feat(stdlib): add system utility functions (uname, wc, sort, uniq, mount, pgrep) #955

rahuld109 · 2025-12-19T07:13:21Z

Hey! I noticed issue #951 had been open for a while and figured I'd take a crack at it. Added a bunch of stdlib functions that were requested:

What's included:

uname_* functions (kernel name, nodename, release, version, machine, os, all) - basically wrapping the uname command
lines_count, words_count, chars_count - text counting utilities using wc
sort_lines, sort_lines_desc, sort_lines_numeric - sorting helpers
uniq_lines, uniq_all_lines - deduplication (adjacent vs all duplicates)
mount, umount, umount_force - filesystem mounting (with sudo modifier)
pgrep, pgrep_exact, pkill, pkill_exact, pkill_force - process management

Added tests for everything too. The pgrep tests are in the no_output directory since the results depend on what's running.

Closes #951
Partial fix for #954

…nctions Added new stdlib functions: env.ab: - uname_kernel_name() - returns kernel name (e.g., Linux, Darwin) - uname_nodename() - returns network hostname - uname_kernel_release() - returns kernel release version - uname_kernel_version() - returns kernel version - uname_machine() - returns machine architecture - uname_os() - returns OS name - uname_all() - returns all uname info - mount() - mounts a filesystem (requires root) - umount() - unmounts a filesystem (requires root) - umount_force() - force unmounts a filesystem - pgrep() - finds process IDs by name pattern - pgrep_exact() - finds process IDs by exact name - pkill() - kills processes by name pattern - pkill_exact() - kills processes by exact name - pkill_force() - forcefully kills processes (SIGKILL) text.ab: - lines_count() - counts lines in text - words_count() - counts words in text - chars_count() - counts characters in text - sort_lines() - sorts lines alphabetically - sort_lines_desc() - sorts lines in descending order - sort_lines_numeric() - sorts lines numerically - uniq_lines() - removes consecutive duplicate lines - uniq_all_lines() - removes all duplicate lines Closes amber-lang#951

Tirito6626 · 2025-12-19T07:29:29Z

pretty good, but usage examples should be updated (see #954)

Tirito6626 · 2025-12-19T07:34:53Z

you could also make use of sudo modifier for functions that require root permsisions

Mte90 · 2025-12-19T08:13:17Z

Cool!

The commands that require sudo are mount/umount. I will review the code asap!

- Changed echo to echo() in usage examples (v0.6.0+ syntax) - Added sudo modifier to mount/umount functions for privilege escalation

rahuld109 · 2025-12-19T08:19:05Z

Thanks for the feedback! I've updated the PR:

Changed all echo to echo() in usage examples (v0.6.0+ syntax)
Added sudo modifier to mount(), umount(), and umount_force() for intelligent privilege escalation

Tirito6626 · 2025-12-19T08:37:27Z

code seems fine but i will also test it locally later

Mte90

some changes needed but tests works with no errors

Mte90 · 2025-12-19T08:53:19Z

src/std/env.ab

+#[allow_absurd_cast]
+pub fun pgrep(pattern: Text): [Int] {
+    let result = [Int]
+    trust $ while read -r pid; do {nameof result}+=("\$pid"); done < <(pgrep "{pattern}" 2>/dev/null) $


This while needs to be in amber code

Done - rewrote it using split_lines() and parse_int() instead

Mte90 · 2025-12-19T08:53:56Z

src/std/env.ab

+/// pkill("nginx")?
+/// ```
+pub fun pkill(pattern: Text): Null? {
+    $ pkill "{pattern}" $?


return pkill output can be helpful?

i think it would be also useful to be able to use PIDs and signal to send (e.g. SIGTERM or SIGINT, etc). kill could be used as fallback, since it's a bash builtin

Kept it as Null? for now since pkill doesn't output much useful info. Let me know if you'd prefer something different

Good idea - added a kill(pid, signal) function that defaults to TERM. Works with signal names or numbers

rahuld109 · 2025-12-19T17:49:30Z

Hey, thanks for the feedback! I've made the changes:

Rewrote the bash while loops in pgrep/pgrep_exact to use native Amber - now using split_lines() and parse_int() instead
Added a kill() function that takes a PID and optional signal (defaults to TERM). Should cover the use cases you mentioned:
```
kill(1234)?              // SIGTERM
kill(1234, "SIGKILL")?   // or "9" works too
```

Let me know if there's anything else!

- Convert bash while loops to native Amber code in pgrep/pgrep_exact - Add kill() function with PID and signal support (SIGTERM, SIGKILL, etc.) - Use split_lines() and parse_int() for cleaner implementation

Tirito6626 · 2025-12-19T19:02:24Z

why always using nameof instead of parsing the value directly?

rahuld109 · 2025-12-19T19:12:59Z

This is already fixed in the latest commit - I removed the nameof/while loop and now it uses native Amber:

let output = trust $ pgrep "{pattern}" 2>/dev/null $
let lines = split_lines(output)
for line in lines {
    let pid = parse_int(line) failed { continue }
    result += [pid]
}

You might be seeing a cached diff - try refreshing the page

Tirito6626 · 2025-12-19T19:13:36Z

i would also consider using here-string instead of printf pipe where possible, but i could do that after the merge, since i'd have to rework files anyways

src/std/text.ab

- Simplified sort_lines, sort_lines_desc, sort_lines_numeric - Simplified uniq_lines, uniq_all_lines - Simplified lines_count, words_count - Keep printf for chars_count (here-string adds newline)

rahuld109 · 2025-12-19T19:55:54Z

Applied the here-string suggestions - thanks for the cleaner approach!

sort_lines, sort_lines_desc, sort_lines_numeric ✓
uniq_lines, uniq_all_lines ✓
lines_count, words_count ✓

Kept chars_count using printf since here-string adds a trailing newline which breaks the character count.

Tirito6626

looks way better now, time to run tests

Ph0enixKM

Great job @rahuld109 ! Thank you for your contribution. This is a very well-written Amber code! Here are some minor suggestions regarding the library functions structure as a whole.

Ph0enixKM · 2025-12-19T23:51:13Z

src/std/env.ab

+///
+/// ### Usage
+/// ```ab
+/// mount("/dev/sda1", "/mnt/disk")?


Would it be possible to add usage example for mount with options?

Ph0enixKM · 2025-12-19T23:55:03Z

src/std/text.ab

+/// ### Usage
+/// ```ab
+/// let count = lines_count("one\ntwo\nthree")
+/// echo(count) // 3
+/// ```
+#[allow_absurd_cast]
+pub fun lines_count(text: Text): Int {
+    if text == "": return 0
+    return trust $ wc -l <<< "{text}" | tr -d ' ' $ as Int
+}


I think that count_lines sounds better

Suggested change

/// ### Usage

/// ```ab

/// let count = lines_count("one\ntwo\nthree")

/// echo(count) // 3

/// ```

#[allow_absurd_cast]

pub fun lines_count(text: Text): Int {

if text == "": return 0

return trust $ wc -l <<< "{text}" | tr -d ' ' $ as Int

}

/// ### Usage

/// ```ab

/// let count = count_lines("one\ntwo\nthree")

/// echo(count) // 3

/// ```

#[allow_absurd_cast]

pub fun count_lines(text: Text): Int {

if text == "": return 0

return trust $ wc -l <<< "{text}" | tr -d ' ' $ as Int

}

Ph0enixKM · 2025-12-19T23:55:42Z

src/std/text.ab

+/// ```ab
+/// let count = words_count("hello world foo")
+/// echo(count) // 3
+/// ```
+#[allow_absurd_cast]
+pub fun words_count(text: Text): Int {
+    return trust $ wc -w <<< "{text}" | tr -d ' ' $ as Int
+}


I think that count_words sounds better

Suggested change

/// ```ab

/// let count = words_count("hello world foo")

/// echo(count) // 3

/// ```

#[allow_absurd_cast]

pub fun words_count(text: Text): Int {

return trust $ wc -w <<< "{text}" | tr -d ' ' $ as Int

}

/// ```ab

/// let count = count_words("hello world foo")

/// echo(count) // 3

/// ```

#[allow_absurd_cast]

pub fun count_words(text: Text): Int {

return trust $ wc -w <<< "{text}" | tr -d ' ' $ as Int

}

Ph0enixKM · 2025-12-19T23:56:26Z

src/std/text.ab

+/// Counts the number of characters in the given text.
+///
+/// ### Usage
+/// ```ab
+/// let count = chars_count("hello")
+/// echo(count) // 5
+/// ```
+#[allow_absurd_cast]
+pub fun chars_count(text: Text): Int {
+    return trust $ printf "%s" "{text}" | wc -m | tr -d ' ' $ as Int
+}


I feel like count_chars sounds better

Suggested change

/// Counts the number of characters in the given text.

///

/// ### Usage

/// ```ab

/// let count = chars_count("hello")

/// echo(count) // 5

/// ```

#[allow_absurd_cast]

pub fun chars_count(text: Text): Int {

return trust $ printf "%s" "{text}" | wc -m | tr -d ' ' $ as Int

}

/// Counts the number of characters in the given text.

///

/// ### Usage

/// ```ab

/// let count = count_chars("hello")

/// echo(count) // 5

/// ```

#[allow_absurd_cast]

pub fun count_chars(text: Text): Int {

return trust $ printf "%s" "{text}" | wc -m | tr -d ' ' $ as Int

}

Ph0enixKM · 2025-12-19T23:58:35Z

src/std/text.ab

+/// Sorts lines of text in ascending order.
+///
+/// ### Usage
+/// ```ab
+/// let sorted = sort_lines("banana\napple\ncherry")
+/// echo(sorted) // "apple\nbanana\ncherry"
+/// ```
+pub fun sort_lines(text: Text): Text {
+    return trust $ sort <<< "{text}" $
+}
+
+/// Sorts lines of text in descending order.
+///
+/// ### Usage
+/// ```ab
+/// let sorted = sort_lines_desc("banana\napple\ncherry")
+/// echo(sorted) // "cherry\nbanana\napple"
+/// ```
+pub fun sort_lines_desc(text: Text): Text {
+    return trust $ sort -r <<< "{text}" $
+}
+
+/// Sorts lines of text numerically.
+///
+/// ### Usage
+/// ```ab
+/// let sorted = sort_lines_numeric("10\n2\n1")
+/// echo(sorted) // "1\n2\n10"
+/// ```
+pub fun sort_lines_numeric(text: Text): Text {
+    return trust $ sort -n <<< "{text}" $
+}


Let's combine these functions into one function:

pub fun sort_lines(text: Text, desc: Bool = false, numeric: Bool = false)

Ph0enixKM · 2025-12-20T00:00:16Z

src/std/text.ab

+/// Removes consecutive duplicate lines from text.
+///
+/// ### Usage
+/// ```ab
+/// let result = uniq_lines("foo\nfoo\nbar\nbar\nbaz")
+/// echo(result) // "foo\nbar\nbaz"
+/// ```
+pub fun uniq_lines(text: Text): Text {
+    return trust $ uniq <<< "{text}" $
+}
+
+/// Removes all duplicate lines from text (not just consecutive).
+///
+/// ### Usage
+/// ```ab
+/// let result = uniq_all_lines("foo\nbar\nfoo\nbaz\nbar")
+/// echo(result) // "foo\nbar\nbaz"
+/// ```
+pub fun uniq_all_lines(text: Text): Text {
+    return trust $ awk '!seen[\$0]++' <<< "{text}" $
+}


I feel like the following names make more sense to me:

uniq_lines_adj- this only removes adjacent duplicates

uniq_lines - this removes global duplicates

rahuld109 added 4 commits December 18, 2025 22:37

fix: use const instead of let for immutable variables

5d07e53

fix(pgrep): properly read PIDs into array using while loop

3f4f2a8

test(pgrep): use 'sh' pattern for cross-shell compatibility

33a23c6

fix: update usage examples to v0.6.0 syntax and add sudo modifier

68267f1

- Changed echo to echo() in usage examples (v0.6.0+ syntax) - Added sudo modifier to mount/umount functions for privilege escalation

Mte90 requested review from Mte90 and Tirito6626 December 19, 2025 08:18

Tirito6626 approved these changes Dec 19, 2025

View reviewed changes

Mte90 requested changes Dec 19, 2025

View reviewed changes

Tirito6626 mentioned this pull request Dec 19, 2025

[BUG] update all builtin examples in stdlib #954

Open

Merge branch 'staging' into feat/stdlib-functions

f9ff9e2

refactor(stdlib): address review feedback for process functions

b4bc86d

- Convert bash while loops to native Amber code in pgrep/pgrep_exact - Add kill() function with PID and signal support (SIGTERM, SIGKILL, etc.) - Use split_lines() and parse_int() for cleaner implementation

rahuld109 force-pushed the feat/stdlib-functions branch from 162952e to b4bc86d Compare December 19, 2025 17:49

Tirito6626 requested a review from Mte90 December 19, 2025 19:12

Tirito6626 reviewed Dec 19, 2025

View reviewed changes

src/std/text.ab Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

Tirito6626 requested changes Dec 19, 2025

View reviewed changes

refactor(stdlib): use here-strings instead of printf pipes

2372b31

- Simplified sort_lines, sort_lines_desc, sort_lines_numeric - Simplified uniq_lines, uniq_all_lines - Simplified lines_count, words_count - Keep printf for chars_count (here-string adds newline)

Tirito6626 approved these changes Dec 19, 2025

View reviewed changes

Ph0enixKM requested changes Dec 20, 2025

View reviewed changes

feat(stdlib): add system utility functions (uname, wc, sort, uniq, mount, pgrep) #955

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feat(stdlib): add system utility functions (uname, wc, sort, uniq, mount, pgrep) #955

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rahuld109 commented Dec 19, 2025 •

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