move() not work when dest name not provided

As I’ve been working on moveSync function, I noticed something about how the move function does its job. I’d like this to be clarified for myself since I want the moveSync to be consistent with move.

When you do something like,

const fs = require('fs-extra')
fs.move('./source/somefile.txt', './source/otherDir/somefile.txt', callback)

it works just fine.

But, when you do like,

const fs = require('fs-extra')
fs.move('./source/somefile.txt', './source/otherDir', callback)

nothing happens.

However, if you run the same examples using Linux mv command on a Terminal, the move operation occurs.

Is this an expected behavior from move function?

Thanks.

[manidlou]

That’s right. I tested it just right now. It throws an EEXIST error. Also,

What about these cases (dest exists in all cases):

source is file, dest is file? source is dir, dest is dir? source is dir, dest if file?

I tested for all these cases too and for all them it throws an EEXIST error.

[jprichardson]

Is this an expected behavior from move function?

It’s a common misconception that functions in fs-extra should behave like their Unix counterparts. I understand that because the introduction in the README discusses the Unix counterparts. However, I believe that we as programmers should make our intentions explicit as writing code is easy but going back and reading code is hard.

explicit: (GOOD)

fs.move('./source/somefile.txt', './source/otherDir/somefile.txt', callback)

implicit: (NOT GOOD)

fs.move('./source/somefile.txt', './source/otherDir', callback)

This not working is the expected behavior. However, it really shouldn’t silently fail. It should probably throw an EEXIST error.

What are your thoughts @RyanZim?