Reading all files in a directory, store them in objects, and send the object

So, there are three parts. Reading, storing and sending.

Here's the reading part:

var fs = require('fs');

function readFiles(dirname, onFileContent, onError) {
  fs.readdir(dirname, function(err, filenames) {
    if (err) {
      onError(err);
      return;
    }
    filenames.forEach(function(filename) {
      fs.readFile(dirname + filename, 'utf-8', function(err, content) {
        if (err) {
          onError(err);
          return;
        }
        onFileContent(filename, content);
      });
    });
  });
}

Here's the storing part:

var data = {};
readFiles('dirname/', function(filename, content) {
  data[filename] = content;
}, function(err) {
  throw err;
});

The sending part is up to you. You may want to send them one by one or after reading completion.

If you want to send files after reading completion you should either use sync versions of fs functions or use promises. Async callbacks is not a good style.

Additionally you asked about stripping an extension. You should proceed with questions one by one. Nobody will write a complete solution just for you.


For all example below you need to import fs and path modules:

const fs = require('fs');
const path = require('path');

Read files asynchronously

function readFiles(dir, processFile) {
  // read directory
  fs.readdir(dir, (error, fileNames) => {
    if (error) throw error;

    fileNames.forEach(filename => {
      // get current file name
      const name = path.parse(filename).name;
      // get current file extension
      const ext = path.parse(filename).ext;
      // get current file path
      const filepath = path.resolve(dir, filename);

      // get information about the file
      fs.stat(filepath, function(error, stat) {
        if (error) throw error;

        // check if the current path is a file or a folder
        const isFile = stat.isFile();

        // exclude folders
        if (isFile) {
          // callback, do something with the file
          processFile(filepath, name, ext, stat);
        }
      });
    });
  });
}

Usage:

// use an absolute path to the folder where files are located
readFiles('absolute/path/to/directory/', (filepath, name, ext, stat) => {
  console.log('file path:', filepath);
  console.log('file name:', name);
  console.log('file extension:', ext);
  console.log('file information:', stat);
});

Read files synchronously, store in array, natural sorting

/**
 * @description Read files synchronously from a folder, with natural sorting
 * @param {String} dir Absolute path to directory
 * @returns {Object[]} List of object, each object represent a file
 * structured like so: `{ filepath, name, ext, stat }`
 */
function readFilesSync(dir) {
  const files = [];

  fs.readdirSync(dir).forEach(filename => {
    const name = path.parse(filename).name;
    const ext = path.parse(filename).ext;
    const filepath = path.resolve(dir, filename);
    const stat = fs.statSync(filepath);
    const isFile = stat.isFile();

    if (isFile) files.push({ filepath, name, ext, stat });
  });

  files.sort((a, b) => {
    // natural sort alphanumeric strings
    // https://stackoverflow.com/a/38641281
    return a.name.localeCompare(b.name, undefined, { numeric: true, sensitivity: 'base' });
  });

  return files;
}

Usage:

// return an array list of objects
// each object represent a file
const files = readFilesSync('absolute/path/to/directory/');

Read files async using promise

More info on promisify in this article.

const { promisify } = require('util');

const readdir_promise = promisify(fs.readdir);
const stat_promise = promisify(fs.stat);

function readFilesAsync(dir) {
  return readdir_promise(dir, { encoding: 'utf8' })
    .then(filenames => {
      const files = getFiles(dir, filenames);

      return Promise.all(files);
    })
    .catch(err => console.error(err));
}

function getFiles(dir, filenames) {
  return filenames.map(filename => {
    const name = path.parse(filename).name;
    const ext = path.parse(filename).ext;
    const filepath = path.resolve(dir, filename);

    return stat({ name, ext, filepath });
  });
}

function stat({ name, ext, filepath }) {
  return stat_promise(filepath)
    .then(stat => {
      const isFile = stat.isFile();

      if (isFile) return { name, ext, filepath, stat };
    })
    .catch(err => console.error(err));
}

Usage:

readFiles('absolute/path/to/directory/')
  // return an array list of objects
  // each object is a file
  // with those properties: { name, ext, filepath, stat }
  .then(files => console.log(files))
  .catch(err => console.log(err));

Note: return undefined for folders, if you want you can filter them out:

readFiles('absolute/path/to/directory/')
  .then(files => files.filter(file => file !== undefined))
  .catch(err => console.log(err));

Tags:

Node.Js