feb

1

7

Instant Web Sharing on Your Mac

I came across a few articles recently that point out how to instantly share a folder on your computer. They basically ride on top of this elegant python script:

python -m SimpleHTTPServer

It works great but I wanted to improve on it in a number of ways:

  • Automatically copy a URI into my clipboard so I can easily paste it to others.

  • Make that URI nicer then just an IP address.

  • Use a non-standard port, for security.

  • Open in a new tab so I can keep working in the directory and yet still monitor the HTTP requests being made.

Here was what I produced. (Its up in my ~/bin.)

#!/bin/bash
# Start Date: Sunday February 8, 2009
# Current Version: 0.9
# Author: Joseph Pecoraro
# Contact: joepeck02@gmail.com
#
# Decription:  Immediately Share the current directory
#   in a new tab so you can monitor the requests made
#   have your original tab to continue working in that
#   directory.  Meant for Mac OS X.
#
#   1. Echos the URI
#   2. Puts the URI into your Clipboard
#   3. Opens a new tab in the terminal
#   4. Changes Directory to the other tabs directory
#   5. Echos the URI
#   6. Runs the Web Server
#   7. Optionally Opens in Safari
#
# Sources that Helped:
#   New Tab Here: http://justinfrench.com/index.php?id=231
#   HTTPServer:   http://www.commandlinefu.com/commands/view/71/
#   Paul Berens:  http://zibundemo.blogspot.com/
#

# -----------------
#   Host and Port
# -----------------

# This gets your ip address and converts it to a nice string
es_host=$(curl --silent www.whatismyip.com/automation/n09230945.asp)
es_host=$(nslookup $es_host | awk '/name =/{print substr($4,1,length($4)-1)}')
es_port="8000"


# -----------------
#   Script Below
# -----------------

echo "http://$es_host:$es_port"
echo -n "http://$es_host:$es_port" | pbcopy
osascript -e "
Tell application \"Terminal\"
  activate
  tell application \"System Events\" to tell process \"Terminal\" to keystroke \"t\" using command down
  do script with command \"cd '$(pwd)'\" in selected tab of the front window
  do script with command \"clear; echo '$es_host:$es_port/'\" in selected tab of the front window
  do script with command \"python -m SimpleHTTPServer $es_port\" in selected tab of the front window
end tell" &> /dev/null

# Optional: Open Safari, Just Uncomment the next line
# open "http://$es_host:$es_port"

# Cleanup
unset es_host
unset es_port

Now that should work on any Mac. And it should give a nicer URL then an ugly IP address. You should see something like this:

easy_share

As soon as it starts you can paste the URL to anyone you’re chatting with. It couldn’t be simpler!

If you’re experienced enough with DNS servers and you’ve given your computer a Dynamic Name you can customize the script. Paul Berens gave me a great suggestion to determine if I’m on my local network at home. I can check the MAC address of my default gateway (my wireless router). That is a quick check to see if I’m at home. If I’m at home I use my bogojoker.is-a-geek.com URI automatically! Otherwise it defaults to generating the dynamic address generation. Check it out:

# -----------------
#   Host and Port
# -----------------

# Mac Address of my Router At Home
if [ -n "$(arp -a | grep 0:1e:2a:76:17:98)" ]; then
  es_host="bogojoker.is-a-geek.com"
  es_port="8000"
  
# Otherwise Dynamically Determine
else
  es_host=$(curl --silent www.whatismyip.com/automation/n09230945.asp)
  es_host=$(nslookup $es_host | awk '/name =/{print substr($4,1,length($4)-1)}')
  es_port="8000"
fi

So now when I run easy_share at my house it always throws out bogojoker.is-a-geek.com URIs. Much nicer on the eyes and easy to remember. I’ll write about dynamic names like this another time!

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