matt-harvey/pre

`pre` expands to the content of the .pre file in whatever directory you're running it in

Pre

What problem does this solve?

I created this very basic tool as a way to save myself typing the same Docker-related prefixes again and again. For example:

docker exec -it <some-container-name> <something-to-do-inside-the-container>

The part before <something-to-do-inside-the-container> is:

• Often quite verbose
• Varies from project to project
• Is the same most of the time when I'm running commands within a particular project

I wanted a way to avoid repetitively typing the same thing while also being able to vary the thing I'm avoiding repetitively typing, on a per-project basis. Simple shell aliases didn't quite meet this requirement.

How does pre solve this problem?

You write your prefix as the single line of content in a file called .pre that lives inside your project.

When you run pre <args...> from inside the directory that the .pre file lives in, it will automatically prefix that line to <args...>, and then run the whole thing as one command.

For example:

• In directory A, I place a file .pre containing just the line docker exec -it my-app
• While in directory A, I run (for example) the command pre php artisan test
• It is as if I had run: docker exec -it my-app php artisan test

Installing pre

You need PHP installed. Any recent-ish version should do.

pre comes in one small file with no dependencies. Just copy the file pre.php to somewhere in your path e.g. /usr/local/bin/pre, and make it executable (chmod +x).