Shell implements an idiomatic Ruby interface for common UNIX shell commands.

It provides users the ability to execute commands with filters and pipes, like sh/csh by using native facilities of Ruby.

Examples

Temp file creation

In this example we will create three tmpFile's in three different folders under the /tmp directory.

sh = Shell.cd("/tmp") # Change to the /tmp directory
sh.mkdir "shell-test-1" unless sh.exists?("shell-test-1")
# make the 'shell-test-1' directory if it doesn't already exist
sh.cd("shell-test-1") # Change to the /tmp/shell-test-1 directory
for dir in ["dir1", "dir3", "dir5"]
  if !sh.exists?(dir)
    sh.mkdir dir # make dir if it doesnt' already exist
    sh.cd(dir) do
      # change to the `dir` directory
      f = sh.open("tmpFile", "w") # open a new file in write mode
      f.print "TEST\n"            # write to the file
      f.close                     # close the file handler
    end
    print sh.pwd                  # output the process working directory
  end
end

Temp file creation with self

This example is identical to the first, except we're using Shell::CommandProcessor#transact.

Shell::CommandProcessor#transact executes the given block against self, in this case sh; our Shell object. Within the block we can substitute sh.cd to cd, because the scope within the block uses sh already.

sh = Shell.cd("/tmp")
sh.transact do
  mkdir "shell-test-1" unless exists?("shell-test-1")
  cd("shell-test-1")
  for dir in ["dir1", "dir3", "dir5"]
    if !exists?(dir)
      mkdir dir
      cd(dir) do
        f = open("tmpFile", "w")
        f.print "TEST\n"
        f.close
      end
      print pwd
    end
  end
end

Pipe /etc/printcap into a file

In this example we will read the operating system file /etc/printcap, generated by cupsd, and then output it to a new file relative to the pwd of sh.

sh = Shell.new
sh.cat("/etc/printcap") | sh.tee("tee1") > "tee2"
(sh.cat < "/etc/printcap") | sh.tee("tee11") > "tee12"
sh.cat("/etc/printcap") | sh.tee("tee1") >> "tee2"
(sh.cat < "/etc/printcap") | sh.tee("tee11") >> "tee12"
Namespace
Methods
A
C
D
E
I
J
K
N
P
S
U
Included Modules
Attributes
[RW] cascade
[RW] debug
[RW] debug?
[RW] verbose
[RW] verbose?
[R] command_processor
[R] cwd

Returns the current working directory.
[RW] debug
[RW] debug?
[R] dir

Returns the current working directory.
[R] dir_stack
[R] dirs
[R] getwd

Returns the current working directory.
[R] process_controller
[R] pwd

Returns the current working directory.
[RW] record_separator
[R] system_path

Returns the command search path in an array
[RW] umask

Returns the umask
[RW] verbose
[RW] verbose?
Class Public methods
alias_command(ali, command, *opts, &block)

Convenience method for Shell::CommandProcessor.alias_command

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 369
def Shell.alias_command(ali, command, *opts, &block)
  CommandProcessor.alias_command(ali, command, *opts, &block)
end
def_system_command(command, path = command)

Convenience method for Shell::CommandProcessor.def_system_command

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 359
def Shell.def_system_command(command, path = command)
  CommandProcessor.def_system_command(command, path)
end
install_system_commands(pre = "sys_")

Convenience method for Shell::CommandProcessor.install_system_commands

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 379
def Shell.install_system_commands(pre = "sys_")
  CommandProcessor.install_system_commands(pre)
end
Shell.new(pwd, umask) → obj

Creates a Shell object which current directory is set to the process current directory, unless otherwise specified by the pwd argument.

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 185
def initialize(pwd = Dir.pwd, umask = nil)
  @cwd = File.expand_path(pwd)
  @dir_stack = []
  @umask = umask

  @system_path = Shell.default_system_path
  @record_separator = Shell.default_record_separator

  @command_processor = CommandProcessor.new(self)
  @process_controller = ProcessController.new(self)

  @verbose = Shell.verbose
  @debug = Shell.debug
end
notify(*opts)

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 392
  def self.notify(*opts)
    Shell::debug_output_synchronize do
      if opts[-1].kind_of?(String)
        yorn = verbose?
      else
        yorn = opts.pop
      end
      return unless yorn

      if @debug_display_thread_id
        if @debug_display_process_id
          prefix = "shell(##{Process.pid}:#{Thread.current.to_s.sub("Thread", "Th")}): "
        else
          prefix = "shell(#{Thread.current.to_s.sub("Thread", "Th")}): "
        end
      else
        prefix = "shell: "
      end
      _head = true
      STDERR.print opts.collect{|mes|
        mes = mes.dup
        yield mes if iterator?
        if _head
          _head = false
#         "shell" " + mes
          prefix + mes
        else
          " "* prefix.size + mes
        end
      }.join("\n")+"\n"
    end
  end
unalias_command(ali)

Convenience method for Shell::CommandProcessor.unalias_command

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 374
def Shell.unalias_command(ali)
  CommandProcessor.unalias_command(ali)
end
undef_system_command(command)

Convenience method for Shell::CommandProcessor.undef_system_command

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 364
def Shell.undef_system_command(command)
  CommandProcessor.undef_system_command(command)
end
Instance Public methods
Shell.cd(path)

Creates a new Shell instance with the current working directory set to path.

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 127
def cd(path)
  new(path)
end
Shell.chdir(path)

Creates a Shell object which current directory is set to path.

If a block is given, it restores the current directory when the block ends.

If called as iterator, it restores the current directory when the block ends.

Also aliased as: cd

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 262
def chdir(path = nil, verbose = @verbose)
  check_point

  if iterator?
    notify("chdir(with block) #{path}") if verbose
    cwd_old = @cwd
    begin
      chdir(path, nil)
      yield
    ensure
      chdir(cwd_old, nil)
    end
  else
    notify("chdir #{path}") if verbose
    path = "~" unless path
    @cwd = expand_path(path)
    notify "current dir: #{@cwd}"
    rehash
    Void.new(self)
  end
end
debug=(val)

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 116
def debug=(val)
  @debug = val
  @verbose = val if val
end
default_record_separator()

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 160
def default_record_separator
  if @default_record_separator
    @default_record_separator
  else
    $/
  end
end
default_record_separator=(rs)

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 168
def default_record_separator=(rs)
  @default_record_separator = rs
end
default_system_path()

Returns the directories in the current shell's PATH environment variable as an array of directory names. This sets the #system_path for all instances of Shell.

Example: If in your current shell, you did:

$ echo $PATH
/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/local/bin

Running this method in the above shell would then return:

["/usr/bin", "/bin", "/usr/local/bin"]

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 144
def default_system_path
  if @default_system_path
    @default_system_path
  else
    ENV["PATH"].split(":")
  end
end
default_system_path=(path)

Sets the #system_path that new instances of Shell should have as their initial system_path.

path should be an array of directory name strings.

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 156
def default_system_path=(path)
  @default_system_path = path
end
expand_path(path)

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 228
def expand_path(path)
  File.expand_path(path, @cwd)
end
inspect()

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 384
def inspect
  if debug.kind_of?(Integer) && debug > 2
    super
  else
    to_s
  end
end
jobs()

Returns a list of scheduled jobs.

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 346
def jobs
  @process_controller.jobs
end
kill(signal, job)

Sends the given signal to the given job

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 354
def kill(sig, command)
  @process_controller.kill_job(sig, command)
end
popd()
Alias for: popdir
popdir()

Pops a directory from the directory stack, and sets the current directory to it.

Also aliased as: popd

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 330
def popdir
  check_point

  notify("popdir")
  if pop = @dir_stack.pop
    chdir pop
    notify "dir stack: [#{@dir_stack.join ', '}]"
    self
  else
    Shell.Fail DirStackEmpty
  end
  Void.new(self)
end
pushd(path = nil, verbose = @verbose)
Alias for: pushdir
pushdir(path)
pushdir(path) { &block }

Pushes the current directory to the directory stack, changing the current directory to path.

If path is omitted, it exchanges its current directory and the top of its directory stack.

If a block is given, it restores the current directory when the block ends.

Also aliased as: pushd

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 296
def pushdir(path = nil, verbose = @verbose)
  check_point

  if iterator?
    notify("pushdir(with block) #{path}") if verbose
    pushdir(path, nil)
    begin
      yield
    ensure
      popdir
    end
  elsif path
    notify("pushdir #{path}") if verbose
    @dir_stack.push @cwd
    chdir(path, nil)
    notify "dir stack: [#{@dir_stack.join ', '}]"
    self
  else
    notify("pushdir") if verbose
    if pop = @dir_stack.pop
      @dir_stack.push @cwd
      chdir pop
      notify "dir stack: [#{@dir_stack.join ', '}]"
      self
    else
      Shell.Fail DirStackEmpty
    end
  end
  Void.new(self)
end
system_path=(path)

Sets the system path (the Shell instance's PATH environment variable).

path should be an array of directory name strings.

Source: show 

# File lib/shell.rb, line 206
def system_path=(path)
  @system_path = path
  rehash
end