getit

This is a simple remote file loader that makes it easy to open both local and remote files in a simple (and consistent) way. Behind the scenes getit uses hyperquest module to to the heavy lifting.

Example Usage

Getting a file:

getit('files/test.txt', function(err, data) {

});

Getting some online content:

getit('http://www.google.com/', function(err, data) {

});

Specifying the Current Working Directory

By default, all files are resolved to the current working directory through using path.resolve. The default directory resolved against can be overriden, however, by passing options to the getit function call:

getit('files/test.txt', { cwd: __dirname }, function(err, data) {

});

Specifying the cwd option has no effect on remote requests, but there might be other options added in time to tweak the default hyperquest behaviour eventually. The general principle is you should be able to use getit to get the content of both local and remote resources without having to dramatically change the way you use the library.

GetIt Options

The getit function supports a second argument for providing options to change the default getit behaviour.

Caching use `cachePath`

If you provide an optional cachePath, then getit will cache a copy of the data retrieved in the specified path. In addition to the data retrieved, an etag value will be stored in a lookup file. This will be used in subsequent lookups using the If-None-Match header.

By default, caching will only occur on a server that provides an etag value, but this can be overridden by also setting the cacheAny option to true.

var opts = {
  cachePath: '/tmp'
};

getit(
  'github://DamonOehlman/getit/test/files/test.txt',
  opts,
  function(err, data) {

  }
);

Finally, if you would prefer not to wait around for a HTTP request and a 304 response, then you can provide the preferLocal option always used the cached copy of a file if it exists in the cache folder.

Aggressive caching with `preferLocal`

If you really want to avoid a round-trip to web servers to check the freshness of the cache, then it might be worth using the preferLocal option also. This instructs getit to skip the etag check if it finds the required file in the cache directory.

If you do decide to implement this functionality, it's recommended that you provide some option in your application to allow users to clear the local cache path.

getit cache helpers

cache.get(target, opts, callback)

cache.update(target, opts, resErr, res, body, callback)

Custom URL Schemes

Getit supports a number of custom url schemes to help you type less characters:

Contributing URL Schemes

The task of the scheme translator is to convert a url of the custom scheme into a standard URI that can be passed to the GET.

To create your own scheme translator simply fork the library, decide on the scheme / protocol prefix (e.g. github, flickr, etc) and then create the relevant translator in the lib/schemes directory. When getit encounters a request for a url matching your custom scheme translator will be required and involved before actually requesting the url.

Simple.

Github Gists (gist://)

To get the default file (first file) from a particular gist:

getit('gist://DamonOehlman:6999398', function(err, content) {
});

To get a specific file from a particular gist:

getit('gist://DamonOehlman:6877717/index.js', function(err, content) {
});

NOTE: Github recently changed the way gist raw urls were formatted which has meant a change is needed in the getit format. You must now also include the username of the owner of the gist when requesting the file as shown in the examples above.

Github Includes (github://)

getit('github://DamonOehlman/getit/index.js', function(err, data) {
});

Licence

The MIT License (MIT)

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

Current Tags

1.2.0 ... latest (5 years ago)