# require-directory
Recursively iterates over specified directory, `require()`'ing each file, and returning a nested hash structure containing those modules.
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[](https://nodei.co/npm/require-directory/)
[](http://travis-ci.org/troygoode/node-require-directory)
## How To Use
### Installation (via [npm](https://npmjs.org/package/require-directory))
```bash
$ npm install require-directory
```
### Usage
A common pattern in node.js is to include an index file which creates a hash of the files in its current directory. Given a directory structure like so:
* app.js
* routes/
* index.js
* home.js
* auth/
* login.js
* logout.js
* register.js
`routes/index.js` uses `require-directory` to build the hash (rather than doing so manually) like so:
```javascript
var requireDirectory = require('require-directory');
module.exports = requireDirectory(module);
```
`app.js` references `routes/index.js` like any other module, but it now has a hash/tree of the exports from the `./routes/` directory:
```javascript
var routes = require('./routes');
// snip
app.get('/', routes.home);
app.get('/register', routes.auth.register);
app.get('/login', routes.auth.login);
app.get('/logout', routes.auth.logout);
```
The `routes` variable above is the equivalent of this:
```javascript
var routes = {
home: require('routes/home.js'),
auth: {
login: require('routes/auth/login.js'),
logout: require('routes/auth/logout.js'),
register: require('routes/auth/register.js')
}
};
```
*Note that `routes.index` will be `undefined` as you would hope.*
### Specifying Another Directory
You can specify which directory you want to build a tree of (if it isn't the current directory for whatever reason) by passing it as the second parameter. Not specifying the path (`requireDirectory(module)`) is the equivelant of `requireDirectory(module, __dirname)`:
```javascript
var requireDirectory = require('require-directory');
module.exports = requireDirectory(module, './some/subdirectory');
```
For example, in the [example in the Usage section](#usage) we could have avoided creating `routes/index.js` and instead changed the first lines of `app.js` to:
```javascript
var requireDirectory = require('require-directory');
var routes = requireDirectory(module, './routes');
```
## Options
You can pass an options hash to `require-directory` as the 2nd parameter (or 3rd if you're passing the path to another directory as the 2nd parameter already). Here are the available options:
### Whitelisting
Whitelisting (either via RegExp or function) allows you to specify that only certain files be loaded.
```javascript
var requireDirectory = require('require-directory'),
whitelist = /onlyinclude.js$/,
hash = requireDirectory(module, {include: whitelist});
```
```javascript
var requireDirectory = require('require-directory'),
check = function(path){
if(/onlyinclude.js$/.test(path)){
return true; // don't include
}else{
return false; // go ahead and include
}
},
hash = requireDirectory(module, {include: check});
```
### Blacklisting
Blacklisting (either via RegExp or function) allows you to specify that all but certain files should be loaded.
```javascript
var requireDirectory = require('require-directory'),
blacklist = /dontinclude\.js$/,
hash = requireDirectory(module, {exclude: blacklist});
```
```javascript
var requireDirectory = require('require-directory'),
check = function(path){
if(/dontinclude\.js$/.test(path)){
return false; // don't include
}else{
return true; // go ahead and include
}
},
hash = requireDirectory(module, {exclude: check});
```
### Visiting Objects As They're Loaded
`require-directory` takes a function as the `visit` option that will be called for each module that is added to module.exports.
```javascript
var requireDirectory = require('require-directory'),
visitor = function(obj) {
console.log(obj); // will be called for every module that is loaded
},
hash = requireDirectory(module, {visit: visitor});
```
The visitor can also transform the objects by returning a value:
```javascript
var requireDirectory = require('require-directory'),
visitor = function(obj) {
return obj(new Date());
},
hash = requireDirectory(module, {visit: visitor});
```
### Renaming Keys
```javascript
var requireDirectory = require('require-directory'),
renamer = function(name) {
return name.toUpperCase();
},
hash = requireDirectory(module, {rename: renamer});
```
### No Recursion
```javascript
var requireDirectory = require('require-directory'),
hash = requireDirectory(module, {recurse: false});
```
## Run Unit Tests
```bash
$ npm run lint
$ npm test
```
## License
[MIT License](http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php)
## Author
[Troy Goode](https://github.com/TroyGoode) ([troygoode@gmail.com](mailto:troygoode@gmail.com))
