/multiline

Multiline strings in JavaScript

Primary LanguageJavaScriptMIT LicenseMIT

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Multiline strings in JavaScript

No more string concatenation or array join!

Note that ES6 will have template string which can be multiline, but time...

Before

var str = '' +
'<!doctype html>' +
'<html>' +
'	<body>' +
'		<h1>❤ unicorns</h1>' +
'	</body>' +
'</html>' +
'';

After

var str = multiline(function(){/*
<!doctype html>
<html>
	<body>
		<h1>❤ unicorns</h1>
	</body>
</html>
*/});

How

It works by wrapping the text in a block comment, anonymous function, and a function call. The anonymous function is passed into the function call and the contents of the comment extracted.

Even though it's slower than string concat, that shouldn't realistically matter as you can still do 2 million of those a second. Convenience over micro performance always.

Install

$ npm install --save multiline

Usage

Everything after the first newline and before the last will be returned as seen below:

var str = multiline(function(){/*
<!doctype html>
<html>
	<body>
		<h1>❤ unicorns</h1>
	</body>
</html>
*/});

Which outputs:

<!doctype html>
<html>
	<body>
		<h1>❤ unicorns</h1>
	</body>
</html>

Strip indent

You can use multiline.stripIndent() to be able to indent your multiline string without preserving the redundant leading whitespace.

	var str = multiline.stripIndent(function(){/*
			<!doctype html>
			<html>
				<body>
					<h1>❤ unicorns</h1>
				</body>
			</html>
	*/});

Which outputs:

<!doctype html>
<html>
	<body>
		<h1>❤ unicorns</h1>
	</body>
</html>

Use cases

Have one? Let me know.

Experiment

I've also done an experiment where you don't need the anonymous function. It's too fragile and slow to be practical though.

It generates a callstack and extracts the contents of the comment in the function call.

var str = multiline(/*
<!doctype html>
<html>
	<body>
		<h1>❤ unicorns</h1>
	</body>
</html>
*/);

FAQ

But JS already has multiline strings with \?

var str = 'foo\
bar';

This is not a multiline string. It's line-continuation. It doesn't preserve newlines, which is the main reason for wanting multiline strings.

You would need to do the following:

var str = 'foo\n\
bar';

But then you could just as well concatenate:

var str = 'foo\n' +
'bar';

Note that ES6 will have real multiline strings.

Browser

While it does work fine in the browser, it's mainly intended for use in Node.js. Use at your own risk.

Install

$ bower install --save multiline
$ component install sindresorhus/multiline

Compatibility

  • Latest Chrome
  • Firefox >=17
  • Safari >=4
  • Opera >=9
  • Internet Explorer >=6

Minification

Even though minifiers strip comments by default there are ways to preserve them:

  • Uglify: Use /*@preserve instead of /* and enable the comments option
  • Closure Compiler: Use /*@preserve instead of /*
  • YUI Compressor: Use /*! instead of /*

You also need to add console.log after the comment so it's not removed as dead-code.

The final result would be:

var str = multiline(function(){/*!@preserve
<!doctype html>
<html>
	<body>
		<h1>❤ unicorns</h1>
	</body>
</html>
*/console.log});

License

MIT © Sindre Sorhus