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🪺 Run a command on each file in a folder and its subfolders (CLI for package.json scripts)

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recursive-exec

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Run a command on each file in a folder and its subfolders (CLI tool designed for use in npm package.json scripts)

License:MIT npm Build

recursive-exec is the Unix find -type f -exec command for use in your project's package.json file.

screenshot

A) Setup

Install package for node:

$ npm install --save-dev recursive-exec

B) Usage

1. npm package.json scripts

Run recursive-exec from the "scripts" section of your package.json file.

Parameters:

  • The first parameter is the source folder.
  • The second parameter is the command template string.

Example package.json scripts:

   "scripts": {
      "minimize-js": "recursive-exec build/web --ext=.js 'uglifyjs {{file}} --output dist/web/{{basename}}.min.js'"
   },

The command template supports 6 variables:

Template Variable Description Example (source: 'build/web')
{{file}} Full path including filename. 'build/web/lib/fetch-json.js'
{{filename}} Relative path including filename. 'lib/fetch-json.js'
{{basename}} Relative path including filename
without file extension.
'lib/fetch-json'
{{path}} Relative path without filename. 'lib'
{{name}} Basename of file. 'fetch-json'
{{nameCamelCase}} Basename of file converted to camel case. 'fetchJson'

2. Command-line npx

Example terminal command to minimize JavaScript files:

$ npm install --save-dev recursive-exec
$ npx recursive-exec build/web --ext=.js "uglifyjs {{file}} --output dist/web/{{basename}}.min.js"

You can also install recursive-exec globally (--global) and then run it anywhere directly from the terminal.

3. CLI flags

Command-line flags:

Flag Description Value
--echo Show dry run preview of each command without executig it. N/A
--exclude Comma separated list of strings to match in paths to skip. string
--ext Filter files by file extension, such as .js.
Use a comma to specify multiple extensions.
string
--note Place to add a comment only for humans. string
--quiet Suppress informational messages. N/A

Examples:

  • recursive-exec src/web --ext=.less 'lessc src/web/{{filename}} build/web/{{basename}}.css'
    Compiles all LESS files in the src/web folder into CSS files in the build/web folder.

  • recursive-exec src/web --ext=.less 'lessc {{file}} build/web/{{basename}}.css'
    Identical to the previous example since {{file}} includes the source folder (src/web) in the path.

  • recursive-exec build/web --ext=.css 'csso {{file}} --output dist/web/{{filename}}'
    Optimizes the CSS files in the build/web folder and save the new files to the dist/web folder.

  • recursive-exec build/web --ext=.js --quiet 'make-dir dist/web/{{path}}'
    Duplicates the folder structure from build/web over to dist/web (first run npm install --save-dev make-dir-cli).

  • recursive-exec build/web --ext=.js 'uglifyjs {{file}} --output dist/web/{{basename}}.min.js'
    Minimizes the JavaScript files in the build/web folder and saves the new files to the dist/web folder with the .min.js file extension.

  • recursive-exec src 'glob {{file}}'
    Lists out all source files.

  • recursive-exec build/web-app --ext=.js --exclude=modules 'rollup {{file}} --file dist/web-app/{{filename}} --name {{nameCamelCase}}'
    Uses rollup to bundle the JavaScript for each web page but skip over the modules folders.

Note: Single quotes in commands are normalized so they work cross-platform and avoid the errors often encountered on Microsoft Windows.

C) Application Code

Even though recursive-exec is primarily intended for build scripts, the package can be used programmatically in ESM and TypeScript projects.

Example:

import { recursiveExec } from 'recursive-exec';

const results = recursiveExec.find('src/web', 'ls -o {{file}}', { quite: true });
console.log('Number of files:', results.length);

See the TypeScript Declarations at the top of recursive-exec.ts for documentation.



CLI Build Tools for package.json

  • 🎋 add-dist-headerPrepend a one-line banner comment (with license notice) to distribution files
  • 📄 copy-file-utilCopy or rename a file with optional package version number
  • 📂 copy-folder-utilRecursively copy files from one folder to another folder
  • 🪺 recursive-execRun a command on each file in a folder and its subfolders
  • 🔍 replacer-utilFind and replace strings or template outputs in text files
  • 🔢 rev-web-assetsRevision web asset filenames with cache busting content hash fingerprints
  • 🚆 run-scripts-utilOrganize npm package.json scripts into groups of easy to manage commands
  • 🚦 w3c-html-validatorCheck the markup validity of HTML files using the W3C validator

Feel free to submit questions at:
github.com/center-key/recursive-exec/issues

MIT License