ShorterPWD

ShorterPWD is a tool to show the current path, trimming the parents to fit a certain width. It is intended to be used in the prompt (PS1 or equivalent).

Example

First, we start in a very long path:

$ mkdir -p /tmp/lorem/ipsum/dolor/sit/amet/consectetur/adipisicing/elit/sed/do/eiusmod

$ cd /tmp/lorem/ipsum/dolor/sit/amet/consectetur/adipisicing/

Then, with spwd -m 40 we print the path trimmed to 40 characters:

$ spwd -m 40
/t/l/i/d/s/amet/consectetur/adipisicing

$ cd elit/sed/do/eiusmod

$ spwd -m 40
/t/l/i/d/s/a/c/a/elit/sed/do/eiusmod

$ spwd -m 20
/t/l/i/d/s/a/c/a/e/s/d/eiusmod

The parents are trimmed to their first character until the length of the path is smaller than the value in the -m option. The last part is never trimmed.

You can always trim all parents with spwd -m 0.

Aliases

spwd can replace a path prefix with an alias.

The aliases are defined in a file with the following format:

alias1 = path1

# Comment
alias2 = path2

To use them, add the -a path option to the spwd command.

Theses aliases are never trimmed.

Example

First, create a file ~/.config/spwd/aliases:

[My Projects] = /here/are/my/projects
[Work] = /home/user/content/work

Then, update the PS1 variable to include the -a option:

PS1='\u@\h $(spwd -m 40 -a ~/.config/spwd/aliases)\$ '

Now, we can see our alias in the prompt instead of the full path.

~ $ cd /here/are/my/projects/something

[My Projects]/something $

Installation

Use make install to compile and install the tool.

$ git clone https://github.com/ayosec/spwd.git
$ cd spwd
$ make test
$ sudo make install

By default it is installed in /usr/local/bin. If you want a different destination use the DEST variable. For example, to install the tool in /usr/bin, type:

$ sudo make DEST=/usr install

Usage

To use spwd in your prompt, replace the sequence \w with $(spwd -m XX) in your PS1 variable.

For example, instead of:

PS1='\u@\h \w\$ '

Use:

PS1='\u@\h $(spwd -m 40)\$ '

Tests

To launch the tests type make test in the root directory.