A versatile Bash utility for terminal dividers. Features auto-width detection via tput, robust ANSI color support using printf %b, and a built-in help menu. Ideal for organizing long log outputs or CLI tool reports.

separator.sh

# ==============================================================================
# Function: separator
# Description: Prints a repeating line of characters to the terminal.
# Usage: separator [char] [length/color] [color]
# ==============================================================================
separator() {
    if [ -z "$1" ]; then
        echo "Usage: separator [char] [length/color] [color]"
        return 1
    fi

    local char="$1"
    local num=""
    local color_input=""

    # --- Smart Logic ---
    # Check if $2 is a positive integer
    if [[ "$2" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
        num="$2"
        color_input="$3"
    else
        # If $2 is not a number, it's treated as the color
        num=$(tput cols 2>/dev/null || echo 80)
        color_input="$2"
    fi

    # Define Colors
    local color_name=$(echo "$color_input" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
    local color_code=""
    case "$color_name" in
        red)     color_code="\033[31m" ;;
        green)   color_code="\033[32m" ;;
        yellow)  color_code="\033[33m" ;;
        blue)    color_code="\033[34m" ;;
        magenta) color_code="\033[35m" ;;
        cyan)    color_code="\033[36m" ;;
        *)       color_code=""         ;; 
    esac
    local reset="\033[0m"

    # Generate and print
    local line=$(printf "%.s$char" $(seq 1 "$num"))
    printf "%b%s%b\n" "$color_code" "$line" "$reset"
}

# # --- Screenshot Demo ---
# echo "TEST 1: Default (Full Width)"
# separator "="
# echo -e "\nTEST 2: Specific Length & Color"
# separator "*" 40 green
# echo -e "\nTEST 3: Full Width & Color"
# separator "~" "" cyan
# echo -e "\nTEST 4: Loop Demonstration"
# for c in red yellow green; do
#     echo $c
#     separator "-" 30 "$c"
# done
# echo -e "\nTEST 5: Help Menu (Run without args)"
# separator