6 ms·

My ls usage went down 100% after I switched to fish shell. The built in Alt + l command lists the directory contents. Very helpful! And also results in a cleane

My ls usage went down 100% after I switched to fish shell. The built in Alt + l command lists the directory contents. Very helpful! And also results in a cleaner shell history.

mixmastamyk 2y ago
I realized most of my ls runs come right after `cd`, so I added these to my startup files. Now almost every `cd` does `ls` automatically: # bash, simple function cd() { builtin cd "$@" && ls -l } # fish, a bit more sophisticated function cd builtin cd $argv; if test $status -gt 0 # there was an error, stop return end # auto print dir info if test "$argv" != "" # not home though dir # aka ls -l ... end end
Osiris 2y ago
I have been using fish for a long time and I didn't know about this. Thanks.
tormeh 2y ago
Also many shells come with greatly improved ls implementations built in, like that of nushell.
- fsiefken 2y ago
  yes, but the good thing is that you don't have switch shells with this. I'm running nushell on windows, which is nice, but I haven't got it as concise with $env.config.table.mode = "none", it also doesn't feature the tree display
jiehong 2y ago
I cannot find this shortcut in https://fishshell.com/docs/current/interactive.html https://fishshell.com/docs/current/interactive.html. Do you know where it's documented by any chance?
- ognyankulev 2y ago
  It's there, in Shared bindings: "Alt+L lists the contents of the current directory, unless the cursor is over a directory argument, in which case the contents of that directory will be listed."
  - jiehong 2y ago
    Ah, it was an L, I thought it was an I (eye). Thanks
000ooo000 2y ago
Bash users: FYI you can bind shortcuts like this, too. I have my right hand home row keys bound to __bash_ctrl_n() (for e.g.), and various tools in my dotfiles override these functions (git, if installed, sets up __bash_ctrl_e() to run git status and git log).
- jmholla 2y ago
  Neat. Can you share the source of any of the functions you've bound to some of your keys?
  - 000ooo000 2y ago
    Apologies for the slow response. They're not really interesting: - ctrl+j => equivalent of 'ls -la' using exa/eza - ctrl+k => git status followed by git log showing only current branch's commits (vs. tracked) - ctrl+l => sometimes I'll manually bind this to 'git reset @~' - ctrl+; => thinking I'll use this for calling fzf through my wrapper which sets up hotkeys for either `cd`/`$EDITOR`-ing the selected item Point is to reduce typing of the commonly-used commands. Somewhere in my shell profile/rc setup (I'm on Workman, not Qwerty, hence NEOK instead of JKL;): bash_functions=( "__bash_ctrl_n" "__bash_ctrl_e" "__bash_ctrl_o" "__bash_ctrl_k" ) for bash_function in "${bash_functions[@]}" do if ! type -t "$bash_function" 1> /dev/null then eval "$bash_function() { echo \"$bash_function(): This function should be overridden/aliased\"; }" fi done Then in my .bashrc (Note the leading space prior to `__bash_ctrl_x` - with Bash's `HISTCONTROL=ignorespace`, these keybinds won't pollute your history): bind '"\C-n": "\C-u __bash_ctrl_n\C-j"' bind '"\C-e": "\C-u __bash_ctrl_e\C-j"' bind '"\C-o": "\C-u __bash_ctrl_o\C-j"' bind '"\C-k": "\C-u __bash_ctrl_k\C-j"' Then in my app-specific configs/dotfiles: __bash_ctrl_n() { git status; git log ..; } Bonus: these Bash bindings can be cool for little QoL tricks, e.g. Ctrl+Y to rerun the last command with sudo. bind '"\e\C-y": "\C-usudo !! \C-j"' Other good ones: - Append `--help | $PAGER` and run - Rerun last command and pipe into $PAGER (some terminals support viewing last command output in a pager without re-running it, e.g. Kitty) Hope that helps.
hggh 2y ago
> And also results in a cleaner shell history In Bash you can also keep the history cleaner by adding ls (or other commands) to the HISTIGNORE env var: https://superuser.com/questions/232885/can-you-share-wisdom-on-using-histignore-in-bash https://superuser.com/questions/232885/can-you-share-wisdom-...
nolist_policy 2y ago
I just use bash and tab tab all the time.
- FergusArgyll 2y ago
  Yes! one full hand of mine is kept in reserve to keep hitting tab
networked 2y ago
Nice tip. What got rid of most of my use of `ls` in fish was running `ls` automatically when you changed directories: function ls_on_cd --on-variable PWD ls end
- fastasucan 2y ago
  A word of a warning if you have folders with _a lot_ of files.
- blooalien 2y ago
  Ooo! Thank you! That is a nice tip! Stealing it right now. :)
- macintux 2y ago
  Seems like that would strongly encourage me to keep my directories tidier.
  - creshal 2y ago
    It absolutely did for me. Sadly, it also serves as constant reminder that ~ is a bloody mess because people still can't get used to .local/.share/.config.
    - enriquto 2y ago
      > people still can't get used to .local/.share/.config I'm one of those people... I don't want yet more hidden stuff in my home dir; I want less. My dream is to have zero hidden directories in my home. What I want is something really clean like this: $ ls -a ~ . .. config fun local pro tmp This is almost possible, thanks to XDG_ environment variables. But unfortunately many programs still use hardcoded names for the local userdirs. If you want to get closer to that goal, the xdg-ninja [0] package can help you. Also, do something like "touch ~/.local ; chmod 000 ~/.local" to force programs that use hardcoded names to fail spectacularly (instead of recreating the hidden dir). [0] https://github.com/b3nj5m1n/xdg-ninja https://github.com/b3nj5m1n/xdg-ninja
    - 2y ago
oneshtein 2y ago
I just use mc and ctrl-O, to switch between shell and listing.
nine_k 2y ago
For me, there are two principal cases of sorting in `ls` output: alphabetical when I'm trying to find something I don't know/ remember exactly, and mtime-based when I want to see the latest (or oldest) in a group of related files. I don't see how it could work with one shortcut. Another thing is `ls -l` that's important when I need to understand file sizes and especially how symlinks are set up. Yet another is `ls -ld` which explains details about directories. All these cases could be made more ergonomic, and maybe partly merged. But I don't see how I could compress them into one type of output that fits all purposes. (My current fancy version of `ls` is `lsd`, but I still use the built-in `ls` a lot.)
- whartung 2y ago
  To this end I made a simple script, `latest`, which is, essentially, `ls -lt $@ | head`. So, `latest *.log`, etc. Other than that, simple autocomplete does a lot of my ls work for me.
  - jmholla 2y ago
    I know you're showing a rough example, but others might want to throw a `-d` in there so that folders don't get expanded. And put `$@` in quotations so spaced file names don't get interpreted as separate arguments. i.e.: ls -ltd "$@" | head edit: `-d` may be a bad choice. It also results in directories being listed first on my system, even with `-t` passed. edit 2: That was an alias I had setup. Carry on with the `-d`.
    - zokier 2y ago
      find -type f -printf '%M@ %p\0' | sort -zn | tail -z | sed -z 's/^[0-9.]* //' | ... Ugh.. so unixy
Macha 2y ago
This appears to run eza for me, probably because I've aliased ls to eza. So I'm guessing it's just running `ls`.
samatman 2y ago
TIL! great tip, thanks. Now I just need to wire that shortcut up to `lsd` instead of `ls`. Update: the ls command is stored at __fish_ls_command, so this is a `set -g __fish_ls_command lsd` in `config.fish`.
latchkey 2y ago
history? atuin has been great.
sva_ 2y ago
In bash/zsh you can easily setup fzf completions ctrl-r (for directory) and ctrl-t (for shell history)

My ls usage went down 100% after I switched to fish shell. The built in Alt + l command lists the directory contents. Very helpful! And also results in a cleaner shell history.

mixmastamyk 2y ago

I realized most of my ls runs come right after `cd`, so I added these to my startup files. Now almost every `cd` does `ls` automatically: # bash, simple function cd() { builtin cd "$@" && ls -l } # fish, a bit more sophisticated function cd builtin cd $argv; if test $status -gt 0 # there was an error, stop return end # auto print dir info if test "$argv" != "" # not home though dir # aka ls -l ... end end

Osiris 2y ago

I have been using fish for a long time and I didn't know about this. Thanks.

tormeh 2y ago

Also many shells come with greatly improved ls implementations built in, like that of nushell.

fsiefken 2y ago
yes, but the good thing is that you don't have switch shells with this. I'm running nushell on windows, which is nice, but I haven't got it as concise with $env.config.table.mode = "none", it also doesn't feature the tree display

jiehong 2y ago

I cannot find this shortcut in https://fishshell.com/docs/current/interactive.html https://fishshell.com/docs/current/interactive.html. Do you know where it's documented by any chance?

ognyankulev 2y ago
It's there, in Shared bindings: "Alt+L lists the contents of the current directory, unless the cursor is over a directory argument, in which case the contents of that directory will be listed."
- jiehong 2y ago
  Ah, it was an L, I thought it was an I (eye). Thanks

000ooo000 2y ago

Bash users: FYI you can bind shortcuts like this, too. I have my right hand home row keys bound to __bash_ctrl_n() (for e.g.), and various tools in my dotfiles override these functions (git, if installed, sets up __bash_ctrl_e() to run git status and git log).

jmholla 2y ago
Neat. Can you share the source of any of the functions you've bound to some of your keys?
- 000ooo000 2y ago
  Apologies for the slow response. They're not really interesting: - ctrl+j => equivalent of 'ls -la' using exa/eza - ctrl+k => git status followed by git log showing only current branch's commits (vs. tracked) - ctrl+l => sometimes I'll manually bind this to 'git reset @~' - ctrl+; => thinking I'll use this for calling fzf through my wrapper which sets up hotkeys for either `cd`/`$EDITOR`-ing the selected item Point is to reduce typing of the commonly-used commands. Somewhere in my shell profile/rc setup (I'm on Workman, not Qwerty, hence NEOK instead of JKL;): bash_functions=( "__bash_ctrl_n" "__bash_ctrl_e" "__bash_ctrl_o" "__bash_ctrl_k" ) for bash_function in "${bash_functions[@]}" do if ! type -t "$bash_function" 1> /dev/null then eval "$bash_function() { echo \"$bash_function(): This function should be overridden/aliased\"; }" fi done Then in my .bashrc (Note the leading space prior to `__bash_ctrl_x` - with Bash's `HISTCONTROL=ignorespace`, these keybinds won't pollute your history): bind '"\C-n": "\C-u __bash_ctrl_n\C-j"' bind '"\C-e": "\C-u __bash_ctrl_e\C-j"' bind '"\C-o": "\C-u __bash_ctrl_o\C-j"' bind '"\C-k": "\C-u __bash_ctrl_k\C-j"' Then in my app-specific configs/dotfiles: __bash_ctrl_n() { git status; git log ..; } Bonus: these Bash bindings can be cool for little QoL tricks, e.g. Ctrl+Y to rerun the last command with sudo. bind '"\e\C-y": "\C-usudo !! \C-j"' Other good ones: - Append `--help | $PAGER` and run - Rerun last command and pipe into $PAGER (some terminals support viewing last command output in a pager without re-running it, e.g. Kitty) Hope that helps.

hggh 2y ago

> And also results in a cleaner shell history In Bash you can also keep the history cleaner by adding ls (or other commands) to the HISTIGNORE env var: https://superuser.com/questions/232885/can-you-share-wisdom-on-using-histignore-in-bash https://superuser.com/questions/232885/can-you-share-wisdom-...

nolist_policy 2y ago

I just use bash and tab tab all the time.

FergusArgyll 2y ago
Yes! one full hand of mine is kept in reserve to keep hitting tab

networked 2y ago

Nice tip. What got rid of most of my use of `ls` in fish was running `ls` automatically when you changed directories: function ls_on_cd --on-variable PWD ls end

fastasucan 2y ago
A word of a warning if you have folders with _a lot_ of files.
blooalien 2y ago
Ooo! Thank you! That is a nice tip! Stealing it right now. :)
macintux 2y ago
Seems like that would strongly encourage me to keep my directories tidier.
- creshal 2y ago
  It absolutely did for me. Sadly, it also serves as constant reminder that ~ is a bloody mess because people still can't get used to .local/.share/.config.
  - enriquto 2y ago
    > people still can't get used to .local/.share/.config I'm one of those people... I don't want yet more hidden stuff in my home dir; I want less. My dream is to have zero hidden directories in my home. What I want is something really clean like this: $ ls -a ~ . .. config fun local pro tmp This is almost possible, thanks to XDG_ environment variables. But unfortunately many programs still use hardcoded names for the local userdirs. If you want to get closer to that goal, the xdg-ninja [0] package can help you. Also, do something like "touch ~/.local ; chmod 000 ~/.local" to force programs that use hardcoded names to fail spectacularly (instead of recreating the hidden dir). [0] https://github.com/b3nj5m1n/xdg-ninja https://github.com/b3nj5m1n/xdg-ninja
  - 2y ago

oneshtein 2y ago

I just use mc and ctrl-O, to switch between shell and listing.

nine_k 2y ago

For me, there are two principal cases of sorting in `ls` output: alphabetical when I'm trying to find something I don't know/ remember exactly, and mtime-based when I want to see the latest (or oldest) in a group of related files. I don't see how it could work with one shortcut. Another thing is `ls -l` that's important when I need to understand file sizes and especially how symlinks are set up. Yet another is `ls -ld` which explains details about directories. All these cases could be made more ergonomic, and maybe partly merged. But I don't see how I could compress them into one type of output that fits all purposes. (My current fancy version of `ls` is `lsd`, but I still use the built-in `ls` a lot.)

whartung 2y ago
To this end I made a simple script, `latest`, which is, essentially, `ls -lt $@ | head`. So, `latest *.log`, etc. Other than that, simple autocomplete does a lot of my ls work for me.
- jmholla 2y ago
  I know you're showing a rough example, but others might want to throw a `-d` in there so that folders don't get expanded. And put `$@` in quotations so spaced file names don't get interpreted as separate arguments. i.e.: ls -ltd "$@" | head edit: `-d` may be a bad choice. It also results in directories being listed first on my system, even with `-t` passed. edit 2: That was an alias I had setup. Carry on with the `-d`.
  - zokier 2y ago
    find -type f -printf '%M@ %p\0' | sort -zn | tail -z | sed -z 's/^[0-9.]* //' | ... Ugh.. so unixy

Macha 2y ago

This appears to run eza for me, probably because I've aliased ls to eza. So I'm guessing it's just running `ls`.

samatman 2y ago

TIL! great tip, thanks. Now I just need to wire that shortcut up to `lsd` instead of `ls`. Update: the ls command is stored at __fish_ls_command, so this is a `set -g __fish_ls_command lsd` in `config.fish`.

latchkey 2y ago

history? atuin has been great.

sva_ 2y ago

In bash/zsh you can easily setup fzf completions ctrl-r (for directory) and ctrl-t (for shell history)