macOS Grab AWK var and then bash.export() ?

[zeppenwolf]

I've had a problem with #defines which has been nagging me for years.

It wasn't a big problem, and it always struck me that it would be a radical chore to solve it, and I'd never ever heard anyone else complain about it, and... well, anyway, I finally got around to doing something, and I have a solution, but you Awkward guys could maybe help me make it really polished.

I have a C/Objc program with some defines in a file like this:

//
//  kMyKillerApp.h
//  MyKillerApp
//
//  Created by Senior Programmer on 3/9/14.
//  Copyright 2014 ComTech. All rights reserved.

#pragma once

#define kMyKillerAppIdentity        Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
#define kMyKillerAppIdLength        34
//#define kMyKillerAppBaseIdLength        yeah,nevermind

The project also has some bash scripts which must use the same exact "variables". Until now, I've been copy & pasting the string Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from my ObjC.h file into my bash script(s)... and that doesn't seem like a BIG deal, but then I forgot, the other day... ( It so happens that the actual "spelling", so to speak, of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious has changed many times in my current app, and so... here we are. )

I wanted to have just one doggone declaration of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious somewhere, and then both my ObjC code and my bash scripts would refer to that one declaration.

So I mostly have it figgered out; I have the following bash script:

#!/bin/bash

#    Takes lines like:

#define        kFinkNottle        Gussie

# from the file passed in $1, and echos back space-separated "lines" like "kFinkNottle=Gussie". 

echo `awk '/^#define/  {print $2 "=" $3}' "$1"`

So, performed on my ObjC header above, it spits out:

kMyKillerAppIdentity=Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious kMyKillerAppIdLength=34

If I call eval() on the result of the script, like this:

eval `./bridgeFromDefineToBash kMyKillerApp.h`

Then Voila! kMyKillerAppIdentity is now a bona fide bash variable with the proper value.

But you can see where I'd like go just one step further-- I would like to avoid having to call "eval" at all, ( from outside )-- I would like the bash script to not only eval the assignment string(s) that I generate, but also, darn it, because it's a script, I need to call export to get the variable and its value pushed up out of the script to the calling environment.

IOW, can I somehow get the value of Awk's $2 and then call bash's export command on it? At this point, I've stretched my bash / Awk competency six counties past the limit... If you can help me do this, or there's some completely different other weird way... tHnaks!

 

[dmi]

bridgeFromDefineToBash:

export `awk '/^#define/  {print $2 "=" $3}' "$1"`

call:

.  bridgeFromDefineToBash kMyKillerApp.h

or

bridgeFromDefineToBash:

awk '/^#define/  {print $2 "=" $3}' "$1"

call:

export `./bridgeFromDefineToBash kMyKillerApp.h`

 

[zeppenwolf]

bridgeFromDefineToBash:

.  bridgeFromDefineToBash kMyKillerApp.h

Thank you DMI. This really is a nifty piece of work, I think. It's Mission Accomplished BooCoo here, even if I still have a question:

Of course I prefer Version One you gave that I quote up there-- it is only two more characters than the Holy Grail(tm) I was dreaming of, ( "bridgeFromDefineToBash kMyKillerApp.h" ).

I have confirmed that the initial ". " is essential, however-- if I edit the values in kMyKillerApp.h, then call "bridgeFromDefineToBash kMyKillerApp.h" ( script in $PATH ) or "./bridgeFromDefineToBash kMyKillerApp.h", the variables in the calling environment do not reflect the most recent changes...

If you have a minute, can you explain what that initial ". " is doing? In the case where I call ""bridgeFromDefineToBash kMyKillerApp.h", I can echo() the most recent changes, but the export() command doesn't export them. Well, golly: what use is the export() command if it doesn't actually export ???

 

[dmi]

"." is another name for "source" which executes the commands in the current shell.