tree_gen

tree_gen is a command-line tool designed to generate visual representations of directory structures in both ASCII and JSON formats. This tool provides an easy way to visualize and explore file hierarchies directly in the terminal. It also supports comparing two directories, filtering files, and customizing the output to suit various needs.

Features

• Generate tree views of directory structures in ASCII or JSON formats.
• Compare two directories to show differences.
• Customize output depth and filter files by extension, size, or date.
• Write output to a file or display in the terminal.
• Show file sizes, icons, and even preview lines of file content.

Installation

To use tree_gen, clone the repository and build the binary using Rust's package manager, Cargo:

cargo build --release

Then you can run tree_gen from the target/release directory or add it to your PATH for easy access.

Usage

tree_gen <PATH> [OPTIONS]

Positional Argument

• PATH: The path of the directory you wish to display or compare.

Options

• --compare <COMPARE_PATH>: Compare the specified directory (<PATH>) with another directory at <COMPARE_PATH>.
• -d, --depth <DEPTH>: Set the maximum depth of the directory tree (default is 10).
• -e, --extension <EXT>: Filter output to show only files with the specified file extension.
• -o, --output <FILE>: Write the output to a specified file instead of printing to the terminal.
• --branch-style <STYLE>: Set the branch style for the tree structure. Options: ascii, unicode (default: unicode).
• --preview-lines <LINES>: Display a limited number of preview lines for each file.
• --date-filter <DATE_FILTER>: Filter files by date. Format: <before|after|between> <date1>[,<date2>].
• --size-min <SIZE_MIN>: Set the minimum file size (in bytes) for filtering.
• --size-max <SIZE_MAX>: Set the maximum file size (in bytes) for filtering.
• --include <INCLUDE>: Include files matching a specific pattern (wildcard or regex).
• --exclude <EXCLUDE>: Exclude files matching a specific pattern (wildcard or regex).
• -i, --ignore-hidden: Ignore hidden files and folders.
• --icons: Display file icons alongside file names.
• -s, --show-sizes: Show file sizes next to file names.
• -j, --json: Output the directory structure in JSON format.

Examples

Basic Usage

To display the directory structure of the current directory:

tree_gen .

Set Depth

To display a directory tree structure with a maximum depth of 2 levels:

tree_gen . --depth 2

Filter by File Extension

To show only .rs files in the directory structure:

tree_gen . --extension rs

Save Output to File

To save the directory structure to a file named output.txt:

tree_gen . --output output.txt

Branch Style

To set the branch style to ASCII instead of the default Unicode:

tree_gen . --branch-style ascii

Display JSON Format

To output the directory structure in JSON format:

tree_gen . --json

Compare Two Directories

To compare two directories (lib and lib_copy) and show the differences:

tree_gen lib --compare lib_copy

Filter by File Size

To show only files larger than 1 KB and smaller than 1 MB:

tree_gen . --size-min 1024 --size-max 1048576

Filter by Date

To show files created after January 1, 2023:

tree_gen . --date-filter "after 2023-01-01"

Exclude or Include Files by Pattern

To exclude files matching the pattern *.tmp:

tree_gen . --exclude "*.tmp"

Or to include only files matching a specific pattern:

tree_gen . --include "*.rs"

Additional Options

• -i, --ignore-hidden: Ignore hidden files and folders.
• --icons: Display file icons next to file names.
• -s, --show-sizes: Display file sizes alongside file names.
• --preview-lines <LINES>: Limit the preview lines for each file to <LINES> lines.

TODO List for tree_gen for futures improvements

Core Functionality Enhancements

• Add directory and file sorting options (e.g., --sort name, --sort size, --sort date, --sort type).
• Enable depth-based filtering for file extensions and size.
• Improve --compare functionality to compare file contents.
• Enhance date filtering to support relative dates (e.g., last week, 30 days ago).
• Implement permission handling for restricted files/directories with warnings instead of crashes.
• Add error logging option (--log) for easier debugging.

Output and Display Improvements

• Add color customization options for different output elements.
• Provide additional icon themes for various file types.
• Display modification times alongside each file with an optional flag.
• Show breadcrumb paths for deep directory structures.

Configuration and Customization

• Support a configuration file (e.g., .treegenrc) for default values for flags like depth, ignore_hidden, branch_style, etc.
• Add customizable templates for JSON output.
• Support export to XML and HTML formats.
• Enable fully customizable branch styles beyond ascii and unicode.

Usability and UX Improvements

• Add --verbose flag to show detailed processing information.
• Provide an interactive mode (--interactive) to allow directory expansion and collapse in the terminal.
• Optimize performance for large directories, possibly with multi-threading.

Testing and Edge Case Handling

• Add extensive unit and integration tests for all CLI options, including edge cases like empty directories and symbolic links.
• Implement symbolic link handling, with a --follow-symlinks option to control behavior.
• Detect and handle circular directory references to prevent infinite recursion.
• Ensure compatibility with case-insensitive file systems (e.g., macOS).

Advanced Functionalities

• Integrate optional support for cloud storage APIs (Google Drive, Dropbox) for directory structure and file comparison.
• Speed up directory comparison with parallel processing for large directories.

Code Quality and Maintenance

• Refactor output formats (ASCII, JSON, XML) to use traits, simplifying future additions.

Packaging and Distribution

• Create release binaries for multiple platforms (Windows, macOS, Linux) and automate with GitHub Actions.
• Set up Cargo documentation (cargo doc) for all public items for easy reference.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you’d like to improve this tool or add new features, please feel free to submit a pull request. (TODO lists for futures improvement already mention above. You can implement TODO lists features or your can create your own new features.).

License

tree_gen is open-source software licensed under the MIT License.