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# delayed-stream | |
Buffers events from a stream until you are ready to handle them. | |
## Installation | |
``` bash | |
npm install delayed-stream | |
``` | |
## Usage | |
The following example shows how to write a http echo server that delays its | |
response by 1000 ms. | |
``` javascript | |
var DelayedStream = require('delayed-stream'); | |
var http = require('http'); | |
http.createServer(function(req, res) { | |
var delayed = DelayedStream.create(req); | |
setTimeout(function() { | |
res.writeHead(200); | |
delayed.pipe(res); | |
}, 1000); | |
}); | |
``` | |
If you are not using `Stream#pipe`, you can also manually release the buffered | |
events by calling `delayedStream.resume()`: | |
``` javascript | |
var delayed = DelayedStream.create(req); | |
setTimeout(function() { | |
// Emit all buffered events and resume underlaying source | |
delayed.resume(); | |
}, 1000); | |
``` | |
## Implementation | |
In order to use this meta stream properly, here are a few things you should | |
know about the implementation. | |
### Event Buffering / Proxying | |
All events of the `source` stream are hijacked by overwriting the `source.emit` | |
method. Until node implements a catch-all event listener, this is the only way. | |
However, delayed-stream still continues to emit all events it captures on the | |
`source`, regardless of whether you have released the delayed stream yet or | |
not. | |
Upon creation, delayed-stream captures all `source` events and stores them in | |
an internal event buffer. Once `delayedStream.release()` is called, all | |
buffered events are emitted on the `delayedStream`, and the event buffer is | |
cleared. After that, delayed-stream merely acts as a proxy for the underlaying | |
source. | |
### Error handling | |
Error events on `source` are buffered / proxied just like any other events. | |
However, `delayedStream.create` attaches a no-op `'error'` listener to the | |
`source`. This way you only have to handle errors on the `delayedStream` | |
object, rather than in two places. | |
### Buffer limits | |
delayed-stream provides a `maxDataSize` property that can be used to limit | |
the amount of data being buffered. In order to protect you from bad `source` | |
streams that don't react to `source.pause()`, this feature is enabled by | |
default. | |
## API | |
### DelayedStream.create(source, [options]) | |
Returns a new `delayedStream`. Available options are: | |
* `pauseStream` | |
* `maxDataSize` | |
The description for those properties can be found below. | |
### delayedStream.source | |
The `source` stream managed by this object. This is useful if you are | |
passing your `delayedStream` around, and you still want to access properties | |
on the `source` object. | |
### delayedStream.pauseStream = true | |
Whether to pause the underlaying `source` when calling | |
`DelayedStream.create()`. Modifying this property afterwards has no effect. | |
### delayedStream.maxDataSize = 1024 * 1024 | |
The amount of data to buffer before emitting an `error`. | |
If the underlaying source is emitting `Buffer` objects, the `maxDataSize` | |
refers to bytes. | |
If the underlaying source is emitting JavaScript strings, the size refers to | |
characters. | |
If you know what you are doing, you can set this property to `Infinity` to | |
disable this feature. You can also modify this property during runtime. | |
### delayedStream.dataSize = 0 | |
The amount of data buffered so far. | |
### delayedStream.readable | |
An ECMA5 getter that returns the value of `source.readable`. | |
### delayedStream.resume() | |
If the `delayedStream` has not been released so far, `delayedStream.release()` | |
is called. | |
In either case, `source.resume()` is called. | |
### delayedStream.pause() | |
Calls `source.pause()`. | |
### delayedStream.pipe(dest) | |
Calls `delayedStream.resume()` and then proxies the arguments to `source.pipe`. | |
### delayedStream.release() | |
Emits and clears all events that have been buffered up so far. This does not | |
resume the underlaying source, use `delayedStream.resume()` instead. | |
## License | |
delayed-stream is licensed under the MIT license. | |