pnu-echobox 1.2.1

write arguments in a box to the standard output

Installation

pip install pnu-echobox

ECHOBOX(1)

NAME

echobox - write arguments in a box to the standard output

SYNOPSIS

echobox [-a|--align name] [-b|--basic-char char] [-f|--fill-char char] [-i|--inter-lines number] [-l|--lead-lines number] [-S|--style name] [-s|--spaces number] [-t|--trail-lines number] [--debug] [--help|-?] [--version] [--] [string ...]

DESCRIPTION

The echobox utility writes any specified operands, separated by single blank (' ') characters, in a box, to the standard output. The "\n" substring is used to split the concatenated operands into multiple lines.

If there are no arguments provided on the command line, standard input is read (until a Control-D (Unix) or Control-Z (Windows) character is sent).

OPTIONS

Options	Use
-a|--align name	Sets the alignment to use. Possible values: left (default), center, middle, right.
-b|--basic-char char	Sets the character to use with the basic style. Default value: '#'.
-f|--fill-char char	Sets the character to use to fill the box. Default value: ' '.
-i|--inter-lines number	Sets the number of lines separating the text from the box on the top and bottom sides. Default value: 1.
-l|--lead-lines number	Sets the number of blank lines preceding the box. Default value: 0.
-S|--style name	Sets the style to use. Possible values: basic (default), ascii, single, curved, hatched, double, block.
-s|--spaces number	Sets the number of spaces separating the text from the box on the left and right sides. Default value: 3.
-t|--trail-lines number	Sets the number of blank lines following the box. Default value: 1.
--debug	Enable debug level messages.
--help|-?	Print usage and a short help message and exit.
--version	Print version and exit.
--	Options processing terminator. Contrarily to the echo(1) command, it is recognized as such.

ENVIRONMENT

Environment variables are processed first and thus overridden by command line options.

Variable	Use
ECHOBOX_STYLE	Sets the style to use.
ECHOBOX_ALIGN	Sets the alignment to use.
ECHOBOX_BASIC_CHAR	Sets the character to use with the basic style.
ECHOBOX_FILL_CHAR	Sets the character to use to fill the box.
ECHOBOX_SPACES	Sets the number of spaces separating the text from the box on the left and right sides.
ECHOBOX_INTER_LINES	Sets the number of lines separating the text from the box on the top and bottom sides.
ECHOBOX_LEAD_LINES	Sets the number of blank lines preceding the box.
ECHOBOX_TRAIL_LINES	Sets the number of blank lines following the box.
ECHOBOX_DEBUG	Enable debug level messages.
COLUMNS	Defines the number of columns in the terminal window. This variable is sometimes provided by the Bash shell and some others, but not necessarily exported. It's used for center and right alignments. Default value: 80.

EXIT STATUS

The echobox utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

SEE ALSO

dialog(1), fortune(6)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box-drawing_character

https://unicode-table.com/fr/#box-drawing

STANDARDS

The echobox command is not a standard UNIX/POSIX command.

It tries to follow the PEP 8 style guide for Python code.

PORTABILITY

Tested OK under Windows, though some of the styles are not available (the hatched and curved Unicode characters are not fully recognized in the cmd.exe and PowerShell command prompts).

HISTORY

The echobox command was created as an example for the PNU project, demonstrating how to process the environment and the command line, and use the Python logging module.

It's also used as a filter for fortune output, in order to introduce some boxology.

LICENSE

This utility is available under the 3-clause BSD license.

AUTHORS

Hubert Tournier

CAVEATS

Specifying basic or fill Unicode characters is not currently possible with the environment and command line options.

Display will overflow if your text is wider than your console.