file_tree_display

A utility for generating a visually structured directory tree.

Modules

file_tree_display.py

This core module supports recursive traversal, customizable hierarchy styles, and inclusion / exclusion
patterns for directories and files.
Output can be displayed in the console or saved to a file.

Key Features

• Recursively displays and logs directory trees
• Efficient directory traversal
• Blazing fast (see Benchmarks below)
• Generates human-readable file tree structure
• Supports including / ignoring specific directories or files via pattern matching
• Customizable tree display output
• Optionally saves the resulting tree to a text file
• Lightweight, flexible and easily configurable

Benchmarks

Class Overview

FileTreeDisplay Constructs and manages the visual representation of a folder structure of a path or of a disk drive.

Initialization Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
root_dir	str	Path to the directory to scan.
filepath	str / None	Optional output destination for the saved file tree.
ignore_dirs	list[str] or set[str] or None	Directory names or patterns to skip.
ignore_files	list[str] or set[str] or None	File names or patterns to skip.
include_dirs	list[str] or set[str] or None	Only include specified folder names or patterns.
include_files	list[str] or set[str] or None	Only include specified file names or patterns, '*.pdf' - only include pdfs.
style	str	Characters used to mark hierarchy levels. Defaults to 'classic'.
indent	int	Number of style characters per level. Defaults 2.
files_first	bool	Determines whether to list files first. Defaults to False.
skip_sorting	bool	Skip sorting directly, even if configured.
sort_key_name	str	Sort key func name. Natural, Lexicographic or custom. Defaults to 'natural'.
reverse	bool	Reversed sorting order.
custom_sort	Callable[[str], Any] / None	Custom sort key function.
title	str	Custom title shown in the output.
save2file	bool	Save file tree (folder structure) info into a file.
stream_output	bool	Stream print tree content without building a buffer.
printout	bool	Print the generated tree to stdout.
entry_count	bool	Show number of scanned subfolders and files. Defaults to False.

Core Methods

• file_tree_display(save2file: bool = True) -> str | None
  Generates the directory tree. If save2file=True, saves the output; otherwise prints it directly.

• _build_tree(dir_path, *, prefix, style, sort_key, files_first, dir_filter, file_filter, reverse) -> Generator[str, None, None]
  Yields formatted lines representing the directory tree rooted at dir_path using a recursive DFS.

Parameter	Type	Description
dir_path	str	Path to the directory being traversed.
prefix	str	Current indentation prefix for nested entries.
style	dict[str, str]	Connector style mapping with keys: branch, end, space, and vertical.
sort_key	Callable[[str], Any]	Function used to sort directory and file names.
files_first	bool	If True, list files before subdirectories.
dir_filter, file_filter	Callable[[str], bool]	Predicates to include or exclude directories and files.
reverse	bool	If True, reverses the sort order.

Example Usage

from pathlib import Path
from file_tree_display import FileTreeDisplay

root = r'c:/your_root_dir'
target_path = r'c:/your_target_path'
filename = 'filetree.md'
filepath = str(Path(target_path, filename))

ftd = FileTreeDisplay(root_dir=root,
                      ignore_dirs=['.git', 'node_modules', '.idea'],
                      ignore_files=['.gitignore', '*.toml'], 
                      style='classic',
                      include_dirs=['src', 'tests', 'snapshots'],
                      filepath=filepath, 
                      sort_key_name='custom',
                      custom_sort=(lambda x: any(ext in x.lower() for ext in ('jpg', 'png'))),
                      files_first=True,
                      reverse=True
                     )
ftd.file_tree_display()

Custom connector style

You can define and register your own connector styles at runtime by adding entries to style_dict:

from file_tree_display import FileTreeDisplay
ftd = FileTreeDisplay(root_dir=".")
ftd.style_dict["plus2"] = ftd.connector_styler("+-- ", "+== ")
ftd.style = "plus2"
ftd.printout = True
ftd.file_tree_display()

FTD CLI — File Tree Display

The FTD CLI (ftd) is a lightweight, configurable command-line tool for displaying or exporting a formatted file tree of a given directory.
It’s designed for flexibility, allowing users to control inclusion/exclusion rules, visual style, sorting behavior, and output options.

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Features

• Generate a clean, formatted file tree of any directory
• Choose from multiple connector styles (classic, dash, arrow, plus)
• Fine-grained control over included/excluded files and directories
• Flexible sorting modes (natural, lex, or custom)
• Optionally export the tree to a file or print directly to stdout
• Supports configuration via JSON config file

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Usage

ftd [OPTIONS]

Example:

ftd --root-dir ./src --style arrow --files-first --printout --entry-count

This displays the tree structure of the src directory using the arrow connector style, listing files before directories, and prints the output to the console.

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Command-Line Options

Option	Alias	Type	Description	Default
--cfg	–	str	Path to a JSON configuration file.	–
--root-dir	-r	str	Root directory to display.	–
--filepath	-o	str	Output file path for exported tree.	–
--ignore-dirs	–	str…	Directories to exclude from the tree.	–
--ignore-files	–	str…	Files to exclude from the tree.	–
--include-dirs	–	str…	Directories to explicitly include.	–
--include-files	–	str…	Files to explicitly include.	–
--style	-s	str	Tree connector style (classic, dash, arrow, plus).	classic
--indent	-i	int	Indent width (spaces) per directory level.	2
--files-first	-f	flag	List files before directories.	False
--skip-sorting	–	flag	Disable sorting altogether.	False
--sort-key	–	str	Sorting key: natural or lex.	natural
--reverse	–	flag	Reverse the sort order.	False
--no-save	–	flag	Do not save output to file.	False
--stream-output	-stream	flag	Stream tree content without building a buffer.	False
--printout	-p	flag	Print the generated tree to stdout.	False
--entry-count		flag	Show number of scanned subfolders and files.	False
--version	-v	flag	Show the current version of FTD and exit.	–

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Configuration via JSON file

FTD can also load parameters from a JSON config file:

{
  "root_dir": "./project",
  "ignore_dirs": ["__pycache__", "build"],
  "ignore_files": [".DS_Store"],
  "style": "dash",
  "files_first": true,
  "printout": true,
  "entry_count": true
}

Run it using:

ftd --cfg path/to/config.json

Command-line arguments always override config file values.

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Examples

Display the current directory with default settings:

ftd

Display a tree with dashed connectors, ignoring test folders, and print it:

ftd -r ./src --ignore-dirs tests --style dash --printout

Streaming out tree content, skipping buffer filling, file creation and entries counting:

ftd -stream

Export a formatted tree to a file:

ftd -r ./app --filepath tree.txt

Reverse lexical sort with 4-space indentation:

ftd -r ./data --sort-key lex --reverse --indent 4

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Output Example

nano_dev_utils/
├── src/
│ └── nano_dev_utils/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── __version__.py
│   ├── _constants.py
│   ├── common.py
│   ├── dynamic_importer.py
│   ├── release_ports.py
│   └── timers.py
├── tests/
│ ├── test_timers/
│ │ ├── __init__.py
│ │ ├── conftest.py
│ │ ├── test_duration_formatter.py
│ │ ├── test_timer.py
│ │ └── test_timers_async.py
│ ├── __init__.py
│ ├── test_common.py
│ ├── test_dynamic_importer.py
│ └── test_release_ports.py
├── .gitignore
├── .pre-commit-config.yaml
├── LICENSE
├── pyproject.toml
├── README.md
├── ruff.toml
├── update_package.py
└── uv.lock
Scanned 4 subfolders and 24 files.

Unicode Output Notes

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.