[lug] expect script

[Zan Lynx]

On 11/06/2015 09:52 AM, Stephen Queen wrote:
> Earlier this week, I found myself writing an expect script, for the
> first time in several years. I've only had to use expect one other time,
> so have never become very proficient at it.
> 
> I downloaded the .pdf book from O'reilly called Exploring Expect. I've
> read just a short part of chapter 1. I can see where it maybe useful to
> learn this language. On the other hand, I've only needed it once before.
> Once I've learned it, I may find a lot of uses. My question is, does
> anyone actually find this useful anymore? In other words, will I be
> wasting time going through this entire book?

I find that expect is occasionally useful. Like once every two years
kind of thing.

Besides the original expect which IIRC is a TCL program, there are
expect libraries for other languages as well, like Perl and Python.

I think that web APIs have reduced the need for reading and reacting to
text. Also there are more system administration tools that do a lot of
things for you without needing to do interactive text.