Pikanen NPM | npm.io

Pikanen

(Pikanen is finnish for ~quickie)

This is a very barebones Express server bootstrapper.

Similar to many quickstart servers, but with only a few dependencies and no extra bells or whistles.

Pikanen also generates a readable simple express index file, named pikanen-index.js, so it doubles as a simple express server generator.

All loose (no leading dashes) keywords are treated as directory paths, relative to current location.
Unknown dashed keywords raise errors.

Installation

pikanen is a node executable, install globally with npm install -g pikanen.

Usage

So, you have a new idea for a web feature that requires a server. Maybe a javascript framework is needed, so you have to serve the static app fragments/templates/whatever, and they all reside inside a www folder.

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Pikanen is a simple tool for not having to look up an express tutorial for the basic setup every time you need to just get a very basic server up.

In the above situation, invoking pikanen www will create a basic node express server file for the specified directory

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Oh no! You will still need to install express in your project folder via npm i express, after which, invoking pikanen will yield the called for result:

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Success! You are now serving the contents of the directory at localhost:3000/www, as well as having created a file pikanen-index.js in the folder where you invoked the command, which can be used as a basis for more complex routing logic without having to look up the same Express tutorial boilerplate for the 100th time.

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Parameter options:

Basic usage:

$ pikanen www serves /www from current directory at localhost:3000/www

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Multiple directories:

$ pikanen www libs serves both /www and /libs from current directory under localhost:3000/www and localhost:3000/libs

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Port: -p/--port

$ pikanen -p 8001 www serves /www from current directory at localhost:8001/www.

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aliases:

Aliasing allows you to set aliases for directories with unwieldy names or long relative paths, like UI components inside a node_modules directory
$ pikanen /=node_modules/something/www serves directory /node_modules/something/www at localhost:3000/.

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Root: -r/--root

should probably be called publicRoot or something, and allow the reverse too
$ pikanen -r api/v1 www serves directory /www at localhost:3000/api/v1/www. The root option changes the root of the whole server.

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Silent: -s/--silent

$ pikanen -s www only creates the file without starting up the resulting servers

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Configuration

The package can also run off a configuration placed in the local package.json file.

{
    "pikanen":{
        "silent":"false",
        "paths":["/=www", "assets=node_modules/somelib/dist"],
        "port":3001,
        "root":"/api"
    }
}

When you call pikanen in this directory, it will extract the configuration from package.json and use the variables set there.

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Passed command line arguments will override the settings in the package.json, except paths, which will concatenate with the ones in the package file:

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