Need to call walker.start() for tree.walk() not documented except in example

System information

node version: v10.13.0
npm or yarn version: 6.4.1
OS/version/architecture: gLinux 64-bit (Google-internal, like Debian Testing)
Applicable nodegit version: v0.23.0 built from source

https://www.nodegit.org/api/tree/ has an example of how to use tree.walk(), but it doesn't mention a critical detail, which is mentioned in an example:

nodegit/examples/walk-tree.js

Lines 22 to 23 in 1f84d31

    
           // Don't forget to call `start()`! 
        
           walker.start();

It looks like the start() method is added to the instance here:

nodegit/lib/tree.js

Lines 145 to 146 in 1f84d31

    
           event.start = function() { 
        
             bfs(null, self);

It took me quite a while to work out what the problem was, looking at the EventEmitter documentation would not have helped. I'm not sure if subclassing from EventEmitter is a good idea, but having a TreeWalker class where the this is documented would have made it easier to discover.

I ran into this as well. I want to add a couple of specific points:

The doc comment claims that walk returns an EventEmitter but the returned object actually has an extra method (start) that EventEmitters don't have.
Similarly, the TypeScript type definition file indicates that walk returns an EventEmitter so you get a compiler error when attempting to call start.

Here are specific suggestions for improvement:

In the walk documentation, tell people to call start.
Create a new type called TreeWalkerEventEmitter which is just like EventEmitter but it has an additional start method. Include this type in the nodegit documentation and add this type to the TypeScript type definition file.

I have attempted to address the issues in the referenced PRs. Please let me know if you have any further suggestions for the changes.

I want to contribute on this, can you explain issue in more detail, I am freshy

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Need to call `walker.start()` for `tree.walk()` not documented except in example #1588

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Need to call walker.start() for tree.walk() not documented except in example #1588

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rigdern commented on Dec 1, 2018

billytrend commented on May 23, 2019

jawadshiekh commented on Apr 12, 2023

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Need to call `walker.start()` for `tree.walk()` not documented except in example #1588