Inconsistencies between node's `spawn` and terminal - node.js

I'm trying to run a script from node, and I'm seeing different behaviour compared to if I run it from the terminal and I don't understand why.
I'm trying to do something a little bit out there, in that to save people typing pnpm {scriptName} --filter {packageName} I created a little script that they could run instead. It basically takes scriptName and lists all the available packages they can select from, and then trigger spawns a new process calling that command. Something like:
spawn("pnpm", ["--filter " + packageName, scriptName], { stdio: "inherit" });
Example:
In my particular case, I'm trying to test a script that ends up generating a pnpm --filter #ig/main test:debug.
I'm struggling a little though, in that if I invoke that via a terminal it works fine (test:debug is defined both in .\package.json and .\apps\main\package.json). However if I invoke it via the spawn command in node, then for some reason it invoking the test:debug script in the root, rather than just in apps/main. Does anyone know what that might be the case?

Turns out this was down to the current working directory not being set correctly when using spawn.

Related

Adding a command line script to the user environment whilst installing an application using electron-builder

I'm currently working on a project with Electron 9.0.4 and Electron-Builder 22.8.0 and am faced with a problem that doesn't seem too difficult but there isn't a valid solution online! (At least I couldn't find it)
I have my main program that does all of the UI tasks, and a command line script that does some backend. The reason I have this command line script is so that I can run certain parts of the application without opening the window itself. Everything works fine on my computer. After running npm link, my CL script is added to my environment variables and I can just run it from the console. However, when I try to build with electron-builder, the problem occurs.
If I use my Setup.exe on another computer, the command line script just won't be added to the environment variables and I couldn't find instructions on how to do this in the electron, nodejs, or electron-builder documentation. What I found was a suggestion on another question to add npm -g install as a post-install script, but that had no effect either.
Someone else suggested adding npm link as a post-installation script, but firstly if I am not mistaken this function is not intended for production and secondly it created an infinite loop as npm link triggered the post-installation script over and over again.
Thats how the script is added to the project
"bin": {
"command-name": "/cl.js"
}
Any help is appreciated!
Since I couldn't find a direct solution to my problem and didn't want to look any further for a solution while being able to take a different approach.
I decided to take a step back and look for another method to solve my problem I came to the conclusion that I didn't really need to add a script to the command line. My solution was to look for a certain argument when starting the regular application.
if (process.argv.includes("cli")) { /* Do commandline stuff */ }
When the custom argument is found, I simply run the script that should've been run from the command line. Using this approach, you can create a shortcut to my executable that contains the custom argument and then instead of the application it runs the command line script.

node.js attach REPL to script

How do I start a node.js script and still be able to execute commands into the terminal ? I am looking for a node.js REPL that is also there for my custom script, so that I can inspect/log the state of my program for instance.
This is something similar to this JVM question, but for node.js.
I have tried node -i server.js without results. Do I need to have custom code in my script or is it feasible without that ? I saw this post, but it requires custom code, which I'd like to avoid.
Also, bonus points for reattaching a node script launched by an init script (I can see it in the process list : node -i server.js).
You can start a repl loop from within your program
http://nodejs.org/api/repl.html
Does the other way round work for you?
Start the REPL and then load the script and then execute your commands. Use load to load your script.
Inside REPL, try
.load server.js

How can I run a node.js server

I'm new to node and have many things unclear.
Like, for php, I just need a index.php file on server's root dir and it can work by itself.
However, for a node.js file, we need to "node" command it in terminal right?
So what if we close that terminal? How can I keep it running to accept my requests?
You are correct in saying that the 'node' command will start a node process with whatever script you supply to it.
As far as keeping it running, there are several ways to do it. There are plenty of CLI libraries that will help you. For example, this one is called Forever
If you are using linux, you can simply run the node process as a background task:
node server.js &
To run node without terminal, you might want to check out one of these modules depending on your platform:
node-mac
node-windows
node-linux

Node-Webkit Child Process Exec

I want to execute a homebrew command for example
brew list
I followed the documentation and executed it like this:
child = exec('brew', function (error, stdout, stderr) {
console.log(stdout);
console.log(stderr);
});
I am getting a command not found error, and realized that if I do /usr/local/bin/brew as the command it works. However simply using 'brew' should work as well since I can run 'brew' from the command line just as such.
Why is this the case and what does it take to make 'brew' run as a child process in node? I have a feeling part of the issue because the command on node-webkit seems to execute from bin/sh.
Thanks
It may depend on how you're starting node-webkit and how you're setting your PATH. When I start from the command line, it inherits the environment variables from my command-line environment, including PATH. If I start by double clicking in a gui, it inherits from the system (presumably /etc/paths), and any additions I make in my .bashrc/.bash_profile have no effect.
Also, I'm no security expert, but my understanding of best practices would include using an absolute path to the executable you're running, so it's harder to spoof by setting an environment variable. By that measure, you're better off using the full path to brew anyway.

Node: Move the current directory of the interactive shell

I'm writing a little CLI tool for Node.js. There are some situations where I'd like to run modify the current directory of the shell that runs my program:
some/location$ myProg moveToSomewhere
some/other/location$
child_process can't help here, since its commands run in a different shell.
Is there a way to do this?

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