mern-scaffold/tools.js

mern-scaffold is a CLI tool that helps you to quickly develop basic boilerplate code for your MERN app. You can generate boilerplate code for your Frontend or Backend. You can also generate them as a full stack project.

// built in core node module for working with the file system
import fs from 'node:fs';
// built in core node module for working with the file path
import path from 'node:path';

// an external package to help me the directory where my npm package will be downloaded into
import globalModules from 'global-modules';

// my package name
const packageName = 'mern-scaffold'; // Replace with the name of your global package
// my package directory
const packageDirectory = path.join(globalModules, packageName);
const appDirectoryToReadFrom = path.resolve(
  `${packageDirectory}/applications/frontend`
);

fs.readdir(appDirectoryToReadFrom, (err, file) => {
  if (err) {
    throw new Error(err.message);
  }

  // loop through each file to read its content
  file.forEach((item) => {
    // check if a file is a directory
    if (fs.statSync(`${appDirectoryToReadFrom}/${item}`).isDirectory()) {
      // create a new directory in the application were trying to build that was created
      // more like creating a nested folder inside a folder
      fs.mkdirSync(`${appDirectoryToWriteTo}/${item}`);
      // read the content of the directory into the new directory you created

      fs.readdir(`${appDirectoryToReadFrom}/${item}`, (err, file) => {
        // check if there an error
        if (err) {
          throw new Error(err.message);
        }
        file.forEach((subFolderFile) => {
          // assign the content inside each of the file to a variable
          const subFolderContent = fs.readFileSync(
            path.resolve(`${appDirectoryToReadFrom}/${item}/${subFolderFile}`),
            'utf-8'
          );

          // write the content as well to the new destination
          fs.writeFileSync(
            path.resolve(`${appDirectoryToWriteTo}/${item}/${subFolderFile}`),
            subFolderContent
          );
        });
      });

      return;
    }
    // **** ********************

    // read the content of each of the file
    let data = fs.readFileSync(`${appDirectoryToReadFrom}/${item}`, 'utf-8');

    //   lets modify the package.json before creating it
    if (item === 'package.json') {
      const updated_package = JSON.parse(data);
      updated_package.name = folder_name;

      // check which of the component library the user has chosen

      // for ant design
      if (component_library_chosen === 'Ant design') {
        updated_package.dependencies = {
          ...updated_package.dependencies,
          antd: 'latest',
        };
      }

      // for Material UI
      if (component_library_chosen === 'Material UI') {
        updated_package.dependencies = {
          ...updated_package.dependencies,
          '@emotion/react': 'latest',
          '@emotion/styled': 'latest',
          '@mui/material': 'latest',
        };
      }

      data = JSON.stringify(updated_package);
    }

    //   write to the folder the user has choosen;
    fs.writeFileSync(`${appDirectoryToWriteTo}/${item}`, data);
  });
});