Effuse

Tool for symlinking dotfiles.

Install

gem install effuse

Usage

So, say you have all your precious dotfiles in a nice little git repository or Dropbox folder or whatever else you might use. It's a great way to be able to use your configurations on multiple computers, but how do you get those configurations out of the repository and into your filesystem?

The answer: symbolic links. Lots of them. And how do you go about creating all these symlinks? Sure, you could create each one by hand, but you're a busy person and obviously don't have time for such menial tasks. Luckily, you've just discovered Effuse!

Just run effuse in your dotfiles repository and it will automagically create symlinks to all your configurations in your home directory!

dotfiles $ ls -a
. .. .vimrc .zshrc
dotfiles $ effuse
'/home/you/.vimrc' -> '/home/you/dotfiles/.vimrc'
'/home/you/.zshrc' -> '/home/you/dotfiles/.zshrc'

Your configurations don't go in your home directory? No problem! Just run effuse /path/ and the symlinks will be created wherever your heart desires.

Would you rather import a dotfile from your system into your repository than replace it? No problem, just use effuse --import.

dotfiles $ ls -a ~
. .. .vimrc .zshrc
dotfiles $ touch .vimrc .zshrc
dotfiles $ effuse --import
'/home/you/.vimrc' already exists. Import it? [Y/n] y
'/home/you/.vimrc' -> '/home/you/dotfiles/.vimrc'
'/home/you/.zshrc' already exists. Import it? [Y/n] y
'/home/you/.zshrc' -> '/home/you/dotfiles/.zshrc'

Symlinks aren't working out for you? Effuse has got you covered. Just run effuse --clean in your dotfiles repository and it will remove all those nasty symlinks it created before.

Don't want to symlink a certain bothersome file? Why not tell Effuse your opinion on the matter using effuse --exclude file?

dotfiles $ ls -a
. .. .vimrc .zshrc
dotfiles $ effuse --exclude .vimrc
'/home/you/.zshrc' -> '/home/you/dotfiles/.zshrc'

Maybe you don't like to have the files in your dotfiles repository named with leading dots. If that's what floats your boat, you can have Effuse prefix the symlink paths using effuse --prefix ..

dotfiles $ ls
vimrc zshrc
dotfiles $ effuse --prefix .
'/home/you/.vimrc' -> '/home/you/dotfiles/vimrc'
'/home/you/.zshrc' -> '/home/you/dotfiles/zshrc'

Now, say you want to create symlinks in ~/foo, you want to exclude *.bak files, and you want to prefix your symlink paths with .. Specifying all those on the command line every time you run Effuse sounds horrible, doesn't it? Luckily, you can use an effuse.yml file instead!

destination: ~/foo
prefix: .
exclude:
  - '*.bak'

Command Line

usage: effuse [OPTIONS...] [DEST]
    -i, --import                     Import existing files
    -c, --clean                      Remove symlinks

    -y, --no-confirm                 Do not ask before replacing files
    -n, --no-backup                  Do not create backup files

        --exclude GLOB               Exclude GLOB from symlinking
        --include GLOB               Include GLOB in symlinking

    -p, --prefix                     Prefix symlink paths with PREFIX

    -v, --verbose                    Show verbose output

        --version                    Show version
    -h, --help                       Show this message

YAML File

The effuse.yml file may contain the following keys:

• destination: Symlink destination directory (defaults to ~)
• prefix: Symlink path prefix
• exclude: Array of globs to exclude from symlinking
• include: Array of globs to not exclude from symlinking

Migrating from 2.0 to 2.1

Version 2.1 of Effuse deprecates the use of .effuseignore files in favor of effuse.yml files. To migrate, add each line of the ignore file to the exclude array of the YAML file.

.effuseignore:

*.bak
foo

effuse.yml:

exclude:
  - '*.bak'
  - 'foo'

License

Copyright © 2012-2013, Curtis McEnroe [email protected]

Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.