Execute a command line binary with Node.js

user_1114095 0
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I am in the process of porting a CLI library from Ruby over to Node.js. In my code I execute several third party binaries when necessary. I am not sure how best to accomplish this in Node.

Here's an example in Ruby where I call PrinceXML to convert a file to a PDF:

cmd = system("prince -v builds/pdf/book.html -o builds/pdf/book.pdf")

What is the equivalent code in Node?

node.js command-line-interface ruby javascript
11 Answers

Now you can use shelljs (from node v4) as follows:

var shell = require('shelljs');

shell.echo('hello world');
shell.exec('node --version');

Install with

npm install shelljs

See https://github.com/shelljs/shelljs

user_8687910

Use this lightweight npm package: system-commands

Look at it here.

Import it like this:

const system = require('system-commands')

Run commands like this:

system('ls').then(output => {
    console.log(output)
}).catch(error => {
    console.error(error)
})
user_103129200

If you don't mind a dependency and want to use promises, child-process-promise works:

installation

npm install child-process-promise --save

exec Usage

var exec = require('child-process-promise').exec;
 
exec('echo hello')
    .then(function (result) {
        var stdout = result.stdout;
        var stderr = result.stderr;
        console.log('stdout: ', stdout);
        console.log('stderr: ', stderr);
    })
    .catch(function (err) {
        console.error('ERROR: ', err);
    });

spawn usage

var spawn = require('child-process-promise').spawn;
 
var promise = spawn('echo', ['hello']);
 
var childProcess = promise.childProcess;
 
console.log('[spawn] childProcess.pid: ', childProcess.pid);
childProcess.stdout.on('data', function (data) {
    console.log('[spawn] stdout: ', data.toString());
});
childProcess.stderr.on('data', function (data) {
    console.log('[spawn] stderr: ', data.toString());
});
 
promise.then(function () {
        console.log('[spawn] done!');
    })
    .catch(function (err) {
        console.error('[spawn] ERROR: ', err);
    });

ECMAScript Modules import...from syntax

import {exec} from 'child-process-promise';
let result = await exec('echo hi');
console.log(result.stdout);
user_5693020
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