elsefix

A command-line tool that reformats } else { (and optionally } catch) constructs so that the else/catch keyword appears on its own line, separated from the closing brace.

Before:

if (condition) {
  doSomething();
} else {
  doOther();
}

After:

if (condition) {
  doSomething();
}
else {
  doOther();
}

elsefix automatically detects whether the file uses spaces or tabs and preserves the existing indentation style.

Requirements

• Dart SDK ^3.10.7

Installation

Run from source

dart run bin/elsefix.dart <filename> [flags]

Build a native executable

dart compile exe bin/elsefix.dart
mv bin/elsefix.exe elsefix

Then place the resulting elsefix binary somewhere on your $PATH.

Usage

elsefix [<filename>|-] [flags]

Flags

Flag	Short	Description
--stdin	-	Read from stdin instead of a file
--stdout	-s	Print results to stdout instead of editing in place
--include-catch	-c	Also reformat } catch blocks
--interactive	-i	Review each change individually before applying
--help	-h	Print the help menu

Examples

Edit a file in place:

elsefix myfile.dart

Preview changes without modifying the file:

elsefix myfile.dart --stdout

Also fix } catch blocks:

elsefix myfile.dart --include-catch

Read from stdin and write to stdout (useful in pipelines):

cat myfile.dart | elsefix -

Interactive mode — review each change one at a time:

elsefix myfile.dart --interactive

In interactive mode, a colored diff is shown for each match and you are prompted to respond:

  3 | if (condition) {
  4 |   doSomething();
- 5 | } else {
+ 5 | }
+ 6 | else {
  7 |   doOther();

[y]es / [n]o / [A]ccept all / [q]uit:

Key	Action
y	Accept this change
n	Skip this change
A	Accept this and all remaining changes
q	Quit; leave remaining lines unchanged

Note: --interactive cannot be combined with --stdin.

Notes

• elsefix is smart about string literals — it will not reformat else or catch that appears inside a quoted string.
• When editing in place (default), the file is overwritten with the reformatted content.
• When using --stdin or --stdout, the result is printed to stdout.