Building Executable Scripts For The Mac OSX Command Line With Node.js

love.js

#! /usr/local/bin/node

// ^-- Tell the terminal which interpreter to use for the execution
// ^-- of this script. For our purposes, we'll be using the Node.js
// ^-- interpretor (which was installed in the local BIN directory
// ^-- using HomeBrew.


// ---------------------------------------------------------- //
// ---------------------------------------------------------- //
// ---------------------------------------------------------- //
// ---------------------------------------------------------- //


// Include the system utility library (for output).
var util = require( "util" );

// Include the library for spinning up child processes. We'll need
// this to execute the "copy to clipboard" command.
var childProcess = require( "child_process" );


// ---------------------------------------------------------- //
// ---------------------------------------------------------- //


// Build up a list of loving things to say to your loved one. Each
// phrase can be tagged for use in command-line filtering.
var phrases = [];

// Create some tags to be used for filtering.
phrases.GENERAL = 1;
phrases.SAPPY = 2;
phrases.NAUGHTY = 3;
phrases.PLAYFUL = 4;

// Populate the phrases.
phrases.push({
	text: "I love you so much!",
	tag: phrases.GENERAL
});

phrases.push({
	text: "Sometimes, I have to pinch myself, I'm so happy with you!",
	tag: phrases.SAPPY
});

phrases.push({
	text: "You are the love of my life!",
	tag: phrases.SAPPY
});

phrases.push({
	text: "I love you more than a kitten loves milk!",
	tag: phrases.PLAYFUL
});

phrases.push({
	text: "Hey shmoopy, I miss you.", // For Seinfeld fans.
	tag: phrases.PLAYFUL
});

phrases.push({
	text: "I can't stop thinking about your body!",
	tag: phrases.NAUGHTY
});

phrases.push({
	text: "I was just thinking of you and it made me smile :)",
	tag: phrases.GENERAL
});

phrases.push({
	text: "I wanna dip you in pudding and eat you for dessert!",
	tag: phrases.NAUGHTY
});


// ---------------------------------------------------------- //
// ---------------------------------------------------------- //


// Now that we have our phrase library populated, let's see if we
// need to filter the list using a command-line argument. By default,
// we'll be selecting from all of the phrases.
var filterArgument = (process.argv[ 2 ] || "");
var filterTag = null;

// Check to see if the use has supplied a filter.
switch (filterArgument){

	case "":

		filterTag = null;

	break;

	case "--general":

		filterTag = phrases.GENERAL;

	break;

	case "--sappy":

		filterTag = phrases.SAPPY;

	break;

	case "--naughty":

		filterTag = phrases.NAUGHTY;

	break;

	case "--playful":

		filterTag = phrases.PLAYFUL;

	break;

	// If we could not figure out what the command-line argument was,
	// then something is incorrect. Exit out.
	default:

		util.puts( "Filter not recognized." );
		util.puts( "Use: --general, --sappy, --naughty, --playful" );

		// Exit out of the process (as a failure).
		process.exit( 1 );

	break;

}


// ---------------------------------------------------------- //
// ---------------------------------------------------------- //


// It's time to select the phrase. Since we'll need to select a
// random phrase from a pool of phrases, let's factor out the
// phrases first, then we'll select them. Start by assuming that
// we will not be filtering.
var filteredPhrases = phrases;

// Check to see if we need to filter.
if (filterTag){

	// Create a list of filtered phrases for the given tag.
	filteredPhrases = phrases.filter(
		function( phrase ){

			// Only include the phrase if the filter matches.
			return( phrase.tag === filterTag );

		}
	);

}

// Now, let's generate a random index from the array.
var targetIndex = (
	Math.floor( Math.random() * 1000 ) % filteredPhrases.length
);

// Get the target phrase.
var phrase = filteredPhrases[ targetIndex ];


// ---------------------------------------------------------- //
// ---------------------------------------------------------- //


// Now that we have the phrase, we need to copy it to the clipboard.
// For this, we'll use the [pbcopy] command in a child process:
//
// $> echo "YOUR_SELECTED_PHRASE" | pbcopy
//
childProcess.exec(
	("echo \"" + phrase.text + "\" | pbcopy"),
	function( error, stdout, stderr ){

		// Check to see if the PastBoard copy worked.
		if (error){

			// Something went wrong.
			util.puts(
				"Hmm, we could not copy \"" + phrase.text +
				"\" to the clipboard."
			);

			// Output the error.
			util.puts( "ERROR: " + stderr );

		} else {

			// Woot! It all worked.
			util.puts(
				"\"" + phrase.text +
				"\" has been copied to your clipboard!"
			);

		}

		// Exit out with success!!
		process.exit( 0 );

	}
);