VariableReference

Variable Reference

MarkEmptyDirs allows you to use template variables in marker text as well as marker in create and delete hooks. These variables are evaluated every time a new marker file is to be created or if a create or delete hook is to be executed. The evaluated results then replace the variables.

For instance, in order to create marker files containing a unique id, the current username, and the current time you could created a marker text template file marker.txt:

CREATOR: §env:USER§
ID: §guid§
TIME: §datetime:MM/dd/yyyy§

Do not delete this file.

And execute the following command:

MarkEmptyDirs update --file=marker.txt PROJECT

You can also provide a marker text template directly on the command line. Then the following command creates marker files identical to the one shown previously:

MarkEmptyDirs update --text="CREATOR: §env:USER§§lf§ID: §guid§§lf§TIME: §datetime:MM/dd/yyyy§§lf:2§Do not delete this file.§lf§" PROJECT

Using marker files with unique content allows to indicate renames of directories automatically. Mercurial as well as Git have such a feature. They try to guess renames by considering file similarities.

Currently, the following variables are available:

datetime

get current UTC time

SYNTAX: §datetime[:FORMAT]§

ARGUMENT	DESCRIPTION
FORMAT	Expression determining the format of the result string.

This expressions may be used for the date:

EXPRESSION	OUTPUT
d	the day as number without a leading zero (1 to 31)
dd	the day as number with a leading zero (01 to 31)
ddd	the abbreviated localized day name (e.g. 'Mon' to 'Sun')
dddd	the long localized day name (e.g. 'Monday' to 'Qt::Sunday')
M	the month as number without a leading zero (1-12)
MM	the month as number with a leading zero (01-12)
MMM	the abbreviated localized month name (e.g. 'Jan' to 'Dec')
MMMM	the long localized month name (e.g. 'January' to 'December')
yy	the year as two digit number (00-99)
yyyy	the year as four digit number

This expressions may be used for the time:

EXPRESSION	OUTPUT
h	the hour without a leading zero (0 to 23 or 1 to 12 if AM/PM display)
hh	the hour with a leading zero (00 to 23 or 01 to 12 if AM/PM display)
m	the minute without a leading zero (0 to 59)
mm	the minute with a leading zero (00 to 59)
s	the second without a leading zero (0 to 59)
ss	the second with a leading zero (00 to 59)
z	the milliseconds without leading zeroes (0 to 999)
zzz	the milliseconds with leading zeroes (000 to 999)
AP	use AM/PM display and replace by either "AM" or "PM"
ap	use am/pm display and replace by either "am" or "pm"

dir

get base or current directory

SYNTAX: §dir[:base\|base.abs\|base.rel\|cur\|cur.abs\|cur.rel]§

ARGUMENT	DESCRIPTION
base	name of base directory
base.abs	absolute path of base directory
base.rel	path of base directory relative to current directory
cur	name of current directory
cur.abs	absolute path of current directory
cur.rel	path of current directory relative to base directory

env

get the value from an environment variable

SYNTAX: §env:NAME§

ARGUMENT	DESCRIPTION
NAME	the environment variable's name

guid

get a new globally unique identifier

SYNTAX: §guid§

lf

get line feed character(s)

SYNTAX: §lf[:COUNT]§

ARGUMENT	DESCRIPTION
COUNT	integer denoting how often character is repeated

marker

get marker name

SYNTAX: §marker[:name|name.abs|name.rel]§

ARGUMENT	DESCRIPTION
name	name of marker file
name.abs	absolute path of marker file
name.rel	path of marker file relative to base directory

separator

get platform specific directory, path, or volume separator

SYNTAX: §separator:dir|path|vol§

ARGUMENT	DESCRIPTION
dir	directory separator (e.g. '' on Windows)
path	path separator (e.g. ';' on Windows)
vol	volume separator (e.g. ':' on Windows)

sp

get space character(s)

SYNTAX: §sp[:COUNT]§

ARGUMENT	DESCRIPTION
COUNT	integer denoting how often character is repeated