159 lines
5.8 KiB
Markdown
159 lines
5.8 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "Quick Command-line Search: search-pane"
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layout: post
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redirect_from: "/blog/search-pane/"
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---
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It's been a while since I last wrote, but I've still been busy. I began my
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research position at the [MIT Media Lab](http://media.mit.edu) working with
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[Fluid Interfaces](http://fluid.media.mit.edu). It feels like I'm designing the
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future; I really couldn't ask for a better job right now. But, more on that
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later.
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I've still been continuously refining my workspace, and how I use my laptop. As
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I mentioned in my [last blog post](/blog/w3m-reddit), I've been moving more and more towards the
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command-line for day-to-day operations because of it's unparalleled level of
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customizability and compatibility with other programs. There's nothing more
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powerful than being able to whip up a small python or bash script that interacts
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with a couple of other programs to achieve something instantly that optimizes my
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work flow.
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I use the [Awesome](http://awesome.naquadah.org/) window manager, which works
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great for tiling up terminal windows right up next to browser windows. However,
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I also use [Byobu](http://byobu.co/) (which uses
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[tmux](http://tmux.sourceforge.net) as a backend), practically a tiling window
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manager for terminals. While working with a whole bunch of terminals, I've found
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that I actually prefer using byobu panes over separate terminal windows under
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awesome.
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I'm pretty sure I clock in somewhere at three to five Google searches a minute
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when really focused on a programming task, especially when I'm working with
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something I'm unfamiliar with. Historically, I've done this by switching tags in
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awesome to my web browser and then searching in the Google Chrome omni-bar. It
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required me to leave the context of my code and then flip back and forth between
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code and browser if I needed to reference anything.
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My new-found love of w3m's compact nature led me to design the perfect search
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program for my setup. I dubbed it the generic name: search-pane, and it does the
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following:
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* Very light-weight interface for inputing a search query that is fed directly
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to w3m in a Google search.
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* Byobu/Tmux key bindings to open a new window for search that closes on quit.
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* Byobu/Tmux bindings to open in a quick one-off vertical or horizontal pane.
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* Search history. Just like the bash shell, press up to cycle through past
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searches.
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* Global history. When a search is performed on one computer using search-pane,
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the search is added not only to that computer's history, but the history of
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any computer listed in the other-hosts config file. I'm often sshed into many
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different machines, so this feature was a big plus for me.
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* Vim keybindings to open up the search for even quicker access.
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This is how I got it setup (on any Ubuntu machine with sudo privileges):
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Save the following python file in `/usr/bin/` as `search-pane` (no extension):
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```python
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#!/usr/bin/python
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from subprocess import call, check_output
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from threading import Thread
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import os
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import sys
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import readline
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home = os.path.expanduser("~")
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histfile = os.path.join(home, ".search-pane/history")
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# load history
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readline.read_history_file(histfile)
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os.system('cls' if os.name=='nt' else 'clear') # clear the terminal
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url = ''
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query = ''
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if len(sys.argv) > 1:
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url = "http://google.com/search?q=" + '+'.join(sys.argv[1:]) # google url
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query = ' '.join(sys.argv[1:])
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readline.add_history(query) # add query to history buffer
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else:
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try:
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query = raw_input('Search: ') # get user's search
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url = "http://google.com/search?q=" + '+'.join(query.split()) # google
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except KeyboardInterrupt:
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sys.exit(0)
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readline.write_history_file(histfile) # write search to history file
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def write_other_hosts():
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# write to history files on other registered hosts
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with open(os.devnull, 'w') as FNULL:
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with open(os.path.join(home, ".search-pane/other-hosts"), "r") as f:
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for line in f:
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line = line.strip().split()
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host = line[0]
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path = line[1]
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# make sure we don't write to local file again
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client_names = check_output(['hostname', '-A']).split()
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if (host.split('@')[-1] not in client_names):
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call(['ssh', host, 'echo', '"' + query + '"', '>>', path],
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stderr=FNULL)
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# Spin off another thread for sshing so user doesn't have to wait for
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# connection to complete before viewing w3m.
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try:
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Thread(target=write_other_hosts).start()
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except Exception, errtxt:
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print errtxt
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call(['w3m', url]) # pass url off to w3m
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```
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Make the directory and file for search history:
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```bash
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mkdir ~/.search-pane
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touch ~/.search-pane/history
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```
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Allow anyone to execute the python script (make it into a program):
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```bash
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chmod a+x /usr/bin/search-pane
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```
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To get quick access to the program from the command-line edit `~/.bashrc` to
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add:
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```bash
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alias s='search-pane'
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```
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To add byobu key bindings edit `~/.byobu/keybindings.tmux` (or `/usr/share/byobu/keybindings/f-keys.tmux`):
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# thallada's keybindings:
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bind-key Enter new-window -n "search" "search-pane"
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bind-key - split-window -v -p 20 "search-pane"
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bind-key = split-window -h -p 30 "search-pane"
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To add vim key bindings edit ~/.vimrc
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"Open google search in a tmux split beneath vim
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map <leader>g :silent !tmux split-window -v -p 20 "search-pane"<CR>
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If you wish to add the functionality to other machines then follow the steps
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above and, on every machine, add the other hosts and the paths to the
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search-pane history files on each to the other-hosts file:
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vi ~/.search-pane/other-hosts
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The syntax is:
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user@host /path/to/history
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Host separated by path by a space.
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So far it's been really useful, and since it doesn't screw up my focus as much
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I'm searching more.
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Also, wow python is a lot easier than bash for these sorts of things...
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