gulp js src - copy and usage of base

Question

I have gulp task to copy js files

This doesn't work

gulp.src('./**/*.js', {base: '../src/main/'})
    .pipe(gulp.dest('../target/dist'));

This works:

gulp.src('../src/main/**/*.js', {base: '../src/main/'})
        .pipe(gulp.dest('../target/dist'));

So whats the use of base here ? if i have to put whole path in first param, why should i use base ?

is there any official documentation about gulp src ? is it worth using gulp over grunt with limited documentation ?

[UPDATE BASED ON COMMENT]
Why am i using base ?

Please read this Looking for way to copy files in gulp and rename based on parent directory

and moreoever gulp.src can take array of paths so i would need base.

Answer 1

The use of .src() is documented on the vinyl-fs github repo: https://github.com/wearefractal/vinyl-fs

The base property is used to determine the file names when saving in .dest().

I think you need to set the current working directory:

gulp
  .src('./**/*.js', {cwd: '../src/main/'})
  .pipe(gulp.dest('../target/dist'))
;