lf.sh is a Bash utility to help you quickly search arbitrary files or search text from files.

It's more convenient and intuitive to use than ls or find command.

Assume we have file structure as follows:

.
├── .config
├── .hidden
│   ├── baz.lst
│   └── log
│       └── error.log
├── app-options.properties
├── database
│   ├── civilizer.TRACE.DB
│   └── civilizer.h2.db
└── files
    ├── empty.txt
    ├── folder 0
    │   ├── empty.txt
    │   ├── folder 2
    │   │   └── empty.txt
    │   └── foo.txt
    └── folder 1
        └── bar.txt

7 directories, 11 files

List every file with an extension .txt, recursively:

    $ lf .txt

    files/empty.txt
    files/folder 0/empty.txt
    files/folder 0/folder 2/empty.txt
    files/folder 0/foo.txt
    files/folder 1/bar.txt

List files with pattern *empty* under files folder (or its descendant folders):

    $ lf files/ empty --

    files/empty.txt
    files/folder 0/empty.txt
    files/folder 0/folder 2/empty.txt

List files with pattern foo.* under the current working directory:
(See General Formula section below for more detail):

    $ lf . file folder 0 foo. --

    files/folder 0/foo.txt

To print absolute path for the output result, use notation:
( [ NOTE ] The search will be executed under the current working directory )

    $ lf   folder 2 txt

    /Users/bsw/lf.sh/test/fixtures/test-fs/files/folder 0/folder 2/empty.txt

You can specify an absolute path for the base directory to begin search with like so:
( [ NOTE ] The major purpose of lf is to search files through the current working directory; Searching files through your entire file system (or your entire home directory) with lf is inefficient and not recommended; locate is recommended for that purpose. )

    $ lf /usr/local man git show .1

    /usr/local/git/share/man/man1/git-show-branch.1
    /usr/local/git/share/man/man1/git-show-index.1
    /usr/local/git/share/man/man1/git-show-ref.1
    /usr/local/git/share/man/man1/git-show.1

By default, lf excludes dot folders (such as .git, .svn, etc) or dot files (.bashrc, .gitignore, etc) from its search.
To search those files or folders, use . notation:
( [ TIPS ] To print absolute path for that result, use . notation )

    $ lf .  error .log

    .hidden/log/error.log

lf requires a file pattern to be specified as its last parameter, but sometimes you have no clue about patterns of target files or you may want to list all files involved with certain directory patterns;
In these cases, you can use -- to denote any arbitrary file;

    $ lf . data --
    
    database/civilizer.h2.db
    database/civilizer.TRACE.DB

[ Since version 0.7 ] Use ignore variable to specify folders to ignore like so:

    $ ignore=node_module lf .js

Use colon (:) to specify multiple folders to ignore.

    $ ignore=node_module:www lf .js

Quote them if they contain space characters.

    $ ignore='node_module:temp memo' lf .js

[ Since Version 0.8 ] Use del variable to delete files/folders found like so:

    $ del= lf .js

    lf.sh : Are you sure if you want to delete the following path? (y or n)
        foo.js
        bar.js
    y
    lf.sh : "foo.js" (file) deleted...
    lf.sh : "bar.js" (file) deleted...

Type y to delete those files/folders or type n to abort.

[ Since Version 0.8 ] Use q or qq to quote each item in the search result like so:

        $ q= lf .js

        'foo.js'
        'bar.js'

        $ qq= lf .js

        "foo.js"
        "bar.js"

[ Since Version 0.9 ] Use sym to search files through symlinks

[ Since Version 1.0.0 ] Following symlinks is default behavior

        $ tree -a test

        test/
        ├── fixtures
        │   └── test-fs
        │       ├── .hidden
        │       │   ├── baz.lst
        │       │   ├── database -> ../database
        │       │   └── log
        │       │       └── error.log

        ### 'database' is not a folder. It's a symlink

        $ lf test --        ### Follow symlinks by default.

        test/fixtures/test-fs/.hidden/baz.lst
        test/fixtures/test-fs/.hidden/database/civilizer.h2.db
        test/fixtures/test-fs/.hidden/log/error.log

        $ sym=no lf test -- ### Use `sym=no` or `sym=skip` or `sym=ignore` to ignore symlinks

        test/fixtures/test-fs/.hidden/baz.lst
        test/fixtures/test-fs/.hidden/log/error.log

Also, there are other variables besides ignore for quickly controlling behaviors of lf. See Quick Behavioral Control Variables

lf command has two usage patterns;

1. lf [ target file pattern ]
   • e.g) lf .txt
2. lf [ base dir ] [ (optional) intermediate patterns ... ] [ target file pattern ]
   • [base dir] should be a complete path (relative or absolute), not a partial matching pattern
     • .(current path) or ..(parent path) is also accepted

Notice that [ target file pattern ] is required in any case.

To print help message, type lf --help

Don't use asterisks (*) to denote wildcard notations like the following:

    $ lf . file folder 0 *

This won't work and produce unexpected output;
Most shells including Bash will perform pathname expansion whenever they see wildcards such as *. For the command above, the shell won't pass (to lf.sh) the string as it is, but will pass string containing expanded file/folder names in the current working directory. This behavior is based on the POXIS specification and there is little lf.sh can do about it;

In a nutshell, you don't have to use * at all. Space characters work like wildcard.

    $ lf . file folder 0 oo .txt

    files/folder 0/foo.txt

If you don't have any clue about target filename pattern, use -- instead of *:
( lf uses -- as a notation for unspecific filename)

    $ lf . file folder 0 --
    
    files/folder 0/empty.txt
    files/folder 0/folder 2/empty.txt
    files/folder 0/foo.txt

Read this for other quirks

lf command : Quickly type and search files

Notice that lf.sh comes with other useful commands besides lf demonstrated above;

lfs command : Select a path from results returned by lf or lfi

lff command : Filter results returned by lf or lfi

g command : Quickly search text from files returned by lf or lfi

Behavior Control Variables

Tips

How to Configure lf.sh

Quirks & Troubleshootings

Download lf.sh script and copy it to your favorite place.
Then, insert the following code snippet inside your .bashrc or .bash_profile.

    ### Assume you have copied it to ~/bin
    [ -f $HOME/bin/lf.sh ] && source $HOME/bin/lf.sh

Man pages are not ready yet...

• lf.sh has been inspired by z script
• lf.sh uses Bats: Bash Automated Testing System for its unit testing

Copyright (c) 2014-2023 Suewon Bahng, [email protected]

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.

Suewon Bahng

Other contributors are welcome!

Updated by Suewon Bahng ( May 2020 )