Package: httpwatcher
Overviewhttpwatcheris both a library and command-line utility for firing up
a simple HTTP server to serve static files from a specific root path.
Live reloading is triggered via web sockets.Notethathttpwatcheris intended for developers during testing
of their static web sites, and is not at all intended as a production
web server.RequirementsIn order to installhttpwatcher, you will need:Python 2.7+ or Python 3.5+piporeasy_installInstallationWith yourvirtual
environmentactive, run the
following:>pipinstallhttpwatcherTo upgrade to the latest version ofhttpwatcher, simply:>pipinstall-UhttpwatcherUsagehttpwatchercan either be used from the command line, or as a
drop-in library within your own Python application.Command-Line UsageThe quickest way to get up and running is to watch the current folder
and serve your content fromhttp://localhost:5555as follows:# Also opens your web browser at http://localhost:5555>httpwatcher# To get more help>httpwatcher--helpWith all possible options:>httpwatcher--root/path/to/html\# static root from which to serve files--watch"/path1,/path2"\# comma-separated list of paths to watch (defaults to the static root)--host127.0.0.1\# bind to 127.0.0.1--port5556\# bind to port 5556--base-path/blog/\# serve static content from http://127.0.0.1:5556/blog/--verbose\# enable verbose debug logging--no-browser# causes httpwatcher to not attempt to open your web browser automaticallyLibrary UsageMake surehttpwatcheris installed as a dependency for your Python
project, and then:importhttpwatcher# Just watch /path/to/html, and serve from that same pathhttpwatcher.watch("/path/to/html")Notethat, unlikeHttpWatcherServer, thehttpwatcher.watchfunction automatically assumes that you want to open your default web
browser at the base URL of the served site. To avoid this, do the
following:importhttpwatcherhttpwatcher.watch("/path/to/html",open_browser=False)To use the watcher server directly and have more control over the I/O
loop:fromhttpwatcherimportHttpWatcherServerfromtornado.ioloopimportIOLoopdefcustom_callback():print("Web server reloading!")server=HttpWatcherServer("/path/to/html",# serve files from the folder /path/to/htmlwatch_paths=["/path1","/path2"],# watch these paths for changeson_reload=custom_callback,# optionally specify a custom callback to be called just before the server reloadshost="127.0.0.1",# bind to host 127.0.0.1port=5556,# bind to port 5556server_base_path="/blog/",# serve static content from http://127.0.0.1:5556/blog/watcher_interval=1.0,# maximum reload frequency (seconds)recursive=True,# watch for changes in /path/to/html recursivelyopen_browser=True# automatically attempt to open a web browser (default: False for HttpWatcherServer))server.listen()try:# will keep serving until someone hits Ctrl+CIOLoop.current().start()exceptKeyboardInterrupt:server.shutdown()httpwatcher.watchtakes mostly the same parameters as the
constructor parameters forHttpWatcherServer(except, as mentioned
earlier, for theopen_browserparameter). It’s just a convenience
method provided to instantiate and run a simpleHttpWatcherServer.Inner Workingshttpwatchermakes extensive use of theTornadoasynchronous web framework to
facilitate a combined asynchronous HTTP and WebSocket server. All HTML
content served that contains a closing</body>tag will
automatically have two<script>tags injected to facilitate the
WebSockets connection back to the server.The WebSockets endpoint is located athttp://localhost:5555/httpwatcherby default, and the JavaScript
file that facilitates the reloading is located athttp://localhost:5555/httpwatcher.min.jsby default (depending on
your host and port settings).BackgroundThe library came out of a need for a simple web server, capable of
serving static files with live reload capabilities, but also with the
ability to serve content from non-standard base paths (for example, fromhttp://somesite.com/blog/as opposed to always justhttp://somesite.com). More specifically, this was to be used inStatik- the static web
site generator.Thelivereloadlibrary was great for a while, until the real need came up for modifying
it, where the wheels came off the bus. More functional unit tests were
needed to validate the basic functionality, and more flexibility was
needed in some respects, sohttpwatcherwas built.ContributingFeel free to contribute! Fork the repository, make your changes in a
feature branch, and then submit a pull request.LicenseThe MIT License (MIT)Copyright (c) 2017 Thane ThomsonPermission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
“Software”), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
the following conditions:The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT,
TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.