4.5 KiB
Exists
Test whether a path exists on the filesystem.
Usage
var exists = require( '@stdlib/fs/exists' );
exists( path, clbk )
Asynchronously tests whether a path exists on the filesystem.
exists( __dirname, done );
function done( bool ) {
if ( bool ) {
console.log( '...path exists.' );
} else {
console.log( '...path does not exist.' );
}
}
The above callback signature matches the now deprecated fs.exists()
API. The function also accepts the more conventional error
-first style callback signature found in most asynchronous Node APIs.
exists( __dirname, done );
function done( error, bool ) {
if ( error ) {
console.error( error.message );
}
if ( bool ) {
console.log( '...path exists.' );
} else {
console.log( '...path does not exist.' );
}
}
exists.sync( path )
Synchronously tests whether a path exists on the filesystem.
var bool = exists.sync( __dirname );
// returns <boolean>
Notes
-
The following is considered an anti-pattern:
var path = require( 'path' ); var readFileSync = require( '@stdlib/fs/read-file' ).sync; var file = path.join( __dirname, 'foo.js' ); if ( exists.sync( __dirname ) ) { file = readFileSync( file ); }
Because time elapses between checking for existence and performing IO, at the time IO is performed, the path is no longer guaranteed to exist. In other words, a race condition exists between the process attempting to read and another process attempting to delete.
Instead, the following pattern is preferred, where
errors
are handled explicitly:var path = require( 'path' ); var readFileSync = require( '@stdlib/fs/read-file' ).sync; var file = path.join( __dirname, 'foo.js' ); try { file = readFileSync( file ); } catch ( error ) { console.log( 'unable to read file.' ); console.error( error ); }
-
Nevertheless, use cases exist where one desires to check existence without performing IO. For example,
var path = require( 'path' ); var writeFileSync = require( '@stdlib/fs/write-file' ).sync; var file = path.join( __dirname, 'foo.js' ); if ( exists.sync( file ) ) { console.log( 'Don\'t overwrite the file!' ); } else { writeFileSync( file, 'beep', { 'encoding': 'utf8' }); }
Examples
var exists = require( '@stdlib/fs/exists' );
/* Sync */
console.log( exists.sync( __dirname ) );
// => true
console.log( exists.sync( 'beepboop' ) );
// => false
/* Async */
exists( __dirname, done );
exists( 'beepboop', done );
function done( error, bool ) {
if ( error ) {
console.error( error.message );
} else {
console.log( bool );
}
}
CLI
Usage
Usage: exists [options] <path>
Options:
-h, --help Print this message.
-V, --version Print the package version.
Notes
- Relative paths are resolved relative to the current working directory.
- Errors are written to
stderr
. - Results are written to
stdout
.
Examples
$ exists ./../
true || <error_message>