orbit

README

Orbit

A simple tool for running commands and generating files from templates

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Orbit started with the need to find a cross-platform alternative of make and sed -i commands. As it does not aim to be as powerful as these two commands, Orbit offers an elegant solution for running commands and generating files from templates, whatever the platform you're using.

Menu

• Install
• Generating a file from a template
• Defining and running commands

Install

Download the latest release of Orbit from the releases page. You can get Orbit for a large range of OS and architecture.

The file you downloaded is a compressed archive. You'll need to extract the Orbit binary and move it into a folder where you can execute it easily.

Linux/MacOS:

tar -xzf orbit*.tar.gz orbit
sudo mv ./orbit /usr/local/bin && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/orbit

Windows:

Right click on the file and choose Extract All.

Move the binary to a folder like C:\Orbit. Then, add it in your Path system environment variables. Click System, Advanced system settings, Environment Variables... and open Path under System variables. Edit the Variable value by adding the folder with the Orbit binary.

Alright, you're almost done 🤘! Let's check your installation by running:

orbit version

Generating a file from a template

Orbit uses the Go package text/template under the hood as a template engine. It provides a interesting amount of logic for your templates.

The Go documentation and the Hugo documentation cover a lot of features that aren't mentioned here. Don't hesitate to take a look at these links to understand the Go template engine! 😃

Also, Orbit provides Sprig library and two custom functions:

• os which returns the current OS name at runtime (you may find all available names in the official documentation).
• debug which returns true if the -d --debug flag has been past to Orbit.

Command description

Base

orbit generate [flags]

Flags

-t --template

Specify the path of the template. This flag is required.

-o --output

Specify the output file which will be generated from the template.

Good to know: if no output is specified, Orbit will print the result to Stdout.

-v --values

The flag -v allows you to specify one or many YAML files:

orbit generate [...] -v file.yml
orbit generate [...] -v key_1,file_1.yml
orbit generate [...] -v key_1,file_1.yml;key_2,file_2.yml

As you can see, you're able to provide a basic mapping for your files:

• with mapping, your data will be accessible in your template through {{ .Values.my_key.my_data }}.
• otherwise through {{ .Values.default.my_data }}.

-e --env

The flag -e allows you to specify one or many .env files:

orbit generate [...] -e .env
orbit generate [...] -e key_1,.env_1
orbit generate [...] -e key_1,.env_1;key_2,.env_2

As you can see, it works the same way as the -v flag:

• with mapping, your data will be accessible in your template through {{ .EnvFiles.my_key.my_data }}.
• otherwise through {{ .EnvFiles.default.my_data }}.

-r --raw

The flag -r allows you to specify data directly from the CLI.

orbit generate [...] -r key_1=value_1
orbit generate [...] -r key_1=value_1;key_2=value_2

Your data will be accessible in your template through {{ .RawData.my_key }}.

-d --debug

Displays a detailed output.

Basic example

Let's create our simple template satellites_tmpl.yml:

usa:
  info: {{ .EnvFiles.default.USA }}
  satellites:
    {{- range $value := .Values.default.satellites.usa }}
    - {{ $value }}
    {{- end}}

And the data provided by:

• a YAML file named usa_satellites.yml:

satellites:
  usa:
    - Explorer 1
    - Explorer 2
    - Explorer 3

• a .env file named .env:

USA="Some satellites launched by the USA (1950s)"

The command for generating a file from this template is quite simple:

orbit generate -t satellites_tmpl.yml -e .env -v usa_satellites.yml -o satellites.yml

This command will create the satellites.yml file with this content:

usa:
  info: Some satellites launched by the USA (1950s)
  satellites:
    - Explorer 1
    - Explorer 2
    - Explorer 3

Defining and running commands

Command description

Base

orbit run [commands] [flags]

Flags

-c --config

Like the make command with its Makefile, Orbit requires a configuration file (YAML, by default orbit.yml) where you define your Orbit commands:

commands:
  - use: my_first_command
    short: My first command short description
    run:
      - command [args]
      - command [args]
      - ...
  - use: my_second_command
    short: My second command short description
    run:
      - command [args]
      - command [args]
      - ...

• the use attribute is the name of your Orbit command.
• the short attribute is optional and is displayed when running orbit run
• the run attribute is the stack of external commands to run.
• an external command is a binary which is available in your $PATH.

Once you've created your orbit.yml file, you're able to run your Orbit commands with:

orbit run my_first_command
orbit run my_second_command
orbit run my_first_command my_second_command

Notice that you may run nested Orbit commands 🤘!

Also a cool feature of Orbit is its ability to read its configuration through a template.

For example, if you need to run a platform specific script, you may write:

commands:
  - use: script
    run:
    {{ if ne "windows" os }}
      - /bin/sh -c my_script.sh
    {{ else }}
      - cmd.exe /c .\my_script.bat
    {{ end }}

Last but not least, you're also able to write complex commands:

commands:
  - use: complex
    run:
      - /bin/sh -c "ls -all | grep orbit"

Notice that the arguments are wrapped with ". You may also wrap them using ` or '.

-v --values

The flag -v allows you to specify one or many YAML files.

It works the same as the -v flag from the generate command.

-e --env

The flag -e allows you to specify one or many .env files.

It works the same as the -e flag from the generate command.

-r --raw

The flag -r allows you to specify data directly from the CLI.

It works the same as the -r flag from the generate command.

-d --debug

Displays a detailed output.

Basic example

Let's create our simple configuration file orbit.yml:

commands:
  - use: os
    run:
    {{ if ne "windows" os }}
      - echo Current OS is {{ os }}
    {{ else }}
      - cmd.exe /c echo Current OS is {{ os }}
    {( end }}

You are now able to run:

orbit run os

This command will print something like:

Current OS is darwin

Voilà! 😃

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Would you like to update this documentation ? Feel free to open an issue.

Documentation

Overview

Package main is the root package of the application.

Orbit started with the need to find a cross-platform alternative of "make" and "sed -i" commands. As it does not aim to be as powerful as these two commands, Orbit offers an elegant solution for running commands and generating files from templates, whatever the platform you're using.

For more information, go to https://github.com/gulien/orbit.