Bash script to open files with `kate` from the CLI and ask for `sudo` password if the current user does not have edit access to the file.

README.md

Overview

For whatever reason, openSUSE disables the polkit for Kate that will make it so Kate will prompt for a password when you try to edit root owned files.

The only way I could figure out how to get Kate to open these files is using the command VISUAL="kate -b" sudoedit <file>.

So I wrote a little helper script (to put be put in .bashrc) that opens kate for any file.

• If the current user has write access to the file/folder, it'll open kate as the current user
• If the current user does not have write access to the file/folder, it'll use sudoedit to open the file.

Sharing in case it helps anyone else.

How To Use

1. Add the below script to ~/.bashrc
2. When you want to edit a file with kate, run the command nedit <path to file>
3. If the current user does not have edit access to the file, you'll be prompted for sudo password

bash script

# open a file in kate for editing
# if the current user has write access to the file, it'll open kate as the current user
# if the current user does not, it'll open the file in kate with sudoedit
function nedit()
{
    # file passed down from input
    fileToEdit="$1"
    fileOrPathToCheck="$fileToEdit"

    # if the file does not exist
    if [[ ! -f "$fileOrPathToCheck" ]]
    then
        # we need to check the folder
        fileOrPathToCheck=$(dirname "$fileOrPathToCheck")
    fi

    # if the file or folder can be written to by the current user
    if [[ -r "$fileOrPathToCheck" && -w "$fileOrPathToCheck" ]]
    then
        # just open with kate
        kate "$fileToEdit"
    else
        # else open with kate using sudoedit
        export VISUAL="kate -b"
        sudoedit "$fileToEdit"
        unset VISUAL
    fi
}