Quot

A fast and flexible Rust command-line tool that converts text input into escaped string literals with support for multiple quote styles. Perfect for developers who need to quickly escape text for use in code.

• Multiple Input Methods: Interactive keyboard input, piped input, file input, or clipboard input
• Clipboard Support: Direct text processing from system clipboard with -c/--clipboard flag
• Multiple Quote Styles: Double quotes, single quotes, or raw strings (Rust-style)
• Fast & Lightweight: Built in Rust for optimal performance
• Cross-Platform: Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows

Installation

macOS

# install
brew tap samwisely75/tap
brew install quot

# update to latest version
brew upgrade quot

Linux

# Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo dpkg -i quot_VERSION_amd64.deb

# RHEL/CentOS/Fedora (.rpm package):**
sudo rpm -ivh quot-VERSION-1.x86_64.rpm

Windows

# Using Cargo (if Rust is installed)
cargo install quot

# Or download the pre-built binary from GitHub Releases:
# 1. Go to https://github.com/samwisely75/quot/releases
# 2. Download quot-windows-x64.exe
# 3. Place in a directory in your PATH or run directly

Usage

Basic Usage

# Interactive mode
quot

# Read from file
quot -f input.txt

# Read from piped input
cat file.txt | quot

# Read from system clipboard
quot -c

Quote Style Options

quot -f input.txt
# Output: "Hello \"world\"\nLine 2"

quot -m single -f input.txt
# Output: 'Hello "world"\nLine 2'

quot -m raw -f input.txt
# Output: r#"Hello "world"
# Line 2"#

Quote Style Comparison

Interactive Mode

When you run quot without arguments and input isn't piped, you enter interactive mode:

 1> Hello world
 2> This is line 2
 3> Special chars: "quotes" and \backslashes
 4> 
"Hello world\nThis is line 2\nSpecial chars: \"quotes\" and \\backslashes\n"

Clipboard Support

The --clipboard (or -c) flag allows you to process text directly from your system clipboard:

# Copy some text to clipboard first, then:
quot --clipboard                # Double quotes (default)
quot -c -m single               # Single quotes  
quot -c -m raw                  # Raw strings

# Example workflow:
# 1. Copy this multi-line text to clipboard:
#    Hello "world"
#    Line with tab:    here
#    Backslash: \test
# 2. Run: quot --clipboard
# 3. Output: "Hello \"world\"\nLine with tab:\there\nBackslash: \\test"

The clipboard feature works on all supported platforms (Windows, macOS, Linux) and handles multi-line content seamlessly.

Examples

Escaping Code Snippets

Input file (code.js):

function greet(name) {
    console.log("Hello, " + name + "!");
}

Command:

quot -f code.js

Output:

"function greet(name) {\n    console.log(\"Hello, \" + name + \"!\");\n}"

Smart Clipboard Paste

One of Quot's standout features is its intelligent clipboard paste handling in interactive mode:

# Copy this multi-line text to your clipboard:
# function example() {
#     console.log("Hello world!");
#     return true;
# }

# Then run quot and paste with Ctrl+V
quot
# 1> [Paste your code here]
# 2> function example() {
# 3>     console.log("Hello world!");
# 4>     return true;
# 5> }
# 6> 
# Output: "function example() {\n    console.log(\"Hello world!\");\n    return true;\n}"

Why Quot?

Quot fills a specific niche for developers who frequently need to escape text for use in code:

• Developer-focused: Designed specifically for code generation and string literal creation
• Multiple quote styles: Unlike basic escape tools, supports different quoting conventions
• Interactive editing: Full-featured line editing with visual feedback
• Advanced clipboard paste: Seamlessly handles multi-line clipboard content - a complex feature that sets Quot apart
• Raw string support: Intelligent raw string generation for complex content
• Multi-input flexibility: Works seamlessly with files, pipes, or interactive input
• Familiar name: Inspired by the HTML " entity that developers know well

License

This project is licensed under the Elastic License 2.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.