Using Aliases

Aliases make it easier to generate multiple files using one command. We can only create aliases through a config file.

To create an alias, open gnerate.config.js, and add an alias key.

Example:

modules.export = {
    templatePath: path.resolve(__dirname, "./__templates__"),
    alias: {
        componentAndReducer: {
            component: {
                filename: "component.js"
            },
            reducer: {
                filename: "reducer.js"
            }
        }
    }
};

Let’s break down the structure of the alias.

Alias Structure

Alias Name

Aliases come in two parts. The first is what we will call the alias. This alias name will be the first set of keys in the alias object.

Example:

alias: {
    aliasName1: {},
    aliasName2: {}
}

The alias name is what we will tell Gnerate to use when creating files. Say we want to use aliasName2. Our command would look like: gnerate aliasName2 ./dest. (NOTE: Notice that we don’t provide a filename as the second argument. Aliases require that only a directory is provided.)

Template Names

The second part of the alias object tells Gnerate what templates to use. From our first example, componentAndReducer will generate two files using two templates. These templates are component and reducer.

Example:

alias: {
        componentAndReducer: {
            // the template component found in the __templates__ directory
            component: { 
                filename: "component.js"
            },
            // the template reducer found in the __templates__ directory
            reducer: {
                filename: "reducer.js"
            }
        }
    }

Since aliases generate more than one file, we need a way to specify what we will name these files. this is done through using filename, which requires a name and an extension.

Using Aliases in the Terminal

Aliases are simple to use, but differ from the regular Gnerate command. As mentioned, when using an alias we have to provide a directory to write to instead of a file. gnerate [aliasName] [directory]

All regular command line arguments are valid with aliases.