https://github.com/maxim2266/lsch

lsch: list all added, deleted, and modified files in the current directory and its subdirectories.
https://github.com/maxim2266/lsch

change-detection directory-tracker linux lua

Last synced: 2 months ago
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lsch: list all added, deleted, and modified files in the current directory and its subdirectories.

• Host: GitHub
• URL: https://github.com/maxim2266/lsch
• Owner: maxim2266
• License: bsd-3-clause
• Created: 2015-11-08T18:50:35.000Z (about 9 years ago)
• Default Branch: master
• Last Pushed: 2024-06-21T10:38:33.000Z (7 months ago)
• Last Synced: 2024-06-22T03:41:44.856Z (7 months ago)
• Topics: change-detection, directory-tracker, linux, lua
• Language: Lua
• Homepage:
• Size: 81.1 KB
• Stars: 14
• Watchers: 4
• Forks: 1
• Open Issues: 0
• Metadata Files:
  • Readme: README.md
  • License: LICENSE

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README

        
## lsch: list all added, deleted, and modified files in the current directory and its subdirectories.

Another little command line tool for Linux to track modifications within a directory tree.

### Invocation

```

▶ lsch --help

Usage: lsch [CMD] [OPTIONS]...

List all added, deleted, and modified files in the current directory and its subdirectories.

Without CMD argument the tool shows all changes made since the last reset.

  Options:

    -0   use ASCII null as output separator

The CMD argument, if given, must be one of the following:

  init            create empty change tracking database in the current directory

                  Options:

                    -f,--force   discard any previous tracking data

  reset           accept current state as the reference for further change tracking

  help,-h,--help  display this help and exit

```

Modified items are displayed one per line, each prefixed with a status symbol and a space.

The status symbol is '`+`' for added files, '`-`' for deleted files, and '`*`' for modified files.

Only regular files and symbolic links are tracked. The current directory and all its sub-directories

must not be modified while the scan is in progress.

The tool is not meant to replace version control systems like `svn` or `git`, instead

it provides much simpler functionality, basically limited to detecting changed files only.

It does not store any `diff` information, nor it maintains any history beyond the state of the

directory tree at the last `reset`. The same time the tool is useful in scenarios where

only the names of the changed (deleted, modified) files are important, for example, when creating an

incremental backup.

### Technical details

The tool operates on the current directory only. The `lsch init` command initialises the directory

for tracking by creating `.lsch.db` file. The file contains the state of the directory and its

sub-directories, and is updated on each `lsch reset`.

Internally, the tool relies on `sha256sum` utility for calculating checksums of files. Those checksums

are used for change detection.

Symbolic links are not followed, only their target pathnames get compared.

### System requirements

Lua version 5.3, plus the following (well-known) Linux utilities:

* `sha256sum`

* `find`

* `gzip`

* `readlink`

* `xargs`

So far the tool has been tested on Linux Mint from version 20.3 and above, but it is likely to work

on other (at least Debian-based) Linux distributions.

### Installation

None as such, just run `make`, and then copy the file `lsch` over to a directory listed in

your `PATH` environment variable.