2.2 KiB
Naziquote
A bash syntax highlighter that encourages (and can fix) proper quoting of variales.
Why
A variable in bash is like a hand grenade – take off its quotes, and it starts ticking. Hence, rule zero of bash pitfalls: Always use quotes.
Name
Because "bash cleaner" means "poo smearer" in Norwegian, I figured "naziquote" actually was the lesser evil. Not least because as an adverb, "nazi" means strictly, and "quote" can be a verb – if you wanna be strict, naziquote it.
Prior art
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Shellcheck is a wonderful tool to detect, and give general advice, about brittle bash code. The only thing missing is something to say yes with, and apply those advice (assuming proper review of course).
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I asked this SO question, for a tool that could rewrite bash scripts with proper quoting. One answerer beat me to it. But if it was me, I would do a syntax highlighter in the same tool (as a way to see if the parser gets lost, and make the most out of the parser, because bash is like quantum mechanics – nobody really knows how it works).
Build
rustc naziquote.rs
Usage advice
Don't apply --besserwisser blindly; code review is still necessary: A script that relies on the to-be-avoided behavior (implicit word splitting and glob expansion from variables and command substitutions) to work as intended will do none of that after getting the --besserwisser treatment!
In that unlucky case, ask yourself whether the script has any business in doing that. All too often, it's just a product of classical shellscripting, and would be better off rewritten, such as by using vectors. Even in the opposite case, say the business logic involves word splitting; that can still be done without invoking globbing. In short: There is always a better way than the forbidden syntax (if not more explicit), but some times, a human must step in to rewrite. See how, in the accompanying how to do things safely in bash.