Menu
CoddyTech

Reading Input

Part of the Node.js Basics section of Coddy's Node.js journey. Lesson 21 of 24.

Adding notes one command at a time is slow when the list already exists somewhere else.

A program can read input from stdin, the stream a pipe or the keyboard fills. for await (const chunk of process.stdin) reads it piece by piece until it ends. Join the pieces, then split them into lines.

// cat numbers.txt | node sum.js
let input = '';
for await (const chunk of process.stdin) {
    input += chunk;
}
const numbers = input.split('\n').filter((line) => line !== '').map(Number);
console.log(numbers.reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0));

Here the terminal's Input box fills stdin. Text usually ends with a newline, so the last line is empty: drop empty lines.

challenge icon

Challenge

Easy
  • node notes.js import reads its input, saves one note per line and prints Imported 3 notes..
  • Blank lines are skipped, and spaces around a line are trimmed.

Type three lines in the Input box, with a blank line between two of them, and run node notes.js import. Then run it with the box empty.

Try it yourself

// Your notes tool starts here.
import { rmSync } from 'node:fs';
import path from 'node:path';
import { formatNote } from './format.js';
import stats from './legacy/stats.cjs';
import store from './store.js';

const [command, ...words] = process.argv.slice(2);
const text = words.join(' ');

store.on('added', (note, n) => {
    console.log(`Saved note ${n}.`);
});

const noteNumber = (word) => {
    const n = Number(word);
    if (!Number.isInteger(n) || n < 1 || n > store.notes.length) {
        console.error(`No note ${word}`);
        process.exit(1);
    }
    return n;
};

if (command === 'add') {
    await store.add(text);
} else if (command === 'list') {
    const owner = process.env.NOTES_OWNER ?? 'you';
    console.log(`Notes for ${owner}`);
    if (store.notes.length === 0) {
        console.log('No notes yet');
    }
    const lines = store.notes.map((note, i) => formatNote(i + 1, note));
    if (store.settings.sort === 'newest') {
        lines.reverse();
    }
    lines.forEach((line) => console.log(line));
} else if (command === 'where') {
    const file = path.join(process.cwd(), 'notes.json');
    console.log(file);
    console.log(path.basename(file));
} else if (command === 'stats') {
    console.log(`${store.notes.length} notes, ${stats.countWords(store.notes)} words`);
} else if (command === 'done') {
    const removed = await store.remove(noteNumber(words[0]));
    console.log(`Done: ${removed}`);
} else if (command === 'remind') {
    const note = store.notes[noteNumber(words[0]) - 1];
    let count = 3;
    const timer = setInterval(() => {
        if (count > 0) {
            console.log(count);
            count -= 1;
        } else {
            console.log(note);
            clearInterval(timer);
        }
    }, 200);
} else if (command === 'clear') {
    rmSync('notes.json', { force: true });
    console.log('Deleted notes.json');
} else {
    if (command) {
        console.error(`Unknown command: ${command}`);
    }
    console.error('Usage: node notes.js <command> [words]');
    process.exit(1);
}

All lessons in Node.js Basics