Simple, Handy "Edit Output" Script

February 25, 2018

Sometimes scripts I write to automate my work-flow I’ll use again and again, while others turnout not to be so useful longterm. Recently I wrote a script that I find I’m using repeatedly, so I thought I’d share it.

It’s called edit_output or eo for short.

It takes the output of your last command issued on the command line and opens it up in your editor. I find it’s useful when I’d like to copy a part of the output to my clipboard.

“eo” helps keep my hands on the keyboard and away from the mouse.

How to setup and use

You’ll need iTerm2 (on a Mac) for this to work.

Save the following to the file eo and put it in a bin folder that’s in your PATH.

#!/usr/bin/env osascript

tell application "iTerm2"
  tell current session of current window
    tell application "System Events" to keystroke "a" using {command down, shift down}
    tell application "System Events"
      key code 53
    end tell
  end tell
end tell

tell application "Sublime Text"
   activate
end tell

tell application "System Events" to keystroke "n" using {command down}
tell application "System Events" to keystroke "v" using {command down}

return " Last output copied to your editor"

My editor is Sublime Text. If you use a different editor, you’ll need to change the editor specified in the script accordingly.

For me, the path of the script is:

~/bin/eo

After you save eo, make it an executable script:

$ chmod +x ~/bin/eo

Test it out

From the command line, type a command that produces output, like the following:

$ ls -al

Then type:

eo

The output of your command should be in your editor.

Enjoy!