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-2026/02 0.99.0
-
-
-
- oooooooooo. oooooooooooo ooo ooooo
- `888' `Y8b `888' `8 `88. .888'
- 888 888 888 888b d'888
- 888 888 888oooo8 8 Y88. .P 888
- 888 888 888 " 8 `888' 888
- 888 d88' 888 8 Y 888
- o888bood8P' o888o o8o o888o
-
- Dylan's File Manager
-
-
-Initial Announcement: https://dylan.gr/1772192922
-
-* Tiny (CONFIG_SMALL: ~90KiB, CONFIG_TINY: ~40KiB, static: ~150KiB)
-* Fast (should only be limited by IO)
-* No dynamic memory allocation (~1.5MiB static)
-* Does nothing unless a key is pressed
-* No dependencies outside of POSIX/libc
-* Manually implemented TUI
-* Manually implemented interactive line editor
-* Efficient low-bandwidth partial rendering
-* UTF8 support (minus grapheme clusters and other unruly things)
-* Multiple view modes (name, size, permissions, mtime, ...)
-* Multiple sort modes (name, extension, size, mtime, reverse, ...)
-* Ranger-style bulk rename
-* Incremental as-you-type search
-* Bookmarks
-* Vim-like keybindings
-* Customizable keybindings
-* Command system
-* Multi-entry marking
-* Basic operations (open, copy, move, remove, link, etc)
-* Watches filesystem for changes
-* CD on exit
-* And more...
-
-
-DEPENDENCIES
-________________________________________________________________________________
-
-Required:
-
-- POSIX shell
-- POSIX cat, cp, date, mkdir, printf, rm
-- POSIX make
-- POSIX libc
-- C99 compiler
-
-Optional:
-
-- strip (for CONFIG_SMALL and CONFIG_TINY)
-- clang (for CONFIG_TINY)
-
-
-BUILDING
-________________________________________________________________________________
-
-$ ./configure --prefix=/usr
-$ make
-$ make DESTDIR="" install
-
-The configure script takes three forms of arguments.
-
-1) Long-opts: --prefix=/usr --help
-2) Variables: CC=/bin/cc CFLAGS="-O3" CONFIG_TINY=1 LDFLAGS=" "
-3) C macro definitions: -DMACRO -DMACRO=VALUE -UMACRO
-
-There are three different build configurations.
-
-1) Default: -O2
-2) CONFIG_SMALL: -Os + aggressive compiler flags
-3) CONFIG_TINY: -Oz + CONFIG_SMALL + (you must set CC to clang)
-
-To produce a static binary, pass -static via CFLAGS.
-To enable LTO, pass -flto via CFLAGS.
-
-Everything contained within ./configure, Makefile.in, config.h.in,
-config_cmd.h.in and config_key.h.in can be configured on the command-line via
-./configure. See './configure --help' and also refer to these files for more
-information.
-
-Bonus example:
-
- ./configure \
- --prefix=/usr \
- CONFIG_TINY=1 \
- CC=clang \
- CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -flto -static" \
- -DDFM_NO_COLOR \
- -DDFM_COL_NAV="VT_SGR(34,7)"
-
-NOTE: If you are building for an environment without support for the XTerm
-alternate screen, add -DDFM_CLEAR_EDIT to your configure flags.
-
-
-CONFIGURATION
-________________________________________________________________________________
-
-DFM is configured at compile-time via its config files.
-
-* ./configure: Build system, compilation and installation.
-* config.h.in: Default settings, colors, etc.
-* config_key.h.in: Keybindings.
-* config_cmd.h.in: Commands.
-
-Refer to these files for more information.
-
-
---[DPP]-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-The config*.in files are processed by dpp (see bin/dpp) so POSIX shell code can
-be used within them. Everything defined by ./configure is also accessible within
-these files as variables.
-
-See https://github.com/dylanaraps/dpp for more information.
-
-
---[Command-line]----------------------------------------------------------------
-
-usage: dfm [options] [path]
-
-options:
--H | +H toggle hidden files (-H off, +H on)
--p picker mode (print selected path to stdout and exit)
--o <opener> program to use when opening files (default: xdg-open)
--s <mode> change default sort
- n name
- N name reverse
- e extension
- s size
- S size reverse
- d date
- D date reverse
--v <mode> change default view
- n name only
- s size
- p permissions
- t time
- a all
-
---help show this help
---version show version
-
-path:
-directory to open (default: ".")
-
-
---[Environment]-----------------------------------------------------------------
-
-A few things can be set at runtime via environment variables. If unset in the
-environment, default values are derived from the config.h.in file.
-
-- DFM_COPYER (The clipboard tool to use when copying PWD or file
- contents. The tool is fed the data via <stdin>)
-
-- DFM_BOOKMARK_[0-9] (Directory bookmarks. set DFM_BOOKMARK_[0-9] and then
- bind act_cd_bookmark_[0-9] to the keys of your choosing)
-
-- DFM_OPENER (Opener script to use when opening files. This could be
- xdg-open or a custom script (see the script/ directory))
-
-- DFM_TRASH (Program to use when trashing files)
-
-- DFM_TRASH_DIR (Path to trash directory)
-
-
---[CD On Exit]------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-There are two ways to exit DFM.
-
-1) act_quit (default 'q')
-2) act_quit_print_pwd (default 'Q')
-
-Exiting with 2) will make DFM output the absolute path to the directory it was
-in. This output can be passed to 'cd' to change directory automatically on exit.
-
-$ cd "$(dfm)"
-$ var=$(dfm)
-$ dfm > file
-
-
-USAGE
-________________________________________________________________________________
-
-DFM is a single column file-manager with VIM like keybindings. Its basic usage
-is pretty straightforward and anything non-obvious can be divined by looking
-at the actions each key is bound to.
-
-
---[Statusline]------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-The statusline is as follows:
-
- 1/1 [RnHE] [1+] ~0B /path/to/current/directory/<query>
-
- 1/1 - The entry number under the cursor and the total visible entries.
-
- [RnHE] - Indicators.
-
- R - Shown when DFM is running as root.
- n - Current sort mode: [n]ame, [N]ame reverse, [s]ize,
- [S]ize reverse, [d]ate modified, [D]ate modified reverse,
- [e]xtension. If the current directory is too large, in place
- of sort mode, [T] is shown.
- H - Shown when hidden files are enabled.
- E - Shown when a command fails. This indicates that the user must
- check the alternate buffer (bound to 'z' by default) to see
- the error messages left by the command failure.
-
- [1+] - Number of marked files, hidden when 0.
-
- ~0B - Approximate size of directory (shallow, excludes sub-directories).
-
- /path/to - The current directory.
- /<query> - The search query if the list was filtered.
-
-
---[View Modes]------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-There are five view modes: Normal, Size, Permissions, Date Modified and All.
-The view mode can be cycled by pressing <Tab> by default.
-
-All is the sum of the other view modes and gives an idea of what is shown:
-
--rwxr-xr-x 16m 4.0K .git/
--rwxr-xr-x 2h 4.0K bin/
--rwxr-xr-x 4d 4.0K script/
--rwxr-xr-x 32m 4.0K lib/
--rwxr-xr-x 16h 4.0K platform/
--rw-r--r-- 16m 0B .config_macro.h
--rw-r--r-- 16m 62B .gitignore
--rw-r--r-- 4d 1.0K LICENSE.md
--rw-r--r-- 16m 1.8K Makefile
--rw-r--r-- 8h 1.8K Makefile.in
--rw-r--r-- 32s 6.6K README.txt
--rw-r--r-- 16m 4.0K config.h
--rw-r--r-- 32m 4.0K config.h.in
--rw-r--r-- 32m 6.5K config_cmd.h
--rw-r--r-- 32m 6.5K config_cmd.h.in
--rw-r--r-- 16m 6.5K config_key.h
--rw-r--r-- 32m 6.5K config_key.h.in
--rwxr-xr-x 16m 3.5K configure*
--rwxr-xr-x 16m 130K dfm*
--rw-r--r-- 32m 72K dfm.c
-
- 2/20 [nH] ~268K /home/dylan/kiss/fork/dfm
-
-
---[Sort Modes]------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-There are seven sort modes: Name, Name reverse, Size, Size reverse,
-Date modified, Date modified reverse, Extension. The sort mode can be cycled by
-pressing '`' (backtick) by default.
-
-The "Name" sort performs a natural/human sort and puts directories before files.
-
-
---[Prompt]----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-The area where searches and commands are inputted is a complete interactive line
-editor supporting all the usual actions (left/right scroll, insert,
-bracketed clipboard paste, backspace, delete, prev/next word, etc).
-The default keybindings match what is found in readline and POSIXy shells.
-
-As of now there is no <Tab> complete or up/down arrow history cycling.
-
-NOTE: The prompt is implemented as a gap buffer. There are two buffers, cursor
-left and cursor right with the cursor sitting inbetween both buffers. When it
-comes time to commit the input it is simply joined together. Make not of this
-detail as it is necessary to know it when creating your own bound commands.
-
-
---[Searching]-------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-There are two search modes: Startswith and Substring. Startswith is bound to '/'
-by default and Substring to '?'. They each perform a case-sensitive and
-incremental as-you-type search on the current directory's entries.
-
-Pressing <Enter> confirms the search and the results become navigable. If there
-is only one match, pressing <Enter> will open the entry in a single press.
-
-
---[Marking]---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-Files can be marked and unmarked (spacebar by default). There are also shortcuts
-to navigate between marks, select all, clear all and to invert the selection.
-
-The marks can be operated on in three ways.
-
-1) Foreach: A command is executed once per mark.
-2) Bulk: A command is executed once and given the list of marks as its argv.
-3) Shell: A shell command is executed (sh -euc "<cmd>" <marks argv>)
-
-NOTE: All three can also be executed in the background.
-NOTE: If nothing is marked, the entry under the cursor is operated on.
-
-These operations are defined as "commands" which can be typed or bound to keys.
-To avoid copying data, only the basenames of marks are passed to commands and
-the commands are exec'd in the directory containing them.
-
-Example:
-
- 'cp -f %m %d' -> PWD=/path/to/mark_dir cp -f a b c /path/to/pwd
-
-
---[Commands]--------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-Commands are simply strings which are minimally transformed into argvs and
-executed. Modifiers control how the string will be transformed and executed.
-
-:echo hello -> echo hello
-:echo %f world -> foreach entry: echo <entry> world
-:echo %m world -> echo <entry_1> <entry_2> ... world'.
-:<waycopy -> foreach entry: (stdin) waycopy
-
-In addition to these modifiers are the following:
-
-%p -> Path to PWD.
-$WORD -> Expand environment variable.
-& -> Run in background (must be last word)..
-
-NOTE: None of the above transformations pass through or incur the cost of
-running within a shell. They are merely pointer arrays passed to exec().
-
-NOTE: %m and %f cannot be combined and only the first occurrence of %m or %f is
-evaluated. Also, %m and %f must appear on their own.
-
-If these are too limiting, prepending a '!' bypasses DFM's internal command mode
-and sends it all to the shell.
-
-:!echo "$@" -> sh -euc 'echo "$@"' <entry_1> <entry_2> ...
-:!echo "$1" "$2" -> sh -euc 'echo "$1" "$2"' <entry_1> <entry_2> ...
-
-
---[Bound Commands]--------------------------------------------------------------
-
-Commands can be bound to keys. When a command is bound it can either run
-straight away or open the interactive prompt with pre-filled information.
-Flags can also be set to better integrate the command into DFM.
-
-Move is defined as follows:
-
- FM_CMD(cmd_move,
- .prompt = CUT(":"), - The prompt.
- .left = CUT("echo mv -f %m %d"), - Text left of cursor.
- .enter = fm_cmd_run, - Callback.
- .config = CMD_NOT_MARK_DIR | - Forbid running in mark directory.
- CMD_MUT | - Command may mutate directory.
- CMD_EXEC_MARK | - Skip interactive mode if marks.
- CMD_CONFLICT, - Prompt on conflicts.
- )
-
-Chown is defined as follows:
-
- FM_CMD(cmd_chown,
- .prompt = CUT(":"),
- .left = CUT("chown"),
- .right = CUT(" %m"), - Text right of cursor.
- .enter = fm_cmd_run,
- .config = CMD_MUT,
- )
-
-This opens the interactive prompt and puts the cursor between chown and %m so
-the user can add additional information.
-
- :chown | %a
-
-In addition to fm_cmd_run, fm_cmd_run_sh can be set to bypass DFM's internal
-command mode to run the command in the shell.
-
-See the config_key.h.in and config_cmd.h.in files for more information.
-
-
-DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
-________________________________________________________________________________
-
-* I employed many tricks in order to keep memory usage low whilst still allowing
- for fast operations and relatively large directory trees.
-
-* When a directory too large for DFM is entered the statusline sort indicator is
- replaced with [T] to signify truncation, sorting is disabled and the
- statusline colored red. Truncation occurs when memory in the name storage or
- entry list is exhausted, whichever comes first. The limits are reasonable and
- unlikely to be reached outside of synthetic directory trees so this isn't
- really a problem.
-
-* File operations using coreutils commands work well but aren't as nice as
- having fully integrated internal operations. I was working on it but it ended
- up being a massive pain in the ass so I abandoned the idea. It's not enough to
- use the POSIX functions as you will be left fighting TOCTOU race conditions,
- control flow hell, error handling madness and other crap. A solution is to
- conditionally use each OS's extension functions (ie, Linux's copy_file,
- renameat2, O_TMPFILE, AT_EMPTY_PATH, etc) but then you end up stuck in
- preprocessor ifdef soup.
-
-* UTF8 support intentionally excludes grapheme clusters, emojis and other
- complicated things. Everything else should work just fine though.
-
-* DFM will do partial rendering wherever possible and also tries to do as little
- display IO as it can (this is what I mean by low-bandwidth in the feature
- list).
-
-* The TUI is manually implemented using VT100 escape sequences and a few
- optional modern ones (bracketed paste, XTerm alt screen,
- synchronized updates). Look at lib/term.h, lib/term_key.h, lib/vt.h and scan
- dfm.c for VT_.* to see how it works.
-
- NOTE: DFM works in pretty much every terminal emulator in wide use but since
- it intentionally doesn't use terminfo it may not display correctly in some
- environments (notably the TTY console in some BSDs). I don't think there's
- anything I can do to remedy this unfortunately.
-
-* The number of marks is bounded only when it comes to materializing them. For
- 1000 marks dfm needs the space to construct an argv to accommodate them. This
- is not all, if a 'cd' is performed, space is also needed to store the mark
- entry names as the new directory will overwrite them. Marks are stored on the
- end of the directory storage growing towards its middle. In other words,
- /materialized/ marks are stored in the free space not taken up by directory
- entries. This creates two scenarios.
-
- 1) Inside the same directory as the marks dfm can mark and operate on all of
- the entries without needing any extra memory as the marks are virtual.
- However, if %m is used inside the mark directory, dfm must materialize them
- and the number is bounded by whatever unused memory is available. This
- doesnt limit operation on files as dfm will process the marks in chunks.
-
- %f: 900 marks -> n/a -> cmd <arg> x 900
- %m: 900 marks -> 300 slots -> cmd <args> x 3
-
- 2) Outside of the directory dfm needs space to materialize the marks so marks
- that travel are bounded.
-
- In short:
-
- - in mark dir + %f == boundless mark operations.
- - in mark dir + %m == boundless mark operations (chunked).
- - outside mark dir + %f == bounded mark operations.
- - outside mark dir + %m == bounded mark operations.
-
-
-CONCLUSION
-________________________________________________________________________________
-
-I had a lot of fun writing this.
-Thank you for reading.
-
-Also check out dpp: https://github.com/dylanaraps/dpp
-And my blog: https://dylan.gr
-