[arch-general] script to reformat 'pacman -Ss' (2nd Version)

[David C. Rankin]

On 08/07/2010 03:52 AM, Simon Stoakley wrote:
>
> Been messing around with this a little, added pacman -Qs option, single space
> option (-d default) and some colours. Wrapped it in a function so can call it
> pacside [-qs] schstring.
> Thought I'd put it back up in case anyone's interested.

Excellent, thanks.

	As discussed earlier, I have re-written the input routine and add a number of 
new capabilities to the original script I did. The biggest change is the script 
now simply accepts a searchTerm and calls pacman -Ss from within the script. You 
can still pass the script a saved search file and it will parse it as it did 
originally.

	What is really cool (I think), is that you can specify the command line 
parameters "In Any Order" and NO flags are necessary to tell the script whether 
to call pacman or read a file for results. If the file exists, the script reads 
it, if no file matching the command line parameter exists, then it calls pacman.

	The new version is here:

http://www.3111skyline.com/dl/Archlinux/scripts/srch2list.sh

Just run it without options or with -h | --help to get the full usage information:

   Usage:  srch2list.sh srchTerm [srchfName] [-d|--double] [-h|--help]
                                 [-z|--zenity] [-w|--write filename]

srch2list.sh provides formatted output for 'pacman -Ss srchTerm'. The output is
provided in two columns (package name)(description). The columns are dynamically 
sized so the package name column is wide enough for the longest package name 
returned, and the description fills the remaining space provided by the terminal 
while leaving a one character margin at the right-hand side. You can now read 
the search results without going blind.

     The script will also parse a previous pacman search saved with 'pacman -Ss 
 >srchfName.' If you provide both a srchTerm and srchfName, the search will be 
performed and the srchfName ignored. The remaining options are as follows:

   Options:

     NOTE: options can be given in any order, flags must be separate: '-d -z' 
NOT '-dz'

     -d | --double          option controls single/double spaced output.
     -h | --help            display this help message.
     -w | --write filename  write search results to 'filename'.
     -z | --zenity          provide graphical output using 'zenity --list' 
(requires zenity)

   Two additional testing options (no effect on script):

     -v | --verbose         dump select variables to the screen.
     -a | --array           dump the array contents to the screen (requires -v 
option)

	Enjoy.

-- 
David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E.
Rankin Law Firm, PLLC
510 Ochiltree Street
Nacogdoches, Texas 75961
Telephone: (936) 715-9333
Facsimile: (936) 715-9339
www.rankinlawfirm.com