(Potentially) funny random filenames for Bash scripts

It’s been a busy week, and I’ll be writing up my WWDC thoughts and a couple of TUAW posts after a plane ride today. In the meantime, I made you a thing.

This quick function is part of a script I wrote to generate multiple files filled with random Markdown lipsum with an index for Marked testing.

Numbered files are boring, and truly random character sequences aren’t much fun. Aspell has a master dictionary that happens to contain a lot of potentially funny words. I decided to dump those and randomly pick two to string together as filenames.

The function uses a dictionary file (single word per line) and shuf, available through Homebrew in the Gnu coreutils package (brew install coreutils). You can create a dictionary file using Aspell (brew install aspell) with the command aspell dump master > dictionary.txt (or just grab the one I made). Be sure to edit the “wordfile” variable in the function to point to the location of your dictionary.

# Bash function gen_random_filename
# Description: Generates random two-word names
# Requires a dictionary file, easily generated with `aspell dump master > dictionary.txt`
# or grab it from https://gist.githubusercontent.com/ttscoff/55493fe89c35ec1588ba/raw/
# Requires shuf (brew install coreutils)
#
# Example results:
# darkest_pickpockets
# besets_struts
# unzip_Malone

gen_random_filename() {
	local wordfile=~/words/dictionary.txt
	local randwords
	local title

	if [[ $(which shuf) ]]; then
		randwords=`shuf -n 2 $wordfile|sed 's/[^a-zA-Z]//g'`
		title=`echo $randwords|tr ' ' '_'`
	else
		cat <<-EOS
		$FUNCNAME requires the utility shuf (or gshuf) to generate random names.
		Use homebrew to install "coreutils," which includes shuf.
		EOS
		return
	fi
	echo $title
}

For the try-before-you-buy fans, here are sample results using the Aspell dictionary:

$ while true; do gen_random_filename; done
worldviews_punctualitys
eddys_dodge
Beaujolais_unjustifiably
doxology_teatimes
peignoirs_toilet
paling_landlords
OToole_Superglue
verrucae_resented
casseroling_rumble
Tharps_interbred
misjudgment_strum
workhouse_frisson
solstices_fifes
isotherms_interlocks
riotously_Scud
knockabout_skinflints
volcano_resewn
nubs_imprudences
geezers_disturbing
^C