Automatically end each command in terminal with a different message or sound

I installed SVOX pico2wave and created a script.
Now when I enter:

speech "Hello world"

The computer text-to-voice engine says out loud "Hello world". Furthermore, I use in .bashrc the variable PROMPT_COMMAND defined as:

.bashrc

PROMPT_COMMAND

PROMPT_COMMAND="speech 'Command executed.'"

So the nice text-to-voice engine announces me loud that the command is executed, before returning the prompt in the terminal.

However, this gets boring after a while and I thought it would be really cool to end each command in terminal with the computer speaking a different line of text (think of the autopilot of Starship Enterprise).

So I created in .bashrc an array variable, with different messages:

array[0]="Shields at 90%" array[1]="Engaging proton overdrive" array[2]="Autopilot disengaged" array[3]="Targetting solution available" array[4]="Alert. Incoming missile." array[5]="Deploying countermeasures." array[6]="Firing torpedoes." array[7]="Engaging auto-cannon." array[8]="Severe damage on deck 17. Sealing off." array[9]="Deploying repair droids to deck 17."

What I would like, is that each time I run a command in terminal, the variable PROMPT_COMMAND to be updated and read a different random line in the array.

PROMPT_COMMAND

I presume I need a loop, but I didn't know how to make it.

I would be most grateful for any help. Thank you.

In the script in the linked answer, make sure you change the -l=de-DE to your local language like -l=en-US.

– Terrance
Sep 10 '18 at 14:07

-l=de-DE

-l=en-US

Thanks, indeed. This needs to be taken care of, but I had done it.

– RazTaz
Sep 10 '18 at 14:29

Yeah, that is just a comment in general. Pretty cool idea here! +1

– Terrance
Sep 10 '18 at 14:30

Just curious - how can I install speech executable? Is it alias for espeak?

– N0rbert
Sep 10 '18 at 14:44

speech

espeak

"speech" is a script. I followed the instructions in the link. I made a script called speech.sh, including the corrections indicated above by Terrance". I saved speech.sh in my ~/scripts folder. I changed file permissions to speech.sh to make it executable. I created a folder as follows: ~/scripts/bin and followed the instructions from here stackoverflow.com/a/20054809, in order to add it to the PATH, so the script can be recognized as executable, no matter where I am.

– RazTaz
Sep 10 '18 at 14:55

2 Answers
2

Create a script and save it somewhere which contains your lines and the logic to choose a random line from your array and calling speech command on that line:

speech

Then in your .bashrc or .profile set PROMPT_COMMAND:

.bashrc

.profile

PROMPT_COMMAND

PROMPT_COMMAND="bash $HOME/PATH/TO/myscript.sh"

Just replace the speech with echo to get a messge instead of the voice.

speech

echo

Thanks for the above solution. It seems to work, except that it only renders the first word in the random line (eg. "Shields." or "Deploying..") not the entire line (eg. "Shields at 90%" or "Deploying repair droids on dek 17."

– RazTaz
Sep 10 '18 at 14:15

It works!!! Thank you so much!!!!

– RazTaz
Sep 10 '18 at 14:28

@RazTaz You're welcome ;)

– Ravexina
Sep 10 '18 at 14:28

Shouldn't $array[$RANDOM % $#array[@]] be in double quotes?

– Mad Physicist
Sep 11 '18 at 14:02

$array[$RANDOM % $#array[@]]

@MadPhysicist It's a good practice but not necessary here, run the script using set -x to see what I'm talking about :)

– Ravexina
Sep 11 '18 at 14:14

set -x

Later Edit Tutorial:

Thanks to Ravexina's answer above, now the problem is solved and the solution works fantastically. I will give step-by-step instructions below, for the other people interested to make it work in Ubuntu 18.04

1. Install SVOX pico2wave package:

sudo apt-get install libttspico0 libttspico-utils libttspico-data libsox-fmt-mp3

2. Create the speech script

cd ~/scripts gedit speech

and put this content inside, inserting the correct user in the path:

#!/bin/bash pico2wave -l=en-US -w=/home/user/test.wav "$1" aplay -q ~/test.wav rm /home/user/test.wav

save and exit.

3. Create the shell_speech.sh script as indicated by Ravexina above:

gedit shell_speech

save and exit.

4. Make the scripts executable and add their directory to PATH so that they could be called from everywhere:

chmod u+x ~/scripts/bin/speech chmod u+x ~/scripts/bin/shell_speech export PATH=$PATH:~/scripts

5. Modify .bashrc

gedit ~/.bashrc

add the following line:

PROMPT_COMMAND="bash shell_speech"

save and close

Note: you can add as many new lines as you want in the array in ~/scripts/bin/shell_speech

~/scripts/bin/shell_speech

Since you've made the script executable and in the PATH, you don't need to include bash in your PROMPT_COMMAND and I would use single quotes in case you add other things later that will need to have deferred execution: PROMPT_COMMAND='shell_speech'

– Dennis Williamson
Sep 11 '18 at 0:31

PATH

bash

PROMPT_COMMAND

PROMPT_COMMAND='shell_speech'

For security reasons it is better to write /bin/bash instead of a simple bash... (good practice just in case someone put another bash in your path before /bin...). I should even suggest you a temp random file in the /tmp directory instead that test.wav in your home... ps> give it a look to fortune.

– Hastur
Sep 11 '18 at 8:55

/bin/bash

bash

/bin

/tmp

test.wav

@Hastur think for a minute under what circumstances your assumption can become true (i.e "someone put another bash in your path before /bin"). This is possible only if someone either has physical access to your computer and/or has already escalated privileges. Under both circumstances, your solution is not fixing the problem.

– RazTaz
Sep 15 '18 at 9:23

@RazTaz World is full of colors, not just black and white! :-). Unfortunately there are a lot of ways to have partial privileges on a system, and to use only bash is a way to obtain more. Links, script, write permission on open directories, shared ones... Moreover -- you may miss it -- scripts can survive to their first aim or owner... and you (or someone else) can use them after enough time that you do not remember all the commands written inside (we do for that), under different conditions. To put binbash with the explicit path is a good practice. To avoid to do it... a risk.

– Hastur
Sep 15 '18 at 16:35

bash

binbash

Thanks for contributing an answer to Ask Ubuntu!

But avoid …

To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.

Required, but never shown

By clicking "Post Your Answer", you acknowledge that you have read our updated terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy, and that your continued use of the website is subject to these policies.

搜尋此網誌

Dfyjkt