This is a simple library that makes it easy to launch PhantomJS with its built-in WebDriver server, and deal with unexpected errors.

Example

var phantomWdRunner = require('phantom-wd-runner');

phantomWdRunner().on('listening', function() {
  console.log('Phantom Webdriver server is ready!');

  /* ... do stuff ... */

  this.kill();
});

API

phantomWdRunner([options])

Launch the PhantomJS WebDriver server.

options is optional and can have the following keys:

• timeout - Number of milliseconds to wait for PhantomJS and its WebDriver server to start. Defaults to 15000.
• execPath - Executable used to create the PhantomJS process. Defaults to phantomjs.
• port - Port to serve the PhantomJS WebDriver server on. Defaults to 4444.

This function returns a child process instance.

Events

All child process events are emitted, along with the following:

• listening - Triggered when the PhantomJS WebDriver server is ready.
• error - Like the child process event, but also emitted if the PhantomJS WebDriver server terminates with a nonzero exit code.

Error Handling

The library tries to make it easy to debug errors without being spammy. By default, no output from the PhantomJS process is sent to stdio; however, if the PhantomJS process exits abnormally for any reason, its buffered output is sent to stderr.

If an uncaught exception occurs in the calling process, the PhantomJS server is automatically killed.

When the calling process exits, the PhantomJS server is also terminated if necessary.

Limitations

The only intended use for this library is within test suites. Don't use it for long-running server processes, as all stdout/stderr from the server is buffered in memory!

License

BSD.