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Oil Help Topics

This is the online help for the Oil language. It underlies the help builtin.

For example, typing help proc in the shell shows you how to use the proc statement. A link to this same text appears in the command-lang group below.

To view this index inside the shell, use:

help oil

An X next to a help topic means that the feature is unimplemented.

 

Overview (overview)

  [Usage]         bundle-usage   oil-usage
  [Oil Lexing]    docstring ###   multiline-command ...

Command Language (command-lang)

                  proc          proc p (x, :out, @rest, e Expr, b Block) { c }
                  oil-if        if (x > 0) { echo }
                  oil-case      case $x { ('build') do build ;; }
                  oil-while     while (x > 0) { echo }
                  oil-for       for i, item in (mylist) { echo }
                  equal =       = 1 + 2*3
                  underscore _  _ mylist.append(42)
                  typed-arg     json write (x)
                  block-arg     cd /tmp { echo $PWD }

Expression Language and Assignments (expr-lang)

  [Keywords]      const   var   setvar   setglobal   setref
  [Literals]      bool-literal  true   false   null
                  int-literal   42  65_536  0xFF  0o755  0b10
                  X float-lit   3.14  1.5e-10
                  rune-literal  #'a'   #'_'   \n   \\   \u{3bc}
                  str-literal   r'[a-z]\n'  $'line\n'  
                  list-literal  %(one two)  ['one', 'two', 3]
                  dict-literal  {name: 'bob'}
                  block-literal ^(echo $PWD)
                  X expr-lit    ^[1 + 2*3]
  [Operators]     concat        s1 ++ s2,  L1 ++ L2
                  oil-equals    ===   !==   ~==   is, is not, in, not in
                  oil-compare   <  <=  >  >=  (numbers only)
                  oil-logical    not  and  or
                  oil-arith     +  -  *  /  //  %   ** 
                  oil-bitwise   ~  &  |  ^  <<  >>
                  oil-ternary   '+' if x >= 0 else '-'
                  oil-index     a[3]  s[3]
                  oil-slice     a[1:-1]  s[1:-1]
                  func-call     f(x, y)   s.startswith('prefix')
                  match-ops     ~   !~   ~~   !~~
  [Eggex]         re-literal    / d+ /
                  re-compound   ~   (group)   <capture>   sequence
                  re-primitive  %zero   Subpattern   @subpattern
                                'sq'   "dq"   $x   ${x}
                  named-class    dot  digit  space  word  d  s  w
                  class-literal [c a-z 'abc' \\ \xFF \u0100]
                  X re-flags    ignorecase etc.
                  X re-multiline  ///

Word Language (word-lang)

                  inline-call   $strfunc(x, y) @arrayfunc(z)
                  splice        @myarray @ARGV
                  expr-sub      echo $[42 + a[i]]
                  X builtin-sub ${.myproc arg1}  @{.otherproc $x $y}
                  X oil-printf  ${x %.3f}
                  X oil-format  ${x|html}

Builtin Commands (builtins)

  [Memory]        append                 Add elements to end of array
                  X argparse             getopts replacement, sets OPT
                  pp                     Pretty print interpreter state
  [Handle Errors] try                    Run with errexit and set _status
                  boolstatus             Enforce 0 or 1 exit status
  [Shell State]   oil-cd   oil-shopt     compatible, and takes a block
                  shvar                  Temporary modify global settings
                  push-registers         Save registers like $?, PIPESTATUS
  [Modules]       runproc                Run a proc; use as main entry point
                  module                 guard against duplicate 'source'
                  use                    change first word lookup
  [I/O]           oil-read               Buffered I/O with --line, --all, --qsn
                  write                  Like echo, but with --, --sep, --end
                  fork   forkwait        Replace & and (), and takes a block
                  fopen                  Open multiple streams, takes a block
                  X log   X die          common functions (polyfill)
  [Hay Config]    hay   haynode          For DSLs and config files
  [Data Formats]  json   X qtt
X [QTT]           rows                   pick rows; dplyr filter()
                  cols                   pick columns ('select' already taken)
                  group-by               add a column with a group ID [ext]
                  sort-by                sort by columns; dplyr arrange() [ext]
                  summary                count, sum, histogram, etc. [ext]
X [Testing]       describe               Test harness
                  assert                 takes an expression
X [External Lang] BEGIN   END   when (awk)
                  rule (make)   each (xargs)   fs (find)

Shell Options (option)

  [Option Groups] strict:all   oil:upgrade   oil:all
  [Strictness]    ... More Runtime Errors
                  strict_argv            No empty argv
                  strict_arith           Fatal parse errors (on by default)
                  strict_array           Arrays don't decay to strings
                  strict_control_flow    Disallow misplaced keyword, empty arg
                  strict_errexit         Disallow code that ignores failure
                  strict_nameref         trap invalid variable names
                  strict_word_eval       Expose unicode and slicing errors
                  strict_tilde           Tilde subst can result in error
                  X strict_glob          Parse the sublanguage more strictly
  [Oil Upgrade]   ... Migrate Existing Code to Oil
                  parse_at               echo @array @arrayfunc(x, y)
                  parse_brace            if true { ... }; cd ~/src { ... }
                  parse_equals           x = 'val' in Caps { } config blocks
                  parse_paren            if (x > 0) ...
                  parse_proc             proc p { ... }
                  parse_raw_string       echo r'\' (command mode)
                  parse_triple_quote     """  '''  r'''  $''' in command mode
                  command_sub_errexit    Synchronous errexit check
                  process_sub_fail       Analogous to pipefail for process subs
                  sigpipe_status_ok      status 141 -> 0 in pipelines
                  simple_word_eval       No splitting, static globbing
                  xtrace_rich            Hierarchical and process tracing
                  xtrace_details (-u)    Disable most tracing with +
                  dashglob (-u)          Disabled to avoid files like -rf
                  expand_aliases (-u)    Whether aliases are expanded
                  redefine_proc (-u)     Can procs be redefined?
  [Interactive]   redefine_module        'module' builtin always returns 0
                  X redefine_const       Can consts be redefined?
  [Simplicity]    ... More Consistent Style
                  simple_echo            echo takes 0 or 1 arguments
                  simple_eval_builtin    eval takes exactly 1 argument
                  simple_test_builtin    3 args or fewer; use test not [
                  X simple_trap          Function name only
  [Oil Breaking]  ... The Full Oil Language
                  parse_at_all           @ starting any word is an operator
                  parse_backslash (-u)    Bad backslashes in $''
                  parse_backticks (-u)    Legacy syntax `echo hi`
                  parse_bare_word (-u)   'case unquoted' and 'for x in unquoted'
                  parse_dollar (-u)      Is $ allowed for \$?  Maybe $/d+/
                  parse_dparen (-u)      Is (( legacy arithmetic allowed?
                  parse_ignored (-u)     Parse, but ignore, certain redirects
                  parse_sh_assign (-u)   Are legacy a=b and PATH=. cmd allowed?
                  parse_sloppy_case (-u) Case patterns look like (*.py) not *.py)
                  X copy_env (-u)        Use $[ENV->PYTHONPATH] when false
                  X old_builtins (-u)    local/declare/etc.  pushd/popd/dirs
                                         ... source  unset  printf  [un]alias
                                         ... getopts
                  X old_syntax (-u)      [[   $(( ))  ${x%prefix}   ${a[@]}
                                         $$
  [Compatibility] compat_array           ${array} is ${array[0]}
                  eval_unsafe_arith      Recursively parse and evaluate
                  parse_dynamic_arith    LHS can contain variables
                  verbose_errexit        Whether to print detailed errors
  [More Options]  allow_csub_psub        For implementing strict_errexit
                  dynamic_scope          For implementing 'proc'

Environment Variables (env)

  [Oil Paths]     ?builtins   ?completion_plugins   ?coprocesses

Special Variables (special)

  [Shell Vars]    ARGV   X ENV   X OPT
                  X _ESCAPE   _DIALECT
                  _this_dir
  [Platform]      OIL_VERSION
  [Exit Status]   _status   _pipeline_status   _process_sub_status
  [Tracing]       SHX_indent   SHX_punct   SHX_pid_str
X [Wok]           _filename   _line
X [Builtin Sub]   _buffer

Builtin Functions (lib)

Access silently mutated globals:

  [Pattern]       _match()   X _start()   X _end()
X [Wok]           _field()

Functions:

  [Collections]   len()
X [String]        find()   sub()   join() 
                  split()             $IFS, awk algorithm, regex
  [Word]          glob()   maybe()
  [Arrays]        X index()   append()   extend()
  [Assoc Arrays]  @keys()   @values()
  [Introspection] shvar_get()
X [Hay Config]    parse_hay()   eval_hay()   block_as_str()   
X [Better Syntax] lstrip()   rstrip()   lstripglob()   rstripglob()
                  upper()   lower()
                  strftime()
X [Codecs]        posix-sh-str   oil-str   html-utf8
X [Hashing]       sha1   sha256 (etc.)

Generated on Fri Oct 7 13:11:06 EDT 2022