build

build is like Makefile for single files.

Instead of having to write a separate Makefile, build reads the build instructions from comments in the file itself. Therefore, you can distribute a file (or gist) by itself without a build script or Makefile.

example

Add this line to a markdown file:

<!-- @build pandoc -N --toc -o %pdf %md -->

or this line to a mscgen file:

# @build mscgen -T png -o images/%png %msc

And then run build onefile.md or build *.md to build multiple files at once.

syntax

A comment in the file should contain @build command. The command can expand %ext to filename.ext automatically.

Note that:

• if the file does not contain a command, build attempts to load a default command for the file extension from ~/.config/build.defaults
• build succeeds and exits after the run command is found

build types

You can define multiple build types with the following syntax (within files):

@build-{type} command

Then, invoke build with

build -{type} [files]

installation

build is written in a single Lua file. To install:

1. copy build.lua where you want;
2. create a shell alias so that build invokes lua /path/to/build.lua.

For instance, for:

• bash, run: alias build=lua /path/to/build.lua
• fish, run:

function build
  lua /path/to/build.lua $argv
end
funcsave build

author

build is written by Henri Binsztok and licensed under the MIT license.