anybar - check if command has finished, succeed or failed

Original Article: https://opensrc.mx/posts/anybar/

Hey fox, with this post I will start writing in plain English.

Anybar it's a desktop-app what I have in my arsenal and I have used day by day.

There are versions for linux, windows and Mac.

It's like a semaphore that you can control, only sending colours to a port.

# Change the colour of an AnyBar
# Usage:
#   anybar <colour> <n>
#     Change the colour of the n'th AnyBar
#   anybar <colour>
#     Change the colour of this tab's AnyBar
#   anybar
#     Change the colour of this tab's AnyBar to white (resetting it)
function anybar() {
  local COLOUR=${1-white}
  local OFFSET=${2:-$(_anybar_iterm_offset)}
  local ANYBAR_PORT=$((1738 + $OFFSET))
  echo -n $COLOUR | nc -4u -w0 127.0.0.1 ${ANYBAR_PORT}
}

I used to manage the long execution commands and saw how long it takes:

# Monitor a long-running command using AnyBar
# This sets AnyBar to orange whilst the command is running,
# then to green or red depending on whether the command succeeded or not
#
# Usage:
#   alias m=anybar_monitor
#   s <some command>
function anybar_monitor() {
  if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
    anybar white
  else
    anybar orange
    $@

    local EXIT_STATUS=$?
    if [ $EXIT_STATUS -ne 0 ]; then
      anybar red
    else
      anybar green
    fi
    return $EXIT_STATUS
  fi
}

With this small snippet I can execute a command and see the status of the command
from another desktop screen.

I like the minimalist approach of the command. Because with simple communication
you can create an excellent development approach like this:

• After a successful command you can play a sound with voice: "master your command was successful"
• Monitor your local server for development:

    while true
    do
        (echo >/dev/tcp/localhost/"$1") &>/dev/null && anybar blue  || anybar exclamation
        sleep 1
    done

In my case, if the server stop listening it's because an exception was executed. I
need to check the output to see the problem.

Or you can go further:

You can create your anybar strip and control the lights from commands.

https://github.com/htruong/stripbar

and here My guahiro proyect:

https://www.instructables.com/Wireless-Arduino-Traffic-Light/

Who doesn't want this kind of semaphore when your CI didn't pass ?