only the first path is watched

[jseto]

When using two static path (calling to times instant(...)) only the first path is watched for file modification.
Here is a server sample

'use strict';
var express = require('express');
var app = module.exports = express();

var path = require('path');
var clientPath = path.resolve(__dirname, '../');

var instant = require('instant');
app.use( instant( clientPath + '/lib' ) );
app.use( instant( clientPath + '/demo' ) );

app.start = function(port) {
  // start the web server
  return app.listen(port,function() {
    console.log('Web server listening at: %s', port);
  });
};

// start the server if `$ node server.js`
if (require.main === module) {
  app.start(3000);
}

The folder structure is:

/demo
   index.html
   app.js
   server.js
/lib
   lib-file.js

files from lib folder are watched but not from demo.
If you call in reverse order

app.use( instant( clientPath + '/demo' ) );
app.use( instant( clientPath + '/lib' ) );

then files from demo are watched but not from lib

[fgnass]

You could use the prefix option to create instances that don't interfere with another. But this would create two distinct EventSources and two client scripts which is not desirable.

To support this use case in a sane way we need an API that allows us to share some information between the two instances.

Option 1: Passing an array of dirs

app.use(instant([
  clientPath + '/demo',
  clientPath + '/lib'
]);

Option 2: Passing the client as option

var instantClient = instant();
app.use(linstantClient); // this exposes the client and the EventSource
app.use(instant(clientPath + '/lib', { client: instantClient });
app.use(instant(clientPath + '/demo', { client: instantClient });

Option 3: Method to add dirs

var instantClient = instant();
app.use(linstantClient);
app.use(instantClient.add(clientPath + '/demo'));
app.use(instantClient.add(clientPath + '/lib'));

While Option 1 is the shortest and would be quite trivial to implement,
Option 2 & 3 would allow us to mount each directory to a different URL as they use separate middleware functions:

app.use('/foo', instantClient.add('./foo'));
app.use('/bar', instantClient.add('/some/where/else'));

[aral]

Hi @fgnass, I just ran into this issue… was this ever resolved or is instant currently only supported on a single path? (@jseto did you ever solve this for your project?)

(If not, I think I’ll go ahead an implement Option 1.)

Update: Looks like @jseto tackled this in #7

Update 2: I might have to implement Option 1 anyway as I need multiple directories served from the same url path fragment.

Final update: Implemented Option 1 in pull request #18.