Using command line tool

The pip package provides an executable command watcher-fs. To run it, use:

watcher-fs

You can run the watcher by typing that command into console. It needs a configuration file. If none is specified, watcher-fs looks for watcher-fs.cfg in the current working directory. The config file can be provided by executing:

watcher-fs --config <path/to/my_config_file.cfg>

Configuration for watcher-fs

You can register single watcher, where you specify:

• “path” as a glob pattern or a list of exact files to watch

• “trigger_type” - “any_file”, “per_file”

  • “any_file” - if any (or multiple) of specified path files change, trigger callback once

  • “per_file” - for every files specified by path, trigger the callback

• “actions” list of actions to execute when change is detected (callback consist of actions defined here)

  • action can be defined by simple string, i.e. “notify”

  • or as a dictionary where you specify params passed to the action, i.e. “cmd”

“notify” action just outputs a line in the command line describing what happened to what file

“cmd” executes command in your console. cmd command expects dictionary containing:

• “action” : “cmd”

• “cmd”: “<command to execute>” where {0} is replaced by the currently modified / created / deleted file. Example: “cat {0}”

Example configuration file for watcher-fs

{
    "path": "test_dir/**",
    "trigger_type": "any_file",
    "actions": [
        "notify",
        {
            "action": "cmd",
            "cmd": "ffprobe {0}"
        },
        {
            "action": "cmd",
            "cmd": "cat {0}"
        },
        "notify"
    ]
}

You can also specify/register multiple paths/patterns for watcher at once:

[
   {
      "path": "test_dir/**",
      "trigger_type": "any_file",
      "actions": [ "notify" ]
   },
   {
      "path": "test_dir/**.txt",
      "trigger_type": "per_file",
      "actions": [
         {
            "action": "cmd",
            "cmd": "encode.exe \"{0}\" -o \"../secret/{0}\""
         }
      ]
   }
]