How to watch symlink'ed files in node.js using watchFile()

Question

I am trying to monitor a file that is (soft) symlink\'ed with node.js\' watchFile() with the following code:

var fs=require(\'fs\')
    , file= \'./somesymli         


        

Answer 1

You could use fs.readlink:

fs.readlink(file, function(err, realFile) {
    if(!err) {
        fs.watch(realFile, ... );
    }
});

Of course, you could get fancier and write a little wrapper that can watch either the file or it's link, so you don't have to think about it.

UPDATE: Here's such a wrapper, for the future:

/** Helper for watchFile, also handling symlinks */
function watchFile(path, callback) {
    // Check if it's a link
    fs.lstat(path, function(err, stats) {
        if(err) {
            // Handle errors
            return callback(err);
        } else if(stats.isSymbolicLink()) {
            // Read symlink
            fs.readlink(path, function(err, realPath) {
                // Handle errors
                if(err) return callback(err);
                // Watch the real file
                fs.watch(realPath, callback);
            });
        } else {
            // It's not a symlink, just watch it
            fs.watch(path, callback);
        }
    });
}