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@thiagoh
Last active June 8, 2023 15:56
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watchfiles: Watch multiple files and execute bash commands as file changes occur

watchfiles

  • author: Thiago Andrade thiagoh@gmail.com
  • license: GPLv3
  • description:
  • watches the given paths for changes
  • and executes a given command when changes occur
  • usage:
  • watchfiles <paths...>

Installation

If you want to make watchfiles globally accessible on your environment execute the following instructions:

$ # clone this gist
$ git clone https://gist.github.com/5d8f53bfb64985b94e5bc8b3844dba55.git 
$ cd 5d8f53bfb64985b94e5bc8b3844dba55
$ # give execution mode
$ chmod +x watchfiles
$ # copy to some location visible by your $PATH (/usg/local/bin for example)
$ sudo cp watchfiles /usr/local/bin/watchfiles
#!/bin/bash
# script: watchfiles
# author: Thiago Andrade <thiagoh@gmail.com>
# license: GPLv3
# description:
# watches the given paths for changes
# and executes a given command when changes occur
# usage:
# watchfiles <cmd> <paths...>
#
interval=1
verbose=0
quiet=0
cmd=""
error_message=""
error=0
print_error() {
_error_message=$1
echo "Error: ${_error_message}" 1>&2;
}
check_error() {
if [ $error -eq 1 ]; then
print_error "${error_message}";
exit 1;
fi
}
show_help() {
echo "Usage: watchfiles [options] command [path1] [path2...]"
echo -e " -t --interval\t\tInterval in seconds to wait until next check"
echo -e " -q --quiet\t\t\tQuiet"
echo -e " -qq --quietquiet\t\tSuper quiet"
echo -e " -v --verbose\t\tVerbose (good for debug purposes)"
}
for i in "$@"; do
key="$1"
case $key in
-v|--verbose)
verbose=1
shift
;;
-q|--quiet)
quiet=1
shift # past argument
;;
-qq|--quietquiet)
quiet=2
shift # past argument
;;
--help)
show_help
shift # past argument
exit 1;
;;
-t)
interval="$2"
shift # past -t
shift # past value
;;
--interval=*)
interval="${key#*=}"
shift # past argument=value
;;
*)
cmd=$key
shift
break;
;;
esac
done
path=$*
# echo "interval $interval"
# echo "cmd $cmd"
# echo "path $path"
# echo "verbose $verbose"
# echo
# echo
re='^[0-9]+$'
if ! [[ $interval =~ $re ]] ; then
error_message="Interval must be an integer"
error=1
fi
check_error
if [ -z "$path" ]; then
error_message="No such files";
error=1
fi
check_error
if [ $verbose -eq 1 ]; then
quiet=0
fi
update_sha() {
_path=$1
current_sha=`ls -lR --time-style=full-iso $_path | sha1sum |rev| cut -d' ' -f2-| rev`
echo $current_sha
return 0
}
check_files() {
tmp_path=""
counter=0
error_counter=0
for file in $path; do
if [ ! -f $file ]; then
echo "File ${file} does not exists! Skipping it." 1>&2;
((error_counter=error_counter + 1))
else
tmp_path="$tmp_path $file"
fi
((counter=counter + 1))
done
if [ $counter -eq $error_counter ]; then
error=1
error_message="No such existing or valid files"
return 1;
fi
if [ $counter -eq 0 ]; then
error=1
error_message="At least one file is required"
return 1;
fi
path=$tmp_path
}
compute_all_checksum() {
combined_sha=""
counter=0
error_counter=0
for i in $path; do
file_sha=`update_sha $i`
ret=$?
# echo $i is $file_sha with return $ret
if [ $ret -eq 0 ]; then
combined_sha="${combined_sha}${file_sha}"
else
((error_counter=error_counter + 1))
fi
((counter=counter + 1))
done;
echo $combined_sha
}
check_files
check_error
files_sha=`compute_all_checksum`
previous_sha=$files_sha
execute_command() {
if [ $verbose -eq 1 ]; then
echo "Executing command: ${cmd}..."
fi
/bin/bash -c "$cmd"
}
compare() {
files_sha=`compute_all_checksum`
if [[ $files_sha != $previous_sha ]] ; then
if [ $quiet -eq 0 ]; then
echo -e "\nFile(s) changed"
fi
execute_command
previous_sha=$files_sha
else
if [ $quiet -lt 2 ]; then
echo -n '#'
fi
fi
}
trap exit SIGQUIT
trap exit SIGINT
if [ $quiet -eq 0 ]; then
echo -e "## Watching files: ${path}"
fi
while true; do
compare
sleep $interval
done
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