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Welcome to the ShowTree Wiki

ShowTree is a modern, PowerShell-native replacement for the classic tree.com command, redesigned for clarity, performance, and cross-platform compatibility.

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🚀 Getting Started

If you are new to ShowTree, start here:

• Installation: Quick start via PowerShell Gallery.
• Basic Usage: Learn how to run your first tree discovery.
• Display Modes: Understand the differences between Normal, Tree, and List modes.

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🛠 Technical Documentation

For developers and contributors, these guides detail the internal mechanics of the module:

Core Architecture

Explore the decoupled streaming architecture. Learn about:

• The Traversal Engine: How Get-TreeItem handles recursive discovery using Win32 and PowerShell providers.
• The Rendering Pipeline: How Format-Tree converts data records into visual trees using connectors and styles.

Build System

Deep dive into our 100% PowerShell-based build process powered by Invoke-Build:

• Transpilation: How we support modern syntax (like ??= and ternary operators) while remaining compatible with Windows PowerShell 5.1.
• Bootstrapping: Automating the development environment setup.

Test Architecture

Understand our high-fidelity validation strategy:

• Fixture Trees: Our in-memory filesystem simulation for platform-agnostic testing.
• Import Logic: How we use hash-based fingerprinting to ensure tests always run against the latest source code without session pollution.

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🎨 Customization

ShowTree is highly extensible. Learn how to make it your own:

• Style Profiles: Customize ANSI colors for files, directories, and specific system states (Hidden, Symlink, Executable, etc.).
• Filtering Rules: Master the precedence logic of -Include and -Exclude glob patterns.

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🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions!

• Please review the Architecture Guide before submitting pull requests.
• Use the Issue Tracker for bug reports and feature requests.

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“tree.com hasn't changed since the 1990s — but your filesystem has.”