Using UNIX in BBEdit
Expand the capabilities of BBedit
Friday - BBEdit UNIXBBEdit is a powerful text editor for macOS that offers a wide range of features, including the ability to use Unix commands in Text Factory. This can be a great way to automate tasks and perform complex text transformations.
To use UNIX commands in BBEdit, you first need to create a Text Factory. To do this, go to the Text menu and select New Text Factory. In the New Text Factory dialog box, select the "Run Unix Filter" option from the Type drop-down menu.
Click on the Option button to the right of the "Run Unix Filter" meni, you can enter your UNIX commands in the text box. You can use any valid UNIX command, including grep, sed, and awk.
When you are finished entering your commands, click OK. Once your done, use Command - S to save the change. You should save this in the Application Support > Text Filter directory.
Your Text Factory will now be available in the Text menu.
Using Text Factory
To use a Text Factory, simply select it from the Text menu. BBEdit will run the UNIX commands in the Text Factory and replace the current document with the output.
You can also use TextFactories to perform complex text transformations. For example, you could use a Text Factory to convert all of the links in a document to a different format, or to remove all of the comments from a document.
TextFactories are a powerful way to automate tasks and perform complex text transformations in BBEdit. If you are not familiar with UNIX commands, there are many resources available online that can help you get started.
Things I Learned using Unix Command in Text Factory
In the "Run File" text box, make sure to put the complete path of the UNIX command you want to run. (Unless the command is available system wide.)
The arguments should contain everything to the right of the application. No parameters should be in the "Run File" text box.
If you have multiple UNIX commands that you use, you are better off just adding them as different "Run Unix Filter" commands.