Question about using SHELL "dir" on non windows OS.

[Dav]

I'm working on a simple file selection box SUB which uses SHELL "dir" calls to get filenames and directory info.  Wanting to make to code compatible with linux and macs, I was wondering what changes if any in the SHELL call I would need to make it work on those OS.  Or would a SHELL "dir" call not work at all on them?  I only can test on Windows right now, not sure about SHELLIng on linux or Mac.  Thanks....

- Dav

[odin]

Here's how it's done by the IDE, works on all platforms:

Code: QB64: [Select]

1. FUNCTION idezfilelist$ (path$, method, mask$) 'method0=*.bas, method1=*.*, method2=custom mask
2.     DIM sep AS STRING * 1
3.     sep = CHR$(0)
4.  
5.     IF os$ = "WIN" THEN
6.         OPEN ".\internal\temp\files.txt" FOR OUTPUT AS #150: CLOSE #150
7.         IF method = 0 THEN SHELL _HIDE "dir /b /ON /A-D " + QuotedFilename$(path$) + "\*.bas >.\internal\temp\files.txt"
8.         IF method = 1 THEN SHELL _HIDE "dir /b /ON /A-D " + QuotedFilename$(path$) + "\*.* >.\internal\temp\files.txt"
9.         IF method = 2 THEN SHELL _HIDE "dir /b /ON /A-D " + QuotedFilename$(path$) + "\" + QuotedFilename$(mask$) + " >.\internal\temp\files.txt"
10.         filelist$ = ""
11.         OPEN ".\internal\temp\files.txt" FOR INPUT AS #150
12.         DO UNTIL EOF(150)
13.             LINE INPUT #150, a$
14.             IF LEN(a$) THEN 'skip blank entries
15.                 IF filelist$ = "" THEN filelist$ = a$ ELSE filelist$ = filelist$ + sep + a$
16.             END IF
17.         LOOP
18.         CLOSE #150
19.         idezfilelist$ = filelist$
20.         EXIT FUNCTION
21.     END IF
22.  
23.     IF os$ = "LNX" THEN
24.         filelist$ = ""
25.         IF method = 0 THEN
26.             FOR i = 1 TO 2
27.                 OPEN "./internal/temp/files.txt" FOR OUTPUT AS #150: CLOSE #150
28.                 IF i = 1 THEN SHELL _HIDE "find " + QuotedFilename$(path$) + " -maxdepth 1 -type f -name " + CHR$(34) + "*.bas" + CHR$(34) + " | sort >./internal/temp/files.txt"
29.                 IF i = 2 THEN SHELL _HIDE "find " + QuotedFilename$(path$) + " -maxdepth 1 -type f -name " + CHR$(34) + "*.BAS" + CHR$(34) + " | sort >./internal/temp/files.txt"
30.                 GOSUB AddToList
31.             NEXT
32.         ELSEIF method = 1 THEN
33.             SHELL _HIDE "find " + QuotedFilename$(path$) + " -maxdepth 1 -type f -name " + CHR$(34) + "*" + CHR$(34) + " | sort >./internal/temp/files.txt"
34.             GOSUB AddToList
35.         ELSEIF method = 2 THEN
36.             SHELL _HIDE "find " + QuotedFilename$(path$) + " -maxdepth 1 -type f -name " + CHR$(34) + mask$ + CHR$(34) + " | sort >./internal/temp/files.txt"
37.             GOSUB AddToList
38.         END IF
39.         idezfilelist$ = filelist$
40.         EXIT FUNCTION
41.  
42.         AddToList:
43.         OPEN "./internal/temp/files.txt" FOR INPUT AS #150
44.         DO UNTIL EOF(150)
45.             LINE INPUT #150, a$
46.             IF LEN(a$) = 0 THEN EXIT DO
47.             FOR x = LEN(a$) TO 1 STEP -1
48.                 a2$ = MID$(a$, x, 1)
49.                 IF a2$ = "/" THEN
50.                     a$ = RIGHT$(a$, LEN(a$) - x)
51.                     EXIT FOR
52.                 END IF
53.             NEXT
54.             IF filelist$ = "" THEN filelist$ = a$ ELSE filelist$ = filelist$ + sep + a$
55.         LOOP
56.         CLOSE #150
57.         RETURN
58.     END IF
59.  
60. END FUNCTION
61.  

[Dav]

Thanks, odin!

- Dav

[Pete]

That's a time saver, Dav. I could have told you Linux uses the exact same dir command, but that the switches and output format are different than Windows. It's neat to see the QB64 conversions needed to convert that information, which I take means that a SHELL in QB64 will produce the same output format, I would hope, when doing something like SHELL _HIDE "dir *.*>tmp.tmp

So provided the Windows tmp,tmp file appeared in the same format for file names, dates, and file size, and had the same headers, etc. you could rely on one open and read method to extract and parse the info correctly for both platforms. In other words, more is needed than the Windows /b (bare) switch for date and file size info.

As for Mac, it is stated to be POSIX compliant, so I would hope it can be handled the same as Windows for directory output.

Maybe you could make a simple snippet for Fell, who I believe has a Mac and Linux system, and ask him to post the output. If your Windows results match his Linux and Apple results, your golden. That may not even be necessary, but I'd take fact over theory, everyday. (Sorry Bill!).

Pete

[bplus]

There is another cross platform approach that will give you a Directory's List array and a File's list array for a given folder or directory, it happens to be current Best Answer in this thread:
https://www.qb64.org/forum/index.php?topic=1511.msg122368#msg122368

Looks like you will have to parse out the files' string returned by odin's function.

 

[SMcNeill]

There is another cross platform approach that will give you a Directory's List array and a File's list array for a given folder or directory, it happens to be current Best Answer in this thread:
https://www.qb64.org/forum/index.php?topic=1511.msg122368#msg122368

Looks like you will have to parse out the files' string returned by odin's function.

You might want to attach direntry.h to that post, so folks can find it and download it.

[bplus]

You might want to attach direntry.h to that post, so folks can find it and download it.

OK

[Dav]

Thanks for the link, @bplus.  I think I glanced at that once before, but had my interest elsewhere at the time and forgot about it.  Very glad to see it again.  Looks like it's what I'm after.

Here's what I had started working on, was going to add directory info and navigating, and allow a graphics version too.

- Dav

Code: QB64: [Select]

1.  
2. a$ = FileSelect$(5, 10, 15, 55, "*.*")
3.  
4. IF a$ <> "" THEN
5.     PRINT "You selected: "; a$
6. END IF
7.  
8. END
9.  
10.  
11. FUNCTION FileSelect$ (y, x, y2, x2, Filespec$)
12.  
13.     '=== save original place of cursor
14.     origy = CSRLIN: origx = POS(1)
15.  
16.     '=== Save whole screen
17.     DIM scr1 AS _MEM, scr2 AS _MEM
18.     scr1 = _MEMIMAGE(0): scr2 = _MEMNEW(scr1.SIZE)
19.     _MEMCOPY scr1, scr1.OFFSET, scr1.SIZE TO scr2, scr2.OFFSET
20.  
21.     SHELL _HIDE "DIR " + Filespec$ + " /b > $_TeMP_FILE_LIST"
22.  
23.     'get list...
24.     REDIM FileNames$(5000) 'space for 5000 filenames
25.  
26.     FF = FREEFILE
27.     OPEN "$_TeMP_FILE_LIST" FOR INPUT AS #FF
28.     LineCount = 0
29.     WHILE ((LineCount < UBOUND(FileNames$)) AND (NOT EOF(FF)))
30.         LINE INPUT #FF, rl$
31.         'skip the temp file...
32.         IF rl$ <> "$_TeMP_FILE_LIST" THEN
33.             FileNames$(LineCount) = rl$
34.             LineCount = LineCount + 1
35.         END IF
36.     WEND
37.     CLOSE #FF
38.  
39.     KILL "$_TeMP_FILE_LIST"
40.  
41.     'draw a box
42.     COLOR _RGB(100, 100, 255)
43.     FOR l = 0 TO y2 + 1
44.         LOCATE y + l, x: PRINT STRING$(x2 + 4, CHR$(219));
45.     NEXT
46.  
47.     DO
48.  
49.         FOR l = 0 TO (y2 - 1)
50.             LOCATE (y + 1) + l, (x + 2)
51.             IF l + top = Selection THEN
52.                 COLOR _RGB(0, 0, 0), _RGB(255, 255, 255) 'selected line
53.             ELSE
54.                 COLOR _RGB(255, 255, 255), _RGB(0, 0, 0) 'regular
55.             END IF
56.             PRINT LEFT$(FileNames$(top + l) + STRING$(x2, " "), x2);
57.         NEXT
58.  
59.         k$ = INKEY$
60.         SELECT CASE k$
61.             CASE IS = CHR$(0) + CHR$(72) 'Up arrow
62.                 IF Selection > 0 THEN Selection = Selection - 1
63.                 IF Selection < top THEN top = Selection
64.             CASE IS = CHR$(0) + CHR$(80) 'Down Arrow
65.                 IF Selection < (LineCount - 1) THEN Selection = Selection + 1
66.                 IF Selection > (top + (y2 - 2)) THEN top = Selection - y2 + 1
67.             CASE IS = CHR$(0) + CHR$(73) 'Page up
68.                 top = top - y2
69.                 Selection = Selection - y2
70.                 IF top < 0 THEN top = 0
71.                 IF Selection < 0 THEN Selection = 0
72.             CASE IS = CHR$(0) + CHR$(81) 'Page Down
73.                 top = top + y2
74.                 Selection = Selection + y2
75.                 IF top >= LineCount - y2 THEN top = LineCount - y2
76.                 IF top < 0 THEN top = 0
77.                 IF Selection >= LineCount THEN Selection = LineCount - 1
78.             CASE IS = CHR$(0) + CHR$(71) 'Home
79.                 top = 0: Selection = 0
80.             CASE IS = CHR$(0) + CHR$(79) 'End
81.                 Selection = LineCount - 1
82.                 top = Selection - y2 + 1
83.                 IF top < 0 THEN top = 0
84.             CASE IS = CHR$(27) ' ESC cancels
85.                 FileSelect$ = ""
86.                 EXIT DO
87.             CASE IS = CHR$(13) 'Enter
88.                 FileSelect$ = RTRIM$(FileNames$(Selection))
89.                 EXIT DO
90.         END SELECT
91.     LOOP
92.  
93.     _KEYCLEAR
94.  
95.     '=== Restore the whole screen
96.     _MEMCOPY scr2, scr2.OFFSET, scr2.SIZE TO scr1, scr1.OFFSET
97.     _MEMFREE scr1: _MEMFREE scr2
98.  
99.     '=== restore original y,x
100.     LOCATE origy, origx
101.  
102. END FUNCTION
103.  

[bplus]

Yeah, I like the fileSpec$ aspect of both odin's and Dav's.

[Pete]

Been there, done that, but at some point I'm going to have to add a directory tree to my routine, too. I like to use BINARY instead of INPUT in all my files operations. If you  want to include date an time, let me know; otherwise /b is a nice command line switch to get just the file names. I use it a lot but for files, I like to see when they were created.

Pete

[Dav]

Yeah, I want to show the file info too eventually.  I have API routines to do all that, but was aiming for a cross compatible way.  And seeing how you use SHELL _HIDE often to your advantage kind of motivated me with it.

I planned to get Directories first  (SHELL dir /d), then another call for files, combine both to the Filenames$ array.  Selecting directory name will change to that directory.  Maybe put a ".." selection at the top of the list to go up one directory.  Was thinking that combining SHELL with QB64's builtin directory commands could handle all that, and work on all platforms.

- Dav

[Pete]

I'm thinking along the same lines. something like this...

..
[Directory-1]
[Directory-2]
[Directory-3]
Filename1.txt
Filename2.text
Filename3.txt

etc.

Fairly easy to do by making a DIR only call, followed a files only call. add the .., directories, and the files. I track the entry numbers, so all I'll need to know is the entry number that changes from a directory to a file.

In windows there re several options to organize the output. Date of creation, alphabetically, etc. It's a time saver, but in days past I made functions to convert to army time, and sort dates, names, etc. For a list of all switches, visit the easy.dos.com site.

Fun stuff,

Pete

[Dav]

Yes, it's fun to me trying to find workarounds.   I was thinking of just adding the [ ] to the dir names when saving them in the array, and then just strip the [ ] out before using the names to change directories. 

- Dav

[Pete]

What I would like, beyond what we are discussing, is a root navigation option. I'm not sure if I'll do that as a second popup, like a right click, or make some sort of flip screen. It's just a whole lot faster to move around to the folders you want to access that way. Of course another option is a dir input line, where you can click somewhere within that line, and it shortens to where you clicked and then displays that directory to the screen like:

c:\QB64\myprograms\

So click anywhere on qb64, and it shortens the url to: c:\qb64, and then opens that directory.

That lateral scrolling routine would make that method quite possible, still, it isn't as fast as with all the opens that Explorer has to offer.

Pete

[Dav]

Here's what I got so far, thanks @Pete for dir command help.  Seems to work ok for me this way. 

Right now it's just for Windows still.  I might make directories a slightly different color.

You can navigate directories, just press enter to enter them.  Enter on filename to select it.

- Dav

Code: QB64: [Select]

1.  
2. a$ = FileSelect$(5, 10, 15, 55, "*.*")
3.  
4. IF a$ <> "" THEN
5.     PRINT "You selected: "; a$
6. END IF
7.  
8. END
9.  
10.  
11. FUNCTION FileSelect$ (y, x, y2, x2, Filespec$)
12.  
13.     '=== save original place of cursor
14.     origy = CSRLIN: origx = POS(1)
15.  
16.     '=== Save whole screen
17.     DIM scr1 AS _MEM, scr2 AS _MEM
18.     scr1 = _MEMIMAGE(0): scr2 = _MEMNEW(scr1.SIZE)
19.     _MEMCOPY scr1, scr1.OFFSET, scr1.SIZE TO scr2, scr2.OFFSET
20.  
21.     loadagain:
22.     top = 0
23.     selection = 0
24.  
25.     SHELL _HIDE "DIR /b /A:D > $_TeMP_FILE_LIST"
26.  
27.     'get list...
28.     REDIM FileNames$(5000) 'space for 5000 filenames
29.  
30.     FileNames$(0) = ".."
31.  
32.     FF = FREEFILE
33.     OPEN "$_TeMP_FILE_LIST" FOR INPUT AS #FF
34.  
35.     LineCount = 1
36.     WHILE ((LineCount < UBOUND(FileNames$)) AND (NOT EOF(FF)))
37.         LINE INPUT #FF, rl$
38.         FileNames$(LineCount) = "[" + rl$ + "]"
39.         LineCount = LineCount + 1
40.     WEND
41.     CLOSE #FF
42.  
43.     KILL "$_TeMP_FILE_LIST"
44.  
45.     SHELL _HIDE "DIR /b /A:-D " + Filespec$ + " > $_TeMP_FILE_LIST"
46.  
47.     FF = FREEFILE
48.     OPEN "$_TeMP_FILE_LIST" FOR INPUT AS #FF
49.     WHILE ((LineCount < UBOUND(FileNames$)) AND (NOT EOF(FF)))
50.         LINE INPUT #FF, rl$
51.         'skip the temp file...
52.         IF rl$ <> "$_TeMP_FILE_LIST" THEN
53.             FileNames$(LineCount) = rl$
54.             LineCount = LineCount + 1
55.         END IF
56.     WEND
57.     CLOSE #FF
58.  
59.     KILL "$_TeMP_FILE_LIST"
60.  
61.     'draw a box
62.     COLOR _RGB(100, 100, 255)
63.     FOR l = 0 TO y2 + 1
64.         LOCATE y + l, x: PRINT STRING$(x2 + 4, CHR$(219));
65.     NEXT
66.  
67.     DO
68.  
69.         FOR l = 0 TO (y2 - 1)
70.             LOCATE (y + 1) + l, (x + 2)
71.             IF l + top = selection THEN
72.                 COLOR _RGB(0, 0, 0), _RGB(255, 255, 255) 'selected line
73.             ELSE
74.                 COLOR _RGB(255, 255, 255), _RGB(0, 0, 0) 'regular
75.             END IF
76.             PRINT LEFT$(FileNames$(top + l) + STRING$(x2, " "), x2);
77.         NEXT
78.  
79.         k$ = INKEY$
80.         SELECT CASE k$
81.             CASE IS = CHR$(0) + CHR$(72) 'Up arrow
82.                 IF selection > 0 THEN selection = selection - 1
83.                 IF selection < top THEN top = selection
84.             CASE IS = CHR$(0) + CHR$(80) 'Down Arrow
85.                 IF selection < (LineCount - 1) THEN selection = selection + 1
86.                 IF selection > (top + (y2 - 2)) THEN top = selection - y2 + 1
87.             CASE IS = CHR$(0) + CHR$(73) 'Page up
88.                 top = top - y2
89.                 selection = selection - y2
90.                 IF top < 0 THEN top = 0
91.                 IF selection < 0 THEN selection = 0
92.             CASE IS = CHR$(0) + CHR$(81) 'Page Down
93.                 top = top + y2
94.                 selection = selection + y2
95.                 IF top >= LineCount - y2 THEN top = LineCount - y2
96.                 IF top < 0 THEN top = 0
97.                 IF selection >= LineCount THEN selection = LineCount - 1
98.             CASE IS = CHR$(0) + CHR$(71) 'Home
99.                 top = 0: selection = 0
100.             CASE IS = CHR$(0) + CHR$(79) 'End
101.                 selection = LineCount - 1
102.                 top = selection - y2 + 1
103.                 IF top < 0 THEN top = 0
104.             CASE IS = CHR$(27) ' ESC cancels
105.                 FileSelect$ = ""
106.                 EXIT DO
107.             CASE IS = CHR$(13) 'Enter
108.                 'go up one dir
109.                 IF RTRIM$(FileNames$(selection)) = ".." THEN
110.                     cd$ = _CWD$
111.                     cd$ = LEFT$(cd$, _INSTRREV(cd$, "\"))
112.                     CHDIR cd$
113.                     ERASE FileNames$
114.                     GOTO loadagain
115.                 END IF
116.                 'see if directory
117.                 test$ = RTRIM$(FileNames$(selection))
118.                 IF LEFT$(test$, 1) = "[" THEN
119.                     test$ = MID$(test$, 2, LEN(test$) - 2)
120.                     CHDIR test$
121.                     ERASE FileNames$
122.                     GOTO loadagain
123.                 ELSE
124.                     IF RIGHT$(_CWD$, 1) = "\" THEN
125.                         c$ = _CWD$
126.                     ELSE
127.                         c$ = _CWD$ + "\"
128.                     END IF
129.                     FileSelect$ = c$ + RTRIM$(FileNames$(selection))
130.                     EXIT DO
131.                 END IF
132.         END SELECT
133.     LOOP
134.  
135.     _KEYCLEAR
136.  
137.     '=== Restore the whole screen
138.     _MEMCOPY scr2, scr2.OFFSET, scr2.SIZE TO scr1, scr1.OFFSET
139.     _MEMFREE scr1: _MEMFREE scr2
140.  
141.     '=== restore original y,x
142.     LOCATE origy, origx
143.  
144. END FUNCTION
145.