Quail is a Command Line Interface application built to help in project management. The idea is to create 'Alias' like commands that are stored within a project which can be then accessed with an ease.

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FEATURES

• Use shortcuts

  Execute a command specified in a config file by referring to a user-defined command name instead.

• Write even shorter

  Said user-defined command does not have to be fully written to be matched. Be aware Quail will always take the 1st match.

• Be modular

  Supports identifying subprojects and allows for command grouping.

• Define constants

  Variable-like utility to store strings and use them with different Constants or Commands.

• Use command queues

  Run multiple defined commands & queues as if they were a singular quail command.

• Easily display all subprojects, commands & queues

  Simply run Quail with a selected project or a subproject to display it's contents.

Examples

For simplicity sake I'll refer to commands, queues, projects and subprojects here as aliases.

Names inside [] brackets refer to your own custom names that you create.

• To display aliases of main config

  quail -o

• To execute an alias

  quail -o [project_name] [command]

• To display project's aliases

  quail -o [project_name]

• To display subproject's aliases

  quail -o [project_name] [subproject_name]

• To execute subproject's alias

  quail -o [project_name] [subproject_name] [command]

• To execute subproject subsubproject's alias

  quail -o [project_name] [subproject_name] [subsubproject_name] [command]

. . .

Linking a Project

1. Create a quail-file in your project directory. Name it, for example .quail\quail.txt.
2. This file now represents your project. Link it to your top-level configuration file with the following:

• Add a project / module (absolute path)

  ^+project = C:\Projects\project\ .quail\quail.txt

• Add a project / module (relative path)

  ^-subproject = subproject\ .quail\quail.txt

Note the space between key, project_drectory and quail-file. It is required as Quail predefines %_name% & %_path% constants for your use inside the quail-file of your project.

3. Add the following command to your project configuration file: !directory = explorer.exe "%_path%".
4. Now try executing it via quail -o [project] directory.

Including a file

1. Includes for now are always relative. Create a include.txt next to your project-main-configuration-file.
2. At the top of your project-main-configuration-file, write the following: &include.txt.
3. Now try to create an alias, or include another file or a project inside that file.

Global configuration file

There are 2 different configuration files for Quail use:

• config.txt -> your top-level configuration file.
• global.txt -> your top-level global configuration file.

Quail will first read the global file global.txt and all of its includes and keep it for use later. Then Quail reads only the last project / module, and it's includes in a tree of all the modules from the top-level config file config.txt down to your project / subproject. Note that this makes referencing a variable from a parent project impossible if not via include! Thus, global files. Use them to define constants and aliases that you want to use in every module.

More Examples

Where can I find some ready to use commands for software I might be using?

Look into the examples directory.

Software Notes

Why writing my own Wizard when WinApi provides a ready to use control with localization support?

Official Windows Wizard Sample

My reasoning: It's a good learning example and it provides more flexibility for future custom optimalizations like darkmode support or making the window dpi-aware. Additionally the Wizard executable created is compressed which then competes well with .msi files, that usually weigh less.