config/oh-my-zsh/plugins/dircycle
2023-02-27 20:04:56 +05:30
..
dircycle.plugin.zsh add zsh 2023-02-27 20:04:56 +05:30
README.md add zsh 2023-02-27 20:04:56 +05:30

dircycle

Plugin for cycling through the directory stack

This plugin enables directory navigation similar to using back and forward on browsers or common file explorers like Finder or Nautilus. It uses a small zle trick that lets you cycle through your directory stack left or right using Ctrl + Shift + Left / Right . This is useful when moving back and forth between directories in development environments, and can be thought of as kind of a nondestructive pushd/popd.

Enabling the plugin

  1. Open your .zshrc file and add dircycle in the plugins section:

    plugins=(
        # all your enabled plugins
        dircycle
    )
    
  2. Restart the shell or restart your Terminal session:

    $ exec zsh
    $
    

Usage Examples

Say you opened these directories on the terminal:

~$ cd Projects
~/Projects$ cd Hacktoberfest
~/Projects/Hacktoberfest$ cd oh-my-zsh
~/Projects/Hacktoberfest/oh-my-zsh$ dirs -v
0       ~/Projects/Hacktoberfest/oh-my-zsh
1       ~/Projects/Hacktoberfest
2       ~/Projects
3       ~

By pressing Ctrl + Shift + Left, the current working directory or $CWD will be from oh-my-zsh to Hacktoberfest. Press it again and it will be at Projects.

And by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Right, the $CWD will be from Projects to Hacktoberfest. Press it again and it will be at oh-my-zsh.

Here's a example history table with the same accessed directories like above:

Current $CWD Key press New $CWD
oh-my-zsh Ctrl + Shift + Left Hacktoberfest
Hacktoberfest Ctrl + Shift + Left Projects
Projects Ctrl + Shift + Left ~
~ Ctrl + Shift + Right Projects
Projects Ctrl + Shift + Right Hacktoberfest
Hacktoberfest Ctrl + Shift + Right oh-my-zsh
oh-my-zsh Ctrl + Shift + Right ~

Note the last traversal, when pressing Ctrl + Shift + Right on a last known $CWD, it will change back to the first known $CWD, which in the example is ~.

Here's an asciinema cast demonstrating the example above:

asciicast

Functions

Function Description
insert-cycledleft Change $CWD to the previous known stack, binded on Ctrl + Shift + Left
insert-cycledright Change $CWD to the next known stack, binded on Ctrl + Shift + Right

Rebinding keys

You can bind these functions to other key sequences, as long as you know the bindkey sequence. For example, these commands bind to Alt + Shift + Left / Right in xterm-256color:

bindkey '^[[1;4D' insert-cycledleft
bindkey '^[[1;4C' insert-cycledright

You can get the bindkey sequence by pressing Ctrl + V, then pressing the keyboard shortcut you want to use.