New Watcher Dialog

Use this list to specify the expected type of input files. The File Watcher will consider only files of this type as subject for analyzing and processing. File types are recognised based on associations between file types and file extensions.

Use this list to define the range of files the File Watcher can be applied to.

Changes in these files will invoke the File Watcher either immediately or upon save or frame deactivation, depending on the status of the Auto-save edited files to trigger the watcher checkbox.

Select one of the predefined scopes from the list. For a project-level File Watcher, you can also click to configure a custom scope in the Scopes dialog that opens.

• All Places: all the scopes listed below.

• Project Files: all the files within the project content roots (see Configuring project structure).

• Project Production Files: all the files within the project content roots excluding test sources.

• Project Test Files: all the files within the project test source roots.

• Scratches and Consoles: all the files from the Scratches and Consoles directory located in the Project tool window.

• Open Files: all the files that are currently opened in the editor.

• Current File: the file opened in the active editor tab.

VCS Scopes: these scopes are only available if your project is under version control.

• All Changed Files: all changed files, that is, all files associated with all existing changelists.

• Default Changelist: all the files associated with the changelist  Default.

Alternatively, click and configure a custom scope in the Scopes dialog that opens.

• When this checkbox is selected, the File Watcher runs only against the root files.

• When the checkbox is cleared, the File Watcher runs against the file from which it is invoked and against all the files in which this file is included recursively within the specified scope.

Note that the Scope setting overrides the Track only root files checkbox setting: if a dependency is outside the specified scope, the File Watcher is not applied to it.

Example
Suppose you have two files root.scss and another.scss where root.scss imports another.scss. With the Track only root files checkbox selected, editing another.scss invokes the File Watcher only on root.scss. Otherwise, if the checkbox is cleared, the File Watcher processes both of these files.

In this field, specify the path to the tool's executable file (.com, .exe, .cmd, .bat, or other depending on the specific tool.)

In this field, define the arguments to pass to the tool and thus influence its behaviour.

Arguments are usually specified using macros, for example, $FileName$ or $FileNameWithoutExtension$, that will be replaced with actual file names.

Type the macros manually or click and select the relevant pattern fom the list in the Macros dialog that opens.

In this field, tell WebStorm where it should search for the tool's output: the resulting source code, source maps, dependencies, or the file itself. The location of the output is tool-specific.

Output paths are usually specified using macros. You can type them manually or click and select the relevant one from the list in the dialog that opens.

Note, that changing the value in the Output paths to refresh field does not make the tool store its output in another place. If you still need to do that, specify the desired custom output location in the Arguments field: type the output paths with colons as separators and use macros.

In this field, specify the directory to which the tool will be applied. Because the tool is always invoked in the context of a file, the default working directory is the directory of the current file. The default working directory is specified in all predefined templates through a $FileDir$ macros. To specify a custom working directory, type the path to it in the field, or click and select the directory in the Select Path dialog, or click and select the desired macro from the list in the Macros dialog.

• When this checkbox is selected, WebStorm immediately saves a file as soon as you edit it so the File Watcher wakes up immediately.

• When the checkbox is cleared, the File Watcher starts upon save (File | Save All) or when you move the focus from WebStorm (on frame deactivation).

• When this checkbox is selected, the File Watcher wakes up on any changes to a file from its scope, including changes made outside WebStorm or the changes after you checkout a branch in you version control system.

• When the checkbox is cleared, the File Watcher starts only when a file from its scope is updated from WebStorm and ignores other changes, for example, changes received from your version control system.

• When the checkbox is selected, the File Watcher start regardless of the syntactical correctness of a file. The File Watcher will start upon update, save, or frame deactivation, depending on the status of the Auto-save edited files to trigger the watcher checkbox.

• When this checkbox is cleared, the File Watcher ignores all triggers in files that are syntactically invalid and starts only in error-free files.

• In most cases, this checkbox should be cleared because most tools write their output to the relevant files directly.

• When this checkbox is selected, WebStorm reads the native tool's output standard output stream (stdout) and generates the resulting file from it. The name of the generated file is taken from the Output paths to refresh field. If the field contains several names, the first one in the list is used.

From this list, select when you want the File Watcher to open the console.

• Always: with this option, the console always opens after the tool execution is completed.

• On error: with this option, the console opens after the tool execution only when the Exit code is different from 0.

• Never: choose this option to suppress opening the console at all.

In this field, specify the output filters associated with the tool. Based on these filters, absolute file paths and line numbers in the tool's output are converted into hyperlinks. Clicking those links opens the corresponding files in the editor.
For example, to get useful error messages displayed, type $FILE_PATH$:$LINE$ $MESSAGE$