rwatch – terminal command monitoring with diff highlighting

rwatch is a command-line utility that repeatedly executes a command and displays its output in the terminal. It provides an alternative to the traditional watch utility, adding colour handling, difference highlighting and configurable execution controls.

The program is designed for monitoring output that changes over time, such as system statistics, process information, directory listings and the results of diagnostic commands.

One of its main capabilities is highlighting differences between successive executions. Users can choose to highlight changes relative to the previous output or retain highlighting for changes made since monitoring began.

rwatch also provides several conditions for stopping execution. Monitoring can end when the command fails, when its output changes or when the output remains unchanged for a specified number of cycles. These facilities make it useful for waiting on particular system states without continuously watching the terminal.

This is free and open source software.

Key Features

• Repeatedly executes commands at configurable intervals.
• Displays command output in a full-screen terminal interface.
• Highlights differences between successive executions.
• Permanent difference mode retains changes relative to the initial output.
• Supports ANSI colour and style sequences.
• Configurable execution intervals through command-line options or environment variables.
• Optional audible notification when a command fails.
• Exit or suspend monitoring when a command returns an error.
• Automatically exit when monitored output changes.
• Exit when output remains unchanged for a specified number of cycles.
• Optionally hide the display header.
• Disable line wrapping for wide output.
• Execute commands directly without invoking a shell.

Website: github.com/davidhfrankelcodes/rwatch
Support:
Developer: davidhfrankelcodes
License: MIT License

rwatch is written in Rust. Learn Rust with our recommended free books and free tutorials

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