eXternal Command

eXternal Command - command-line wrapper for batch and shell

A collection of commonly used batch and shell functions.

简体中文

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📖 Table of Contents

• Features
• Installation
• Examples
• Features Detail
• License

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✨ Features

• xlib/xlib.cmd - Uses only first-party tools, works out of the box with dozens of practical commands

• x3rd/x3rd.cmd - Wraps third-party command-line tools

  • Support for Windows, macOS, and Linux
  • Built-in error handling and help system
  • Support for UNC paths (Windows SMB)
  • Easy to deploy

• xjar - JAR application process manager and operations tool, (for linux only)

• qrsender.sh/qrsender.cmd - Transfer files from Linux to Windows via QR code

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📦 Installation

For Windows

1. Download xlib.cmd and/or x3rd.cmd
2. Add the script directory to your PATH environment variable
3. Ensure the script uses CRLF line endings
4. Avoid using non-ANSI characters in the script

For macOS/Linux

1. Download xlib and/or x3rd
2. Add execute permission: chmod +x xlib
3. Add the script directory to your PATH
4. Ensure the script uses LF line endings

Quick Test

# Show help
xlib -h
xlib --help

# Show command help
xlib <command> -h
xlib <command> --help

# Show version
xlib version

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• Use -h or --help to get usage help for any command
• Use -h or --help after a command to get detailed help for that specific command

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💡 Examples

Wake on LAN

Wake up a computer on the same network:

# aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff is the target NIC MAC address
xlib wol aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff

Support for cmd.exe environment variable configuration files (Windows)

Load the file %USERPROFILE%\.batchrc before running cmd.exe
Similar to Linux/Mac's ~/.bashrc

xlib var --install-config
:: or
xlib var -ic

BitLocker Encryption (Windows)

Encrypt all disks on a computer without TPM support:

:: Prepare a FAT32 USB device for storing startup keys
xlib vol --encrypts-all

:: Run from UNC path (SMB server)
\\192.168.1.1\xcmd\xlib vol --encrypts-all

:: Hide encryption indicators and BitLocker menu
xlib vol --hide-bitlocker

:: For more details
xlib vol --help

Capture AppStore PKG Files (macOS)

Capture original PKG installation packages from AppStore:

xlib pkg -g 5

Then open AppStore and download apps. PKG files will appear in the Downloads folder.

Network Host Discovery

Search and access computers with dynamic IPs using fixed names:

1. Create .host.ini in %USERPROFILE% or $HOME:

[hosts]
; Single MAC address, ignored if not matched
gl.inet=00:11:00:00:00:00

; Match from left, fallback to 127.0.0.1 if no match
syno-15=00-11-00-00-11-00|11:00:00:00:00:11|00-11-00-00-00-11|127.0.0.1

; Direct IPv4 address
binave.com=127.0.0.1

[sip_setting]
; IPv4 search range
range=1-120

2. Run the command (requires admin privileges):

xlib hosts

Shell Completion (macOS/Linux)

Completion for all commands, options and argument values is auto-generated from the script annotations:

# Generate and install for the current shell (bash/zsh), print the source line
xlib comp -i

# Or print to stdout for a custom setup
xlib comp --bash
xlib comp --zsh

# Check the annotation, print warnings
xlib comp --check

xlib comp -i writes the completion file and appends the source line to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc when it is missing (for zsh the line must come after compinit), then restart the shell. Re-run xlib comp -i after the script is edited. Argument values are completed too: wol <TAB> completes [hosts] aliases and the IPs that exist only in /etc/hosts, wol -b <TAB> completes aliases and local IPv4, and ip -f <TAB> completes MAC addresses and aliases. If completion falls back to the current directory, the completion file is not loaded by your rc.

Help and completion share one annotation next to the code: a ### block above the command, and an indented ### line above each case branch, using GNU style (-o, --option=FILE, NAME=TYPE). The metavariable names the completion source; xlib supports FILE IMAGE DIRECTORY DEVICE PATH HOST ADDRESS MAC ALIAS HOSTIP SHELL KIND (HOSTIP is an IP in /etc/hosts that is not in the [hosts] ini), and {a|b} is an enumeration. ### is reserved for annotation — any other comment must use #, otherwise xlib comp --check will report it. The generic engine lives in comp.xlib and is shared by xlib and x3rd; a host declares its own vocabulary and candidates with __COMP_KINDS, __comp_kind_host and __comp_value_host, so x3rd completes only the generic kinds. Use x3rd comp -i for the x3rd completion.

Clink Completion (Windows)

Clink completion for both xlib.cmd and x3rd.cmd is generated and installed by x3rd comp:

:: Generate and install the completion for xlib.cmd and x3rd.cmd
x3rd comp -i

:: Check the annotation, print warnings
x3rd comp --check

It completes commands, options and argument values, auto-generated from the same ::: annotations that already provide --help; the GNU-style metavariable names the completion source (FILE IMAGE PATH DIRECTORY DIR DEVICE ADDRESS IP IPV4 MAC HOST ALIAS HOSTIP SHELL KIND), and {a|b} is an enumeration. The generator is a Lua program, so it lives in x3rd.cmd — xlib.cmd stays first-party tools only. It is embedded at the end of x3rd.cmd as a tagged subdocument, following the same ::tag: config-embedding scheme that xlib.cmd already uses for its .inf/.xml/.ini subdocuments, and it runs on the Lua engine that Clink itself embeds (clink lua), so no separate Lua interpreter needs to be installed. Requires Windows and Clink.

A command or an option that exists on one platform only is marked with a short tag at the end of its annotation line — ### Volume info or edit [macOS], or ### -u, --unique[=DIRECTORY] search for duplicate files in DIRECTORY [Linux]. The no-argument list and -h show the tag in a column of its own, while comp -i / comp --bash / comp --zsh skip every entry that does not match the running platform. xlib comp --list PLATFORM prints the parsed metadata for macos, linux or all.

Microsoft Office Deployment (Windows)

Automated Microsoft Office Installation

:: help info
xlib odt -h

:: Download the latest Office installation files first
xlib odt -d \\192.168.1.1\xcmd 2024
xlib odt -d D:\ 2021

:: Automatically install specified components
\\192.168.1.1\xcmd\xlib odt -i word excel powerpoint 2024

KMS Activation (Windows)

Automatically activate Windows and Office using KMS service:

:: Using KMS service activate Windows
xlib kms -s 192.168.1.1

:: Using KMS service activate Office
xlib kms -o 192.168.1.1

:: Using KMS service activate Windows and Office
\\192.168.1.1\xcmd\xlib kms -a

Clipboard File Transfer (Windows)

Transfer small files/folders via RDP clipboard (for older Windows versions):

1. Download clipTransfer.vbs on both local and remote machines
2. Drag files/folders onto the VBS script on one end
3. Wait for completion
4. Double-click the VBS script on the other end to receive

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🔧 Features Detail

xlib.cmd (Windows)

• Supports use in for /f commands (use call for conditional operations)
• Function name auto-completion (matches characters from left to right)
• Clink completion for xlib.cmd and x3rd.cmd commands, options and argument values (x3rd comp -i)
• Multi-process control support (e.g., hosts function)
• Virtual disk control, WIM file manipulation, string operations, hash calculation
• VBS script integration via xlib vbs command for downloads and transcoding

xlib / bash.xlib (macOS/Linux)

• Shell implementation of complex data structures (dictionaries, queues, etc.)
• Platform-specific functions for macOS and Linux
• Auto-generated shell completion for all commands, options and argument values (xlib comp -i)

xjar (Linux)

• Process Management: Start/Stop/Restart JAR applications
• Log Management: View, split (auto-rotate), and clean logs
• Status Monitoring: Display process information, CPU/memory usage, network connections, and thread details
• Batch Operations: Supports multi-directory batch management
• Debugging Support: Supports JDWP remote debugging

qrsender (Linux -> Windows)

• Features: Transfer files in isolated environments where USB, network, or Bluetooth cannot be used.
• Principle: The sender displays the QR code sequence sequentially as an animation on the terminal (with progress numbers). The receiver automatically scans the QR code sequence to reconstruct the original file and calculates packet loss. The sender retransmits based on the sequence numbers.

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📄 License

This project is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See the LICENSE file for the full license text.