The lsg tool is intended to give information on files in a directory in the same style as the ls command - but adding more information about the git status of those files. The idea is to make it possible to see the git status in the same style as the ls command.

The tool is known to work on linux (Ubuntu), and Mac OS (10.12 to 10.14), and probably works on other systems

An example 'asciicast' can be seen here: https://asciinema.org/a/219091

Files within a git repository:

• File changes are only shown in braces.
• Untracked and ignored files are shown:
  • {untracked} - File is not known to git
  • {ignored} - File is listed as a pattern in .gitignore
• Changed files in the working tree are shown:
  • {modified locally, 3 lines} - Changed in working tree, 3 lines affected (added or deleted)
  • {deleted locally} - File has been deleted in working tree
• Changed files in the cache are shown:
  • {staged, 3 lines} - Changes have been staged, 3 lines affected (added or deleted)
  • {deleted} - File has been marked for deletion in cache
  • {added} - File has been marked for addition in cache
  • {renamed} - File has been renamed to this name in the cache
• Merge status is show:
  • {unmerged, both added} - File was added by merge, and we added it as well.

Directories within a git repository:

• Only untracked or ignored state is shown (to make lists faster):
  • {untracked} - Directory is not known to git
  • {ignored} - Directory is listed as a pattern in .gitignore

Repositories and submodules:

• Branch details are in brackets:
  • (master) - directory is at the head of branch master
• Relative location compared to upstream is shown with arrows after the name
  • (master￪1) - 1 commits locally ready to be pushed
  • (master￬7) - 8 commits available in fetched upstream
  • (master⊗) - no upstream is configured
  • (master~2○) - detached head
• Submodule reference changes are described within the brackets:
  • (master added) - Submodule has been added
  • (master 8 forward) - Submodule has moved 8 changes forward in the same tree (in working tree)
  • (master 2 back) - Submodule has moved 2 changes forward in the same tree (in working tree)
  • (master new ref) - Submodule has changed to a ref unrelated to the old tree (in working tree)
  • (master staged 1 forward) - Submodule has moved 1 changes forward in the same tree (in the cache)
• Summary of changes to the files within the submodule are shown in braces:
  • {1 modified} - 1 file has been changed in the working tree
  • {2 staged} - 2 files have been changed and staged in the working tree
• All the above options can be combined.

• bash - version 3 or 4; although it'll be slower on 3 due to lack of associative arrays
• git - obviously
• ls
  • BSD version supplied with Mac OS or a GNU version
  • colour is supported (and explicitly forced)
• perl - version 5 upward (although might be version 3 compatible)
• grep - BSD version supplied with Mac OS or a GNU version
• sed - BSD version supplied with Mac OS or a GNU version

The lsg command can be used almost exactly like the ls command. The actual operation of the command is to invoke ls and then post-process the output, so most of the ls switches and uses are exactly the same. However, because it only handles single columns, the switches related to multi-column, comma-separated and dired formats are not usable.

Because the command expects to use colour, colouring will be forced in the ls output.

There is an extra switch that the lsg tool adds for showing nested subdirectories. The --nest (or --nest=<depth>) switch can be used to list subdirectories as well.

Colouring for the output is taken from git configuration. If you wish to change the colours used, the following configurations are read:

Towards the top of the code, there are a number of constant symbols assigned which define the symbols used to show some states. Only the branch state and relative position in the git history use symbols; otherwise words are used to describe the status.