arara: How to widen out clean.yaml

Question

I read the clean-rule for version 4.
% arara: clean: { extensions: [aux, bcl ] } deletes jobname.aux and jobname.bcl.

I would like to have a rule "cleanx.yaml" (or a shifter for clean.yaml), which deletes all files (*.aux and *.bcl) with the named extensions.

How can I do that? I tried concat('*') for 'base', but this does not work.

!config
# Arara, the cool TeX automation tool
# Copyright (c) 2018, Paulo Roberto Massa Cereda 
# All rights reserved.
#
# This rule is part of arara.
identifier: clean
name: Clean
authors:
- Marco Daniel
- Paulo Cereda
commands:
- name: Cleaning feature
  command: >
    @{
        prefix = [];
        if (isUnix()) {
            prefix = [ 'rm', '-f' ];
        }
        else {
            prefix = [ 'cmd', '/c', 'del' ];
        }
        if (extensions == '') {
            if (getOriginalFile() == file) {
                throwError('I cannot remove the main file reference.');
            }
            return getCommand(prefix, file);
        }
        else {
            base = getBasename(file);
            removals = [];
            foreach(extension : extensions) {
                if (base.concat('.').concat(extension) == getOriginalFile()) {
                    throwError('I cannot remove the main file reference.');
                }
                removals.add(getCommand(prefix, base.concat('.').concat(extension)));
            }
            return removals;
        }
    }
arguments:
- identifier: extensions
  flag: >
    @{
        if (isList(parameters.extensions)) {
            return parameters.extensions;
        }
        else {
            throwError('I was expecting a list of extensions.');
        }
    }

Answer 1

This new rule might do exactly what you want. However, be mindful to use it with great care!

File cleanx.yaml:

!config
identifier: cleanx
name: CleanX
authors:
- Paulo Cereda
commands:
- name: Cleaning feature
  command: >
    @{
        prefix = [];
        if (isUnix()) {
            prefix = [ 'rm', '-f' ];
        }
        else {
            prefix = [ 'cmd', '/c', 'del' ];
        }
        if (extensions == '') {
            if (getOriginalFile() == file) {
                throwError('I cannot remove the main file reference.');
            }
            return getCommand(prefix, file);
        }
        else {
            directory = getOriginalReference().getAbsoluteFile().getParent();
            matches = listFilesByExtensions(directory, extensions, recursive);
            removals = [];
            foreach(match : matches) {
                if (match.equals(getOriginalReference())) {
                    throwError('I cannot remove the main file reference.');
                }
                removals.add(getCommand(prefix, match));
            }
            return removals;
        }
    }
arguments:
- identifier: extensions
  flag: >
    @{
        if (isList(parameters.extensions)) {
            return parameters.extensions;
        }
        else {
            throwError('I was expecting a list of extensions.');
        }
    }
- identifier: recursive
  flag: >
    @{
        return isTrue(parameters.recursive);
    }
  default: false

Note: this rule makes use of a helper method that searches from within the parent directory of the original reference. I also disabled recursive searches by default. However, one can enable it by using the directive parameter recursive and provide a natural boolean value such as true or yes.

A quick experiment. My file header:

% arara: cleanx: { extensions: [ aux ] }

Terminal usage:

$ touch foo.aux bar.aux
$ arara -n test.tex 
  __ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ __ _ 
 / _` | '__/ _` | '__/ _` |
| (_| | | | (_| | | | (_| |
 \__,_|_|  \__,_|_|  \__,_|

Processing 'test.tex' (size: 42 bytes, last modified: 11/12/2018
12:41:56), please wait.

[DR] (CleanX) Cleaning feature
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Author: Paulo Cereda
About to run: [ rm, -f, /home/paulo/foo.aux ]

[DR] (CleanX) Cleaning feature
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Author: Paulo Cereda
About to run: [ rm, -f, /home/paulo/bar.aux ]

Total: 0.19 seconds