Sometimes, we want to watch a folder for changes and print file paths when they are changed with Node.js.
In this article, we’ll look at how to watch a folder for changes and print file paths when they are changed with Node.js.
How to watch a folder for changes and print file paths when they are changed with Node.js?
To watch a folder for changes and print file paths when they are changed with Node.js, we can use the chokidar package.
To install it, we run
npm i chokidar
then we use it by writing
const chokidar = require('chokidar');
const watcher = chokidar.watch('file or dir', {
ignored: /^\./,
persistent: true
});
watcher
.on('add', (path) => {
console.log('File', path, 'has been added');
})
.on('change', (path) => {
console.log('File', path, 'has been changed');
})
.on('unlink', (path) => {
console.log('File', path, 'has been removed');
})
.on('error', (error) => {
console.error('Error happened', error);
})
to create a watcher that watches for 'file or dir' changes.
And then we call watcher.on with various event names and their event handlers.
The 'change' event is triggered when files are changed in the folders being watched.
Conclusion
To watch a folder for changes and print file paths when they are changed with Node.js, we can use the chokidar package.
