The "lscd" File Browser

I've been casually working on a file browser that has a similar interface like ranger, but takes a different approach, in that it is written in POSIX shell. It's called "lscd", for being a vim-like interface for the commands "ls" and "cd".

I wanted to combine the elegance, portability and simplicity of a short bash script with the ability to get me whereever I want ASAP without the "cd TAB TAB TAB" boilerplate. Additionally, it can use ranger's file opener "rifle" to execute files just the way ranger does.

I'm not finished yet, but there is a working alpha version at github:

https://github.com/hut/lscd

It uses the basic h/j/k/l vim type movement control keys. Check the source for more key bindings, it makes no sense to write a complete list at this stage of development.

And the obligatory screen shot:

screenshot

As you can see, there are no miller columns like in ranger. That may or may not change in the future. I suspect it would be too slow in bash.

Pro tip: if you run lscd with the command ". lscd", it will run in the current bash environment, rather than in a new one. Only this way the directory will actually change after you close lscd.

See also:

Update on 2014-09-11

Seems like somebody was inspired by lscd, rebuilt it in bash, and actually implemented miller columns. The code can be found here:

https://github.com/D630/blscd

— 2014-08-15, by hut, tags: #ranger