Alternative search command for Linux: ack/grep + find instead of mdfind? #3

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1. marttt commented on Jul 15, 2013

   

   marttt

   on Jul 15, 2013

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   A minor update: I'm pretty much an end-user, but I came up with this:

   ANSWER=`find "$NOTESDIR" -name "??*.txt" -exec grep "$INPUT" {} \; | head -n 1`
   

   But it's not working properly, apparently due to some issues with cat -- here's my log. As you can see, one of the "answer" lines is also printed twice for some reason:

   [mart@arch]$ ./qq -a "question one" "answer"
   Question added and answered.
   
   [mart@arch]$ ./qq answer
   Q: answer?
   A: cat: answer: No such file or directory
   cat: answer: No such file or directory
   cat: answer: No such file or directory
   

   I also tried this:

   ANSWER=`grep -r --include="??*.txt" "$INPUT" $NOTESDIR | head -n 1`
   

   but that returned "Sorry, I don't know the answer..." to every query.

   Due to the need for regular sudo updatedb etc, the script won't be as responsive on Linux as it is on OSX. But can you please help? Thanks!
2. ttscoff commented on Jul 31, 2013

   

   ttscoff

   on Jul 31, 2013

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   From TJ Luoma:

   #!/bin/bash
   
   # notes folder, for note creation and limiting searches
   NOTESDIR="/Users/luomat/Dropbox/txt"
   # extension used for your notes
   NOTESEXT="md"
   # the prefix you use to separate "Question" notes
   NOTESPRE="@qq"
   # editor command to use for modifying answers
   EDITOR="bbedit"
   
   NOTESDIR=`echo $NOTESDIR|sed -e '/\/$/! s/$/\//'`
   
   if [[ "$1" == "-h" ]]
   then
     appname=`basename $0`
     echo "$appname: build a knowledgebase with plain text files"
     echo "Find an answer: $appname \"terms to search for\""
     echo "Add a question\answer: $appname -a \"Question in natural language\" \"Succinct answer\""
     echo "Add a question\answer interactively: $appname -a"
     echo "Edit a question\answer: $appname -e \"terms to search for\" # first question found is edited"
   elif [[ "$1" == "-a" ]]
   then
     if [ $# == 3 ]; then
       QUESTION=$2
       ANSWER=$3
     elif [ $# == 1 ]; then
       echo -n "Question: "
       read QUESTION
       echo -n "Answer: "
       read ANSWER
     else
       echo "Invalid number of arguments for -a(dd). Requires question and answer (or no arguments to input them at runtime)."
       echo "example: ${0##*/} -a \"What is the meaning of life?\" \"42\""
       exit 1
     fi
     echo -n "$ANSWER" > "${NOTESDIR}$NOTESPRE $QUESTION.$NOTESEXT" && echo "Question added and answered." || echo "Something went wrong"
   elif [[ "$1" == "-e" ]]; then
     shift
     INPUT=$@
     ANSWER=`find "${NOTESDIR}" -iname \*.${NOTESEXT} -iname ${NOTESPRE}\* -exec fgrep -il "$INPUT" {} \;`
     if [[ "$ANSWER" == "" ]]; then
       echo "No results found for search."
       exit 2
     else
       $EDITOR "$ANSWER"
     fi
   else
     INPUT=$@
     echo "`find ${NOTESDIR} -iname \*.${NOTESEXT} -iname ${NOTESPRE}\* -exec fgrep -il $INPUT {} \;`"|while read LINE; do
         if [[ "$LINE" == "" ]]; then
           echo "Sorry, I don't know the answer to that question."
           exit 1;
         fi
         QUESTION=${LINE##*/}
         echo -n "Q: "
         NOTESPREESC=`echo "$NOTESPRE"|sed -E 's/([\?\!\$\`\"]) ?/\\\\\1/g'`
         echo ${QUESTION%%.$NOTESEXT}|sed -E "s/$NOTESPREESC ?//g"|sed -E 's/(.)$/\1?/'
         echo -n "A: "
         cat "$LINE"|sed -E 's/@\([^\)]+\) ?//g'|sed -E 's/@copy\(([^)]*)\)/\1/'|sed -E 's/@open\(([^)]*)\)/Related URL: \1/'|sed -E 's/^[   ]*|[  ]*$//g'
         if [[ `cat "$LINE"|grep -E '@copy\('` ]]; then
           cat "$LINE"|grep '@copy('|sed -E 's/.*@copy\(([^)]*)\).*/\1/'|tr -d '\n'|pbcopy
           echo "Example in clipboard"
         fi
   
         if [[ `cat "$LINE"|grep -E '@open\('` ]]; then
           url=$(cat "$LINE"|grep '@open('|sed -E 's/.*@open\(([^)]*)\).*/\1 /'|tr -d '\n')
           open -g $url
           echo "Opened URL"
         fi
         echo
     done
   fi
   exit 0
3. marttt commented on Jul 31, 2013

   

   marttt

   on Jul 31, 2013

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   You made my day. Thanks very much!