Typewriter v1.1.0

Simulate typewriter-style text output in your terminal with customizable speeds, colors, and formatting.

Quick Start

# Basic usage
typewriter "Hello, World!"

# Fast typing with color
typewriter -s fast -c 32 "Quick green text"

# Using stdin
echo "Piped text" | typewriter -s slow

Installation

Standard Install

sudo sh -c 'cd /usr/share && git clone https://github.com/Open-Technology-Foundation/typewriter && ln -fs /usr/share/typewriter/typewriter /usr/local/bin/typewriter && ln -fs /usr/share/typewriter/typewriter /usr/local/bin/tw'

Enable Tab Completion

source /usr/share/typewriter/.bash_completion

Command Options

typewriter [OPTIONS] text

Option	Description	Default
-s, --speed SPEED	Typing speed (xxxfast to xxxslow)	normal
-i, --indent N	Indent N spaces	0
-c, --color CODE	ANSI color code	none
-n, --no-newline	Omit trailing newline	false
-V, --version	Show version	-
-h, --help	Show help	-

Speed Settings

Speed	Description	Delay Range
xxxfast	Instant	0ms
xxfast	Extremely fast	1-3ms
xfast	Very fast	3-7ms
vfast	Fast	7-15ms
fast	Quick	15-25ms
normal	Natural	25-40ms
slow	Deliberate	40-55ms
vslow	Very slow	55-70ms
xslow	Extremely slow	70-85ms
xxslow	Painfully slow	85-95ms
xxxslow	Maximum	99ms

Color Codes

Code	Color	Example
31	Red	typewriter -c 31 "Error"
32	Green	typewriter -c 32 "Success"
33	Yellow	typewriter -c 33 "Warning"
34	Blue	typewriter -c 34 "Info"
35	Magenta	typewriter -c 35 "Magic"
36	Cyan	typewriter -c 36 "Notice"
1;31	Bold Red	typewriter -c "1;31" "Alert"

Environment Variables

• TW_SPEED - Default speed setting
• TW_INDENT - Default indentation

export TW_SPEED=fast
export TW_INDENT=2
typewriter "Uses fast speed with 2-space indent"

Examples

Progress Messages

typewriter -s fast -c 36 "→ Loading configuration..."
typewriter -s fast -c 32 "✓ Complete"

Multi-line Text

typewriter "Line 1\nLine 2\nLine 3"

No Newline

typewriter -n "Processing"
sleep 1
typewriter "... done!"

Using as Library

#!/usr/bin/env bash
source /usr/share/typewriter/typewriter

typewriter -s fast "Script output with style"
tw -c 32 "Using the shorthand"

Testing

# Quick test
./test_quick.sh

# Full test suite
./run_tests.sh

Requirements

• Bash 5.0+
• Linux/Unix environment
• No external dependencies

Performance

• Optimized xxxfast mode - Instant output with no delays
• Efficient stdin handling - Bulk processing with readarray
• Minimal overhead - Direct ANSI sequences
• Character buffering - Optimized sleep calls

Version History

v1.1.0 (Current)

• Streamlined codebase by removing unused functions and variables
• Simplified error handling to essential functionality only
• Improved code maintainability and reduced complexity
• All features preserved with cleaner implementation

v1.0.x Series

• Added bash completion support
• Fixed double newline bug with literal \n
• Performance optimizations
• ANSI color support
• Enterprise Bash standards compliance
• Initial public release

License

GPL-3.0-or-later

Copyright (C) 2023-2025 Gary Dean garydean@yatti.id

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please:

• Follow Bash coding standards
• Pass ShellCheck validation
• Update tests and documentation
• Keep commits atomic

Support

Report issues at GitHub

Author

Gary Dean garydean@yatti.id