Nanite

Nanite runs in object mode as a pattern matching node stream transform. Anything written to a Nanite instance is first pattern matched to see if a handler can be found. If the message is not handled, it is piped out of Nanite, just like a regular transform.

Installation

To install Nanite, simply use npm:

npm install nanite --save

Usage

The example below can be found and ran in the eg folder. It demonstrates how to use Nanite - Drain and Nanite - Fill with the Nanite. This module can be used with any readable, writeable, or transform streams as well.

'use strict'
 
// create a new instance of nanite and take a
// copy of both the fill and drain builders.
var nanite = require('nanite')(),
    drain = require('nanite-drain'),
    fill = require('nanite-fill')
 
// set up a basic handler, this will be called
// as many times as there are objects passed to fill.
var handlePrint = nanite.pin({cmd: 'print'})
 
// drain is a simple write stream that accepts a
// backpressure supported function.
handlePrint(drain(function (msg, done) {
  console.log('Message ' + msg.val + ' handled')
  done()
}))
 
// fill accepts an array of messages and returns
// a primed readable stream. To push the messages
// into nanite is as simple as piping fill to it.
fill([
  {cmd: 'print', val: 1},
  {cmd: 'print', val: 2},
  {cmd: 'print', val: 3},
  {cmd: 'print', val: 4},
  {cmd: 'print', val: 5}
]).pipe(nanite)

API Overview

Constructor

Requiring Nanite produces a builder function for creating Nanite instances. Each instance of Nanite maintains its own message stream which can be piped to or from and together. Nanite also supports a config object that allows the flexibility to change how Nanite processes messages.

var nanite = require('nanite')
 
var uiStream = nanite(),
    dataStream = nanite()
 
uiStream.pipe(dataStream)
        .pipe(uiStream)
 

Config

Nanite supports a number of options that change how each instance behaves. These are passed as an object on instance creation.

var nanite = require('nanite')
 
var eventStream = nanite({multiMode: true})
var passthroughStream = nanite({passthrough: true})

multiMode: true|false - default: false

Allows multiple handlers to handle the same message. This behaviour replicates an eventing based model over a command based one.

passthrough: true|false - default: false

Allows messages to be passed through to piped streams even if they have already been handled by a subscribed handler. Needs to be enabled even if multiMode is set to true.

.handlers

A bloomrun instance that represents all of the handlers for a given instance of Nanite. Exposed to allow the use of pathrun's internal commands, providing the ability to query and output the handler tree in a variety of ways. See the bloomrun repo for more information.

var nanite = require('nanite')(),
    handlers = nanite.handlers
 
console.log(handler.list())

.write(msg) : bool

A method for writing new values to a given Nanite instance. No matter when a value is written, it always starts at the top of the stream and works its way down. Nanite's .write() is the standard non-modified .write() for a transform stream.

var nanite = require('nanite')()
 
nanite.write({cmd: 'toggle-menu'})
nanite.write({id: '1234', user: 'Jane Doe'})

.when(pattern, handler) : handler

A method for adding handlers and their patterns to Nanite. Any message satisfied by the provided pattern will be passed to the provided handler. Any stream piped to .when() will be piped to the handler itself and not Nanite. Messages passed to handlers are consumed by the handler unless multiMode is set to true.

var nanite = require('nanite')(),
    drain = require('nanite-drain')
 
nanite.when({cmd:'say-hello'}, drain(function (msg, done) {
   done()
}))

.pin(pattern) : wrapping function

A method that returns a wrapping function. This allows patterns which are rather long or calculated to be wrapped up for use later. To use, simply consume as a function, passing in a write stream or transform.

var nanite = require('nanite')(),
    drain = require('nanite-drain')
 
var handlerOne = nanite.pin({cmd: 'say-hello'})
var handlerTwo = nanite.pin({cmd: 'say-goodbye'})
 
handlerOne(drain(function (msg, done) {
  console.log('Hi!')
  done()
}))
 
handlerTwo(drain(function (msg, done) {
  console.log('Goodbye')
  done()
}))
 
nanite.write({cmd: 'say-hello'})
nanite.write({cmd: 'say-goodbye'})

.remove(pattern [, handler]) : this

A method for removing handlers and their patterns from Nanite. Patterns with specific handlers can be removed by passing an instance of the handler as a second parameter.

var nanite = require('nanite'),
    drain = require('nanite-drain')
 
nanite.when({cmd:'say-hello'}, drain(msg, done) {
   done()
}))
 
nanite.when({cmd:'say-goodbye'}, drain(msg, done) {
   done()
}))
 
nanite.remove({cmd:'say-hello'})
      .remove({cmd:'say-goodbye'})

FAQ

Can I use Through2 or other stream do-da's with Nanite ?

Yes! Nanite itself is a simple transform and as such can be piped to and from. Handlers are added as streams, and if they are writeable or are transforms, then they are compatible. Do note that anything pushed to the read side of a transform is not passed to nanite, rather any direct pipe of the handler. To add messages to nanite, pipe back to it or use .write().

Can I have multiple handlers for the same message ?

Yes! simply pass {multiMode: true} to the instance builder to get back a multiMode instance of nanite that allows multiple handlers per message.

Does Nanite work in the browser ?

Yes! Nanite is and will always be usable in the browser. You will need to use webpack or browserify to create a browser copy. Later, a distribution version will be provided.

What are the pattern rules ?

See bloomrun for a full look at how patterns work in detail.

Contributing

Nanite is an open project and encourages participation. If you feel you can help in any way, be it with examples, extra testing, or new features please be our guest.

See our Contribution Guide for information on obtaining the source and an overview of the tooling used.

License

Copyright Dean McDonnell 2015, Licensed under MIT.