1 done ----------------
-- init start ----------------
-- init done ----------------
-- default done ----------------
You get what you expect -- "default" starts, the rest runs, and finally
"default" finishes.
### Evented tasks
Tasks are EventEmitters. They can fire 'complete' and 'error' events.
If a task called via `invoke` is asynchronous, you can set a listener on the
'complete' event to run any code that depends on it.
```javascript
desc('Calls the async foo:baz task and its prerequisites.');
task('invokeFooBaz', {async: true}, function () {
var t = jake.Task['foo:baz'];
t.addListener('complete', function () {
console.log('Finished executing foo:baz');
// Maybe run some other code
// ...
// Complete the containing task
complete();
});
// Kick off foo:baz
t.invoke();
});
```
If you want to handle the errors in a task in some specific way, you can set a
listener for the 'error' event, like so:
```javascript
namespace('vronk', function () {
task('groo', function () {
var t = jake.Task['vronk:zong'];
t.addListener('error', function (e) {
console.log(e.message);
});
t.invoke();
});
task('zong', function () {
throw new Error('OMFGZONG');
});
});
```
If no specific listener is set for the "error" event, errors are handled by
Jake's generic error-handling.
### Aborting a task
You can abort a task by calling the `fail` function, and Jake will abort the
currently running task. You can pass a customized error message to `fail`:
```javascript
desc('This task fails.');
task('failTask', function () {
fail('Yikes. Something back happened.');
});
```
You can also pass an optional exit status-code to the fail command, like so:
```javascript
desc('This task fails with an exit-status of 42.');
task('failTaskQuestionCustomStatus', function () {
fail('What is the answer?', 42);
});
```
The process will exit with a status of 42.
Uncaught errors will also abort the currently running task.
### Showing the list of tasks
Passing `jake` the -T or --tasks flag will display the full list of tasks
available in a Jakefile, along with their descriptions:
$ jake -T
jake default # This is the default task.
jake asdf # This is the asdf task.
jake concat.txt # File task, concating two files together
jake failure # Failing task.
jake lookup # Jake task lookup by name.
jake foo:bar # This the foo:bar task
jake foo:fonebone # This the foo:fonebone task
Setting a value for -T/--tasks will filter the list by that value:
$ jake -T foo
jake foo:bar # This the foo:bar task
jake foo:fonebone # This the foo:fonebone task
The list displayed will be all tasks whose namespace/name contain the filter-string.
## Breaking things up into multiple files
Jake will automatically look for files with a .jake extension in a 'jakelib'
directory in your project, and load them (via `require`) after loading your
Jakefile. (The directory name can be overridden using the -J/--jakelibdir
command-line option.)
This allows you to break your tasks up over multiple files -- a good way to do
it is one namespace per file: e.g., a `zardoz` namespace full of tasks in
'jakelib/zardox.jake'.
Note that these .jake files each run in their own module-context, so they don't
have access to each others' data. However, the Jake API methods, and the
task-hierarchy are globally available, so you can use tasks in any file as
prerequisites for tasks in any other, just as if everything were in a single
file.
Environment-variables set on the command-line are likewise also naturally
available to code in all files via process.env.
## File-utils
Since shelling out in Node is an asynchronous operation, Jake comes with a few
useful file-utilities with a synchronous API, that make scripting easier.
The `jake.mkdirP` utility recursively creates a set of nested directories. It
will not throw an error if any of the directories already exists. Here's an example:
```javascript
jake.mkdirP('app/views/layouts');
```
The `jake.cpR` utility does a recursive copy of a file or directory. It takes
two arguments, the file/directory to copy, and the destination. Note that this
command can only copy files and directories; it does not perform globbing (so
arguments like '*.txt' are not possible).
```javascript
jake.cpR(path.join(sourceDir, '/templates'), currentDir);
```
This would copy 'templates' (and all its contents) into `currentDir`.
The `jake.readdirR` utility gives you a recursive directory listing, giving you
output somewhat similar to the Unix `find` command. It only works with a
directory name, and does not perform filtering or globbing.
```javascript
jake.readdirR('pkg');
```
This would return an array of filepaths for all files in the 'pkg' directory,
and all its subdirectories.
The `jake.rmRf` utility recursively removes a directory and all its contents.
```javascript
jake.rmRf('pkg');
```
This would remove the 'pkg' directory, and all its contents.
## Running shell-commands: `jake.exec` and `jake.createExec`
Jake also provides a more general utility function for running a sequence of
shell-commands.
### `jake.exec`
The `jake.exec` command takes an array of shell-command strings, and an optional
callback to run after completing them. Here's an example from Jake's Jakefile,
that runs the tests:
```javascript
desc('Runs the Jake tests.');
task('test', {async: true}, function () {
var cmds = [
'node ./tests/parseargs.js'
, 'node ./tests/task_base.js'
, 'node ./tests/file_task.js'
];
jake.exec(cmds, {printStdout: true}, function () {
console.log('All tests passed.');
complete();
});
desc('Runs some apps in interactive mode.');
task('interactiveTask', {async: true}, function () {
var cmds = [
'node' // Node conosle
, 'vim' // Open Vim
];
jake.exec(cmds, {interactive: true}, function () {
complete();
});
});
```
It also takes an optional options-object, with the following options:
* `interactive` (tasks are interactive, trumps printStdout and
printStderr below, default false)
* `printStdout` (print to stdout, default false)
* `printStderr` (print to stderr, default false)
* `breakOnError` (stop execution on error, default true)
This command doesn't pipe input between commands -- it's for simple execution.
### `jake.createExec` and the evented Exec object
Jake also provides an evented interface for running shell commands. Calling
`jake.createExec` returns an instance of `jake.Exec`, which is an `EventEmitter`
that fires events as it executes commands.
It emits the following events:
* 'cmdStart': When a new command begins to run. Passes one arg, the command
being run.
* 'cmdEnd': When a command finishes. Passes one arg, the command
being run.
* 'stdout': When the stdout for the child-process recieves data. This streams
the stdout data. Passes one arg, the chunk of data.
* 'stderr': When the stderr for the child-process recieves data. This streams
the stderr data. Passes one arg, the chunk of data.
* 'error': When a shell-command exits with a non-zero status-code. Passes two
args -- the error message, and the status code. If you do not set an error
handler, and a command exits with an error-code, Jake will throw the unhandled
error. If `breakOnError` is set to true, the Exec object will emit and 'error'
event after the first error, and stop any further execution.
To begin running the commands, you have to call the `run` method on it. It also
has an `append` method for adding new commands to the list of commands to run.
Here's an example:
```javascript
var ex = jake.createExec(['do_thing.sh'], {printStdout: true});
ex.addListener('error', function (msg, code) {
if (code == 127) {
console.log("Couldn't find do_thing script, trying do_other_thing");
ex.append('do_other_thing.sh');
}
else {
fail('Fatal error: ' + msg, code);
}
});
ex.run();
```
Using the evented Exec object gives you a lot more flexibility in running shell
commmands. But if you need something more sophisticated, Procstreams
() might be a good option.
## Logging and output
Using the -q/--quiet flag at the command-line will stop Jake from sending its
normal output to standard output. Note that this only applies to built-in output
from Jake; anything you output normally from your tasks will still be displayed.
If you want to take advantage of the -q/--quiet flag in your own programs, you
can use `jake.logger.log` and `jake.logger.error` for displaying output. These
two commands will respect the flag, and suppress output correctly when the
quiet-flag is on.
You can check the current value of this flag in your own tasks by using
`jake.program.opts.quiet`. If you want the output of a `jake.exec` shell-command
to respect the quiet-flag, set your `printStdout` and `printStderr` options to
false if the quiet-option is on:
```javascript
task('echo', {async: true}, function () {
jake.exec(['echo "hello"'], function () {
jake.logger.log('Done.');
complete();
}, {printStdout: !jake.program.opts.quiet});
});
```
## PackageTask
Instantiating a PackageTask programmically creates a set of tasks for packaging
up your project for distribution. Here's an example:
```javascript
var t = new jake.PackageTask('fonebone', 'v0.1.2112', function () {
var fileList = [
'Jakefile'
, 'README.md'
, 'package.json'
, 'lib/*'
, 'bin/*'
, 'tests/*'
];
this.packageFiles.include(fileList);
this.needTarGz = true;
this.needTarBz2 = true;
});
```
This will automatically create a 'package' task that will assemble the specified
files in 'pkg/fonebone-v0.1.2112,' and compress them according to the specified
options. After running `jake package`, you'll have the following in pkg/:
fonebone-v0.1.2112
fonebone-v0.1.2112.tar.bz2
fonebone-v0.1.2112.tar.gz
PackageTask also creates a 'clobber' task that removes the pkg/
directory.
The [PackageTask API
docs](http://mde.github.com/jake/doc/symbols/jake.PackageTask.html) include a
lot more information, including different archiving options.
### FileList
Jake's FileList takes a list of glob-patterns and file-names, and lazy-creates a
list of files to include. Instead of immediately searching the filesystem to
find the files, a FileList holds the pattern until it is actually used.
When any of the normal JavaScript Array methods (or the `toArray` method) are
called on the FileList, the pending patterns are resolved into an actual list of
file-names. FileList uses the [minimatch](https://github.com/isaacs/minimatch) module.
To build the list of files, use FileList's `include` and `exclude` methods:
```javascript
var list = new jake.FileList();
list.include('foo/*.txt');
list.include(['bar/*.txt', 'README.md']);
list.include('Makefile', 'package.json');
list.exclude('foo/zoobie.txt');
list.exclude(/foo\/src.*.txt/);
console.log(list.toArray());
```
The `include` method can be called either with an array of items, or multiple
single parameters. Items can be either glob-patterns, or individual file-names.
The `exclude` method will prevent files from being included in the list. These
files must resolve to actual files on the filesystem. It can be called either
with an array of items, or mutliple single parameters. Items can be
glob-patterns, individual file-names, string-representations of
regular-expressions, or regular-expression literals.
## TestTask
Instantiating a TestTask programmically creates a simple task for running tests
for your project. The first argument of the constructor is the project-name
(used in the description of the task), and the second argument is a function
that defines the task. It allows you to specifify what files to run as tests,
and what to name the task that gets created (defaults to "test" if unset).
```javascript
var t = new jake.TestTask('fonebone', function () {
var fileList = [
'tests/*'
, 'lib/adapters/**/test.js'
];
this.testFiles.include(fileList);
this.testFiles.exclude('tests/helper.js');
this.testName = 'testMainAndAdapters';
});
```
Tests in the specified file should be in the very simple format of
test-functions hung off the export. These tests are converted into Jake tasks
which Jake then runs normally.
If a test needs to run asynchronously, simply define the test-function with a
single argument, a callback. Jake will define this as an asynchronous task, and
will wait until the callback is called in the test function to run the next test.
Here's an example test-file:
```javascript
var assert = require('assert')
, tests;
tests = {
'sync test': function () {
// Assert something
assert.ok(true);
}
, 'async test': function (next) {
// Assert something else
assert.ok(true);
// Won't go next until this is called
next();
}
, 'another sync test': function () {
// Assert something else
assert.ok(true);
}
};
module.exports = tests;
```
Jake's tests are also a good example of use of a TestTask.
## NpmPublishTask
The NpmPublishTask builds on top of PackageTask to allow you to do a version
bump of your project, package it, and publish it to NPM. Define the task with
your project's name, and the list of files you want packaged and published to
NPM.
Here's an example from Jake's Jakefile:
```javascript
var p = new jake.NpmPublishTask('jake', [
'Makefile'
, 'Jakefile'
, 'README.md'
, 'package.json'
, 'lib/*'
, 'bin/*'
, 'tests/*'
]);
```
The NpmPublishTask will automatically create a `publish` task which performs the
following steps:
1. Bump the version number in your package.json
2. Commit change in git, push it to GitHub
3. Create a git tag for the version
4. Push the tag to GitHub
5. Package the new version of your project
6. Publish it to NPM
7. Clean up the package
## CoffeeScript Jakefiles
Jake can also handle Jakefiles in CoffeeScript. Be sure to make it
Jakefile.coffee so Jake knows it's in CoffeeScript.
Here's an example:
```coffeescript
util = require('util')
desc 'This is the default task.'
task 'default', (params) ->
console.log 'Ths is the default task.'
console.log(util.inspect(arguments))
jake.Task['new'].invoke []
task 'new', ->
console.log 'ello from new'
jake.Task['foo:next'].invoke ['param']
namespace 'foo', ->
task 'next', (param) ->
console.log 'ello from next with param: ' + param
```
## Related projects
James Coglan's "Jake":
Confusingly, this is a Ruby tool for building JavaScript packages from source code.
280 North's Jake:
This is also a JavaScript port of Rake, which runs on the Narwhal platform.
### License
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0
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