pman -- create, print, save, view PDF man pages

ntk () — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 10:54:01 GMT

pman -- create, print, save, view PDF man pages

Author: ntk
License: The MIT License, Copyright (c) 2007 ntk
Description: (batch) convert man pages into PDF documents and save them to a specified directory; (batch) print or view PDF man pages from the command line
Platform: Mac OS X 10.4.10; man bash
Installation: put pman() into ~/.bash_login (or alternatives)







# Usage:

   

pman ls; pman getopts                                 # convert a singel man page to a PDF file, save and open it

pman 8 sticky                                         # same with manual section number

pman m toe                                     

pman -b ls 'open(2)' dd "chmod(2)" curl 'open(n)'     # batch convert man pages into PDF files

pman -p rm srm open\(2\) 'toe(m)' 'ncurses(3)'        # print man pages using the default printer







pman() {



section="$1"    

manpage="$2"    



mandir="/Users/Shared/manpages"    #  save the created PDF man pages to the specified directory





# batch process man pages to PDF files with the "-b" switch and save them to $mandir

# example: pman -b ls 'open(2)' dd 'chmod(2)' 'open(n)' 'sticky(8)'

# cf. man -aW open for "man n open"



if [[ "$1" = "-b" ]]; then         



if [[ ! -d $mandir ]]; then        

   mkdir -p $mandir

   chmod 1777 $mandir

fi



shift   # remove "-b" from "$@"



for manfile in "$@"; do 



# example for $manfile: open(2)

manpage="`echo $manfile | grep -Eos '^[^\(]+'`"                              # extract name of man page

section="`echo $manfile | grep -Eos '\([^\)]+\)' | grep -Eos '[^\(\)]+'`"    # extract section of man page



if [[ ! "$section" ]]; then

   section="1"

fi



if [[ ! -f "`man ${section} -W ${manpage} 2>/dev/null`" ]]; then

#if [[ ! -f "`man -W ${section} ${manpage} 2>/dev/null `" ]]; then

   echo "No such man page: man ${section} ${manpage}"

   continue

fi



manfile="${mandir}/${manpage}(${section}).pdf"

echo "$manfile"



if [[ ! -f "$manfile" ]]; then

   man $section -t $manpage 2>/dev/null | pstopdf -i -o "$manfile" 2>/dev/null

   chmod 1755 "$manfile"

   # hide file extension .pdf

   if [[ -f /Developer/Tools/SetFile ]]; then /Developer/Tools/SetFile -a E "$manfile"; fi

fi



done



return 0

   

fi          # END of batch processing man pages to PDF files







# print PDF man pages using the default printer (see man lpr and man lpoptions)

# if necessary, create the specified PDF man pages and save them to $mandir

# example: pman -p rm srm



if [[ "$1" = "-p" ]]; then         



if [[ ! -d $mandir ]]; then        

   mkdir -p $mandir

   chmod 1777 $mandir

fi



shift   # remove "-p" from "$@"



for manfile in "$@"; do 



# example for $manfile: open(2)

manpage="`echo $manfile | grep -Eos '^[^\(]+'`"                              # extract name of man page

section="`echo $manfile | grep -Eos '\([^\)]+\)' | grep -Eos '[^\(\)]+'`"    # extract section of man page



if [[ ! "$section" ]]; then

   section="1"

fi



if [[ ! -f "`man ${section} -W ${manpage} 2>/dev/null`" ]]; then

   echo "No such man page: man ${section} ${manpage}"

   continue

fi



manfile="${mandir}/${manpage}(${section}).pdf"

echo "$manfile"



if [[ ! -f "$manfile" ]]; then

   man -t $section $manpage 2>/dev/null | pstopdf -i -o "$manfile" 2>/dev/null

   chmod 1755 "$manfile"

   # hide file extension .pdf

   if [[ -f /Developer/Tools/SetFile ]]; then /Developer/Tools/SetFile -a E "$manfile"; fi

   lpr "$manfile"

else

   lpr "$manfile"

fi



done



return 0

   

fi          # END of printing man pages using the default printer







# convert a single man page to a PDF file, save it to $mandir and then open it in a PDF viewer



if [[ -z "$1" ]] || [[ $# -gt 2 ]]; then       # check number of arguments

#if [[ -z "$1" || $# -gt 2 ]]; then  

#if [ -z "$1" -o $# -gt 2 ]; then

  echo "Wrong number of arguments!" 

  return 1

fi 



if [[ ! "$manpage" ]]; then     # turn "pman ls" into "pman 1 ls"

   manpage="$section"         # if $manpage is an empty string because there has been no "$2" then $manpage is set to "$section" and ...

   section="1"                # ... $section is set to "1"

fi                            



if [[ ! -f "`man ${section} -W ${manpage} 2>/dev/null`" ]]; then

   echo "No such man page: man ${section} ${manpage}"

   return 1

fi



if [[ ! -d $mandir ]]; then

   mkdir -p $mandir

   chmod 1777 $mandir

fi



manfile="${mandir}/${manpage}(${section}).pdf"



if [[ -f "$manfile" ]]; then

   open "$manfile"

else

   man $section -t $manpage 2>/dev/null | pstopdf -i -o "$manfile" 2>/dev/null

   chmod 1755 "$manfile"

   # hide file extension .pdf

   if [[ -f /Developer/Tools/SetFile ]]; then /Developer/Tools/SetFile -a E "$manfile"; fi

   open "$manfile"

fi



return 0



}

DZone Snippets: manpage code

pman -- create, print, save, view PDF man pages