script to automatically google error messages printed to STDERR, using firefox

googleit.sh

#! /bin/bash

usage="\nWill google the error message from COMMAND, using Firefox. 
\nUsage: COMMAND |& $0 \n or COMMAND 2>&1 >/dev/null | $0 (to silence STDIN) \n or $0 ERROR_MESSAGE" 

if [ "$*" ] ; then 
    input="$*"
else 
    read -t0.2 -d'' -r input
fi   

# replace all whitespace with simple spaces 
input=${input//[[:space:]]/ }

if [ -z "$input" ] ; then 
    echo -e $usage
    exit 0  
fi 

wid=`xdotool search --onlyvisible --name "Mozilla Firefox" | head -1`
if [ "$wid" = "" ] ; then
    exec firefox &
    sleep 3s
fi

wid=`xdotool search --onlyvisible --name "Mozilla Firefox" | head -1`
actual=`xdotool getactivewindow`

if [ $wid != $actual ]; then
    xdotool windowactivate $wid
fi 

# google arguments 
xdotool key ctrl+t
xdotool key ctrl+j
xdotool type "$input"
xdotool key Return

echo "Finished googling the following error message:"
echo -e $input 
exit 0 

Will use an existing firefox window to open a new tab or start a new firefox window, and search the error message in the default search engine. Requires xdotool.

Known Issue: xdotool won't type special characters like "Umlaute" (ä, ö, ü) that may be contained in the error message.