magic-string

Suppose you have some source code. You want to make some light modifications to it - replacing a few characters here and there, wrapping it with a header and footer, etc - and ideally you'd like to generate a source map at the end of it. You've thought about using something like recast (which allows you to generate an AST from some JavaScript, manipulate it, and reprint it with a sourcemap without losing your comments and formatting), but it seems like overkill for your needs (or maybe the source code isn't JavaScript).

Your requirements are, frankly, rather niche. But they're requirements that I also have, and for which I made magic-string. It's a small, fast utility for manipulating strings and generating sourcemaps.

Installation

magic-string works in both node.js and browser environments. For node, install with npm:

npm i magic-string

To use in browser, you'll need to make vlq available. Add it, along with magic-string.js, to your page:

<script src='vlq.js'></script>
<script src='magic-string.js'></script>

(Both libraries also work with various module systems, if you prefer that sort of thing.)

Usage

These examples assume you're in node.js, or something similar:

var MagicString = require( 'magic-string' );
var string = new MagicString( 'problems = 99' );

s.replace( 0, 8, 'answer' );
s.toString(); // 'answer = 99'
s.locate( 9 ); // 7 - the character originally at index 9 ('=') is now at index 7
s.locateOrigin( 7 ); // 9

s.replace( 11, 13, '42' ); // character indices always refer to the original string
s.toString(); // 'answer = 42'

s.prepend( 'var ' ).append( ';' ); // most methods are chainable
s.toString(); // 'var answer = 42;'

var map = s.generateMap({
  source: 'source.js',
  file: 'converted.js.map',
  includeContent: true
}); // generates a v3 sourcemap

require( 'fs' ).writeFile( 'converted.js', s.toString() );
require( 'fs' ).writeFile( 'converted.js.map', map.toString() );

Methods

s.append( content )

Appends the specified content to the end of the string. Returns this.

s.clone()

Does what you'd expect.

s.generateMap( options )

Generates a version 3 sourcemap. All options are, well, optional:

• file - the filename where you plan to write the sourcemap
• source - the filename of the file containing the original source
• includeContent - whether to include the original content in the map's sourcesContent array
• hires - whether the mapping should be high-resolution. Hi-res mappings map every single character, meaning (for example) your devtools will always be able to pinpoint the exact location of function calls and so on. With lo-res mappings, devtools may only be able to identify the correct line - but they're quicker to generate and less bulky.

The names property of the source map is not currently populated.

The returned sourcemap has two (non-enumerable) methods attached for convenience:

• toString - returns the equivalent of JSON.stringify(map)
• toUrl - returns a DataURI containing the sourcemap. Useful for doing this sort of thing:

code += '\n//# sourceMappingURL=' + map.toUrl();

s.indent( prefix[, options] )

Prefixes each line of the string with prefix. If prefix is not supplied, the indentation will be guessed from the original content, falling back to a single tab character. Returns this.

The options argument can have an exclude property, which is an array of [start, end] character ranges. These ranges will be excluded from the indentation - useful for (e.g.) multiline strings.

s.insert( index, content )

Inserts the specified content at the index in the original string. Returns this.

s.locate( index )

Finds the location, in the generated string, of the character at index in the original string. Returns null if the character in question has been removed or replaced.

s.locateOrigin( index )

The opposite of s.locate(). Returns null if the character in question was inserted with s.append(), s.prepend() or s.replace().

s.prepend( content )

Prepends the string with the specified content. Returns this.

s.remove( start, end )

Removes the characters from start to end (of the original string, not the generated string). Removing the same content twice, or making removals that partially overlap, will cause an error. Returns this.

s.replace( start, end, content )

Replaces the characters from start to end with content. The same restrictions as s.remove() apply. Returns this.

s.slice( start, end )

Returns the content of the generated string that corresponds to the slice between start and end of the original string. Throws error if the indices are for characters that were already removed.

s.toString()

Returns the generated string.

s.trim([ charType ])

Trims content matching charType (defaults to \s, i.e. whitespace) from the start and end. Returns this.

s.trimStart([ charType ])

Trims content matching charType (defaults to \s, i.e. whitespace) from the start. Returns this.

s.trimEnd([ charType ])

Trims content matching charType (defaults to \s, i.e. whitespace) from the end. Returns this.

s.trimLines()

Removes empty lines from the start and end. Returns this.

Bundling

To concatenate several sources, use MagicString.Bundle:

var bundle = new MagicString.Bundle();

bundle.addSource({
  filename: 'foo.js',
  content: new MagicString( 'var answer = 42;' )
});

bundle.addSource({
  filename: 'bar.js',
  content: new MagicString( 'console.log( answer )' )
});

// Advanced: a source can include an `indentExclusionRanges` property
// alongside `filename` and `content`. This will be passed to `s.indent()`
// - see documentation above

bundle.indent() // optionally, pass an indent string, otherwise it will be guessed
  .prepend( '(function () {\n' )
  .append( '}());' );

bundle.toString();
// (function () {
//   var answer = 42;
//   console.log( answer );
// }());

// options are as per `s.generateMap()` above
var map = bundle.generateMap({
  file: 'bundle.js',
  includeContent: true,
  hires: true
});

License

MIT