Class StreamBuffer<I>

Event emitter The defined events on documents including:

1. close
2. data
3. end
4. error
5. pause
6. readable
7. resume

Destroy the stream. Optionally emit an 'error' event, and emit a 'close'event (unless emitClose is set to false). After this call, the readable stream will release any internal resources and subsequent calls to push()will be ignored.

Once destroy() has been called any further calls will be a no-op and no further errors except from _destroy() may be emitted as 'error'.

Implementors should not override this method, but instead implement readable._destroy().

Since

v8.0.0

Returns an array listing the events for which the emitter has registered listeners. The values in the array are strings or Symbols.

const EventEmitter = require('events');
const myEE = new EventEmitter();
myEE.on('foo', () => {});
myEE.on('bar', () => {});

const sym = Symbol('symbol');
myEE.on(sym, () => {});

console.log(myEE.eventNames());
// Prints: [ 'foo', 'bar', Symbol(symbol) ]

Since

v6.0.0

Returns the current max listener value for the EventEmitter which is either set by emitter.setMaxListeners(n) or defaults to defaultMaxListeners.

Since

v1.0.0

The readable.isPaused() method returns the current operating state of theReadable. This is used primarily by the mechanism that underlies thereadable.pipe() method. In most typical cases, there will be no reason to use this method directly.

const readable = new stream.Readable();

readable.isPaused(); // === false
readable.pause();
readable.isPaused(); // === true
readable.resume();
readable.isPaused(); // === false

Since

v0.11.14

Returns the number of listeners listening to the event named eventName.

Since

v3.2.0

Returns a copy of the array of listeners for the event named eventName.

server.on('connection', (stream) => {
  console.log('someone connected!');
});
console.log(util.inspect(server.listeners('connection')));
// Prints: [ [Function] ]

Since

v0.1.26

Alias for emitter.removeListener().

Since

v10.0.0

The readable.pause() method will cause a stream in flowing mode to stop emitting 'data' events, switching out of flowing mode. Any data that becomes available will remain in the internal buffer.

const readable = getReadableStreamSomehow();
readable.on('data', (chunk) => {
  console.log(`Received ${chunk.length} bytes of data.`);
  readable.pause();
  console.log('There will be no additional data for 1 second.');
  setTimeout(() => {
    console.log('Now data will start flowing again.');
    readable.resume();
  }, 1000);
});

The readable.pause() method has no effect if there is a 'readable'event listener.

Since

v0.9.4

Returns a copy of the array of listeners for the event named eventName, including any wrappers (such as those created by .once()).

const emitter = new EventEmitter();
emitter.once('log', () => console.log('log once'));

// Returns a new Array with a function `onceWrapper` which has a property
// `listener` which contains the original listener bound above
const listeners = emitter.rawListeners('log');
const logFnWrapper = listeners[0];

// Logs "log once" to the console and does not unbind the `once` event
logFnWrapper.listener();

// Logs "log once" to the console and removes the listener
logFnWrapper();

emitter.on('log', () => console.log('log persistently'));
// Will return a new Array with a single function bound by `.on()` above
const newListeners = emitter.rawListeners('log');

// Logs "log persistently" twice
newListeners[0]();
emitter.emit('log');

Since

v9.4.0

The readable.read() method pulls some data out of the internal buffer and returns it. If no data available to be read, null is returned. By default, the data will be returned as a Buffer object unless an encoding has been specified using the readable.setEncoding() method or the stream is operating in object mode.

The optional size argument specifies a specific number of bytes to read. Ifsize bytes are not available to be read, null will be returned _unless_the stream has ended, in which case all of the data remaining in the internal buffer will be returned.

If the size argument is not specified, all of the data contained in the internal buffer will be returned.

The size argument must be less than or equal to 1 GiB.

The readable.read() method should only be called on Readable streams operating in paused mode. In flowing mode, readable.read() is called automatically until the internal buffer is fully drained.

const readable = getReadableStreamSomehow();

// 'readable' may be triggered multiple times as data is buffered in
readable.on('readable', () => {
  let chunk;
  console.log('Stream is readable (new data received in buffer)');
  // Use a loop to make sure we read all currently available data
  while (null !== (chunk = readable.read())) {
    console.log(`Read ${chunk.length} bytes of data...`);
  }
});

// 'end' will be triggered once when there is no more data available
readable.on('end', () => {
  console.log('Reached end of stream.');
});

Each call to readable.read() returns a chunk of data, or null. The chunks are not concatenated. A while loop is necessary to consume all data currently in the buffer. When reading a large file .read() may return null, having consumed all buffered content so far, but there is still more data to come not yet buffered. In this case a new 'readable' event will be emitted when there is more data in the buffer. Finally the 'end' event will be emitted when there is no more data to come.

Therefore to read a file's whole contents from a readable, it is necessary to collect chunks across multiple 'readable' events:

const chunks = [];

readable.on('readable', () => {
  let chunk;
  while (null !== (chunk = readable.read())) {
    chunks.push(chunk);
  }
});

readable.on('end', () => {
  const content = chunks.join('');
});

A Readable stream in object mode will always return a single item from a call to readable.read(size), regardless of the value of thesize argument.

If the readable.read() method returns a chunk of data, a 'data' event will also be emitted.

Calling read after the 'end' event has been emitted will return null. No runtime error will be raised.

Since

v0.9.4

Removes all listeners, or those of the specified eventName.

It is bad practice to remove listeners added elsewhere in the code, particularly when the EventEmitter instance was created by some other component or module (e.g. sockets or file streams).

Returns a reference to the EventEmitter, so that calls can be chained.

Since

v0.1.26

The readable.resume() method causes an explicitly paused Readable stream to resume emitting 'data' events, switching the stream into flowing mode.

The readable.resume() method can be used to fully consume the data from a stream without actually processing any of that data:

getReadableStreamSomehow()
  .resume()
  .on('end', () => {
    console.log('Reached the end, but did not read anything.');
  });

The readable.resume() method has no effect if there is a 'readable'event listener.

Since

v0.9.4

The readable.setEncoding() method sets the character encoding for data read from the Readable stream.

By default, no encoding is assigned and stream data will be returned asBuffer objects. Setting an encoding causes the stream data to be returned as strings of the specified encoding rather than as Bufferobjects. For instance, calling readable.setEncoding('utf8') will cause the output data to be interpreted as UTF-8 data, and passed as strings. Callingreadable.setEncoding('hex') will cause the data to be encoded in hexadecimal string format.

The Readable stream will properly handle multi-byte characters delivered through the stream that would otherwise become improperly decoded if simply pulled from the stream as Buffer objects.

const readable = getReadableStreamSomehow();
readable.setEncoding('utf8');
readable.on('data', (chunk) => {
  assert.equal(typeof chunk, 'string');
  console.log('Got %d characters of string data:', chunk.length);
});

Since

v0.9.4

By default EventEmitters will print a warning if more than 10 listeners are added for a particular event. This is a useful default that helps finding memory leaks. The emitter.setMaxListeners() method allows the limit to be modified for this specific EventEmitter instance. The value can be set toInfinity (or 0) to indicate an unlimited number of listeners.

Returns a reference to the EventEmitter, so that calls can be chained.

Since

v0.3.5

The readable.unpipe() method detaches a Writable stream previously attached using the pipe method.

If the destination is not specified, then all pipes are detached.

If the destination is specified, but no pipe is set up for it, then the method does nothing.

const fs = require('fs');
const readable = getReadableStreamSomehow();
const writable = fs.createWriteStream('file.txt');
// All the data from readable goes into 'file.txt',
// but only for the first second.
readable.pipe(writable);
setTimeout(() => {
  console.log('Stop writing to file.txt.');
  readable.unpipe(writable);
  console.log('Manually close the file stream.');
  writable.end();
}, 1000);

Since

v0.9.4

Passing chunk as null signals the end of the stream (EOF) and behaves the same as readable.push(null), after which no more data can be written. The EOF signal is put at the end of the buffer and any buffered data will still be flushed.

The readable.unshift() method pushes a chunk of data back into the internal buffer. This is useful in certain situations where a stream is being consumed by code that needs to "un-consume" some amount of data that it has optimistically pulled out of the source, so that the data can be passed on to some other party.

The stream.unshift(chunk) method cannot be called after the 'end' event has been emitted or a runtime error will be thrown.

Developers using stream.unshift() often should consider switching to use of a Transform stream instead. See the API for stream implementers section for more information.

// Pull off a header delimited by \n\n.
// Use unshift() if we get too much.
// Call the callback with (error, header, stream).
const { StringDecoder } = require('string_decoder');
function parseHeader(stream, callback) {
  stream.on('error', callback);
  stream.on('readable', onReadable);
  const decoder = new StringDecoder('utf8');
  let header = '';
  function onReadable() {
    let chunk;
    while (null !== (chunk = stream.read())) {
      const str = decoder.write(chunk);
      if (str.match(/\n\n/)) {
        // Found the header boundary.
        const split = str.split(/\n\n/);
        header += split.shift();
        const remaining = split.join('\n\n');
        const buf = Buffer.from(remaining, 'utf8');
        stream.removeListener('error', callback);
        // Remove the 'readable' listener before unshifting.
        stream.removeListener('readable', onReadable);
        if (buf.length)
          stream.unshift(buf);
        // Now the body of the message can be read from the stream.
        callback(null, header, stream);
      } else {
        // Still reading the header.
        header += str;
      }
    }
  }
}

Unlike push, stream.unshift(chunk) will not end the reading process by resetting the internal reading state of the stream. This can cause unexpected results if readable.unshift() is called during a read (i.e. from within a _read implementation on a custom stream). Following the call to readable.unshift() with an immediate push will reset the reading state appropriately, however it is best to simply avoid calling readable.unshift() while in the process of performing a read.

Since

v0.9.11

Prior to Node.js 0.10, streams did not implement the entire stream module API as it is currently defined. (See Compatibility for more information.)

When using an older Node.js library that emits 'data' events and has a pause method that is advisory only, thereadable.wrap() method can be used to create a Readable stream that uses the old stream as its data source.

It will rarely be necessary to use readable.wrap() but the method has been provided as a convenience for interacting with older Node.js applications and libraries.

const { OldReader } = require('./old-api-module.js');
const { Readable } = require('stream');
const oreader = new OldReader();
const myReader = new Readable().wrap(oreader);

myReader.on('readable', () => {
  myReader.read(); // etc.
});

Since

v0.9.4

A utility method for creating duplex streams.

• Stream converts writable stream into writable Duplex and readable stream to Duplex.
• Blob converts into readable Duplex.
• string converts into readable Duplex.
• ArrayBuffer converts into readable Duplex.
• AsyncIterable converts into a readable Duplex. Cannot yield null.
• AsyncGeneratorFunction converts into a readable/writable transform Duplex. Must take a source AsyncIterable as first parameter. Cannot yield null.
• AsyncFunction converts into a writable Duplex. Must return either null or undefined
• Object ({ writable, readable }) converts readable and writable into Stream and then combines them into Duplex where the Duplex will write to the writable and read from the readable.
• Promise converts into readable Duplex. Value null is ignored.

Since

v16.8.0

Returns a copy of the array of listeners for the event named eventName.

For EventEmitters this behaves exactly the same as calling .listeners on the emitter.

For EventTargets this is the only way to get the event listeners for the event target. This is useful for debugging and diagnostic purposes.

const { getEventListeners, EventEmitter } = require('events');

{
  const ee = new EventEmitter();
  const listener = () => console.log('Events are fun');
  ee.on('foo', listener);
  getEventListeners(ee, 'foo'); // [listener]
}
{
  const et = new EventTarget();
  const listener = () => console.log('Events are fun');
  et.addEventListener('foo', listener);
  getEventListeners(et, 'foo'); // [listener]
}

Since

v15.2.0, v14.17.0

Returns whether the stream has been read from or cancelled.

Since

v16.8.0

A class method that returns the number of listeners for the given eventNameregistered on the given emitter.

const { EventEmitter, listenerCount } = require('events');
const myEmitter = new EventEmitter();
myEmitter.on('event', () => {});
myEmitter.on('event', () => {});
console.log(listenerCount(myEmitter, 'event'));
// Prints: 2

Since

v0.9.12

Deprecated

Since v3.2.0 - Use listenerCount instead.

const { on, EventEmitter } = require('events');

(async () => {
  const ee = new EventEmitter();

  // Emit later on
  process.nextTick(() => {
    ee.emit('foo', 'bar');
    ee.emit('foo', 42);
  });

  for await (const event of on(ee, 'foo')) {
    // The execution of this inner block is synchronous and it
    // processes one event at a time (even with await). Do not use
    // if concurrent execution is required.
    console.log(event); // prints ['bar'] [42]
  }
  // Unreachable here
})();

Returns an AsyncIterator that iterates eventName events. It will throw if the EventEmitter emits 'error'. It removes all listeners when exiting the loop. The value returned by each iteration is an array composed of the emitted event arguments.

An AbortSignal can be used to cancel waiting on events:

const { on, EventEmitter } = require('events');
const ac = new AbortController();

(async () => {
  const ee = new EventEmitter();

  // Emit later on
  process.nextTick(() => {
    ee.emit('foo', 'bar');
    ee.emit('foo', 42);
  });

  for await (const event of on(ee, 'foo', { signal: ac.signal })) {
    // The execution of this inner block is synchronous and it
    // processes one event at a time (even with await). Do not use
    // if concurrent execution is required.
    console.log(event); // prints ['bar'] [42]
  }
  // Unreachable here
})();

process.nextTick(() => ac.abort());

Since

v13.6.0, v12.16.0

Returns

that iterates eventName events emitted by the emitter

Creates a Promise that is fulfilled when the EventEmitter emits the given event or that is rejected if the EventEmitter emits 'error' while waiting. The Promise will resolve with an array of all the arguments emitted to the given event.

This method is intentionally generic and works with the web platform EventTarget interface, which has no special'error' event semantics and does not listen to the 'error' event.

const { once, EventEmitter } = require('events');

async function run() {
  const ee = new EventEmitter();

  process.nextTick(() => {
    ee.emit('myevent', 42);
  });

  const [value] = await once(ee, 'myevent');
  console.log(value);

  const err = new Error('kaboom');
  process.nextTick(() => {
    ee.emit('error', err);
  });

  try {
    await once(ee, 'myevent');
  } catch (err) {
    console.log('error happened', err);
  }
}

run();