Bash shells script 101 - variable definition, pbcopy, etc

Question

I am trying to create a (my first) bash script, but I need a little help. I have the following:

#!/bin/bash

echo "Write a LaTeX equation:" 
read -e TeXFormula

URIEncoded = node -p "encodeURIComponent('$(sed "s/'/\\\'/g" <<<"$TeXFormula")')"

curl http://latex.codecogs.com/gif.latex?$URIEncoded -o /Users/casparjespersen/Desktop/notetex.gif | pbcopy

I want it to:

Require user input (LaTeX equation)
URIEncode user input (the top result in Google was using node.js, but anything will do..)
Perform a cURL call to this website converting equation to a GIF image
Copy the image to the placeholder, so I can paste it to a note taking app like OneNote, Word, etc.

My script is malfunctioning in the following:

URIEncoded is undefined, so there is something wrong with my variable definition.
When I copy using pbcopy the encrypted text content of the image is copied, and not the actual image. Is there a workaround for this? Otherwise, the script could automatically open the image and I could manually Cmd + C the content.

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 04 '14 at 08:46

2

URIEncoded is undefined, so there is something wrong with my variable definition.

The line should read

URIEncoded=$(node -p "encodeURIComponent('$(sed "s/'/\\\'/g" <<<"$TeXFormula")')")

without spaces around the = sign, and using the $() construct to actually perform the command, otherwise, the text of the command would be assigned to the variable.

When I copy using pbcopy the encrypted text content of the image is copied, and not the actual image. Is there a workaround for this? Otherwise, the script could automatically open the image and I could manually Cmd + C the content.

pbcopy takes input from stdin but you are telling curl to write the output to a file rather than stdout. Try simply

curl http://latex.codecogs.com/gif.latex?$URIEncoded | pbcopy

or, for the second option you describe

curl http://latex.codecogs.com/gif.latex?$URIEncoded -o /Users/casparjespersen/Desktop/notetex.gif && open $_

answered Nov 04 '14 at 08:46

damienfrancois

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Thank you very much! When I try to do the `curl http://latex.codecogs.com/gif.latex?$URIEncoded | pbcopy` solution, I get an error that `pbcopy` is undefined. How is that? – casparjespersen Nov 04 '14 at 08:49
Weird. Try writing the full path `/usr/bin/pbcopy` ? – damienfrancois Nov 04 '14 at 08:57
Same result. Even though if I run `pbcopy` (or with full path) outside the script, it works. Could it be because I have located my script as `/bin/notetex`? – casparjespersen Nov 04 '14 at 09:00
What is the output of `which pbcopy` when run from your script? – damienfrancois Nov 04 '14 at 09:08
This is weird.. Output is: `/usr/bin/pbcopy` – casparjespersen Nov 04 '14 at 09:35
Okay. I just tried re-writing it and `pbcopy` works now. But when I paste the content it just inserts a text e.g. "GIF89aB" instead of the actual GIF image. – casparjespersen Nov 04 '14 at 09:36
Works with http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6919403/set-clipboard-to-image-pbcopy – casparjespersen Nov 04 '14 at 10:08

Bash shells script 101 - variable definition, pbcopy, etc

1 Answers1