Add directory listing sort option

README.md

@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ with the provided Dockerfile.
 |`-d`     |Show directory listings |`true` |
 |`-dir-overrides-404` | Whether `-d` should override magic `404.html` | `false`
 |`-i`   | Display autoIndex | `true` |
+|`--sort` |Sort directory listings by `name`, `modified`, or `created`. `mtime` and `birthtime` are also accepted. Date sorting shows newest entries first. |`name` |
 |`-g` or `--gzip` |When enabled it will serve `./public/some-file.js.gz` in place of `./public/some-file.js` when a gzipped version of the file exists and the request accepts gzip encoding. If brotli is also enabled, it will try to serve brotli first.|`false`|
 |`-b` or `--brotli`|When enabled it will serve `./public/some-file.js.br` in place of `./public/some-file.js` when a brotli compressed version of the file exists and the request accepts `br` encoding. If gzip is also enabled, it will try to serve brotli first. |`false`|
 |`-e` or `--ext`  |Default file extension if none supplied |`html` | 

bin/http-server

@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ if (argv.h || argv.help) {
     '  --dir-overrides-404   Whether -d should override magic 404.html [false]',
     '  --base-dir   Base directory to serve files from [/]',
     '  -i           Display autoIndex [true]',
+    '  --sort       Sort directory listings by name, modified, or created [name]',
     '  -g --gzip    Serve gzip files when possible [false]',
     '  -b --brotli  Serve brotli files when possible [false]',
     '               If both brotli and gzip are enabled, brotli takes precedence',
@@ -203,6 +204,7 @@ function listen(port) {
     dirOverrides404: argv['dir-overrides-404'],
     baseDir: baseDir,
     autoIndex: argv.i,
+    sort: argv.sort,
     gzip: argv.g || argv.gzip,
     brotli: argv.b || argv.brotli,
     robots: argv.r || argv.robots,
@@ -363,6 +365,7 @@ function listen(port) {
           chalk.cyan(Number(argv.t) + ' seconds') : chalk.cyan('120 seconds'))].join('')),
       ([chalk.yellow('Directory Listings: '), argv.d ? chalk.red('not visible') : chalk.cyan('visible')].join('')),
       ([chalk.yellow('AutoIndex: '), argv.i ? chalk.red('not visible') : chalk.cyan('visible')].join('')),
+      ([chalk.yellow('Directory Listing Sort: '), argv.sort ? chalk.cyan(argv.sort) : chalk.cyan('name')].join('')),
       ([chalk.yellow('Serve GZIP Files: '), argv.g || argv.gzip ? chalk.cyan('true') : chalk.red('false')].join('')),
       ([chalk.yellow('Serve Brotli Files: '), argv.b || argv.brotli ? chalk.cyan('true') : chalk.red('false')].join('')),
       ([chalk.yellow('Default File Extension: '), argv.e ? chalk.cyan(argv.e) : (argv.ext ? chalk.cyan(argv.ext) : chalk.red('none'))].join('')),

doc/http-server.1

@@ -43,6 +43,13 @@ Default is false.
 Display autoIndex.
 Default is true.
 
+.TP
+.BI \-\-sort " " \fISORT\fR
+Sort directory listings by name, modified time, or creation time.
+Accepted values are name, modified, mtime, created, and birthtime.
+Date sorting shows newest entries first.
+Default is name.
+
 .TP
 .BI \-g ", " \-\-gzip
 Serve gzip files when possible.

lib/core/aliases.json

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 {
   "autoIndex": [ "autoIndex", "autoindex" ],
+  "sort": [ "sort" ],
   "showDir": [ "showDir", "showdir" ],
   "dirOverrides404": [
     "dirOverrides404", 

lib/core/opts.js

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ const aliases = require('./aliases.json');
 /**
  * @typedef {Object} ParsedOptions
  * @property {boolean} autoIndex
+ * @property {string} sort
  * @property {boolean} showDir
  * @property {boolean} dirOverrides404
  * @property {boolean} showDotfiles
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@ module.exports = (opts) => {
   /** @type {ParsedOptions} */
   const options = {
     autoIndex: true,
+    sort: 'name',
     showDir: true,
     dirOverrides404: false,
     showDotfiles: true,
@@ -98,6 +100,22 @@ module.exports = (opts) => {
       return false;
     });
 
+    aliases.sort.some((k) => {
+      if (isDeclared(k)) {
+        const sort = String(opts[k]).toLowerCase();
+        const sortAliases = {
+          name: 'name',
+          modified: 'modified',
+          mtime: 'modified',
+          created: 'created',
+          birthtime: 'created',
+        };
+        options.sort = sortAliases[sort] || 'name';
+        return true;
+      }
+      return false;
+    });
+
     aliases.showDir.some((k) => {
       if (isDeclared(k)) {
         options.showDir = opts[k];

lib/core/show-dir/index.js

@@ -25,8 +25,39 @@ module.exports = (opts) => {
   const handleError = opts.handleError;
   const showDotfiles = opts.showDotfiles;
   const si = opts.si;
+  const sort = opts.sort;
   const weakEtags = opts.weakEtags;
 
+  function compareByName(a, b) {
+    return a[0].toString().localeCompare(b[0].toString());
+  }
+
+  function compareByDate(statName) {
+    return (a, b) => {
+      if (a[0] === '..' && b[0] !== '..') {
+        return -1;
+      }
+      if (b[0] === '..' && a[0] !== '..') {
+        return 1;
+      }
+
+      const aTime = a[1][statName] instanceof Date ? a[1][statName].getTime() : 0;
+      const bTime = b[1][statName] instanceof Date ? b[1][statName].getTime() : 0;
+
+      return bTime - aTime || compareByName(a, b);
+    };
+  }
+
+  function getListingComparator() {
+    if (sort === 'modified') {
+      return compareByDate('mtime');
+    }
+    if (sort === 'created') {
+      return compareByDate('birthtime');
+    }
+    return compareByName;
+  }
+
   return function middleware(req, res, next) {
     // Figure out the path for the file from the given url
     const parsed = url.parse(req.url);
@@ -182,9 +213,11 @@ module.exports = (opts) => {
               '</tr>\n';
           };
 
-          dirs.sort((a, b) => a[0].toString().localeCompare(b[0].toString())).forEach(writeRow);
-          renderFiles.sort((a, b) => a.toString().localeCompare(b.toString())).forEach(writeRow);
-          errs.sort((a, b) => a[0].toString().localeCompare(b[0].toString())).forEach(writeRow);
+          const listingComparator = getListingComparator();
+
+          dirs.sort(listingComparator).forEach(writeRow);
+          renderFiles.sort(listingComparator).forEach(writeRow);
+          errs.sort(compareByName).forEach(writeRow);
 
           html += '</table>\n';
           html += `<br><address>Node.js ${

lib/http-server.js

@@ -224,6 +224,7 @@ function HttpServer(options) {
       showDotfiles: this.showDotfiles,
       hidePermissions: this.hidePermissions,
       autoIndex: this.autoIndex,
+      sort: options.sort,
       defaultExt: this.ext,
       dirOverrides404: this.dirOverrides404,
       gzip: this.gzip,

test/showdir-with-spaces.test.js

@@ -5,9 +5,14 @@ const ecstatic = require('../lib/core');
 const http = require('http');
 const request = require('request');
 const path = require('path');
+const fs = require('fs');
+const os = require('os');
 
 const root = `${__dirname}/public`;
 const baseDir = 'base';
+function getDisplayNameIndex(body, filename) {
+  return body.indexOf('>' + filename + '<');
+}
 
 test('directory listing when directory name contains spaces', (t) => {
   require('portfinder').getPort((err, port) => {
@@ -33,3 +38,77 @@ test('directory listing when directory name contains spaces', (t) => {
     });
   });
 });
+
+test('directory listing can sort files by modified time', (t) => {
+  const tmpRoot = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'http-server-sort-mtime-'));
+  const older = path.join(tmpRoot, 'older.txt');
+  const newer = path.join(tmpRoot, 'newer.txt');
+
+  fs.writeFileSync(older, 'older');
+  fs.writeFileSync(newer, 'newer');
+  fs.utimesSync(older, new Date('2024-01-01T00:00:00Z'), new Date('2024-01-01T00:00:00Z'));
+  fs.utimesSync(newer, new Date('2024-01-02T00:00:00Z'), new Date('2024-01-02T00:00:00Z'));
+
+  const server = http.createServer(
+    ecstatic({
+      root: tmpRoot,
+      showDir: true,
+      autoIndex: false,
+      sort: 'modified',
+    })
+  );
+
+  server.listen(0, () => {
+    const port = server.address().port;
+    request.get({
+      uri: `http://localhost:${port}/`,
+    }, (err, res, body) => {
+      t.error(err);
+      t.equal(res.statusCode, 200);
+      t.ok(
+        getDisplayNameIndex(body, 'newer.txt') < getDisplayNameIndex(body, 'older.txt'),
+        'newer modified file is listed first'
+      );
+      server.close();
+      fs.rmSync(tmpRoot, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      t.end();
+    });
+  });
+});
+
+test('directory listing can sort files by creation time', (t) => {
+  const tmpRoot = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'http-server-sort-birthtime-'));
+  const older = path.join(tmpRoot, 'older.txt');
+  const newer = path.join(tmpRoot, 'newer.txt');
+
+  fs.writeFileSync(older, 'older');
+  setTimeout(() => {
+    fs.writeFileSync(newer, 'newer');
+
+    const server = http.createServer(
+      ecstatic({
+        root: tmpRoot,
+        showDir: true,
+        autoIndex: false,
+        sort: 'created',
+      })
+    );
+
+    server.listen(0, () => {
+      const port = server.address().port;
+      request.get({
+        uri: `http://localhost:${port}/`,
+      }, (err, res, body) => {
+        t.error(err);
+        t.equal(res.statusCode, 200);
+        t.ok(
+          getDisplayNameIndex(body, 'newer.txt') < getDisplayNameIndex(body, 'older.txt'),
+          'newer created file is listed first'
+        );
+        server.close();
+        fs.rmSync(tmpRoot, { recursive: true, force: true });
+        t.end();
+      });
+    });
+  }, 20);
+});