`nkb emit`

Print the values of a pack for a script or a test file, as JSON, CSV or one value per line.

nkb emit <pack> [--format json|csv|lines] [--escaped|--raw] [--base64]

What does it print?

Values, on standard output, and nothing else. The account of what came out, and any note about what a format could not carry, goes to standard error, so a file you redirect into holds values only. A pack with an error is not printed at all: a pack is whole or absent.

Examples

One value per line, for a test that reads a text file:

$ nkb emit magic-values --format lines > magic-values.txt
nkb emit: 12 values, 47 code points, 47 bytes
$ head -4 magic-values.txt
no
null
true
NaN

JSON, the default, carries every field of every value and both of its forms, the value itself and the value escaped:

$ nkb emit locale-pl
{
  "schema": 1,
  "values": [
    {
      "pack": "locale-pl",
      "ref": "locale-pl/pesel-valid",
      "id": "pesel-valid",
      "name": "PESEL with a valid checksum",
      "value": "99023012343",
      "escaped": "99023012343",

CSV, one row per value, escaped by default, because this catalogue holds values that destroy CSV files:

$ nkb emit dates-impossible --format csv
nkb emit: 12 values, 111 code points, 111 bytes
pack,ref,id,name,value,breaks,expect,fields,tags,risk,since,source,generated
dates-impossible,dates-impossible/feb-30,feb-30,30 February,30.02.2026,...

Which form should I ask for?

The escaped form writes a character nobody can see as its escape, the way a pack file stores it, so a reviewer can read it and a file survives an editor. The raw form writes the value itself, which is what a test should feed to the application. --escaped and --raw choose one of the two, and asking for both is refused rather than settled quietly. --base64 encodes every value for a channel that would damage text, such as a shell variable or an environment that rewrites line endings.

lines refuses a value that contains a line break, by name, rather than splitting it into two lines silently.

Options

--format json|csv|lines

One of: json, csv, lines. The formats below say what each one writes.

--escaped

Print values as a pack file stores them

--raw

Print values literally

--base64

Encode values, for channels that damage text

-h, --help

Show this help and exit with 0

Formats

json

Both forms of every value, and every field. The default, because it is the only one that carries the whole catalogue

csv

One row per value. Escaped by default, because this catalogue contains values that destroy CSV files

lines

One value per line. Refuses a value containing a line break by name, rather than splitting it silently

Exit codes

This command's help names no exit codes of its own. The numbers mean the same for every command: Exit codes

The help, as the program prints it

What nkb emit --help prints, from nkb 0.1.0.

nkb emit - print a pack's values for a script or a file

Usage:
  nkb emit <pack> [--format json|csv|lines] [--escaped|--raw] [--base64]

Values go to standard output. The account of what came out, and any
note about what a format could not carry, go to standard error - so a
redirected file holds values and nothing else.

Formats:
  json     Both forms of every value, and every field. The default,
           because it is the only one that carries the whole catalogue
  csv      One row per value. Escaped by default, because this
           catalogue contains values that destroy CSV files
  lines    One value per line. Refuses a value containing a line
           break by name, rather than splitting it silently

Options:
      --escaped  Print values as a pack file stores them
      --raw      Print values literally
      --base64   Encode values, for channels that damage text
  -h, --help     Show this help and exit with 0

Start

The palette

Command line

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Guides

Trust