remotetmp.sh

#!/usr/bin/env sh

# Retrieves a remote file to a temporary local file, and prints its path
remotetmp() {
    REMOTE_TMPFILE=`mktemp`
    scp -q $1 $REMOTE_TMPFILE
    if [[ $? == 0 ]]; then
        print $REMOTE_TMPFILE;
    fi
}

# Examples:
# $ remotetmp host:path/file
#   Simple usage, retrives `path/file` from the host `host`,
#   prints the path of the file
# $ diff `remotetmp host:path/file` path/file
#   Compares a remote `path/file` in `host` with a local `path/file`