Node.js synchronous prompt

Question

I'm using the prompt library for Node.js and I have this code:

var fs = require('fs'),
    prompt = require('prompt'),
    toCreate = toCreate.toLowerCase(),
    stats = fs.lstatSync('./' + toCreate);

if(stats.isDirectory()){
    prompt.start();
    var property = {
        name: 'yesno',
        message: 'Directory esistente vuoi continuare lo stesso? (y/n)',
        validator: /y[es]*|n[o]?/,
        warning: 'Must respond yes or no',
        default: 'no'
    };
    prompt.get(property, function(err, result) {                
        if(result === 'no'){
            console.log('Annullato!');
            process.exit(0);
        }
    });
}
console.log("creating ", toCreate);
console.log('\nAll done, exiting'.green.inverse);

If the prompt is show it seems that it doesn't block code execution but the execution continues and the last two messages by the console are shown while I still have to answer the question.

Is there a way to make it blocking?

Answer 1

With flatiron's prompt library, unfortunately, there is no way to have the code blocking. However, I might suggest my own sync-prompt library. Like the name implies, it allows you to synchronously prompt users for input.

With it, you'd simply issue a function call, and get back the user's command line input:

var prompt = require('sync-prompt').prompt;

var name = prompt('What is your name? ');
// User enters "Mike".

console.log('Hello, ' + name + '!');
// -> Hello, Mike!

var hidden = true;
var password = prompt('Password: ', hidden);
// User enters a password, but nothing will be written to the screen.

So give it a try, if you'd like.

Bear in mind: DO NOT use this on web applications. It should only be used on command line applications.