Expect-lite

Expect-lite is an open source wrapper for the expect software, designed to make expect programming much easier.

It permits the creation of expect script command files by using special characters at the beginning of each line, in order to indicate the expect-lite action.

What is new in this release:

• Environment Variable EL_SHELL when using EL_CONNECTION_METHOD=none
• Fixes:
• TIMESTAMP output now goes to *LOG file
• LOGAPPEND now correctly appends to default log file name
• INFO, *WARN, *EXP_INFO, *DEBUG when used on CLI over-ride script values
• String Math search/replace & concat functions
• Added *NOINCLUDE to prevent include files from included (old Library Mode behaviour)

What is new in version 4.6.1:

• Improves foreach loops using code blocks by normalizing the list variable before executing, Improved login prompt detection, eliminating delay when using EL_CONNECTION_METHOD=none, Improved copy/paste into INTERACT/IDE from Windows and PuTTY.

What is new in version 4.6.0:

• Added foreach loop using code blocks
• $list=abc def ghi
• [ $x=$list
• >echo $x
• Added string-math: concat, subtract, search/replace
• $list=abc,def,ghi
• Concat -> abc,def,ghi,jkl
• =$list + ,jkl
• Subtract -> abc,ghi
• =$list - ,def
• Search/replace with regex -> def,abc,ghi
• =$list/(\w+),(\w+)/\2,\1/
• Search/replace without regex -> abc def ghi
• =list//,/ /
• Improved ssh login
• Removed ssh options, should be placed in ~/.ssh/config
• The main purpose is keep it simple. However, the advanced features allow pretty creative scripting.
• The central ideas behind the design are:
• Just keep it simple and portable - it runs on Linux, Mac OS X, *nix, and Windows(with cygwin).
• No syntax errors
• Make the automator's life easier.

What is new in version 4.5.0:

• This version enhanced code blocks with "then" and "else" blocks, added an EL_INFINITE_LOOP environment variable that sets a user's default infinite loop protection, shortened expect-lite help, and enhanced the man page.

What is new in version 4.4.1:

• Version 4.4.1 fixes a bug when using *LOG on the command-line.

What is new in version 4.4.0:

• expect-lite turns 8!
• Added native logging to a file (finally) using *LOG directive:
• Log to a default file name .log
• Or log to user supplied file name, *LOG /tmp/myfile.log
• Log only sections of script using *LOG and *NOLOG
• Append to existing log file with *LOGAPPEND
• Improved install.sh for NFS mounted home drives

What is new in version 4.3.3:

• Added include file passing var=values with spaces e.g. ~mycinclude.inc var1=this or that var2=just that more of small bug fixes
• Fixed "send" bug "bad flag -1"
• Fixed dyn var capture when "=" are present e.g. +$var=(\d) = STRING
• Fixed single number expect, if number was not on a line by itself
• Added el_shell.elt, a helpful dev script for easy copy and pasting commands

What is new in version 4.3.1:

• This version fixes a path bug with include files, ssh (no key) login prompt detection, an *INFINITE_LOOP bug which would double/triple the countdown, and CLI -v,-vv,-vvv overrides of logging (*INFO, *WARN, *DEBUG).
• It works with older versions of expect (older than 5.44.x, such as cygwin, and old Linux installations) and validates EL_CONNECT_METHOD at startup (default=none).

What is new in version 4.3.0:

• User defined help was added (run your script with a -h).
• Arguments are now passed to include files (e.g. ~login.inc user=root).
• A new *NOINTERACT directive was added, which is useful for quick regression scripts.
• A ##Include Result: FAIL message was also added for quick regression scripts.