Puer - more than a live-reload server , built for efficient frontend development


中文指南

##Features

1. create static server at target dir (default in current dir)
2. auto reload : editing css will update styles only, other files will reload the whole page.
3. weinre integrated use -i options
4. proxy server mode, use it with an existing server
5. http request mock by -a addon，the addon is also live reloaded
6. connect-middleware support

##install npm -g install puer

##Usage

###Command line

in most cases

cd path/to/your/static/dir
puer 

puer will launch the browser for you. all pages will reload when you edit them

full options

To list all of puer's options use puer -h

ubuntu-21:19 ~ $ puer -h

Usage:  puer [options...]

Options:
  -p,--port <port>  server's listen port, 8000 default
  -f,--filetype <typelist>  fileType to watch(split with '|'), default 'js|css|html|xhtml'
  -d,--dir <dir>  your customer working dir. default current dir 
  -i,--inspect    start weinre server and debug all puer page
  -x,--exclude    exclude file under watching(must be a regexp), default: ''
  -a,--mock <file> your mock's path
  -t,--target <url> remote proxy server
     --no-reload    close  auto-reload feature,(not recommended)
     --no-launch    close the auto launch feature
  -h,--help     help list

###mock request

During development，you may need to mock a request . use -a <addon> to help you mock a dynamic api

puer -a route.js

a sample route.js looks like:

// use addon to mock http request
module.exports = {
  // GET
  "GET /v1/posts/:id": function(req, res, next){
	// response json format
    res.send({
      title: "title changed",
      content: "tow post hahahah"
    })

  },
  // PUT POST DELETE is the same
  "PUT /v1/posts/:id": function(){

  },
  "POST /v1/posts": function(){

  },
  "DELETE /v1/posts/:id": function(){

  }
}          

【check the usage record 】

It is just a config for routers, you need export an [Object] containing router config. The keys join with 【METHOD】 and 【PATH】, and the values represent the callback。This function is based on express's router, you can check its documentation for more help。

example from above is just equal code in express like:

app.get("/v1/posts/:id", function(req, res, next){
  // response json format
  res.send({
    title: "title changed",
    content: "tow post hahahah"
  })
})

app.put("/v1/posts/:id", function(){})
app.post("/v1/posts", function(){})
app.delete("/v1/posts/:id", function(){})

Once route.js is changed, puer will refresh it. There is no need to restart puer.

the route.js style

__Function __ : just like showed before, you can use the express's Response and Request Method

String: if the passin is a [String], puer will find the File first, if file is not exsit, will directly response with the origin [String]

{
  "GET /v1/posts/:id": "hello.html" 
}

Object | Array: will respone a json format.

  
  {
    "GET /v1/posts/:id": {message: "some message"}
    "GET /v1/posts": [{message: "some message"}]
  }

###proxy support

you can use -t or --target to use puer with an exsiting server. For example, say you already have a server running at port 8020.

puer -t http://localhost:8020

【check the record for proxy mode】

You can use 【addon】 with【 target】 for more powerful usage。

puer -t http://localhost:8020 -a route.js

【check the usage record 】

use the builtin debugger (through weinre)

type -i to bootstrap the weinre, the client script is injected for you in every page through puer, click the 【nav to weinre terminal 】button or find the weinre server directly at port 9001

puer -i

【check the usage record 】

###use as [connect|express]-middleware

var connect = require("connect")
var path = require("path")
var http = require("http")
var puer = require("puer")
var app = connect()
var server = http.createServer(app)

var options = {
    dir: "path/to/watch/folder", 
    ignored: /(\/|^)\..*|node_modules/  //ignored file
}

app.use(puer.connect(app, server , options))   //use as puer connect middleware
// you must use puer middleware before route and static midleware(before any middle may return 'text/html')
app.use("/", connect.static(__dirname))


server.listen(8001, function(){
    console.log("listen on 8001 port")
})

You must use puer middleware before route and static middleware(before any middle may return 'text/html')

Other

client event

puer will inject a namespace puer in global. it is a Emitter instance. has on, off and emit.

you can register update event to control the reload logic

puer.on("update", function(ev){
  console.log(ev.path) // the absolute path , the file change
  console.log(ev.css) // whether css file is change
  if(ev.path.match(/\.js$/)){
    ev.stop = true; // if you set ev.stop = true.  the reload will be stoped;
  }
 
})

Example above means that: if js file is changed, reloading won't be actived.

###LICENSE MIT