You signed in with another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session.You signed out in another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session.You switched accounts on another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session.Dismiss alert
Copy file name to clipboardExpand all lines: plugins/z/MANUAL.md
+25-26Lines changed: 25 additions & 26 deletions
Display the source diff
Display the rich diff
Original file line number
Diff line number
Diff line change
@@ -6,15 +6,15 @@
6
6
7
7

8
8
9
-
Zsh-z is a commandline tool that allows you to jump quickly to directories that you have visited frequently in the past, or recently -- but most often a combination of the two (a concept known as ["frecency"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frecency)). It works by keeping track of when you go to directories and how much time you spend in them. It is then in the position to guess where you want to go when you type a partial string, e.g., `z src` might take you to `~/src/zsh`. `z zsh` might also get you there, and `z c/z` might prove to be even more specific -- it all depends on your habits and how much time you have been using Zsh-z to build up a database. After using Zsh-z for a little while, you will get to where you want to be by typing considerably less than you would need if you were using `cd`.
9
+
Zsh-z is a command-line tool that allows you to jump quickly to directories that you have visited frequently or recently -- but most often a combination of the two (a concept known as ["frecency"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frecency)). It works by keeping track of when you go to directories and how much time you spend in them. Based on this data, it predicts where you want to go when you type a partial string. For example, `z src` might take you to `~/src/zsh`. `z zsh` might also get you there, and `z c/z` might prove to be even more specific -- it all depends on your habits and how long you have been using Zsh-z to build up a database. After using Zsh-z for a little while, you will get to where you want to be by typing considerably less than you would need to if you were using `cd`.
10
10
11
-
Zsh-z is a native Zsh port of [rupa/z](https://github.com/rupa/z), a tool written for `bash` and Zsh that uses embedded `awk` scripts to do the heavy lifting. It was quite possibly my most used commandline tool for a couple of years. I decided to translate it, `awk` parts and all, into pure Zsh script, to see if by eliminating calls to external tools (`awk`, `sort`, `date`, `sed`, `mv`, `rm`, and `chown`) and reducing forking through subshells I could make it faster. The performance increase is impressive, particularly on systems where forking is slow, such as Cygwin, MSYS2, and WSL. I have found that, in those environments, switching directories using Zsh-z can be over 100% faster than it is using `rupa/z`.
11
+
Zsh-z is a native Zsh port of [`rupa/z`](https://github.com/rupa/z), a tool written for `bash` and Zsh that uses embedded `awk` scripts to do the heavy lifting. `rupa/z` was my most used command-line tool for a couple of years. I decided to translate it, `awk` parts and all, into pure Zsh script, to see if by eliminating calls to external tools (`awk`, `sort`, `date`, `sed`, `mv`, `rm`, and `chown`) and reducing forking through subshells I could make it faster. The performance increase is impressive, particularly on systems where forking is slow, such as Cygwin, MSYS2, and WSL. I have found that in those environments, switching directories using Zsh-z can be over 100% faster than it is using `rupa/z`.
12
12
13
-
There is a noteworthy stability increase as well. Race conditions have always been a problem with `rupa/z`, and users of that utility will occasionally lose their `.z` databases. By having Zsh-z only use Zsh (`rupa/z` uses a hybrid shell code that works on `bash` as well), I have been able to implement a `zsh/system`-based file-locking mechanism similar to [the one @mafredri once proposed for `rupa/z`](https://github.com/rupa/z/pull/199). It is now nearly impossible to crash the database, even through extreme testing.
13
+
There is also a significant stability improvement. Race conditions have always been a problem with `rupa/z`, and users of that utility occasionally lose their `~/.z` databases. By having Zsh-z only use Zsh (`rupa/z` uses a hybrid shell code standard that works on `bash` as well), I have been able to implement a `zsh/system`-based file-locking mechanism similar to [the one @mafredri once proposed for `rupa/z`](https://github.com/rupa/z/pull/199). It is now nearly impossible to crash the database.
14
14
15
-
There are other, smaller improvements which I try to document in [Improvements and Fixes](#improvements-and-fixes). These include the new default behavior of sorting your tab completions by frecency rather than just letting Zsh sort the raw results alphabetically (a behavior which can be restored if you like it -- [see below](#settings)).
15
+
There are other, smaller improvements which I document below in [Improvements and Fixes](#improvements-and-fixes). For instance, tab completions are now sorted by frecency by default rather than alphabetically (the latter behavior can be restored if you like it -- [see below](#settings)).
16
16
17
-
Zsh-z is a drop-in replacement for `rupa/z` and will, by default, use the same database (`~/.z`), so you can go on using `rupa/z` when you launch `bash`.
17
+
Zsh-z is a drop-in replacement for `rupa/z` and will, by default, use the same database (`~/.z`, or whatever database file you specify), so you can go on using `rupa/z` when you launch `bash`.
18
18
19
19
## Table of Contents
20
20
-[News](#news)
@@ -37,13 +37,13 @@ Zsh-z is a drop-in replacement for `rupa/z` and will, by default, use the same d
37
37
- August 24, 2023
38
38
+ Zsh-z will now run when `setopt NO_UNSET` has been enabled (props @ntninja).
39
39
- August 23, 2023
40
-
+ Better logic for loading `zsh/files` (props @z0rc)
40
+
+ Better logic for loading `zsh/files` (props @z0rc).
41
41
- August 2, 2023
42
-
+ Zsh-z still uses the `zsh/files` module when possible, but will fall back on the standard `chown`, `mv`, and `rm` commands in its absence.
42
+
+ Zsh-z still uses the `zsh/files` module when possible but will fall back on the standard `chown`, `mv`, and `rm` commands in its absence.
43
43
- April 27, 2023
44
44
+ Zsh-z now allows the user to specify the directory-changing command using the `ZSHZ_CD` environment variable (default: `builtin cd`; props @basnijholt).
45
45
- January 27, 2023
46
-
+ If the datafile directory specified by `ZSHZ_DATA` or `_Z_DATA` does not already exist, create it (props @mattmc3).
46
+
+ If the database file directory specified by `ZSHZ_DATA` or `_Z_DATA` does not already exist, create it (props @mattmc3).
47
47
- June 29, 2022
48
48
+ Zsh-z is less likely to leave temporary files sitting around (props @mafredri).
49
49
- June 27, 2022
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ Zsh-z is a drop-in replacement for `rupa/z` and will, by default, use the same d
69
69
+ Fixed the explanation string printed during completion so that it may be formatted with `zstyle`.
70
70
+ Zsh-z now declares `ZSHZ_EXCLUDE_DIRS` as an array with unique elements so that you do not have to.
71
71
- July 29, 2021
72
-
+ Temporarily disabling use of `print -v`, which seems to be mangling CJK multibyte strings.
72
+
+ Temporarily disabling the use of `print -v`, which was mangling CJK multibyte strings.
73
73
- July 27, 2021
74
74
+ Internal escaping of path names now works with older versions of ZSH.
75
75
+ Zsh-z now detects and discards any incomplete or incorrectly formatted database entries.
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ Zsh-z is a drop-in replacement for `rupa/z` and will, by default, use the same d
102
102
- December 22, 2020
103
103
+`ZSHZ_CASE`: when set to `ignore`, pattern matching is case-insensitive; when set to `smart`, patterns are matched case-insensitively when they are all lowercase and case-sensitively when they have uppercase characters in them (a behavior very much like Vim's `smartcase` setting).
104
104
+`ZSHZ_KEEP_DIRS` is an array of directory names that should not be removed from the database, even if they are not currently available (useful when a drive is not always mounted).
105
-
+ Symlinked datafiles were having their symlinks overwritten; this bug has been fixed.
105
+
+ Symlinked database files were having their symlinks overwritten; this bug has been fixed.
106
106
107
107
</details>
108
108
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ For tab completion to work, `_zshz` *must* be in the same directory as `zsh-z.pl
118
118
119
119
autoload -U compinit; compinit
120
120
121
-
in your .zshrc somewhere below where you source `zsh-z.plugin.zsh`.
121
+
in your `.zshrc` somewhere below where you source `zsh-z.plugin.zsh`.
122
122
123
123
If you add
124
124
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ Add a backslash to the end of the last line add `'zsh-z'` to the list, e.g.,
188
188
Then relaunch `zsh`.
189
189
190
190
### For [zcomet](https://github.com/agkozak/zcomet) users
191
-
191
+
192
192
Simply add
193
193
194
194
zcomet load agkozak/zsh-z
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ Add the line
228
228
229
229
to your `.zshrc`.
230
230
231
-
`zsh-z` supports `zinit`'s `unload` feature; just run `zinit unload agkozak/zshz` to restore the shell to its state before `zsh-z` was loaded.
231
+
Zsh-z supports `zinit`'s `unload` feature; just run `zinit unload agkozak/zsh-z` to restore the shell to its state before Zsh-z was loaded.
232
232
233
233
### For [Znap](https://github.com/marlonrichert/zsh-snap) users
234
234
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ somewhere above the line that says `zplug load`. Then run
249
249
zplug install
250
250
zplug load
251
251
252
-
to install `zsh-z`.
252
+
to install Zsh-z.
253
253
254
254
## Command Line Options
255
255
@@ -263,9 +263,9 @@ to install `zsh-z`.
263
263
-`-x` Remove a directory (by default, the current directory) from the database
264
264
-`-xR` Remove a directory (by default, the current directory) and its subdirectories from the database
265
265
266
-
# Settings
266
+
##Settings
267
267
268
-
Zsh-z has environment variables (they all begin with `ZSHZ_`) that change its behavior if you set them; you can also keep your old ones if you have been using `rupa/z` (they begin with `_Z_`).
268
+
Zsh-z has environment variables (they all begin with `ZSHZ_`) that change its behavior if you set them. You can also keep your old ones if you have been using `rupa/z` (whose environment variables begin with `_Z_`).
269
269
270
270
*`ZSHZ_CMD` changes the command name (default: `z`)
271
271
*`ZSHZ_CD` specifies the default directory-changing command (default: `builtin cd`)
@@ -324,19 +324,18 @@ A good example might involve a directory tree that has Git repositories within i
324
324
325
325
(As a Zsh user, I tend to use `**` instead of `find`, but it is good to see how deep your directory trees go before doing that.)
326
326
327
-
328
327
## Other Improvements and Fixes
329
328
330
329
*`z -x` works, with the help of `chpwd_functions`.
331
-
* Zsh-z works on Solaris.
330
+
* Zsh-z is compatible with Solaris.
332
331
* Zsh-z uses the "new" `zshcompsys` completion system instead of the old `compctl` one.
333
-
*There is no error message when the database file has not yet been created.
334
-
*There is support for special characters (e.g., `[`) in directory names.
335
-
* If `z -l`only returns one match, a common root is not printed.
336
-
* Exit status codes increasingly make sense.
337
-
* Completions work with options `-c`, `-r`, and `-t`.
338
-
* If `~/foo` and `~/foob` are matches, `~/foo` is *not* the common root. Only a common parent directory can be a common root.
339
-
*`z -x` and the new, recursive `z -xR` can take an argument so that you can remove directories other than `PWD` from the database.
332
+
*No error message is displayed when the database file has not yet been created.
333
+
*Special characters (e.g., `[`) in directory names are now supported.
334
+
* If `z -l` returns only one match, a common root is not printed.
335
+
* Exit status codes are more logical.
336
+
* Completions now work with options `-c`, `-r`, and `-t`.
337
+
* If `~/foo` and `~/foob` are matches, `~/foo` is no longer considered the common root. Only a common parent directory can be a common root.
338
+
*`z -x` and the new, recursive `z -xR` can now accept an argument so that you can remove directories other than `PWD` from the database.
340
339
341
340
## Migrating from Other Tools
342
341
@@ -358,7 +357,7 @@ the line
358
357
359
358
That will re-bind `z` or the command of your choice to the underlying Zsh-z function.
360
359
361
-
## Known Bugs
360
+
## Known Bug
362
361
It is possible to run a completion on a string with spaces in it, e.g., `z us bi<TAB>` might take you to `/usr/local/bin`. This works, but as things stand, after the completion the command line reads
0 commit comments