putdoc

PUT a folder as JSON, in CouchDB "traditional couchapp" style, via simple node.js tool.

Usage

Install putdoc, and then use it to push a JSON "document folder" to a CouchDB database:

npm install --global putdoc
putdoc /path/to/ddoc-folder http://localhost:5984/some-db

Or within a node.js project:

npm install --save-dev putdoc
# simple shell example, more likely you would use `putdoc` from a package.json script…
export PATH=$PATH:./node_modules/.bin
putdoc . http://localhost:5984/some-db

"Document folder" structure

A design document folder is turned into an object using each file or subfolder's name as a key (dropping any extension).

The UTF-8 content of most files are used as a (string) value, and subfolders become nested objects.

Files with the .json extension are parsed to support other datatypes like arrays/numbers/boolean.

If there is an "_attachments" subfolder, the binary files are uploaded verbatim under their original subpaths. The content type will be guessed based on each file's extension.

If there is a "_docs" subfolder, it may contain a mix of either .json files and/or nested "document folder" structures. These will be uploaded alongside the main document. This is useful for seeding app data, but be careful since any changes that have made in the database will be overwritten.

(For an alternate explanation of this overall structure, see The CouchApp Filesystem Mapping documentation. This implementation may differ slightly, but the general approach is the same.)

Bonus feature: merging multiple entries into an object

Within any object (e.g. document or subfolder), putdoc will recognize a special key named _data. The value of this field must be an object, and the entries of this object will be merged into its parent.

This is not part of the original CouchApp's filesystem mapping and may not be supported by any other utility; use advisedly if compatibility is a concern. Without this feature, you must choose between representing an object as:

1. a folder with all its entries as individual files
2. via a .json file within a parent object

This feature adds additional flexibility for organizing documents/sub-objects:

1. folder with individual entry files
2. single .json file within a parent
3. folder with entries in individual files and/or a _data.json file

This is especially useful at the top level document where you may want a folder structure for _attachments but also have lots of little fields that don't need their own files.

A few other tips: if you really have need, putdoc actually supports merging multiple objects where the first [dot-separated] part of the filename [i.e. key] is _data. That is, entries from _data.X.json, _data.generated.json, _data.json, and even _data.group1/ will all get merged into their parent object. Also, in a _docs folder any _data entries found will be mixed in to all the documents in that folder.

In all cases, the precendence of keys defined in multiple places is currently unspecified and subject to random chance/future change.

Examples

A design document might have a folder like:

my_app_repo/
  _id         ('_design/glob')
  language    ('javascript')
  views/
    by_date/
      map.js
      reduce.js
    by_path/
      map.js
  rewrites.json
  lists/
    posts.js
  lib/
    atom.js
    date.js
    glob.js
    …
  templates/
    theme.html
  _attachments/
    logo.png
    nerdishness.html

You could then update the "_design/glob" document in a local "dev_db" by using the following command:

putdoc . http://some_admin:their_password@localhost:5984/dev_db

Regular documents

You can use putdoc for regular documents too, if you have need:

freedom_day
  _id         ('event-863798f3-c427-4519-951f-752682aee66a')
  name        ('Juneteenth')
  timestamp   ('1865-06-19T09:00:00-05:00')
  alt_names.json ('["Juneteenth Independence Day", "Freedom Day"]')

Simply becomes this when uploaded:

{
  "_id": "event-863798f3-c427-4519-951f-752682aee66a",
  "name": "First Juneteenth",
  "timestamp": "1865-06-19T09:00:00-05:00",
  "alt_names": ["Juneteenth Independence Day", "Freedom Day"]
}

This would probably be more useful with a document that had attachments, although note that putdoc does not handle large attachments well.

Multiple documents

As in the original CouchApp spec, any document can have a _docs folder containing nested documents and these will be uploaded separately.

You can also use putdoc on a folder of regular and/or design documents, using the --docs CLI flag:

sample_data
  doc1.json
  doc2.json
  doc3
    info      ("this document has some attachments")
    _attachments
      file1.txt
      file2.txt

Running putdoc --docs ./sample_data http://localhost:5984/my_data will upload three documents (doc1/doc2/doc3) to the my_data database, with no "parent" document corresponding to the sample_data folder itself.

Merged data

If you wish to group some of the ddoc's smaller files into a single JSON, you could accomplish the same result as the first example above using "merged data":

my_app_repo/
  _data.json  ('{"id":"_design/glob","language":"javascript"}')
  views/
    …
  rewrites.json
  …
  _attachments/
    logo.png
    nerdishness.html

Or for sharing common fields between multiple documents:

sample_group
  _id           ('grp-dd6cde182fe78abb23ad8e40c2db5cf7')
  _data.json    ('{"name":"Sample", "info":"this is the parent container"}')
  _docs
    _data.json  ('{"group_id":"grp-dd6cde182fe78abb23ad8e40c2db5cf7"}')
    doc1.json   ('{"info":"first child"}')
    doc2.json   ('{"info":"second child"}')
    doc3
      info      ('this third child has some attachments')
      _attachments
        file1.txt
        file2.txt

This would upload four documents, three of which include a shared entry:

{
  "_id": "grp-dd6cde182fe78abb23ad8e40c2db5cf7",
  "name": "Sample",
  "info": "this is the parent container"
}

{
  "_id": "doc1",
  "info": "first child",
  "group_id":"grp-dd6cde182fe78abb23ad8e40c2db5cf7"
}

{
  "_id": "doc2",
  "info": "second child",
  "group_id":"grp-dd6cde182fe78abb23ad8e40c2db5cf7"
}

{
  "_id": "doc2",
  "info": "this third child has some attachments",
  "group_id":"grp-dd6cde182fe78abb23ad8e40c2db5cf7",
  "_attachments": {
    "file1.txt": {/* … */},
    "file2.txt": {/* … */}
  }
}

See also

• couchapp (in Python) might be the original tool that supported this format and offers an easy pip install couchapp.

• Erica is an Erlang port that seems similar to the original couchapp tool

• couchdb-push is a similar tool to deploy CouchDB documents from directory, JSON or CommonJS module.

• Kanso is also in node.js and has a traditional-couchapp plugin to support the same folder structure albeit still requiring a kanso.json configuration file.

• node.couchapp.js — this uses a different app format, iirc this was a precursor to the "normal Kanso"–style apps rather than the "Traditional CouchApp" style.

• I also have a utility that lets you require() a traditional-style design document into your node app, called ddoc. This can help you migrate design document code (like validators or views) out of the database and into middleware should you need that.

• json-fs — converts JSON to files and directories and back, but using a different mapping than the couchapp one.

ISC License

Copyright © 2017–2019 Nathan Vander Wilt

Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.