Description

Simple list selection menu for use in scripts. The menu is displayed on stderr so as to allow for output in a pipeline or to a file. Arguments (i.e list items) may be read from stdin, supplied on the command-line, or obtained from the items in a directory (when using --list [dir]).

Compiling

Simply run

mkdir build && cd build
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
make -j$(nproc)

from the project's root directory. Optionally, you may use:

• -DSYSTEM_FTXUI=1 to use prebuilt/installed ftxui libraries.
• -DLSEL_STATIC=1 to create a static binary. However, please note that the TUI library FTXUI will be statically compiled either way.

Install

Once compiled, just place the lSel binary anywhere in your PATH.

Usage

The full list of options may be seen with lSel --help. Along with the options described there, lSel supports reading args from both the command-line and stdin (however/at this time, it can not do both at once). Please note that if you use the --file option, that the resulting selections will be sent to both the given file and to stdout. So, if you want to simply output to a file, use your shell's redirection operators (e.g >/>> for bash).

• Selections are made by either pressing Enter or Space.
• Once you have made your selection, you may use either F1, Control-c, or y to continue.
• When specifying a(n output) delimiter with -d, the following escape characters will be recognized (if quoted):
  • \n: newline
  • \t: tab
  • \v: vertical tab
  • \r: return
  • \0: null byte If for some reason you need an escaped char that is not listed above as the output delimiter, then (at least, if you're using bash), may use the following syntax (with newline being used as an example)

  lSel -d $'\n'
  

Further examples

Use --list [dir] option and xargs to delete selected items:

lSel -l | xargs rm -rf

Use --list [dir] option and xargs to move selected items:

lSel -l | xargs -I{} mv {} <newDir>

Open a file with vim after making a single selection:

lvim() {
   vim "$(lSel -l -m1)"
}
lvim

Notes

I believe this should work on both windows and Linux, but I have, as of yet, only tested it on Linux. PLEASE NOTE I DO NOT GUARANTEE THIS WILL OPERATE CORRECTLY ON YOUR SYSTEM. So before sending output to a file you do not want accidentally overridden, please test it out to make sure it works as you expect. Should you notice any issues, you can (and are encouraged to) let me know and I'll fix it as soon as I am able.