Improve documentation (#207)

* document trimming behavior of values during parsing closes #197

* make comments conform to jsdoc 3 fixes #201

* document options for working with imports ref #206 #133 #89

* add exampe of using returned object from config

README.md

@@ -67,7 +67,18 @@ _Alias: `load`_
 
 `config` will read your .env file, parse the contents, assign it to
 [`process.env`](https://nodejs.org/docs/latest/api/process.html#process_process_env),
-and return an Object with a _parsed_ key containing the loaded content or an _error_ key if it failed.  
+and return an Object with a `parsed` key containing the loaded content or an `error` key if it failed.  
+
+```js
+const result = dotenv.config()
+
+if (result.error) {
+  throw result.error
+}
+
+console.log(result.parsed)
+```
+
 You can additionally, pass options to `config`.
 
 ### Options
@@ -123,6 +134,7 @@ The parsing engine currently supports the following rules:
 line'}
 ```
 - inner quotes are maintained (think JSON) (`JSON={"foo": "bar"}` becomes `{JSON:"{\"foo\": \"bar\"}"`)
+- whitespace is removed from both ends of the value (see more on [`trim`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/String/Trim)) (`FOO="  some value  "` becomes `{FOO: 'some value'}`)
 
 ## FAQ
 
@@ -175,6 +187,40 @@ For `[email protected]`: Use [dotenv-expand](https://github.com/motdotla/dotenv-expan
 
 For `[email protected]`: We haven't been presented with a compelling use case for expanding variables and believe it leads to env vars that are not "fully orthogonal" as [The Twelve-Factor App](http://12factor.net/config) outlines.<sup>[[1](https://github.com/motdotla/dotenv/issues/39)][[2](https://github.com/motdotla/dotenv/pull/97)]</sup> Please open an issue if you have a compelling use case.
 
+### How do I use dotenv with `import`?
+
+ES2015 and beyond offers modules that allow you to `export` any top-level `function`, `class`, `var`, `let`, or `const`.
+
+> When you run a module containing an `import` declaration, the modules it imports are loaded first, then each module body is executed in a depth-first traversal of the dependency graph, avoiding cycles by skipping anything already executed.
+>
+> – [ES6 In Depth: Modules](https://hacks.mozilla.org/2015/08/es6-in-depth-modules/)
+
+You must run `dotenv.config()` before referencing any environment variables. Here's an example of problematic code:
+
+`errorReporter.js`:
+
+```js
+import { Client } from 'best-error-reporting-service'
+
+export const client = new Client(process.env.BEST_API_KEY)
+```
+
+`index.js`:
+
+```js
+import dotenv from 'dotenv'
+dotenv.config()
+
+import errorReporter from './errorReporter'
+errorReporter.client.report(new Error('faq example'))
+```
+
+`client` will not be configured correctly because it was constructed before `dotenv.config()` was executed. There are (at least) 3 ways to make this work.
+
+1. Preload dotenv: `node --require dotenv/config index.js` (_Note: you do not need to `import` dotenv with this approach_)
+2. Import `dotenv/config` instead of `dotenv` (_Note: you do not need to call `dotenv.config()` and must pass options via the command line with this approach_)
+3. Create a separate file that will execute `config` first as outlined in [this comment on #133](https://github.com/motdotla/dotenv/issues/133#issuecomment-255298822)
+
 ## Contributing Guide
 
 See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md)

lib/main.js

@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ var fs = require('fs')
 
 /*
  * Parses a string or buffer into an object
- * @param {String|Buffer} src - source to be parsed
- * @returns {Object}
+ * @param {(string|Buffer)} src - source to be parsed
+ * @returns {Object} keys and values from src
 */
 function parse (src) {
   var obj = {}
@@ -39,8 +39,10 @@ function parse (src) {
 
 /*
  * Main entry point into dotenv. Allows configuration before loading .env
- * @param {Object} options - valid options: path ('.env'), encoding ('utf8')
- * @returns {Boolean}
+ * @param {Object} options - options for parsing .env file
+ * @param {string} [options.path=.env] - path to .env file
+ * @param {string} [options.encoding=utf8] - encoding of .env file
+ * @returns {Object} parsed object or error
 */
 function config (options) {
   var path = '.env'