Node.js / Express.js实时显示文件更新

Question

I wanted to know if there was a module in node that was could be use the Express module to display updated information in the browser from the contents of a file.

I have a .csv file that is updated and I would like to display the updates in real time over the express page.

Is there anything that can do this? Would Meteor.js be a better alternative?

Thanks.

Answer 1

What you need is just a persistent connection, with the possibility for the server to "push" data to client, whenever the file change.

• To push data, Socket.io should do the job. It use Websockets to maintain persistent connection. You just emit a message from node, and on the client side, your Javascript listen to those messages. They can contain any data needed to update the page, with the help of JQuery for example.

• To watch the .csv file you can use fs.watch() as suggested below.

Answer 2

You could use fs.watch() ( http://nodejs.org/api/fs.html#fs_fs_watch_filename_options_listener ), but it does depend on the system node is running on. With that, you could use websockets to notify anyone 'watching' that file.

I believe that is pretty much what meteor does (haven't used it though, just did a little research on it).