A few useful features of hex
Hex is a package manager for the BEAM ecosystem. Any language capable of running on the BEAM can utilize the hex package manager. Hex, just like any package manager can add/update/remove packages from a project. Hex also has a few features that many are not be aware of; let’s have a quick look at these features, and maybe they just might be what you have been looking for.
Hex preview
Let’s start off by having a look at hex preview. Hex preview allows for the previewing of files in the package, and it can be found at https://preview.hex.pm. Select the package you want to preview and that’s it. The file being previewed can be changed by selecting the appropriate file from the dropdown.
This is useful if you just want to have a quick look at a file; maybe a documenation file, a config file, or just explore the code and share it. It is just a URL, so you can share the preview with your team.
The link below previews the CHANGELOG.md file for Ecto.
https://preview.hex.pm/preview/ecto/3.12.4/show/CHANGELOG.md
Hex diff
The next feature to have a look at is hex diff. Hex diff can be found at https://diff.hex.pm and allows you to visually see the differences between two releases.
As an example, let’s have a look at the differences between Ecto 3.1.1.2 and Ecto 3.1.1.4. Just navigate to https://diff.hex.pm and select the package you want to see a diff on. In this example, Ecto will be the package and the diff will be between versions 3.12.2 and 3.12.4.
Ta-da, pretty nice right? What makes this even better is that it’s just a URL so you can share it (just like hex preview). Here is the URL for the example above.
https://diff.hex.pm/diff/ecto/3.12.2..3.12.4
Hex outdated
Hex outdated is a mix task that can be run to show which packages are outdated in a project and which of those outdated packages can be updated.
To try this out, you only need to enter mix hex.outdated in the terminal for your project. The output from the sample project below shows which packages are able to be updated and which are not.
❯ mix hex.outdated
Dependency Current Latest Status
bandit 1.5.7 1.5.7 Up-to-date
bcrypt_elixir 3.1.0 3.2.0 Update possible
bulma 0.9.4 1.0.2 Update not possible
dart_sass 0.7.0 0.7.0 Up-to-date
dns_cluster 0.1.3 0.1.3 Up-to-date
ecto_autoslug_field 3.1.0 3.1.0 Up-to-date
ecto_sql 3.12.0 3.12.1 Update possible
esbuild 0.8.1 0.8.2 Update possible
ex_aws 2.5.6 2.5.7 Update possible
ex_aws_s3 2.5.4 2.5.5 Update possible
floki 0.36.2 0.36.3 Update possible
gettext 0.26.1 0.26.2 Update possible
hackney 1.20.1 1.20.1 Up-to-date
jason 1.4.4 1.4.4 Up-to-date
phoenix 1.7.14 1.7.14 Up-to-date
phoenix_ecto 4.6.2 4.6.3 Update possible
phoenix_html 4.1.1 4.1.1 Up-to-date
phoenix_live_reload 1.5.3 1.5.3 Up-to-date
phoenix_live_view 1.0.0-rc.6 1.0.0-rc.7 Update possible
postgrex 0.19.1 0.19.3 Update possible
sweet_xml 0.7.4 0.7.4 Up-to-date
swoosh 1.17.0 1.17.3 Update possible
telemetry_metrics 1.0.0 1.0.0 Up-to-date
telemetry_poller 1.1.0 1.1.0 Up-to-date
Hopefully you will find these features of hex useful now or in the near future. Check back for more great articles!