Add kj4ezj/echo-eval (#84)

Author: kj4ezj

Diff for: _posts/2024-02-06-echo-eval.md

@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: "echo-eval"
+description: "Debug systems faster when logs look like terminal output."
+category: ci
+tags: [bash, ci, cli, command wrappers, debugging, lib, library, logs, server, testing]
+---
+
+This minimalist library takes a bash command as a string, prints it with a shell prompt in front of it, then runs that command using `eval`.
+```
+$ jq --version
+jq-1.6
+```
+This pattern minimizes the time it takes to debug your bash systems by leaving logs resembling someone typing at a terminal.
+
+## Installation
+You can install this globally...
+```bash
+sudo bpkg install -g kj4ezj/echo-eval
+```
+...or as a project dependency.
+```bash
+bpkg install kj4ezj/echo-eval
+```
+If you install it as a `bpkg` dependency then you will need to source it in your scripts.
+```bash
+source deps/bin/ee
+```
+Your paths may vary.
+
+## Usage
+This library takes the input you give it, prints or echoes it to the terminal with a fake shell prompt in front of it, then tries to run it as a command. For example, the output of this...
+```bash
+ee uname
+```
+...looks like this on Linux.
+```
+$ uname
+Linux
+```
+You can invoke `ee` as a function...
+```bash
+ee echo test
+```
+...or as a file.
+```bash
+./ee.sh echo test
+```
+Some commands may need to be encased in quotes to work the way you intend. For example, `dc` is sensitive to whitespace.
+```bash
+echo-eval$ ee dc -e '1 2 + p'
+$ dc -e 1 2 + p
+dc: Could not open file 2
+dc: Could not open file +
+dc: Could not open file p
+echo-eval$ ee "dc -e '1 2 + p'"
+$ dc -e '1 2 + p'
+3
+```
+In this example, we want the input to `ee` to include the pipe (`|`).
+```bash
+echo-eval$ export EXAMPLE='yeet'
+echo-eval$ ee printf "$EXAMPLE" | wc -c
+18
+echo-eval$ ee 'printf "$EXAMPLE" | wc -c'
+$ printf "$EXAMPLE" | wc -c
+4
+```
+Quotes were needed to get the correct output of four characters.
+
+## Links
+Written by [Zach Butler](https://github.com/kj4ezj).
+- [Source Code](https://github.com/kj4ezj/echo-eval) - GitHub
+- [Documentation](https://github.com/kj4ezj/echo-eval#echo-eval)
+
+Check out the GitHub repo for more information.
+
+{% include JB/setup %}