ncommands

A personal suite of custom, lightweight command-line utilities written in C to enhance my Arch Linux workflow.

This repository houses bespoke tools designed to streamline everyday tasks, provide custom functionality, and deepen my understanding of system programming. All commands are prefixed with n (e.g., ntree, nnote) to prevent naming conflicts with existing system utilities and to clearly identify them as my own.

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Installation

To get these commands up and running on your system:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone [https://github.com/IBXCODECAT/ncommands.git](https://github.com/IBXCODECAT/ncommands.git)
   cd ncommands

2. Compile the commands: Each command needs to be compiled individually. Navigate into the command's directory and use gcc. For example, to compile ntree:

   cd ntree/
   gcc ntree.c -o ntree
   cd .. # Go back to the ncommands root

   Repeat this for any other command you want to install.

3. Place executables in your PATH: It's recommended to move the compiled executables into a directory that's part of your system's PATH environment variable, such as ~/bin/. This allows you to run them from anywhere.

   mkdir -p ~/bin/
   mv ntree/ntree ~/bin/
   # Repeat for other commands, e.g., mv nnote/nnote ~/bin/

4. Update your shell's PATH (if needed): If ~/bin/ is not already in your PATH, add it to your shell's configuration file (~/.bashrc for Bash, ~/.zshrc for Zsh, etc.):

   echo 'export PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
   source ~/.bashrc # Or source ~/.zshrc

   Then, reload your shell configuration (as shown above) or open a new terminal session.

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Commands

Currently available commands in ncommands:

`nhex` - Hexadecimal File Viewer

A custom implementation of a hexadecimal viewer that prints the binary content of a file in a human-readable hex + ASCII format. Automatically adapts its layout based on your terminal width for improved readability.

Features:

• Displays file contents in both hexadecimal and ASCII side-by-side.
• Automatically adjusts bytes per line based on terminal width.
• Handles non-printable characters gracefully with . in ASCII view.
• Dynamically allocates memory for performance and flexibility.
• Provides clean formatting with offset addresses, aligned output, and center spacing.

Usage:

nhex <file_path>  # Displays the binary content of <file_path> in hex format

Example Output:

00000000: 7F 45 4C 46 02 01 01 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |.ELF............|
00000010: 02 00 3E 00 01 00 00 00  80 00 40 00 00 00 00 00  |..>.......@.....|

Notes:

• If the output is redirected or piped (not a terminal), a default width of 16 bytes per line is used.
• Terminal widths that are too small will default to a minimum of 4 bytes per line.
• Output lines show the byte offset, a hex dump, and ASCII equivalents.

`ntree` - Visual File Tree Viewer

A custom implementation of the tree command, displaying directory contents in a clear, graphical tree format. It sorts directories before files and then alphabetically, providing an intuitive overview of your file system.

Features:

• Recursively lists files and directories.
• Displays a familiar tree structure with ├──, └──, and │ connectors.
• Sorts entries: directories first, then files, both alphabetically.
• Handles dynamic directory sizes.
• Robust memory management.

Usage:

ntree             # Displays the tree for the current directory
ntree /path/to/dir # Displays the tree for a specific directory

Example Output:

.
├── nhex
│   └── nhex.c
├── ntree
│   └── ntree.c
├── .gitattributes
├── LICENSE
└── README.m