Executable Editor

In short, exed FILE finds FILE in your path and opens it in your editor.

With exed -c -l LANGUAGE -m PERMS FILE, it creates FILE, writes an interpreter line for LANGUAGE at the top, applies executable PERMS via chmod, and opens the file in your editor. Users can create templates for generated scripts and can be specified at runtime.

Defaults can be set, so creating a script can be as simple as exed -c FILE.

More details are in the usage section of this file. After installing, view help with -h or the manual with man exed.

Installation

Clone the repository, cd into the base directory, and run the installer:

git clone https://github.com/evanthegrayt/exed.git
cd exed
./install.sh

By default, the installer symlinks the executable, templates, man page, and completion files under /usr/local:

/usr/local/bin/exed
/usr/local/share/exed/templates
/usr/local/share/man/man1/exed.1
/usr/local/share/zsh/site-functions/_exed
/usr/local/share/bash-completion/completions/exed

Use ./install.sh --user to install under $HOME/.local, or ./install.sh --prefix DIR to choose another prefix. Run ./install.sh --help for all installer options.

Manual installation is also fine:

ln -s "$PWD/bin/exed" /usr/local/bin/exed
ln -s "$PWD/man/man1/exed.1" /usr/local/share/man/man1/exed.1

Shell Plugins

exed can be used as a shell plugin for zsh or bash. The plugin files are sourceable setup layers: they add this repository's bin directory to PATH and register completion. They do not source the executable itself.

For zsh:

source /path/to/exed/exed.plugin.zsh

For bash:

source /path/to/exed/exed.plugin.bash

For Oh My Zsh, clone this repository into the custom plugin directory and add exed to the plugins=(...) list:

git clone https://github.com/evanthegrayt/exed.git \
  "${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/exed"

For Bash-it, use exed.plugin.bash as the plugin file.

Completion

Completion files can be used without a shell plugin:

share/zsh/site-functions/_exed
share/bash-completion/completions/exed

For zsh, place share/zsh/site-functions in fpath before compinit runs. For bash, source share/bash-completion/completions/exed or install it where your system's bash-completion setup loads command completions.

Usage

Open an executable that already exists in your PATH:

exed my_shell_script

Create a new executable file:

exed -c my_script
exed -c -l ruby my_ruby_script

Useful options:

• -a: find all matching executables in PATH and choose one
• -c: create a file instead of finding one
• -e EDITOR: choose an editor
• -l LANGUAGE: choose the language for a created file
• -m MODE: choose permissions for a created file
• -n: use env from PATH with LANGUAGE for a created file
• -t TEMPLATE: use a language-scoped template for a created file
• -T: unset a configured template=NAME
• -L: list available templates
• -P: preview the selected template
• -I: add IFS=$'\n' for created bash or zsh files
• -v: print the executable location before opening it

Interpreter lines are resolved from your current PATH by default. For example, exed -c -l bash script writes the path returned by command -v bash. If your PATH finds a custom Bash installation first, but you specifically want #!/bin/bash, pass -i /bin/bash.

Run exed -h to see all available options.

Templates are searched by language and name. For example:

exed -c -l bash -t strict my_bash_script
exed -c -l ruby -t cli my_ruby_script
exed -L
exed -l bash -L
exed -l bash -t strict -P

With -l bash -t strict, exed looks for bash/strict; it does not search templates for other languages. If template_dir=DIR is configured, exed checks DIR/LANGUAGE/TEMPLATE before the built-in share/exed/templates/LANGUAGE/TEMPLATE, so personal templates can override the built-ins. Built-in templates are reserved for useful scaffolds beyond the standard generated shebang. Templates are plain text files and may include {{shebang}}, {{language}}, and {{file}}. When {{shebang}} is omitted, exed prepends the interpreter line automatically.

Use -L to list templates, optionally scoped by -l LANGUAGE. Use -P to render the selected or configured template to standard output without creating or opening a file. If -P is added to a create command, exed previews the rendered file and prints a warning instead of writing, chmodding, or opening it.

Editor values can include simple flags. For example:

exed -e "code -w" my_script
exed -e "vim -p" my_script

Environment Variables

If no editor is passed with -e, exed will check your environment for $VISUAL, and $EDITOR, in that order. It is recommended to use these variables, as it's the *nix standard. If, for some reason, you want to specify a certain editor specifically for exed, you can set editor=EDITOR in the configuration file.

If none of the above are set, exed falls back to vi.

Configuration File

exed accepts a configuration file where you can set default variables. Create a file in your home directory called .exedrc. Available variables:

• all_in_path=true (same as passing -a)
• editor=EDITOR
• verbose=true (same as passing -v)
• language=LANGUAGE
• template=NAME
• template_dir=DIR
• perms=MODE (three-digit chmod-style permissions where the owner can execute, such as 755 or 700)
• env=true (same as passing -n)
• clobber=true (same as passing -C)
• clobber_mode=clobber, clobber_mode=noclobber, or clobber_mode=interactive
• set_ifs=true (same as passing -I)

The editor value can also include simple flags, such as:

editor="code -w"
editor="vim -p"

All boolean values are false by default. Any variables set in the configuration file can be overwritten by flags when initiating the program. For example, -N unsets a configured env=true, and -O restores the default interactive overwrite prompt if clobbering is configured.

Testing

Run the test suite with:

bats test

Reporting Bugs and Requesting Features

If you have an idea or find a bug, please create an issue. Just make sure the topic doesn't already exist. Better yet, you can always submit a Pull Request.

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