Create Component

create-component is a node command line tool that will scaffold a new multi-file component directory with a project's often opinionated component structure, ideally containing just the right amount of starter code to get a developer started building. The difference between this generator and others is that the template is 100% controlled by the developers of the project.

Usage

From the project directory root, fire the create-component command, pointing to any directory that contains a _Template directory.

npx @dreamsicle.io/create-component [options] <name>

Getting started

All that is necessary to start using the tool is a component name name, which corresponds to a pascal-cased string that will serve as the component name, and a relative --path/-p that contains a _Template directory (or other directory as specified by the -t/--templateDir option).

1. Install

While it is possible to run this script without installing it by using npx, it is recomended to install the package to the project's development dependencies in order to be able to rely on the behavior of the script version to version.

npm install --save-dev @dreamsicle.io/create-component

2. Set up scripts

While it is possible to run this script directly, it is recommended that you add scripts to your package.json file in order to make using this tool easier and faster. The app structure isn't likely to change in any given project often, so this will help in making the usage more consistent.

The scripts name arg can be passed through to the script when running it through npm, therefore all that is recommended is to set up a script corresponding to each path that contains a _Template directory (or other directory as specified by the -t/--templateDir option).

Setting up scripts is simple ― consider an application with the following structure:

/root
―――― /src
―――――――― /components
―――――――――――― /_Template
―――――――― /partials
―――――――――――― /_Template
―――――――― /pages
―――――――――――― /_Template

A great way to set up the app in this case would be to add the following to the scripts key on the project root's package.json.

{
	"scripts": {
		"create-component": "create-component -p src/components",
		"create-partial": "create-component -p src/partials",
		"create-page": "create-component -p src/pages"
	}
}

Note: If your templates live outside of the directory you want them to be created in, use the -o or --outputPath option to set the output path.

Note: If you want the template directory to have a different name than _Template for stylistic or conflict reasons, use the -t/--templateDir option.

3. Run the scripts

Given the scripts created in step #2 above, run them as follows ― being sure to provide a component name after the script name. These commands will clone the _Template directory in each of the corresponding project directories and will perform replacements both on the file names themselves as well as on the text content within the files.

npm run create-component MyComponent

npm run create-partial MyPartial

npm run create-page MyPage

Note: Change MyComponent/MyPartial/MyPage to the desired component name.

Replacements

The following table documents which text nodes will be operated on when the _Template directory is cloned. Use these anywhere within the content. For file name replacements, consult the Runs on file name column of the table below.

Placeholder	Replacement	Example	Runs on content	Runs on file name
_Template	A pascal-cased component name	MyComponent	✔️	✔️
_template	A param-cased component name	my-component	✔️	✔️
_version	The root package's version	1.0.0	✔️	❌
_date	The date as m/d/yyyy	3/23/2022	✔️	❌

Note: The _Template and _template replacements are not affected by the -t/--templateDir option.

Coming soon: Version 2.0.0 will provide an API for adding custom replacements to the script.

Logging

The tool will log its progress and errors in the console, exiting on completion and fatal errors.

⚡ Creating component: MyComponent

📁 Directory cloned: src\components\MyComponent

🔨 File built: src\components\MyComponent\MyComponent.scss
🔨 File built: src\components\MyComponent\MyComponent.stories.tsx
🔨 File built: src\components\MyComponent\MyComponent.test.tsx
🔨 File built: src\components\MyComponent\MyComponent.tsx

🎉 Created component: MyComponent

Note: The above is what would be created and logged given a provided component name of MyComponent and a src/components/_Template directory with the following files: _Template.tsx, _Template.scss, _Template.stories.tsx, and _Template.test.tsx.

Help

To get help with the tool and to learn more about usage and the available options, use the --help or -h flag. This will output all help information available including how to use the command, option flags, option descriptions, and option defaults.

npx @dreamsicle.io/create-component --help

The above would ouput the following help information:

Usage: @dreamsicle.io/create-component [options] <name>

Create a templated component structure.

Arguments:
  name                        The name of the component

Options:
  -V, --version               output the version number
  -p, --path <string>         The relative path where the template to be used lives
  -o, --outputPath [string]   The relative path where the component should be placed, if different from the template path
  -t, --templateDir <string>  The name of the template directory (default: "_Template")
  -v, --verbose               Output extra information to the console (default: false)
  -h, --help                  display help for command