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eza (formerly exa, ls replacement) can now show the actual total size of directory contents (discuss.tchncs.de)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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cross-posted from: https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/13814482

I just noticed that eza can now display total disk space used by directories!

I think this is pretty cool. I wanted it for a long time.

There are other ways to get the information of course. But having it integrated with all the other options for listing directories is fab. eza has features like --git-awareness, --tree display, clickable --hyperlink, filetype --icons and other display, permissions, dates, ownerships, and other stuff. being able to mash everything together in any arbitrary way which is useful is handy. And of course you can --sort=size

docs:
  --total-size               show the size of a directory as the size of all
                             files and directories inside (unix only)
It also (optionally) color codes the information. Values measures in kb, mb, and gb are clear. Here is a screenshot to show that:
eza --long -h --total-size --sort=oldest --no-permissions --no-user
Of course it take a little while to load large directories so you will not want to use by default.

Looks like it was first implemented Oct 2023 with some fixes since then. (Changelog). PR #533 - feat: added recursive directory parser with `--total-size` flag by Xemptuous

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Nice! I'm sure they will appreciate your thorough report.

I wonder if they also plan to make an option about crossing filesystem boundaries. I have seen it commonly in this sort of use case.

Maybe all this complexity this is the reason why total dir size has not previously been integrated into this kind of tool. (Notable exception: lsd if you are interested.) I really hope the development persists though because being able to easily manipulate so many different kinds of information about the filesystem without spending hours/days/weeks/years creating bespoke shell scripts is super handy.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

I used lsd before switching to exa. BTW I was the one who suggested to integrated hyperlink option to lsd. :-) Not saying it wouldn't be added otherwise, but at least it sped up the process back then.^^

On the topic of filesystem boundaries, this is something I always have in mind. Hardlinks in example cannot be on two different drives, by its nature. It's an option I use with my own du script often: -x . It helps to keep things in check and simplifies some things, as I have a complex of multiple drives that are mounted into my home from various places, plus the symbolic links from Steam and so on. Avoiding other filesystems is part of my "workflow", if you so will and would like to see such an option as well.

I just noticed exa has an option -H or --links to list each file's number of hard links. So at least it is aware of hardlinks and could calculate the total size correctly.