# What does it do?

It autoreloads Node.JS in case of any file changes. 


    $ npm install dev -g

    $ node-dev app.js

    Starting: app.js
    > server is listening on http://127.0.0.1:8080</pre>

`node-dev` will rerun `app.js` whenever one of the watched files is
changed.

The module is based on inotify. So, unlike most other modules of this kind, *it starts watching new files automatically*. 

A number of additional options make the module really flexible and extendible.

## Install

`npm install dev -g`

Global installation is preferred to have `node-dev` utility in path.

### Advanced usage

The `node-dev` is a tiny file which basically contains:

    var manager = require("dev")(options);
    manager.start();


The options are:

#### Running

- `run`: the js file to run, e.g `./app.js`, it is the only required option.

#### Watch/Ignore

- `watchDir`: the folder to watch recursively, default: `.`
- `ignoredPaths` [ paths ]: array of ignored paths, which are not watched, members can be:
    * `string`, matched exactly against path, like `./public`,
    * `RegExp`, e.g an extension check: `/\.gif$/`
    * `function(path)`, which takes the path and returns `true` if it should be ignored

#### Logging
- `debug`: enables additional logging output about watches and changes, default: `false`
- `logger`: custom logger object, must have `error(...)` and `debug(...)` methods, delegates to `console.log` by default. Can use any other logger.

#### Info
- `onRunOutput`: callback `function(output)`, called for `stdout` data from the running process
- `onRunError`: callback `function(output)`, called for `stderr` data from the running process

You can use these to send error notifications and integrate with your development environment if you wish.

### Troubleshooting

There are limits on the number of watched files in inotify.
So make sure that you only watch <i>your modules</i>, not all 3rd-party npm stuff.

To change the limit:

    $ echo 16384 > /proc/sys/fs/inotify/max_user_watches

Or:

    $ sudo sysctl fs.inotify.max_user_watches=16364

To make the change permanent, edit the file `/etc/sysctl.conf` and add this line to the end of the file:

    fs.inotify.max_user_watches=16384


### TODO

Tell me which features you miss?

Use Github issue tracker for that.

Thank you.