Makes hard or symbolic links (symlinks) between files or directories like the ln command.
There are multi-platform file-system commands compatible with ln from UN*X implemented for Node.js in JavaScript, like symlink-dir or ln-cli, but they have different interface and different behaviour than the ln command. Instead of reusing the knowledge of the ln command, you would have to learn their new interface. This project aims to provide the well-known interface of the ln command.
This package offers only command-line interface, because programmatic interface is provided by link and symlink from node:fs. See also other commands compatible with their counterparts from UN*X - cat.js, cp.js, mkdir.js, mv.js and rm.js.
The following scripts from package.json won't work on Windows:
rm -rf dist
mkdir -p dist
cat src/umd-prolog.txt src/code.js src/umd-epilog.txt > dist/index.umd.js
cp src/index.d.ts dist
mv LICENSE doc
ln -s ../src src
Replace them with the following ones, which run on any operating system which is supported by Node.js:
rm-j -rf dist
mkdir-j -p dist
cat-j src/umd-prolog.txt src/code.js src/umd-epilog.txt > dist/index.umd.js
cp-j src/index.d.ts dist
mv-j LICENSE doc
ln-j -s ../src src
Notice that the only difference is the suffix -j behind the command names.
This module can be installed in your project using NPM, PNPM or Yarn. Make sure, that you use Node.js version 16.15 or newer.
$ npm i -D @unixcompat/ln.js
$ pnpm i -D @unixcompat/ln.js
$ yarn add -D @unixcompat/ln.jsSee also man ln for the original POSIX documentation or for the extended Linux implementation.
Usage: ln-j [-fjLnsv] [--] src... dest
Options:
-c|--cwd <dir> directory to start looking for the source files
-D|--dry-run only print paths of source files or directories
-f|--force remove existing destination files
-j|--junctions use junctions on Windows (otherwise ignored)
-L|--logical dereference srcs that are symbolic links
-n|--no-dereference treat dests as a normal files if it is
a symbolic link to a directory
-P|--physical make hard links directly to symbolic links
-s|--symbolic make symbolic links instead of hard links
-v|--verbose print path of each copied file or directory
-V|--version print version number
-h|--help print usage instructions
Examples:
$ ln-j src/prog.js dist/prog.js
$ ln-j -j jones smith /home/nick/clients
The following options are specific to this command:
-D|--dry-run only print path of each file or directory
-c|--cwd <dir> directory to start looking for the source files
-j|--junctions use junctions on Windows (otherwise ignored)
Also, the arguments may be BASH patterns. The pattern matching will ignore symbolic links. The argument -c|--cwd will be used only as a base directory to expand the BASH patterns in.
The following options from the Linux version are not supported:
--backup[=CONTROL]
make a backup of each existing destination file
-b like --backup but does not accept an argument
-d, -F, --directory
allow the superuser to attempt to hard link directories
(note: will probably fail due to system restrictions, even
for the superuser)
-i, --interactive
prompt whether to remove destinations
-P, --physical
make hard links directly to symbolic links
-r, --relative
with -s, create links relative to link location
-s, --symbolic
make symbolic links instead of hard links
-S, --suffix=SUFFIX
override the usual backup suffix
-t, --target-directory=DIRECTORY
specify the DIRECTORY in which to create the links
-T, --no-target-directory
treat LINK_NAME as a normal file always
In lieu of a formal styleguide, take care to maintain the existing coding style. Add unit tests for any new or changed functionality. Lint and test your code using npm test.
Copyright (c) 2023 Ferdinand Prantl
Licensed under the MIT license.