Introduction to Path Exists Module

The path-exists module is a powerful Node.js utility for verifying the existence of a file or directory. This module is essential for file handling and makes asynchronous and synchronous checks easy to implement. With path-exists, developers can streamline their codebase for tasks requiring robust file system navigation.

API Explanation

Installation

  npm install path-exists

Asynchronous Check

The most basic use of the module is performing an asynchronous check:

  const pathExists = require('path-exists');

  pathExists('file.txt').then(exists => {
    console.log(exists); // true or false
  });

Synchronous Check

You can also perform a synchronous check for more immediate results:

  const pathExists = require('path-exists').sync;

  console.log(pathExists('file.txt')); // true or false

Application Example

Here is an example of a Node.js application using multiple functionalities of the path-exists module. This example demonstrates how to check for a configuration file before starting the server and creating it if not found.

  const fs = require('fs');
  const pathExists = require('path-exists');

  const configFile = 'config.json';

  // Asynchronous check if the config file exists
  pathExists(configFile).then(exists => {
    if (!exists) {
      // Create a default config file if it does not exist
      fs.writeFileSync(configFile, JSON.stringify({ port: 3000 }));
      console.log("Default config file created.");
    } else {
      console.log("Config file found.");
    }

    // Starting the server
    const config = require('./' + configFile);
    startServer(config.port);
  });

  function startServer(port) {
    // Logic to start the server
    console.log(`Server is running on port ${port}`);
  }

This example ensures that the application has a default configuration file, demonstrating the pragmatic use of the path-exists module for efficient file system management.

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