file_clipper

file_clipper is a command-line utility written in Rust that provides intuitive and efficient file management capabilities, mimicking the familiar "copy," "cut," and "paste" operations found in graphical user interfaces. It also includes features for managing a clipboard and viewing operation history, with an interactive terminal user interface (TUI) for enhanced usability.

Features

• Copy Files: Copy one or more files to a temporary clipboard.
  • clp copy <path>...
  • Aliases: cp, c, y
• Cut/Move Files: Move one or more files to a temporary clipboard.
  • clp cut <path>...
  • Aliases: mv, x, d
• Link Files: Copy one or more files as symbolic links.
  • clp link <path>...
  • Aliases: ln, s
• Paste Files: Paste files from the clipboard to a specified destination.
  • clp paste [destination_path]
  • Aliases: p, v
  • If destination_path is omitted, files are pasted into the current directory.
• List Clipboard: View the contents of the current clipboard.
  • clp list
  • Alias: l
• View History: Browse a history of all copy/cut/paste operations.
  • clp history
  • Alias: h
• Clear: Clear the clipboard and history.
  • clp clear
• Interactive TUI: The list and history commands launch an interactive terminal interface, allowing you to select specific files for pasting and manage entries with ease.
• Glob Pattern Support: Supports glob patterns for selecting multiple files (e.g., *.txt, src/**/*.rs).

Clipboard and History Mechanics

When files are cut or copied, they are placed into a temporary clipboard. Upon a successful paste operation, these files are automatically removed from the clipboard and recorded in the history, providing a persistent log of all file operations.

Installation

To install file_clipper, you need to have Rust and Cargo installed on your system.

cargo install file_clipper

Usage

Here are some basic examples of how to use clp:

# Copy a single file
clp copy my_document.txt

# Copy multiple files using a glob pattern
clp cp 'images/*.png'

# Cut a directory
clp cut my_folder/

# Copy a file as a symlink
clp ln .dotfile

# Paste files to the current directory
clp paste

# Paste files to a specific destination
clp p /home/user/documents/

# List current clipboard contents (launches TUI)
clp list

# View operation history (launches TUI)
clp history

# Remove all clipboard and history entries
clp clear

TUI Interaction

When the TUI is launched (e.g., with clp list or clp history):

• Navigation: Use j or k (or arrow keys) to move up and down. Use Ctrl+d and Ctrl+u to scroll half a page, and Ctrl+f and Ctrl+b to scroll a full page. Press g to go to the top and G to go to the bottom.
• Selection: Press space to select/unselect individual entries. Press a to select/unselect all entries.
• Actions:
  • p or Enter: Paste the selected files
  • x or d: Remove the selected entry from the clipboard (only available in clipboard mode).
  • q or Ctrl+c: Exit the TUI.

Uninstalling

file_clipper stores record files at $HOME/.local/state/file_clipper. You should run clp clear prior to uninstalling to remove these files.

After clearing the records, you can uninstall the application using Cargo:

cargo uninstall file_clipper

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to open issues or submit pull requests.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.