camelton

Generate and synchronize data skeletons across files.

Introduction

camelton is a utility tool for generating and synchronizing data skeletons (schemas) across files. The tool can be used to compare the schema (object keys) between source and multiple destination data structures. Differences in schema are propagated to destination files. Use cases for camelton include synchronizing localization or configuration files, for example.

At the moment camelton only supports JSON formatted data.

Honoring the noble desert beast, the name camelton derives from the combination of the words camel and (data) skeleton -> camelton.

Camelton in a nutshell

Please see Usage examples for more info.

Installation

Git

git clone git@github.com:cowbellerina/camelton.git
cd camelton
npm install

Usage

CLI

camelton <source> <destination> [options]

Example

camelton source.json destination-1.json destination-2.json --sort=desc

Node

var camelton = new Camelton(source, destination, options);
camelton.run();

Example

var Camelton = require('camelton');

var camelton = new Camelton('source.json', ['destination-1.json', 'destination-2.json'], {sort: 'desc'});
camelton.run();

Options

--sort, -s

Type: string
Default: null
Values: "asc", "desc"

Sort order for destination objects.

--prune, -p

Type: boolean
Default: false
Values: true, false

Prune extra properties found in destination objects.

--placeholder, -c

Type: boolean
Default: false
Values: true, false

Add source object key as a value for empty destination object properties.

--verbose, -v

Type: boolean
Default: false
Values: true, false

Verbose output.

--help, -h

Outputs help and usage information.

--version, -V

Outputs version, license and copyright information.

Usage Examples

Default options

In the following example, the keys in source.json file are merged with the keys found in destination-1.json file. The keys are ordered according to the source file. Extra keys found in destination-1.json are added to the end of the JSON object in their original order. Values are not copied.

The contents of source.json file.

{
  "a": "a",
  "c": "c",
  "d": {
    "db": "db"
  }
}

The contents of destination-1.json file before running camelton.

{
  "b": "b",
  "c": "`c",
  "d": {
    "da": "da"
  }
}

Running camelton with default options.

var Camelton = require('camelton');

var camelton = new Camelton('source.json', 'destination-1.json');
camelton.run();

The contents of destination-1.json file after running camelton. The keys a and db are added to the JSON object. Existing keys da and b are preserved and added to the end of the objects.

The generated output.

{
  "a": "",
  "c": "`c",
  "d": {
    "db": "",
    "da": "da"
  },
  "b": "b"
}

Custom options

Sort

The keys in destination objects can be sorted by adding asc or desc sort option. Running camelton using the same source and destination files as in the previous example generates the following output with sort option on.

Ascending sort order.

var Camelton = require('camelton');

var camelton = new Camelton('source.json', 'destination-1.json', {sort: 'asc'});
camelton.run();

The generated output.

{
  "a": "",
  "b": "b",
  "c": "`c",
  "d": {
    "da": "da",
    "db": ""
  }
}

Descending sort order.

var Camelton = require('camelton');

var camelton = new Camelton('source.json', 'destination-1.json', {sort: 'desc'});
camelton.run();

The generated output.

{
  "d": {
    "db": "",
    "da": "da"
  },
  "c": "`c",
  "b": "b",
  "a": ""
}

Prune

Extra properties found in destination objects can be removed using the prune option.

var Camelton = require('camelton');

var camelton = new Camelton('source.json', 'destination-1.json', {prune: true});
camelton.run();

The generated output. b and da properties have been removed.

{
  "a": "",
  "c": "`c",
  "d": {
    "db": ""
  }
}

Placeholder

The key of the source object can be added as a placeholder value for empty destination objects properties using the placeholder option. Non-empty properties are never overridden.

The contents of source.json file.

{
  "aKey": "aValue",
  "cKey": "cValue",
  "dKey": {
    "dbKey": "dbValue"
  }
}

The contents of destination-1.json file before running camelton.

{
  "bKey": "bValue",
  "cKey": "`cValue",
  "dKey": {
    "daKey": "daValue"
  }
}

Running camelton with placeholder option.

var Camelton = require('camelton');

var camelton = new Camelton('source.json', 'destination-1.json', {placeholder: true});
camelton.run();

The generated output. aKey and dbKey properties have placeholder values of aKey and dbKey while other properties' previously existed values are retained.

{
  "aKey": "aKey",
  "cKey": "`cValue",
  "dKey": {
    "dbKey": "dbKey",
    "daKey": "daValue"
  },
  "bKey": "bValue"
}

Tests, development and documentation

Running linters and Nodeunit unit test

npm test

Running coverage

npm run-script coverage

Running JSHint and JSCS linters

grunt lint

Generating JSDoc documentation

grunt docs

Changelog

Please see changelog.

License

Copyright © cowbellerina

Licensed under the MIT license.