cho / choq

The safe echo & quoting utility you always knew you needed, but were too afraid to ask [for].

• Do you tremble at the thought of using echo because of its unpredictable behavior?
• (You have to sanitize if your echo supports -options)
• Do you cringe every time you have to use printf %q, only to end up with extra spaces and maddening newlines?

Welcome to cho/choq — your simple, sane solution for echoing and quoting strings exactly the way you mean them.

Quick Examples

Here’s what cho/choq can do for you:

# Basic echo with cho:
$ cho Safe,   "and between-arg whitespace   is condensed."
Safe, and between-arg whitespace   is condensed.

# No options are processed:
$ cho -e cmd 'This is an arg.' -options are echoed as-is
-e cmd This is an arg. -options are echoed as-is

# Safe quoting with choq:
$ choq -e Some stuff. 'This is an arg.' -options are echoed as-is
-e Some stuff. 'This is an arg.' -options are echoed as-is

$ choq cmd "This is 'an arg'"
cmd "This is 'an arg'"

$ choq cmd "This is 'an arg' with a \$var"
cmd "This is 'an arg' with a \$var"

# Mixed examples:
$ choq ls -l /path/to/some     directory
ls -l /path/to/some directory

$ choq Example: "complex command with \$PATH and spaces"
Example: "complex command with \$PATH and spaces"

What Is It?

• cho: A straightforward echo replacement that prints its arguments separated by spaces, exactly as provided.
• choq: A safe quoting alternative for shell pasting. It processes each argument by:
• Leaving it unquoted if it contains only safe characters.
• Wrapping it in single quotes if it has unsafe characters but no single quotes.
• Falling back to double quotes—with proper escaping of $, , `, and "—if the argument contains single quotes.

Why Use cho/choq?

• echo is unsafe: It might misinterpret options or escape sequences.
• printf is cumbersome: Its %q format is overzealous, adding extra spaces and newlines.
• A real solution is hard to come by: Until now. Our approach minimizes quoting while ensuring that every argument is safe for shell pasting.

File List

• Makefile: Builds and installs the utilities.
• cho.c: Contains the full source code for both cho and choq.

Building

Compile the utilities by running:

sh /$ make cho /

This builds the binary cho and—if missing—creates a symlink choq pointing to it.

Installation Options

User Install

For a local installation (e.g., in ~/bin), run:

sh /$ make installuser /

Make sure ~/bin exists, or create it as needed./

System Install

For a system-wide installation (you might need root privileges):

sh /$ make installsys /

Or, for packaging with checkinstall (ideal for Debian-based systems):

sh /$ make install-pkg /

How It Works

choq processes each argument as follows:**

1. Unsafe Test: It checks for any unsafe characters (whitespace, $, backticks, double quotes, single quotes, or backslashes).

2. Output Strategy:

• Completely safe: If no unsafe characters are found, the argument is output as-is.
• Safe with single quotes: If unsafe characters exist but no single quotes are present, the argument is wrapped in single quotes.
• Fallback: If the argument contains single quotes, it is wrapped in double quotes and escapes characters that could be expanded by the shell ($, , `, and ").

This strategy minimizes quoting where possible while ensuring your arguments are safely reproduced in any shell environment.

License

Released under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

Found a bug or have a suggestion? Open an issue or submit a pull request. Contributions are warmly welcomed to help make shell quoting a little less painful.

Contact

For questions or comments, email jaggz.h {who is at} gmail.com.

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Happy echoing and quoting!