rm.js

Removes files and directories like the rm command.

There are multi-platform file-system commands compatible with rm from UN*X implemented for Node.js in JavaScript, like rimraf, del-cli or del, but they have a different interface and a different behaviour than the rm command. Instead of reusing the knowledge of the rm command, you would have to learn their new interface. This project aims to provide the well-known interface of the rm command.

This package offers only command-line interface, because programmatic interface is provided by rm and rmdir from node:fs. See also other commands compatible with their counterparts from UN*X - cat.js, cp.js, ln.js, mkdir.js and mv.js.

Synopsis

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.

Installation

This module can be installed in your project using NPM, PNPM or Yarn. Make sure, that you use Node.js version 14.18 or newer.

$ npm i -D @unixcompat/rm.js
$ pnpm i -D @unixcompat/rm.js
$ yarn add -D @unixcompat/rm.js

Command-line Interface

See also man rm for the original POSIX documentation or for the extended Linux implementation.

Usage: rm-j [-Ddfrv] [--] dir...

Options:
  -c|--cwd <dir>  directory to start looking for the source patterns
  -D|--dry-run    only print path of each file or directory
  -d|--dir        remove files and empty directories as well
  -f|--force      ignore non-existent files and directories
  -R|--recursive  remove files and directories recursively
  -r              the same as -R
  -v|--verbose    print path of each removed file or directory
  -V|--version    print version number
  -h|--help       print usage instructions

Examples:
  $ rm-j a
  $ rm-j -fr /tmp/a

Differences

The following options are specific to this command:

-c|--cwd <dir>  directory to start looking for the source patterns
-D|--dry-run    only print path of each file or directory

Also, the arguments may be BASH patterns. The pattern matching will ignore symbolic links.

The following options from the POSIX version are not supported:

-i    write a prompt to the standard error before copying
      a file that would overwrite an existing file

The following options from the Linux version are not supported:

-I    prompt once before removing more than three files, or when removing
      recursively
--interactive[=WHEN]
      prompt according to WHEN: never, once (-I), or always (-i);
      without WHEN, prompt always
--one-file-system
      when removing a hierarchy recursively, skip any directory that is
      on a file system different from that of the corresponding command
      line argument
--no-preserve-root 
      do not treat '/' specially
--preserve-root[=all]
      do not remove '/' (default); with 'all', reject any command line
      argument on a separate device from its parent

Contributing

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.

License

Copyright (c) 2022-2023 Ferdinand Prantl

Licensed under the MIT license.