Roamer

The Plain Text File Manager

Roamer turns your favorite text editor into a lightweight file manager. Copy, Cut & Paste files en masse without leaving your terminal window.

Install

Requirements

• Python version: 2.7+, 3.4+
• OS: Linux, MacOS, Windows WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux)

Command

sudo pip install roamer

For a high security install see here.

Usage

Start Roamer

$ roamer

This will open the current working directory in your default $EDITOR. (See options section to override editor)

Example Output

" pwd: /Users/abaldwin/Desktop/stuff
my_directory/ | b0556598b8f8
my_file_1.txt | ce9b0a287985
my_file_2.txt | fc3da7f790a6
my_file_3.txt | fc3da7f790a6

Explanation

• Each line represents a single entry (file or directory)
• On the left side of the pipe character is the entry's name
• On the right side is the entry's hash. You can think of the hash as a link to that entry's contents.
• A line starting with double quote (") is a comment and will be ignored.

--> Make changes as desired. When finished save and quit to commit the changes. e.g. vim :wq

Common Operations

Delete a file

• Delete the line

Copy a file

• Copy the entire line
• Paste it onto a new line

Rename a file

• Type over the existing file's name
• Do not modify the hash on the right side

Copy over a file

• Copy the hash from the first file
• Replace the second file's hash

Make a new empty file

• Add a new line
• Type the new file's name

Move files between directories

• Open up another terminal tab and run second roamer session
• Copy / Paste lines between both sessions of roamer

Options

Editor

Roamer uses your default $EDITOR environment variable.

To override a specific editor for roamer add this to your shell's config. (~/.bashrc ~/.zshrc etc)

export ROAMER_EDITOR=emacs

If no editor is set then vi will be used.

Works with any editor?

Data Directory

Roamer needs a directory for storing data between sessions. By default this will be saved in .roamer-data in your home directory.

To override:

export ROAMER_DATA_PATH=~/meh/

Editor Plugins

This roamer library is editor agnostic and focused on processing plain text. To enhance your experience with roamer consider installing roamer editor plug-ins:

• https://github.com/abaldwin88/roamer.vim