cliplayer 0.1.4

The cliplayer helps to script shell based lectures and screencast tutorials

cliplayer

cliplayer helps to script shell based lectures or screencast trainings. The player takes a playbook with shell commands that are executed live like you write them at this moment.

Motivation

When holding lectures or recording screencast you often need to devide your attention between talking and typing at the same time. This cliplayer helps you to concentrate more on what you want to teach instead of what you need to type.

Installation

pip install cliplayer

Usage

cliplayer [-h] [-p PROMPT] [-n NEXT_KEY] [-i INTERACTIVE_KEY] 
               [-b BASE_SPEED] [-m MAX_SPEED]
               [playbook]

-h
   Show the cli help

-p PROMPT
   Change the PS1 prompt of the player

-n NEXT_KEY
   key to press to execute the next command. Default: Enter

-i INTERACTIVE_KEY
   key to press for a interactive bash as the next command. Default: End

-b BASE_SPEED
   Set the base speed of typing one character. Default: 0.03

-m MAX_SPEED
   Set the max speed of typing one character. Default: 0.15

--detect-keys
   Detect and display key escape sequences for your system

playbook
   Path and name of the playbook to execute

Config files

After the first usage, there is a configuration file in the home directory to manipulate the default settings.

$ cat ~/.config/cliplayer/cliplayer.cfg
[DEFAULT]
prompt = \033[91mCLIplayer Training \033[92m$\033[0m
playbook_name = ./playbook
next_key = ENTER
interactive_key = END
base_speed = 0.03
max_speed = 0.15

There is also the file key_mappings.cfg to map the key escape sequences of your system to the key names that are used in the cliplayer.cfg. Use cliplayer --detect-keys if your system uses other key escape sequences.

Playbook Options

There are a few playbook options that control how and if a line in a playbook is executed. Use the defined characters as the first character in a line to use the available options.

1. "!"

   Comment in the playbook. The content of this line will not be shown or executed.

   Example:

    ! This is a comment with some important information
   

2. " "

   If no special character is used as the first character, the command is printed and executed as a normal non interactive shell command.

   Examples:

    echo "Hello World" > Readme.txt
    cat Readme.txt
   

3. "*"

   Create a directory and execute the following playbook commands in this directory. These directories can be removed at the end of the training or stopping the playbook with Ctrl-C.

   Examples:

    * ../../awesome_training
    * /tmp/awesome_training
   

4. "_"

   Execute a command and get interactive control over it. This is used since you don't want or can't automate every command.

   Examples:

   _vim Readme.txt
   _man bash
   

5. "="

   A two part command. The first part is executed but not shown. The output of the first part, replace a variable in the second non interactive command part. The two command parts are seperated by three dollar signs "$$$". The variable that changed is named VAR.

   Example:

    = date | cut -c12-20 $$$ # The time is VAR
   

6. "$"

   Same as the = option with the difference that you get interactive control over the second command.

   Example:

    $ date +%B $$$ vim Corona_Diary_VAR
   

7. "+"

   Get an interactive bash prompt to execute commands that you don't want to automate. To exit an interactive session, press Ctrl - ]

   Examples:

    +
    + You can write everything you want behind a +. It will not be shown or executed.
   

Special keys

1. "Enter"

   To execute the next command of the playbook, press the "Enter" key.

2. "End"

   To get an interactive bash, press the "End" key after a playbook command.

3. "Ctrl-]"

   To exit an interactive bash sequence, press "Ctrl-]".

4. "Ctrl-C"

   To exit the cliplayer before the playbook is finished, press "Ctrl-C".

Hint

The keys are chosen because most notebooks have them. If your you don't like the default keys, reconfigure the player with the configuration file or while starting cliplayer.

Build and install from source

$ clone https://github.com/howto-kubernetes-info/cliplayer.git
$ cd cliplayer
$ python3 setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
$ pip install --force-reinstall dist/cliplayer-0.1.4.tar.gz  # Change the version number to the right version

Video training

Links

How to create a prompt