def to_drakefile(steps, preview=True, debug=False, input_drakefile=None, bindir=None):
    """
    Args:
        steps: collection of drain.step.Step objects for which to
            generate a drakefile
        preview: boolean, when False will create directories for output
            steps.  When True do not touch filesystem.
        debug: run python with '-m pdb'
        drakefile: path to drakefile to include
        bindir: path to drake binaries, defaults to ../bin/
    Returns:
        a string representation of the drakefile
    """
    data = get_drake_data(steps)
    drakefile = StringIO()

    if input_drakefile:
        drakefile.write('%context {}\n\n'.format(input_drakefile))

    if bindir is None:
        bindir = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..', 'bin')

    # if the step has a $OUTPUT, write drain.log to its directory
    drakefile.write("""drain()
    if [ $OUTPUT ]; then LOGFILE=$(dirname $OUTPUT)/drain.log; fi
    python %s %s/run_step.py $OUTPUT $INPUTS 2>&1 | tee $LOGFILE


""" % ('-m pdb' if debug else '', bindir))
    for output, inputs in data.items():
        if not preview:
            output.setup_dump()

        drakefile.write(to_drake_step(inputs, output))

    return drakefile.getvalue()