README.md

je-tool

json encode tool (je for short)

A simple dependency-free python script for generating json in bash

Usage

je [-l|-d] [value1] [value2] ...

-l | --list or -a | --array for list mode 
-d | --dict or -o | --object for object mode

Introduction

If you mess with tools like curl and salt via the command line, you've no doubt had to deal with wrangling input into acceptable json strings while also dealing with the complexity of bash literals.

No more.

Use je.

1. Install it to somewhere in your $PATH. These steps will work on most systems as root

   curl -o je https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jealouscloud/je-tool/main/je.py
   chmod 755 je # set 'executable' bit on the script
   mv je /usr/local/bin/ # as root

   If you are a user you may need to adopt to your system specific configuration by checking your $PATH and adding a directory if there is not one present

2. Use it

   root@server:~# je 1 2 3
   [1, 2, 3]
   root@server:~# je key=value keys=values
   {"key": "value", "keys": "values"}
   root@server:~# 

   Marshall into string:

   root@master:~# je version=1.0
   {"version": 1.0}
   root@master:~# je version=\"1.0\"
   {"version": "1.0"}

3. Chain it

   • Notes:
     • Nesting " marks to prevent line splitting in bash is surprisingly supported
     • jq is used to prettify output

   root@server:~# je config="$(je -d version=1.0 dependencies="$(je -l python json.decode)")" | jq
   {
   "config": {
       "version": 1,
       "dependencies": [
       "python",
       "json.decode"
       ]
   }
   }

4. Become wizard

   curl -d "$(je "$(je "$(je "$(je ...

   Be warned there is no turning back from this point.