pushpopdir

A pushd/popd-like utility designed to behave exactly like pushd and popd except with a global stack.

The stack is not bound by a terminal process unlike the original commands. You can push a directory from one terminal process and pop it into another. I developed this because it comes in handy when I have multiple terminals open.

Info

• Utilizes IPC in form of shared memory. The stack is stored in shared memory which makes it "global".
• The stack is set to a max of 100 elements.
• To make the popping utility work, a function in .bashrc needs to be added. This is because the popping utility outputs the directory it has popped and a child process (popping utility) cannot change the parent process's (terminal) working directory. Therefore, we need to add a function to .bashrc so that the terminal can capture the output of the popping utility and cd into it. See more here.

Installation

Dependencies

• g++
• make
• bash (configure.sh is a bash script)

The default installation assumes bash is the default shell, but it is not a requirement.

$ ./configure.sh

This will compile and install the tool. You will need sudo privileges for the default installation directory. Then add the function below to your shell's configuration file.

Note: If you are using a different shell other than bash, please add the function above to your shell's respective configuration file, i.e. if you are using zsh, then it would go in .zshrc.

# Function for wrapping the output of global_pop_dir so we can cd.
function gpopdir() {
	if [ "$#" -eq 0 ]
	then
		cd "$(global_pop_dir)"
	else
		global_pop_dir "$@"
	fi
}

Usage

$ gpushdir <directory>     # Push a directory onto the stack.
$ gpushdir -r              # Deallocate the shared memory (stack).
$ gpopdir                  # Pop a directory from the stack and `cd` into it.
$ gpopdir -l               # List contents of the stack from top to bottom.

Todo

• Remove the -r option and implement the deallocation of the shared memory when the stack is being popped when empty. No need for this as it can be used to clear the stack.
• Add ability to list the contents of the stack.
• Add ability to clear the stack. Deallocating the stack already does this.
• Add ability to have multiple stacks.
• Include -u option for automatic updating of the program.

Contribution

Please fork and submit a pull request. If you find a bug, submit an issue. I welcome feedback as well.

License

This program is free software, distributed under the terms of the [GNU] General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, version 3 of the License (or any later version). For more information, see the file LICENSE.