pretty-print

README

pretty-print

A utility program that parses JSON or XML from the user's clipboad and formats it for easier reading.

Requirements

While the clipboard and formatting functionality is (mostly) system agnostic, this software is designed for use on *nix systems that have libnotify installed, as it uses notify-send for its notifications. It also requires you have xsel or xclip to be installed.

Usage

After building/installing the binary, I recommend binding it to a keyboard shortcut for quick access.

To format JSON or XML:

1. highlight the string and copy it to your clipboard
2. run the program (preferably from a keybinding)
3. your clipboard's contents will be formatted, you can now paste the result

Formatting Examples

With an input JSON string that looks like this:

{"glossary":{"title":"example glossary","GlossDiv":{"title":"S","GlossList":{"GlossEntry":{"ID":"SGML","SortAs":"SGML","GlossTerm":"Standard Generalized Markup Language","Acronym":"SGML","Abbrev":"ISO 8879:1986","GlossDef":{"para":"A meta-markup language, used to create markup languages such as DocBook.","GlossSeeAlso":["GML","XML"]},"GlossSee":"markup"}}}}}

Running the program and pasting the results gives you this (note that the fields have been alphabetized):

{
  "glossary": {
    "GlossDiv": {
      "GlossList": {
        "GlossEntry": {
          "Abbrev": "ISO 8879:1986",
          "Acronym": "SGML",
          "GlossDef": {
            "GlossSeeAlso": [
              "GML",
              "XML"
            ],
            "para": "A meta-markup language, used to create markup languages such as DocBook."
          },
          "GlossSee": "markup",
          "GlossTerm": "Standard Generalized Markup Language",
          "ID": "SGML",
          "SortAs": "SGML"
        }
      },
      "title": "S"
    },
    "title": "example glossary"
  }
}

With input XML that looks like this:

<?xml version="1.0"?><catalog><book id="bk101"><author>Gambardella, Matthew</author><title>XML Developer's Guide</title><genre>Computer</genre><price>44.95</price><publish_date>2000-10-01</publish_date><description>An in-depth look at creating applications with XML.</description></book><book id="bk102"><author>Ralls, Kim</author><title>Midnight Rain</title><genre>Fantasy</genre><price>5.95</price><publish_date>2000-12-16</publish_date><description>A former architect battles corporate zombies, an evil sorceress, and her own childhood to become queen of the world.</description></book><book id="bk103"><author>Corets, Eva</author><title>Maeve Ascendant</title><genre>Fantasy</genre><price>5.95</price><publish_date>2000-11-17</publish_date><description>After the collapse of a nanotechnology society in England, the young survivors lay the foundation for a new society.</description></book><book id="bk104"><author>Corets, Eva</author><title>Oberon's Legacy</title><genre>Fantasy</genre><price>5.95</price><publish_date>2001-03-10</publish_date><description>In post-apocalypse England, the mysterious agent known only as Oberon helps to create a new life for the inhabitants of London. Sequel to Maeve Ascendant.</description></book><book id="bk105"><author>Corets, Eva</author><title>The Sundered Grail</title><genre>Fantasy</genre><price>5.95</price><publish_date>2001-09-10</publish_date><description>The two daughters of Maeve, half-sisters, battle one another for control of England. Sequel to Oberon's Legacy.</description></book><book id="bk106"><author>Randall, Cynthia</author><title>Lover Birds</title><genre>Romance</genre><price>4.95</price><publish_date>2000-09-02</publish_date><description>When Carla meets Paul at an ornithology conference, tempers fly as feathers get ruffled.</description></book><book id="bk107"><author>Thurman, Paula</author><title>Splish Splash</title><genre>Romance</genre><price>4.95</price><publish_date>2000-11-02</publish_date><description>A deep sea diver finds true love twenty thousand leagues beneath the sea.</description></book><book id="bk108"><author>Knorr, Stefan</author><title>Creepy Crawlies</title><genre>Horror</genre><price>4.95</price><publish_date>2000-12-06</publish_date><description>An anthology of horror stories about roaches, centipedes, scorpions and other insects.</description></book><book id="bk109"><author>Kress, Peter</author><title>Paradox Lost</title><genre>Science Fiction</genre><price>6.95</price><publish_date>2000-11-02</publish_date><description>After an inadvertant trip through a Heisenberg Uncertainty Device, James Salway discovers the problems of being quantum.</description></book><book id="bk110"><author>O'Brien, Tim</author><title>Microsoft .NET: The Programming Bible</title><genre>Computer</genre><price>36.95</price><publish_date>2000-12-09</publish_date><description>Microsoft's .NET initiative is explored in detail in this deep programmer's reference.</description></book><book id="bk111"><author>O'Brien, Tim</author><title>MSXML3: A Comprehensive Guide</title><genre>Computer</genre><price>36.95</price><publish_date>2000-12-01</publish_date><description>The Microsoft MSXML3 parser is covered in detail, with attention to XML DOM interfaces, XSLT processing, SAX and more.</description></book><book id="bk112"><author>Galos, Mike</author><title>Visual Studio 7: A Comprehensive Guide</title><genre>Computer</genre><price>49.95</price><publish_date>2001-04-16</publish_date><description>Microsoft Visual Studio 7 is explored in depth, looking at how Visual Basic, Visual C++, C#, and ASP+ are integrated into a comprehensive development environment.</description></book></catalog>

Running the program and pasting the results gives you this:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<catalog>
  <book id="bk101">
    <author>Gambardella, Matthew</author>
    <title>XML Developer&apos;s Guide</title>
    <genre>Computer</genre>
    <price>44.95</price>
    <publish_date>2000-10-01</publish_date>
    <description>An in-depth look at creating applications with XML.</description>
  </book>
  <book id="bk102">
    <author>Ralls, Kim</author>
    <title>Midnight Rain</title>
    <genre>Fantasy</genre>
    <price>5.95</price>
    <publish_date>2000-12-16</publish_date>
    <description>A former architect battles corporate zombies, an evil sorceress, and her own childhood to become queen of the world.</description>
  </book>
  <book id="bk103">
    <author>Corets, Eva</author>
    <title>Maeve Ascendant</title>
    <genre>Fantasy</genre>
    <price>5.95</price>
    <publish_date>2000-11-17</publish_date>
    <description>After the collapse of a nanotechnology society in England, the young survivors lay the foundation for a new society.</description>
  </book>
  <book id="bk104">
    <author>Corets, Eva</author>
    <title>Oberon&apos;s Legacy</title>
    <genre>Fantasy</genre>
    <price>5.95</price>
    <publish_date>2001-03-10</publish_date>
    <description>In post-apocalypse England, the mysterious agent known only as Oberon helps to create a new life for the inhabitants of London. Sequel to Maeve Ascendant.</description>
  </book>
  <book id="bk105">
    <author>Corets, Eva</author>
    <title>The Sundered Grail</title>
    <genre>Fantasy</genre>
    <price>5.95</price>
    <publish_date>2001-09-10</publish_date>
    <description>The two daughters of Maeve, half-sisters, battle one another for control of England. Sequel to Oberon&apos;s Legacy.</description>
  </book>
  <book id="bk106">
    <author>Randall, Cynthia</author>
    <title>Lover Birds</title>
    <genre>Romance</genre>
    <price>4.95</price>
    <publish_date>2000-09-02</publish_date>
    <description>When Carla meets Paul at an ornithology conference, tempers fly as feathers get ruffled.</description>
  </book>
  <book id="bk107">
    <author>Thurman, Paula</author>
    <title>Splish Splash</title>
    <genre>Romance</genre>
    <price>4.95</price>
    <publish_date>2000-11-02</publish_date>
    <description>A deep sea diver finds true love twenty thousand leagues beneath the sea.</description>
  </book>
  <book id="bk108">
    <author>Knorr, Stefan</author>
    <title>Creepy Crawlies</title>
    <genre>Horror</genre>
    <price>4.95</price>
    <publish_date>2000-12-06</publish_date>
    <description>An anthology of horror stories about roaches, centipedes, scorpions and other insects.</description>
  </book>
  <book id="bk109">
    <author>Kress, Peter</author>
    <title>Paradox Lost</title>
    <genre>Science Fiction</genre>
    <price>6.95</price>
    <publish_date>2000-11-02</publish_date>
    <description>After an inadvertant trip through a Heisenberg Uncertainty Device, James Salway discovers the problems of being quantum.</description>
  </book>
  <book id="bk110">
    <author>O&apos;Brien, Tim</author>
    <title>Microsoft .NET: The Programming Bible</title>
    <genre>Computer</genre>
    <price>36.95</price>
    <publish_date>2000-12-09</publish_date>
    <description>Microsoft&apos;s .NET initiative is explored in detail in this deep programmer&apos;s reference.</description>
  </book>
  <book id="bk111">
    <author>O&apos;Brien, Tim</author>
    <title>MSXML3: A Comprehensive Guide</title>
    <genre>Computer</genre>
    <price>36.95</price>
    <publish_date>2000-12-01</publish_date>
    <description>The Microsoft MSXML3 parser is covered in detail, with attention to XML DOM interfaces, XSLT processing, SAX and more.</description>
  </book>
  <book id="bk112">
    <author>Galos, Mike</author>
    <title>Visual Studio 7: A Comprehensive Guide</title>
    <genre>Computer</genre>
    <price>49.95</price>
    <publish_date>2001-04-16</publish_date>
    <description>Microsoft Visual Studio 7 is explored in depth, looking at how Visual Basic, Visual C++, C#, and ASP+ are integrated into a comprehensive development environment.</description>
  </book>
</catalog>

Things to Come

This was (re)built primarily as a simple tool for myself and a couple coworkers to make our lives easier when having to manually inspect API data. This started life as a simple bash script, but with the rewrite, there is definitely more room for expansion. Some of the things I'd like to include:

• Configuration files (for things like indent amount)
• A virtual clipboard, so that original clipboard is unmutated
• A sort of "format in place" (auto copy and paste over highlighted text)
• CLI access: allow piping in and out
• True Windows and Mac support