Special Characters

>

wait for a prompt, then send string to the remote host

>>

send string to remote host, without waiting for prompt

<

string/regex MUST be received from the remote host in the alloted timeout or the script will FAIL!

<<

literal string MUST be received (similar to '<' without regex evaluation)

-<

NOT expect, if string/regex IS received from the remote host the script will FAIL!

#

used to indicate comment lines, and have no effect

;

are also used to indicate comment lines, but are printed to stdout ‹r logging

;<colour> comment

add custom colour comment lines, colour may be blue, ltblue, gray, ltgray, cyan, black, pink, purple, red, green, yellow

;;

similar to above, but no extra newlines are printed (useful for printing script help)

@num

changes the expect timeout to num of seconds

$var=

static variable assignment at script invocation

+$var=

dynamic variable assignment

+$var

increment value of $var by 1 decimal

-$var

decrement value of $var by 1 decimal

=$var

math functions, perform bitwise and arithmetic operations: << >> & | ^ * / % + - (see math functions)

!

indicates an embedded expect line

?

c-style if/then/else in the format ?cond?action::else_action. code block are also supported in the action or else_action statements. e.g.

[

While Loop, using code blocks e.g.

%

label - used for jumping to labels

~filename

includes a expect-lite automation file, useful for creation of common variable files, or 'subprograms/subroutines'

Directives

*~filename

Include a fail script, which expect-lite runs only if the main script fails

*/prompt/

Set a user defined prompt (defined in regex)

*TERM or *PASS

Immediately terminates script, but returns 0 (pass)

*FAIL

Immediately fails script, and returns 1 (fail)

*NOFAIL

Script will run to completion, and returns 1, if failure occured during execution, or 0, if pass

**SHELL=<shell>

Configuration directive which sets the shell imediately after automatic login to remote host (see setting the shell)

*INTERACT

A breakpoint which places user in interact mode, and pauses the script and turns control of the keyboard over to the user

*FORK <session>

Multiple session support. Directs expect-lite to open a new session and spawns a newshell

*SHOW VARS

Debug information, displays all expect-lite variables. Can be used in interact mode.

*INFINITE_LOOP N

Infinite loop protection value, sets N as new value

*EOLS LF|*EOLS CRLF

Controls end of line sequence sent to remote host, either line feed, or carriage return + line feed.

Logging

*INFO|*NOINFO

Enable/disable informational messages

*EXP_INFO|*NOEXP_INFO

Enable/disable "expected" messages (addtionally use -V flag to enable)

*WARN|*NOWARN

Enable/disable warning messages

*DEBUG|*NODEBUG

Enable/disable debug messages

*NOCOLOR

Disables color on stdout

*TIMESTAMP <ISO|YMD|DMY|MDY>

Prints Date and Timestamp for each command sent, ISO is default

*NOTIMESTAMP

Disables timestamp printing

Environment Variables

It is no longer necessary to hand edit the expect-lite script itself. All parameters such as connect_method, login name and password are controlled via shell environment variables. This permits individual customization in a multi user environment. It is recommended to save these values in the .bashrc or .cshrc. If set, the following environment variables will be used:

EL_CONNECT_METHOD

The method expect-lite uses to connect to remote host. Valid options are: none|telnet|ssh|ssh_key Default is none

EL_CONNECT_USER

User name to use for login on remote host (telnet|ssh)

EL_CONNECT_PASS

Password to use for login on remote host (telnet|ssh)

EL_DELAY_WAIT_FOR_HOST

Delay (in ms) to wait for host in Not Expect, and Dynamic Var Capture. 100 ms is a good value for a local LAN, 200 ms if running across high speed internet

EL_REMOTE_HOST

Name or IP of remote host

EL_CMD_FILE

Name of expect-lite script to run

EL_USER_DIR

Change to this directory upon login before executing script

EL_*

Any other shell environment variables starting with EL_ will become constants

Debugger (IDE)

The debugger performs three primary functions: 1) connecting the user to the remote host or device under test, 2) monitoring special commands prefaced with the escape key for stepping, and other functions, and 3) the debugger will allow expect-lite script lines to be executed by either typing directly or pasting them into the IDE.

The debugger is invoked at a breakpoint by placing the *INTERACT command in the script, or using by instant-interact at anytime during the script execution by pressing ctrl+backslash ^\

<esc>s

Step, execute next step in script

<esc>k

sKip next step in script

<esc>c

Continue execution of the script

<esc>v

show Vars, display expect-lite variables and values

<esc>0to9

display next N lines of script

<esc>-1to-9

display last N lines of script

ctrl+d

Quit & Exit expect-lite

<esc>h

display Help

[pasted line(s)]

execute any pasted line(s) from a script into the IDE

[type any expect-lite line]

execute any typed expect-lite script line