How to write multiple lines of code in Node REPL
I would like to evaluate
var foo = "foo";
console.log(foo);
as a block, instead of evaluating line by line
var foo = "foo";
undefined
console.log(foo);
foo
undefined
Is there a simple way to move the prompt to the next line?
Node v6.4 has an editor
mode. At the repl prompt type .editor
and you can input multiple lines.
example
$ node
> .editor
// Entering editor mode (^D to finish, ^C to cancel)
const fn = there => `why hello ${there}`;
fn('multiline');
// hit ^D
'why hello multiline'
> // 'block' gets evaluated and back in single line mode.
Here are the docs on all the special repl commands https://nodejs.org/api/repl.html#repl_commands_and_special_keys
You can use if(1){
to start a block that will not finish until you enter }
. It will print the value of the last line of the block.
> {
... var foo = "foo";
... console.log(foo);
... }
foo
undefined
In multiline mode you miss out on a lot of REPL niceties such as autocompletion and immediate notification of syntax errors. If you get stuck in multiline mode due to some syntax error within the block, use ^C
to return to the normal prompt.