Craig Jefferds
138 lines
3.7 KiB
Markdown
138 lines
3.7 KiB
Markdown
## This repository is not actively maintained.
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### Nexe
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Nexe is a command-line utility that compiles your Node.js application into a single executable file.
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### Motivation
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- Ability to run multiple applications with *different* node.js runtimes.
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- Distributable binaries without needing node / npm.
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- Starts faster.
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- Lockdown specific application versions, and easily rollback.
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- Faster deployments.
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## Requirements
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- Linux / Mac / BSD / Windows
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- Windows: Python 2.6 or 2.7 (in PATH), Visual Studio 2010 or 2012
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##Caveats
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### Doesn't support native modules
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- Use the techniques below for working around dynamic require statments to exclude the module from the bundling, and deploy along side the executable in a node_module folder so your app can find it. Note: On windows you may need to have your app be named node.exe if .node file depends on node.
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###Doesn't support dynamic require statments
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Such As:
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```
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var x = require(someVar);
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```
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In this case nexe won't bundle the file
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```
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var x;
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if (someCheck) {
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x = require("./ver1.js");
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}
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else {
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x = require("./var2.js");
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}
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```
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In this case nexe will bundle both files.
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Workarounds:
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1) for dyanmic requires that you want bundled add the following into your project
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```
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var dummyToForceIncludeForBundle = false;
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if (dummyToForceIncludeForBundle) {
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require("./loadedDynamicallyLater.js");
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...
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}
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```
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this will trick the bundler into including them.
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2) for dynamic files getting included that you don't want to be
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```
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var moduleName = "./ver2.js";
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if (someCheck) {
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moduleName = "./ver1.js";
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}
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var x = require(moduleName)
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```
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Note: neither file will be bundled.
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Using these two techniques you can change your application code so mdoules are not bundles, and generate a includes.js file as part of your build process so that the right files get bundled for your build configuration.
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### __dirname
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Once the module is budnled it is part of the executable. __dirname is therefore the executable dir (process.execPath). Thus if you put resources on a realtive path from the the executable your app will be able to access them.
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If you had a data file at /dev/myNodeApp/stateManager/handler/data/some.csv
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and a file at /dev/myNodeApp/stateManager/handler/loader.js
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```
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module.exports = fw.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, "./data/some.csv"));
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```
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you would need to deploy some.csv in a sub dir data/ along side your executable
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There are potential use cases for __dirname where the executable path is not the correct substitution, and could result in a silent error (possibly even in a dependciey that you are unaware of).
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Note: __filename will be 'undefined'
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### child_process.fork
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child_process.spawn works is unmodified, but child_process.fork will make an attempt to lunch a new instance of your executable and run the bundled module.
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## Installation
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Via NPM:
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```bash
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npm install nexe [-g]
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```
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Or git:
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```bash
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git clone
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```
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### CLI Usage
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````text
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Usage: nexe -i [sources] -o [binary]
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Options:
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-i, --input The entry javascript files [default: cwd]
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-o, --output The output binary [default: cwd/release/app.nex]
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-r, --runtime The node.js runtime to use [default: "0.8.15"]
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-t, --temp The path to store node.js sources [default: /tmp/nexe]
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-f, --flags Don't parse node and v8 flags, pass through app flags [default: false]
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````
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### Code Usage
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````javascript
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var nexe = require('nexe');
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nexe.compile({
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input: 'input.js',
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output: 'path/to/bin',
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nodeVersion: '0.8.15',
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nodeTempDir: __dirname,
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flags: true
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}, function(err) {
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});
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````
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