6 ms·

Nice collection of quite useful tools. Some of these can be easily replicated by using a more modern shell (bash, zsh) like mispipe, others are just shortcuts (

by jfreax 6y ago

Nice collection of quite useful tools. Some of these can be easily replicated by using a more modern shell (bash, zsh) like mispipe, others are just shortcuts (e.g. ifne, chronic). But what immediately stood out to me is `vidir`. I really like the idea of editing file names with an editor. Using loops and regex in a shell for mass renaming can be a mess. It should be way easier with `vim`. This tool made me install moreutils.

pmoriarty 6y ago
Check out renameutils[1], which has the advantage over vidir of doing sanity checks before renaming. Also, this can be done in emacs using wdired. [1] - http://www.nongnu.org/renameutils/ http://www.nongnu.org/renameutils/
- brobdingnagians 6y ago
  The ranger file manager also has this built in.
  - RMPR 6y ago
    Was about to point this out, but it's good to know if you ssh in a box which doesn't have Python installed. Edit: Or use a more portable terminal FM, nnn pops to my mind
- nieve 6y ago
  MMV is reasonably powerful, but straightforward, can produce & consume rename listings, and is included in a lot of distros.: https://git.deb.at/w/pkg/mmv.git https://git.deb.at/w/pkg/mmv.git
markrages 6y ago
See writable dired-mode in emacs. Here's a short demo: https://youtu.be/8l4YVttibiI https://youtu.be/8l4YVttibiI
ainar-g 6y ago
On most POSIX systems you can use fc(1) to edit a command in your $EDITOR. In vi(1) and friends you can then use "%!ls" to replace the contents of the buffer with directory listing and edit the commands you want. https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/fc.html https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/f... https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/vi.html https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/v...
- RMPR 6y ago
  > you can then use "%!ls" to replace the contents of the buffer with directory listing and edit the commands you want. I often used :r !ls for that, thanks for the tip + it's shorter
  - gpanders 6y ago
    Note that in general this is not a one-to-one replacement. `%!cmd` sends the current buffer contents to `cmd`’s stdin and replaces the buffer with `cmd`’s output. In the case of ‘ls’ this works since it doesn’t take anything on stdin
- Legogris 6y ago
  You just improved my life. Thank you.
- throwanem 6y ago
  In Emacs, you can do this by invoking shell-command-on-region, by default bound to C-u M-| - iirc if no region is active it replaces the buffer, but I rarely use it that way so I might be wrong about that. At worst, C-x h C-u M-| gets you there.
- skywal_l 6y ago
  huh! I've been working on posix systems for 20 years and I didn't know that...
alpaca128 6y ago
It's one of the reasons I like using the nnn file manager. It has a batch rename feature with exactly that functionality.
- jsilence 6y ago
  +1 for the powerful yet minimalistic nnn where concise help is only a question mark away and the default mnemonics make sense. Wonderful piece of software.
  - gpanders 6y ago
    Honestly one of the most well maintained projects I’ve ever used. The author has a coherent “philosophy” and vision of how the program should work and does a good job of preventing feature/scope creep. Don’t see that too often
chriswarbo 6y ago
I use Emacs shell-mode for most of my terminals, which allows navigating and editing the buffer just like any other file. I'll often make several copies of a command, then use a macro to alter each one; after checking that they look right, pressing Enter will send them all to the shell.
- RMPR 6y ago
  I always tried to use the shell with emacs (eshell, multi-term) but it didn't render correctly curses and all the fancy stuffs like emojis. Out of curiosity, how do you manage that?
  - throwanem 6y ago
    Usually with ansi-term instead, if I'm honest. Also look into emojify-mode if your system doesn't handle emoji fonts well or at all.
    - throwanem 6y ago
      Belatedly to add - look into the eshell-visual-* lists, to configure commands, subcommands (like "git log"), and I think some other traits, such that matching commands get their own ansi-term buffer.
  - zshev 6y ago
    Check out emacs-libvterm. I’ve replaced all terminal emulators with it. All the benefits of an Emacs buffer and no issues with curses or lag.
  - chriswarbo 6y ago
    I use a separate terminal (st) for curses-like things. They work in Emacs ansi-term, but since that doesn't offer the same navigation/editing interface as normal Emacs buffers I don't find it compelling enough to use. Eshell is interesting, but I can't use the bashisms I'm used to, and I can't copy commands back-and-forth between the prompt and a standalone script. shell-mode lives in-between these two extremes: it runs a normal shell, but Emacs manages the buffer. I don't know about ansi-term or eshell (or alternatives mentioned by others), but shell-mode handles emoji fine, as well as progress bars and colour codes; I think it defaults to TERM=dumb, so many programs won't output colour, etc. unless you override it to something like TERM=xterm-256.
nickjj 6y ago
There are Vim plugins that let you rename files and directories within Vim, such as https://github.com/qpkorr/vim-renamer https://github.com/qpkorr/vim-renamer. Also if you happen to use fern[0] you can mark off multiple files and directories, hit a hotkey and now you can edit their paths in a Vim buffer. [0]: https://github.com/lambdalisue/fern.vim https://github.com/lambdalisue/fern.vim
krick 6y ago
> vidir I just use ranger for that.
tambourine_man 6y ago
You should check out: https://github.com/justinmk/vim-dirvish https://github.com/justinmk/vim-dirvish
chronolitus 6y ago
you might also be interested in vimv and vimcp https://github.com/thameera/vimv https://github.com/thameera/vimv https://github.com/danieldugas/vimcp https://github.com/danieldugas/vimcp
globular-toast 6y ago
Emacs has dired for that reason. Imagine ls that you can edit.
msoucy 6y ago
I used vidir yesterday for something that would have been more annoying with other tools - if you swap the numbers at the beginning of the line, then you'll safely swap the file contents. Useful if your TV episodes are named the wrong thing...
jabirali 6y ago
I've known about `moreutils` for years, but the only two I ended up actively using myself are `vidir` and `vipe`. Outside of `moreutils`, one of the utilities I always install on all my machines is `atool`, which is just so much nicer and more intuitive than trying to remember the command-line options needed to handle the various tar.*, rar, zip, 7zip, lzip, etc. archive formats from the command line.

by jfreax 6y ago

pmoriarty 6y ago

Check out renameutils[1], which has the advantage over vidir of doing sanity checks before renaming. Also, this can be done in emacs using wdired. [1] - http://www.nongnu.org/renameutils/ http://www.nongnu.org/renameutils/

brobdingnagians 6y ago
The ranger file manager also has this built in.
- RMPR 6y ago
  Was about to point this out, but it's good to know if you ssh in a box which doesn't have Python installed. Edit: Or use a more portable terminal FM, nnn pops to my mind
nieve 6y ago
MMV is reasonably powerful, but straightforward, can produce & consume rename listings, and is included in a lot of distros.: https://git.deb.at/w/pkg/mmv.git https://git.deb.at/w/pkg/mmv.git

markrages 6y ago

See writable dired-mode in emacs. Here's a short demo: https://youtu.be/8l4YVttibiI https://youtu.be/8l4YVttibiI

ainar-g 6y ago

On most POSIX systems you can use fc(1) to edit a command in your $EDITOR. In vi(1) and friends you can then use "%!ls" to replace the contents of the buffer with directory listing and edit the commands you want. https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/fc.html https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/f... https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/vi.html https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/v...

RMPR 6y ago
> you can then use "%!ls" to replace the contents of the buffer with directory listing and edit the commands you want. I often used :r !ls for that, thanks for the tip + it's shorter
- gpanders 6y ago
  Note that in general this is not a one-to-one replacement. `%!cmd` sends the current buffer contents to `cmd`’s stdin and replaces the buffer with `cmd`’s output. In the case of ‘ls’ this works since it doesn’t take anything on stdin
Legogris 6y ago
You just improved my life. Thank you.
throwanem 6y ago
In Emacs, you can do this by invoking shell-command-on-region, by default bound to C-u M-| - iirc if no region is active it replaces the buffer, but I rarely use it that way so I might be wrong about that. At worst, C-x h C-u M-| gets you there.
skywal_l 6y ago
huh! I've been working on posix systems for 20 years and I didn't know that...

alpaca128 6y ago

It's one of the reasons I like using the nnn file manager. It has a batch rename feature with exactly that functionality.

jsilence 6y ago
+1 for the powerful yet minimalistic nnn where concise help is only a question mark away and the default mnemonics make sense. Wonderful piece of software.
- gpanders 6y ago
  Honestly one of the most well maintained projects I’ve ever used. The author has a coherent “philosophy” and vision of how the program should work and does a good job of preventing feature/scope creep. Don’t see that too often

chriswarbo 6y ago

I use Emacs shell-mode for most of my terminals, which allows navigating and editing the buffer just like any other file. I'll often make several copies of a command, then use a macro to alter each one; after checking that they look right, pressing Enter will send them all to the shell.

RMPR 6y ago
I always tried to use the shell with emacs (eshell, multi-term) but it didn't render correctly curses and all the fancy stuffs like emojis. Out of curiosity, how do you manage that?
- throwanem 6y ago
  Usually with ansi-term instead, if I'm honest. Also look into emojify-mode if your system doesn't handle emoji fonts well or at all.
  - throwanem 6y ago
    Belatedly to add - look into the eshell-visual-* lists, to configure commands, subcommands (like "git log"), and I think some other traits, such that matching commands get their own ansi-term buffer.
- zshev 6y ago
  Check out emacs-libvterm. I’ve replaced all terminal emulators with it. All the benefits of an Emacs buffer and no issues with curses or lag.
- chriswarbo 6y ago
  I use a separate terminal (st) for curses-like things. They work in Emacs ansi-term, but since that doesn't offer the same navigation/editing interface as normal Emacs buffers I don't find it compelling enough to use. Eshell is interesting, but I can't use the bashisms I'm used to, and I can't copy commands back-and-forth between the prompt and a standalone script. shell-mode lives in-between these two extremes: it runs a normal shell, but Emacs manages the buffer. I don't know about ansi-term or eshell (or alternatives mentioned by others), but shell-mode handles emoji fine, as well as progress bars and colour codes; I think it defaults to TERM=dumb, so many programs won't output colour, etc. unless you override it to something like TERM=xterm-256.

nickjj 6y ago

There are Vim plugins that let you rename files and directories within Vim, such as https://github.com/qpkorr/vim-renamer https://github.com/qpkorr/vim-renamer. Also if you happen to use fern[0] you can mark off multiple files and directories, hit a hotkey and now you can edit their paths in a Vim buffer. [0]: https://github.com/lambdalisue/fern.vim https://github.com/lambdalisue/fern.vim

krick 6y ago

> vidir I just use ranger for that.

tambourine_man 6y ago

You should check out: https://github.com/justinmk/vim-dirvish https://github.com/justinmk/vim-dirvish

chronolitus 6y ago

you might also be interested in vimv and vimcp https://github.com/thameera/vimv https://github.com/thameera/vimv https://github.com/danieldugas/vimcp https://github.com/danieldugas/vimcp

globular-toast 6y ago

Emacs has dired for that reason. Imagine ls that you can edit.

msoucy 6y ago

I used vidir yesterday for something that would have been more annoying with other tools - if you swap the numbers at the beginning of the line, then you'll safely swap the file contents. Useful if your TV episodes are named the wrong thing...

jabirali 6y ago

I've known about `moreutils` for years, but the only two I ended up actively using myself are `vidir` and `vipe`. Outside of `moreutils`, one of the utilities I always install on all my machines is `atool`, which is just so much nicer and more intuitive than trying to remember the command-line options needed to handle the various tar.*, rar, zip, 7zip, lzip, etc. archive formats from the command line.