Module Shell

module Shell: sig .. end

Shell scripting in OCaml.

This module contains basic blocks for shell scripting in OCaml. It tends to be safer than just using Unix.system because it handles errors more strictly.

Process handling

type 'a with_process_flags = ?use_extra_path:bool ->
       ?timeout:Core.Std.Time.Span.t option ->
       ?working_dir:string ->
       ?setuid:int ->
       ?setgid:int ->
       ?env:[ `Extend of (string * string) list | `Replace of (string * string) list ] ->
       ?verbose:bool -> ?echo:bool -> ?input:string -> ?keep_open:bool -> 'a

This type is an umbrella type for all the command that dispatch a process. It comes with a list of arguments whose default value can be tweaked by set_defaults.

use_extra_path : if we fail to find the command in the path then we look for it extra_path
timeout : the command will raise Failed if the program doesn't do any IO for this period of time
working_dir : run the command in this directory
verbose : prints the output of the command
echo : print out the command before running it
input : a string to pipe through the program's standard in
export : a list of variable to export in the environement of the dispatched programm

type 'a with_run_flags = ?expect:int list -> 'a with_process_flags

This is the list of flags for normal process dispatch. It is an extension of with_process_flags.

expect : an int list of valid return codes. default value is [0], if the return code of the dispatched is not in this list we will blowup with Process.Failure

Basic run functions

In all the functions below the command is specified with two arguments. The first one is a string representing the process to run. The second one is the list of arguments to pass.

Although the arguments do not need to be escaped there is still a risk that they might be interpreted as flags when they aren't. Most basic unix utilities provide the ability to pass arguments after "--" to avoid this.

Usage example:

    let patch = run_full ~expect:[0;1] "diff" ["-u";"--";file1;file2]

type 'a cmd = string -> string list -> 'a

val run : unit cmd with_run_flags

Runs a command and discards its output.

val run_lines : ?eol:char -> string list cmd with_run_flags

Runs a command and returns its output line separated. Note: most commands print a newline at the end of their output so the shell prompt appears on its own line. If the output ends in a newline, it is stripped before splitting the output into a string list to avoid there being a final element in the list containing just the empty string.

In some cases, the newline should not be stripped (e.g., "cat" will not "add" a newline). If you care, use run_full for the entire buffer.

val run_one : ?eol:char -> string option cmd with_run_flags

Returns the first line of the command's output. (This function might terminate the program early the same way that piping through grep would)

val run_one_exn : ?eol:char -> string cmd with_run_flags

val run_full : string cmd with_run_flags

Return the full command's output in one string. See the note in run_lines.

val run_fold : ?eol:char ->
       init:'a ->
       f:('a -> string -> 'a * [ `Continue | `Stop ]) ->
       'a cmd with_run_flags

Fold over the lines in the stdout of a process; The `Continue/`Stop argument is there to allow early returning. eol specifies the end of line character used to separate the lines outputted by the the program

Dispatch to /bin/bash

All these function take a format (like printf) and run it through the shell.

Usage example:

    sh "cp -- %s %s" (Filename.quote file1)  (Filename.quote file2)

In general it is recommended to avoid using those too much and to prefer the run* family of function instead because it avoids pitfall like escaping issues and is much more straightforward to think about.

type ('a, 'ret) sh_cmd = ('a, unit, string, 'ret) Pervasives.format4 -> 'a

val sh : ('a, unit) sh_cmd with_run_flags

val sh_lines : ('a, string list) sh_cmd with_run_flags

val sh_full : ('a, string) sh_cmd with_run_flags

val sh_one : ('a, string option) sh_cmd with_run_flags

val sh_one_exn : ('a, string) sh_cmd with_run_flags

val noninteractive_ssh_options : string list

val noninteractive_no_hostkey_checking_options : string list

type 'a with_ssh_flags = ?ssh_options:string list -> ?user:string -> host:string -> 'a

val ssh : ('a, unit) sh_cmd with_run_flags with_ssh_flags

val ssh_lines : ('a, string list) sh_cmd with_run_flags with_ssh_flags

val ssh_full : ('a, string) sh_cmd with_run_flags with_ssh_flags

val ssh_one : ('a, string option) sh_cmd with_run_flags with_ssh_flags

val ssh_one_exn : ('a, string) sh_cmd with_run_flags with_ssh_flags

Test dispatches

Usage example:

    if Shell.test "diff" ["-q";"--";file1;file2] then
       Printf.printf "Files %S and %S are the same\n%!" file1 file2;

type 'a with_test_flags = ?true_v:int list -> ?false_v:int list -> 'a with_process_flags

This is the list of flags for dispatching processes in test mode. This is used to test the return code of the dispatched program. The return value of these functions will be :

true if the exit code is in true_v.
false if the exit code is in false_v and not in true_v.
Raises Process.Failure otherwise

The default values are:

true_v: default value [0]
false_v: default_value [1]

val test : bool cmd with_test_flags

val sh_test : ('a, bool) sh_cmd with_test_flags

val ssh_test : ('a, bool) sh_cmd with_test_flags with_ssh_flags

val extra_path : string list Pervasives.ref

variable used by dispatch command to find binaries not in the path. The default values contains only directory which should be in PATH and is only useful in environments where the PATH variable has been blown away.

module Process: sig .. end

Process dispatching

Small helper commands

val mkdir : ?p:unit -> ?perm:int -> string -> unit

val cp : ?overwrite:bool -> ?perm:Core.Std.Unix.file_perm -> string -> string -> unit

val ln : ?s:unit -> ?f:unit -> string -> string -> unit

val rm : ?r:unit -> ?f:unit -> string -> unit

val mv : string -> string -> unit

Raises "Failed_command"

val whoami : ?real:bool -> unit -> string

Get the username. By default, the effective username. If real is true, get the real username.

val which : ?use_extra_path:bool -> string -> string option

val scp : ?compress:bool ->
       ?recurse:bool -> ?user:string -> host:string -> string -> string -> unit

scp user host from to copy local file from to to