remove-files-webpack-plugin

Removing of folders and files for Webpack

A plugin for webpack that removes files and folders before and after compilation.

Content

• Content
• Installation
• Support
• Usage
• Notes
  • Symbolic links
• Notes for Windows users
  • Single backward slash
  • Segment separator
  • Per-drive working directory
• Parameters
  • How to set
  • Namespace
  • Compilation modes
• Examples
• Version naming
• Contribution
• License

Installation

• With npm:

npm install remove-files-webpack-plugin

• With yarn:

yarn add remove-files-webpack-plugin

Support

The plugin works on any OS and webpack >= 2.2.0.

Usage

const RemovePlugin = require('remove-files-webpack-plugin');

module.exports = {
    plugins: [
        new RemovePlugin({
            before: {
                // parameters for "before normal compilation" stage.
            },
            watch: {
                // parameters for "before watch compilation" stage.
            },
            after: {
                // parameters for "after normal and watch compilation" stage.
            }
        })
    ]
};

Notes

Symbolic links

Symbolic links (soft links) will be treated as ordinary files.

Notes for Windows users

Single backward slash

JavaScript uses it for escaping. If you want to use backward slash, then use double backward slash. Example: C:\\Windows\\System32\\cmd.exe. By the way, single forward slashes are also supported.

Segment separator

All paths that you get or see from the plugin will contain platform-specific segment separator (i.e. slash): \\ on Windows and / on POSIX. So, for example, even if you passed folders or files with / as separator, TestObject.method will give you a path with \\ as segment separator.

Per-drive working directory

From Node.js documentation:

On Windows Node.js follows the concept of per-drive working directory. This behavior can be observed when using a drive path without a backslash. For example, path.resolve('c:\\') can potentially return a different result than path.resolve('c:'). For more information, see this MSDN page.

Parameters

Name	Type	Default	Namespace	Description
root	string	.	All	A root directory. Not absolute paths will be appended to this. Defaults to where package.json and node_modules are located.
include	string[]	[]	All	A folders or files for removing.
exclude	string[]	[]	All	A folders or files for excluding.
test	TestObject[]	[]	All	A folders for testing.
TestObject.folder	string	Required	All	A path to the folder (relative to root).
TestObject.method	(absolutePath: string) => boolean	Required	All	A method that accepts an item path (root + folderPath + fileName) and returns value that indicates should this item be removed or not.
TestObject.recursive	boolean	false	All	Apply this method to all items in subdirectories.
beforeRemove	( absoluteFoldersPaths: string[], absoluteFilesPaths: string[] ) => boolean	undefined	All	If specified, will be called before removing. Absolute paths of folders and files that will be removed will be passed into this function. If returned value is true, then remove process will be canceled. Will be not called if items for removing not found, emulate: true or skipFirstBuild: true.
afterRemove	( absoluteFoldersPaths: string[], absoluteFilesPaths: string[] ) => void	undefined	All	If specified, will be called after removing. Absolute paths of folders and files that have been removed will be passed into this function. Will be not called if emulate: true or skipFirstBuild: true.
trash	boolean	false	All	Move folders and files to the trash (recycle bin) instead of permanent removing. It is an async operation and you won't be able to control an execution chain along with other webpack plugins! afterRemove callback behavior is undefined (it can be executed before, during or after actual execution). Requires Windows 8+, macOS 10.12+ or Linux.
log	boolean	true	All	Print messages of "info" level (example: "Which folders or files have been removed").
logWarning	boolean	true	All	Print messages of "warning" level (example: "An items for removing not found").
logError	boolean	false	All	Print messages of "error" level (example: "No such file or directory").
logDebug	boolean	false	All	Print messages of "debug" level (used for debugging).
emulate	boolean	false	All	Emulate remove process. Print which folders and files will be removed without actually removing them. Ignores log parameter.
allowRootAndOutside	boolean	false	All	Allow removing of root directory or outside root directory. It is kind of safe mode. Don't turn it on if you don't know what you actually do!
readWebpackConfiguration	boolean	false	All	Change parameters based on webpack configuration. Following webpack parameters are supported: stats (controls logging). These webpack parameters have priority over the plugin parameters. See webpack documentation for more - https://webpack.js.org/configuration
skipFirstBuild	boolean	false	watch	First build will be skipped.
beforeForFirstBuild	boolean	false	watch	For first build before parameters will be applied, for subsequent builds watch parameters will be applied.

How to set

You can pass these parameters into any of the following keys: before, watch or after. Each key is optional, but at least one should be specified.

• before – executes once before "normal" compilation.
• watch – executes every time before "watch" compilation.
• after – executes once after "normal" compilation and every time after "watch" compilation.

Namespace

"Namespace" means where particular parameter will be applied. For example, "All" means particular parameter will work in any key (before, watch, after), watch means particular parameter will work only in watch key.

Compilation modes

• "normal" compilation means full compilation.
• "watch" compilation means first build is a full compilation and subsequent builds is a short rebuilds of changed files.

Examples

new RemovePlugin({
    /**
     * Before compilation permanently removes
     * entire `./dist` folder.
     */
    before: {
        include: [
            './dist'
        ]
    }
})

new RemovePlugin({
    /**
     * Every time before "watch" compilation
     * permanently removes `./dist/js/entry.js` file.
     */
    watch: {
        include: [
            './dist/js/entry.js'
        ]
    }
})

new RemovePlugin({
    /**
     * After compilation moves both
     * `./dist/manifest.json` file and
     * `./dist/maps` folder to the trash.
     */
    after: {
        root: './dist',
        include: [
            'manifest.json',
            'maps'
        ],
        trash: true
    }
})

new RemovePlugin({
    /**
     * Before compilation permanently removes both
     * `./dist/manifest.json` file and `./dist/maps` folder.
     * Log only works for warnings and errors.
     */
    before: {
        include: [
            'dist/manifest.json',
            './dist/maps'
        ],
        log: false,
        logWarning: true,
        logError: true,
        logDebug: false
    }
})

new RemovePlugin({
    /**
     * After compilation permanently removes
     * all maps files in `./dist/styles` folder and
     * all subfolders (e.g. `./dist/styles/header`).
     */
    after: {
        test: [
            {
                folder: 'dist/styles',
                method: (absoluteItemPath) => {
                    return new RegExp(/\.map$/, 'm').test(absoluteItemPath);
                },
                recursive: true
            }
        ]
    }
})

new RemovePlugin({
    /**
     * After compilation:
     * - permanently removes all css maps in `./dist/styles` folder.
     * - permanently removes all js maps in `./dist/scripts` folder and
     * all subfolders (e.g. `./dist/scripts/header`).
     */
    after: {
        root: './dist',
        test: [
            {
                folder: './styles',
                method: (absoluteItemPath) => {
                    return new RegExp(/\.css\.map$/, 'm').test(absoluteItemPath);
                }
            },
            {
                folder: './scripts',
                method: (absoluteItemPath) => {
                    return new RegExp(/\.js\.map$/, 'm').test(absoluteItemPath);
                },
                recursive: true
            }
        ]
    }
})

new RemovePlugin({
    /**
     * Before compilation permanently removes all
     * folders, subfolders and files from `./dist/maps`
     * except `./dist/maps/main.map.js` file.
     */
    before: {
        root: './dist'
        /**
         * You should do like this
         * instead of `include: ['./maps']`.
         */
        test: [
            {
                folder: './maps',
                method: () => true,
                recursive: true
            }
        ],
        exclude: [
            './maps/main.map.js'
        ]
    },

    /**
     * After compilation permanently removes
     * all css maps in `./dist/styles` folder
     * except `popup.css.map` file.
     */
    after: {
        test: [
            {
                folder: 'dist/styles',
                method: (absoluteItemPath) => {
                    return new RegExp(/\.css\.map$/, 'm').test(absoluteItemPath);
                }
            }
        ],
        exclude: [
            'dist/styles/popup.css.map'
        ]
    }
})

new RemovePlugin({
    /**
     * Before "normal" compilation permanently
     * removes entire `./dist` folder.
     */
    before: {
        include: [
            './dist'
        ]
    },

    /**
     * Every time before compilation in "watch"
     * mode (`webpack --watch`) permanently removes JS files
     * with hash in the name (like "entry-vqlr39sdvl12.js").
     */
    watch: {
        test: [
            {
                folder: './dist/js',
                method: (absPath) => new RegExp(/(.*)-([^-\\\/]+)\.js/).test(absPath)
            }
        ]
    },

    /**
     * Once after "normal" compilation or every time
     * after "watch" compilation moves `./dist/log.txt`
     * file to the trash.
     */
    after: {
        include: [
            './dist/log.txt'
        ],
        trash: true
    }
})

new RemovePlugin({
    /**
     * Before compilation emulates remove process
     * for a file that is outside of the root directory.
     * That file will be moved to the trash in case of
     * not emulation.
     */
    before: {
        root: '.', // "D:\\remove-files-webpack-plugin-master"
        include: [
            "C:\\Desktop\\test.txt"
        ],
        trash: true,
        emulate: true,
        allowRootAndOutside: true
    }
})

new RemovePlugin({
    /**
     * After compilation grabs all files from
     * all subdirectories and decides should
     * remove process be continued or not.
     * If removed process is continued,
     * then logs results with custom logger.
     */
    after: {
        root: './dist',
        test: [
            {
                folder: '.',
                method: () => true,
                recursive: true
            }
        ],
        beforeRemove: (absoluteFoldersPaths, absoluteFilesPaths) => {
            // cancel removing if there at least one folder.
            if (absoluteFoldersPaths.length) {
                return true;
            }

            // cancel removing if there at least one `.txt` file.
            for (const item of absoluteFilesPaths) {
                if (item.includes('.txt')) {
                    return true;
                }
            }
        },
        afterRemove: (absoluteFoldersPaths, absoluteFilesPaths) => {
            // replacing plugin logger with custom logger.
            console.log('Successfully removed:');
            console.log(`Folders – [${absoluteFoldersPaths}]`);
            console.log(`Files – [${absoluteFilesPaths}]`);
        },
        log: false
    }
})

Version naming

This project uses following structure for version naming: <MAJOR RELEASE>.<BREAKING CHANGES>.<NOT BREAKING CHANGES>.

Contribution

Feel free to use issues. Pull requests are also always welcome!

License

MIT.