tree

Version 1.3

This is Cat's Eye Technologies' tree, a command-line tool that displays an indented directory tree, similar to "The Tree Command for Linux" except simpler. It:

• is written in Python (tested with Python 3.9; 2.7 probably still works)
• is small and has no dependencies besides Python
• is in the public domain (see LICENSES/Unlicense.txt)
• is really quite crude
• displays a summary of the directory structure by default (because to me, that's the point of this sort of tool: give me a conceptual overview of the directory structure at this point in the filesystem, so I can orient myself)
• never follows symbolic links
• always outputs a / after each directory name
• doesn't have any ASCII art (yet; it might someday as the lines do make it a bit easier to "read" the tree)
• has no build/install system; either copy it to somewhere on your search path, or alter your search path to include the script directory in this repo, or use some system that solves this problem, like shelf.

Usage

tree [-f|--full] [-a|--all-files] [-1|--1-line] [-c|--count]
     [-w|--max-width <int>] [-x|--exclude <list>] [DIRECTORY]

If DIRECTORY is not supplied, the current directory is assumed.

The --full option lists each file in a directory on its own line.

The --all-files option includes files whose names begin with a . character, which would otherwise be hidden.

The --1-line option lists a summary of the files in each directory on one line, truncating the line if it is longer than the max-width.

The --count option causes a count of files in each directory to be display instead of listing the files themselves.

If none of those options are given, all files in a directory are listed compactly over multiple lines, in a "block".

The --max-width option can be used to set the length of truncation or block-wrapping. It defaults to the width of the terminal window as returned by stty size, if that program can be run, otherwise 75.

The --exclude option sets the list of directory names to not descend into (a comma-separated list). It defaults to venv, node_modules, __pycache__, and .git.

Related work

• The Tree Command for Linux — GPL'ed and feature-bloated and has no automated build system (you're supposed to edit the Makefile by hand.)
• pyr/tree — fine if you're running OpenBSD I suppose, but I gave up on trying to port it to NetBSD and Linux and wrote this instead.