txttree

txttree is a command line tool for organizing and displaying hierarchical relationships using a folder-based structure and text files. Basically, txttree is like tree for text files with some added features for interpreting file contents like properties and values.

Example

txttree can be used to maintain information or organizational structure in a text based format. For example, we could display the structure of Easy Company, a U.S. Army unit which was described in the series Band of Brothers.

$ python -m txttree "test/Easy Company"
Easy Company
│ CO: Capt. Richard Winters   (1944-06-07)
│ XO: 1st Lt. Harry Welsh   (1944-06-08)
│ First Sergeant: SFC Carwood Lipton   (1944-06-08)
├─ 1st Platoon
│  │ Platoon Leader: 1st Lt. Thomas Peacock
│  │ Assistant Leader: 2nd Lt. Charles Hudson
│  │ Platoon Sergeant: SFC Floyd Talbert
│  ├─ 1st Squad
│  ├─ 2nd Squad
│  ├─ 3rd Squad
│  └─ Mortar Squad
├─ 2nd Platoon
│  │ Platoon Leader: 1st Lt. Lynn Compton
│  │ Assistant Leader: 2nd Lt. John Pisanchin
│  │ Platoon Sergeant: SFC William Guarnere
│  ├─ 1st Squad
│  ├─ 2nd Squad
│  ├─ 3rd Squad
│  └─ Mortar Squad
└─ 3rd Platoon
   │ Platoon Leader: 1st Lt. Robert Brewer
   │ Assistant Leader: 2nd Lt. Ben Perkins
   │ Platoon Sergeant: SFC Amos Taylor
   ├─ 1st Squad
   ├─ 2nd Squad
   ├─ 3rd Squad
   └─ Mortar Squad

The txttree command takes a root folder: in this case test/Easy Company. txttree then recurses through the directory structure and prints the contents of folders and properties in text files, like the tree command in linux. See below how txttree interprets text files. The example data is in the test/ folder in this repository.

Usage

 Usage: python -m txttree [OPTIONS] ROOT_DIRECTORY_PATH                         

╭─ Arguments ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ *    root_directory_path      PATH  Root directory for the hierarchy.        │
│                                     [default: None]                          │
│                                     [required]                               │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
╭─ Options ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ --help          Show this message and exit.                                  │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

File and folder structure

txttree uses folder structure for the hierarchy and the information in text files for the properties. All text files (with extension .txt) in subfolders will be searched for properties and displayed as a node. The text files describe data in a log-style format.

This is an example of a text file with parameters that can be interpreted by txttree. This fictional example file describes the structure of Easy Company in a log.

The command structure of Easy Company is as follows:
CO: 1st Lt. Thomas Meehan
XO: 1st Lt. Richard Winters
First Sergeant: William Evans

1944-06-06
It is D-Day.
The landings have begun.

1944-06-07
No sign of 1st Lt. Thomas Meehan.
Capt. Richard Winters assumes the role of commanding officer.
CO: Capt. Richard Winters

This file demonstrates three possible line types in a text file:

• A property is a line in a text file that starts with a property key like "CO", a colon ":" and a property value like "1st Lt. Thomas Meehan". For example: CO: 1st Lt. Thomas Meehan. You are free to chose which property keys make sense for your use case.
  • If the same property is defined multiple times in the file, the last value of the property is taken. This makes it easy to update data in the future.
  • A property key can be one to three words long.
• An optional date line indicates the date of the text or properties. The date will be shown in txttree output in parentheses after the property, for example: CO: Capt. Richard Winters (1944-06-07). A date line can be in three formats:
  • ISO format: for example "1944-06-06",
  • Short format: for example "440606",
  • Long format: for example "19440606".
• A normal text line, which is neither a property nor a date line. Normal text lines are ignored by txttree.

Text files in a folder will be displayed as separate nodes. The only exception is a text file with the same name as the parent folder: these properties are displayed under the parent folder.

Installation

Releases are made available on PyPi. The recommended installation method is via pip:

pip install txttree