fswatch

cross platform file change monitor

A file system monitory tool that uses platform specific mechanisms to achieve its goal efficiently.

fswatch is a command line front end to libfswatch which can be incorporated into any C software that needs to watch the filesystem.

It’s got a bajillion options but usage can be summarized as follows

fswatch is invoked using the following syntax:

fswatch (options)* (paths)+

fswatch interprets file names as being relative to the working directory and canonicalizes them using realpath.

Documentation

Conceptually Related: watch_when watches for when the output of a command changes.

Usage

fswatch 1.17.1

Usage:
fswatch [OPTION] ... path ...

Options:
 -0, --print0          Use the ASCII NUL character (0) as line separator.
 -1, --one-event       Exit fswatch after the first set of events is received.
     --allow-overflow  Allow a monitor to overflow and report it as a change event.
     --batch-marker    Print a marker at the end of every batch.
 -a, --access          Watch file accesses.
 -b, --bubble-events   Bubble events with the same timestamp and path.
 -d, --directories     Watch directories only.
 -e, --exclude=REGEX   Exclude paths matching REGEX.
 -E, --extended        Use extended regular expressions.
     --filter-from=FILE
                       Load filters from file.
     --format=FORMAT   Use the specified record format.
 -f, --format-time     Print the event time using the specified format.
     --fire-idle-event Fire idle events.
 -h, --help            Show this message.
 -i, --include=REGEX   Include paths matching REGEX.
 -I, --insensitive     Use case insensitive regular expressions.
 -l, --latency=DOUBLE  Set the latency.
     --no-defer        Set the no defer flag in the monitor.
 -L, --follow-links    Follow symbolic links.
 -M, --list-monitors   List the available monitors.
 -m, --monitor=NAME    Use the specified monitor.
     --monitor-property name=value
                       Define the specified property.
 -n, --numeric         Print a numeric event mask.
 -o, --one-per-batch   Print a single message with the number of change events.
 -r, --recursive       Recurse subdirectories.
 -t, --timestamp       Print the event timestamp.
 -u, --utc-time        Print the event time as UTC time.
 -x, --event-flags     Print the event flags.
     --event=TYPE      Filter the event by the specified type.
     --event-flag-separator=STRING
                       Print event flags using the specified separator.
 -v, --verbose         Print verbose output.
     --version         Print the version of fswatch and exit.

Available monitors in this platform:

  fsevents_monitor
  kqueue_monitor
  poll_monitor

See the man page for more information.

Report bugs to <enrico.m.crisostomo@gmail.com>.
fswatch home page: <https://github.com/emcrisostomo/fswatch>.

Metadata:

Tags:

  • filesystem
  • notmine