File Icons

Nibtree can show an icon for each file's type. A PHP file gets the PHP logo, a Dockerfile gets the Docker whale, and a lock file gets a lock. Icons are off by default, because every icon set uses some memory.

[TODO:file-icons.png]

Choose a level

Open Settings > Appearance > File icons, or use View > File Icons in the menu bar. There are three levels:

Level	What you see	Memory
No icons	One plain file icon for every file, as before.	Nothing extra is loaded.
Minimal	Simple shapes, colored by type: code, JSON, Markdown, images, archives, lock files and more. The colors follow your color theme.	A small icon set is loaded.
Material Icons	Full colored icons for over 1,000 file types, from the Material Icon Theme.	A bigger icon set is loaded. Uses the most memory.

The level applies at once. You do not need to restart.

Where icons show

• The Files panel, in place of the plain file icon. Folders keep their folder icons.
• The Changes list, before each file name.
• The changed files of a commit: in the Log, a commit tab, File History and the Reflog.

How an icon is picked

Nibtree looks at the file name first, then at the end of the name (the extension):

• Some names have their own icon, such as package.json, Dockerfile, README.md and .gitignore.
• Otherwise the longest matching extension wins: cart.spec.ts gets the test icon before the TypeScript icon.
• Case does not matter: LOGO.PNG is an image.
• A file type the set does not know gets the plain file icon.

With Material Icons, a few icons have a light version that is used with a light color theme, so they stay easy to see.

Memory

Memory matters in Nibtree, so each level loads only its own icons:

• With No icons, no icon set is loaded at all.
• With Minimal, only the Minimal set is loaded.
• With Material Icons, only the Material set is loaded, and the Minimal set is dropped.
• When you switch to another level, the icons of the level you left are released.

Material Icons loads its list of file types when you choose it. Each icon picture is loaded the first time a file of that type is on screen. A list with thousands of files of a few types still loads only those few pictures.

In our test with 2,400 changed files in the Changes list, Minimal used about 2 to 10 MB more than No icons, and Material Icons about 10 to 15 MB more than Minimal. With fewer files the cost is smaller. The web view gives memory back on its own schedule, so the number may not drop the moment you switch back. You can watch it in the status bar: see Memory Use.

Credits

The Material Icons level uses icons from Material Icon Theme, under the MIT license. The license file ships with the app.

Related

• Files Panel
• Changes and Commits
• Settings
• Menus