npm global packages: Reference content files from package

Question

I'm in the process of building an npm package which will be installed globally. Is it possible to have non-code files installed alongside code files that can be referenced from code files?

For example, if my package includes someTextFile.txt and a module.js file (and my package.json includes "bin": {"someCommand":"./module.js"}) can I read the contents of someTextFile.txt into memory in module.js? How would I do that?

Answer 1

The following is an example of a module that loads the contents of a file (string) into the global scope.

core.js : the main module file (entry point of package.json)

//:Understanding: module.exports
module.exports = {
 reload:(cb)=>{ console.log("[>] Magick reloading to memory"); ReadSpellBook(cb)}
}
//:Understanding: global object
//the following function is only accesible by the magick module
const ReadSpellBook=(cb)=>{
 require('fs').readFile(__dirname+"/spellBook.txt","utf8",(e,theSpells)=>{
  if(e){ console.log("[!] The Spell Book is MISSING!\n"); cb(e)}
  else{ 
    console.log("[*] Reading Spell Book") 
    //since we want to make the contents of .txt accesible :
    global.SpellBook = theSpells // global.SpellBook is now shared accross all the code (global scope)
    cb()//callBack
  }
 })
}
//·: Initialize :.
console.log("[+] Time for some Magick!")
ReadSpellBook((e)=>e?console.log(e):console.log(SpellBook))

spellBook.txt

ᚠ   ᚡ   ᚢ   ᚣ   ᚤ   ᚥ   ᚦ   ᚧ   ᚨ   ᚩ   ᚪ   ᚫ   ᚬ   ᚭ   ᚮ   ᚯ
ᚰ   ᚱ   ᚲ   ᚳ   ᚴ   ᚵ   ᚶ   ᚷ   ᚸ   ᚹ   ᚺ   ᚻ   ᚼ   ᚽ   ᚾ   ᚿ
ᛀ   ᛁ   ᛂ   ᛃ   ᛄ   ᛅ   ᛆ   ᛇ   ᛈ   ᛉ   ᛊ   ᛋ   ᛌ   ᛍ   ᛎ   ᛏ
ᛐ   ᛑ   ᛒ   ᛓ   ᛔ   ᛕ   ᛖ   ᛗ   ᛘ   ᛙ   ᛚ   ᛛ   ᛜ   ᛝ   ᛞ   ᛟ
ᛠ   ᛡ   ᛢ   ᛣ   ᛤ   ᛥ   ᛦ   ᛧ   ᛨ   ᛩ   ᛪ   ᛫   ᛬   ᛭   ᛮ   ᛯ

---

If you require it from another piece of code, you will see how it prints to the console and initializes by itself.

If you want to achieve a manual initalization, simply remove the 3 last lines (·: Initialize :.) and use reload() :

const magick = require("core.js")
magick.reload((error)=>{ if(error){throw error}else{ 
  //now you know the SpellBook is loaded
  console.log(SpellBook.length)
})