unsure

JSON toolkit that's pretty good

Goals

• Use JSON efficiently and effectively
• Parse files with ease
• Work non-destructively with a concurrent source of truth

Usage

Here's an example usage of the system.

// Load unsure
const unsure = require('unsure')

// Build a new unsure instance
const database = new unsure(__dirname)

// Load a new file to work with
database.loadFile('test/data1.json')

// Select the loaded file
database.setActiveFile('test/data1.json')

// Query for data
let query = database.Query('root.body.message')

// Edit an element
database.Edit('root.body.post', {'title':'Lorem'})

Documentation

Primitives

Unsure.loadFile('path') loads the file specified and sets the file as the active file. All further Unsure commands will be called on this file unless the active file is changed or this file is unloaded. Calling loadFile on a file that's already been loaded reloads the file. TODO: loadFiles([array of strings]) should load all of the files specified and set the last file as the active file.

Unsure.saveFile({options}) saves the active file to disk. Optionals are listed below.

let options = {
  // saves JSON with spaces for readability
  padding: 4,
  // new save location relative to project path
  saveas: 'custom/path/file.json'
}

Unsure.printFile('filename') logs the file to the console. The exact filename that the file was loaded with must be used. This command does no reload the file from the disk, it merely prints the current state. Ommiting the argument will print the active file.

Unsure.setActiveFile('filename') sets the active file from the files already loaded. If the string passed in does not correspond to a file that has been loaded, null will be returned.

Operations

Unsure.Edit('path', {update}) queries the active file in form field.field.field and replaces it with the update parameter. The update does not have to match the existing data. If the path does not match, -1 is returned. The path must exist, no new paths will be created by this command. To insert new data, use Insert.

Unsure.Query('path') just like Edit except it finds and returns whatever is at the position.

Unsure.Delete('path') deletes a field if it exists. Returns the object if successful, -1 if matching path is not found or if Delete fails for other reasons.

Unsure.Insert('path', {insertion}) just like Edit, Query and Delete. If a key already exists at this path, -1 is returned. If the new keys are inserted successfully, the object is returned.

Find

Unsure.Find.Keys() returns an array of all keys at the cursor level.

Unsure.Find.Count() returns an integer equivalent to Unsure.Find.Keys().length, because who wants to type that out.

Unsure.Find.Object('key') returns an object with title matching the 'key' parameter, if a match exists. This method returns the first matching object. Additional matches are ignored. If no matches are found, -1 is returned.

Development

Unsure code starts with the index.js file. Tests are ran from the tests.js file, also in the root directory. One can load multiple files at the same time, switching between them with certain commands. All files loaded are stored in the STORE variable array. Example below:

let STORE = {
  'filename.json': {
    'data': 'long string',
    'meta': []
  },
  'other.json': {
    'data': 'long string',
    'meta': []
  }
}

A global variable exists named ACTIVE_FILE that indicates which loaded file is currently active.

CURSOR_DEPTH indicates how many levels deep the CURSOR has traveled. Used for adding the CURSOR back to HOME before saving, etc.