Tree – display directory hierarchies and filesystem information

Tree is a command-line utility that displays the contents of directories in a hierarchical, indented format. It provides a quick overview of a filesystem, showing how files and subdirectories are organized beneath a selected directory.

The program offers considerably more than a basic directory listing. It can display file metadata, filter entries by name, control recursion depth, and generate output in formats suitable for documentation or further processing.

Tree is particularly useful for examining project structures, understanding unfamiliar directory layouts, and producing a readable overview of large collections of files. Its extensive command-line options make it equally useful for interactive terminal work and shell scripts.

This is free and open source software.

Key Features

• Displays recursive directory listings with hierarchical branch characters and colourized filenames.
• Supports multiple starting directories and optional display of hidden files.
• Limits traversal to a specified depth and can restrict output to directories only.
• Displays file sizes, permissions, ownership, timestamps, and other filesystem metadata.
• Supports human-readable and SI file size units.
• Sorts entries by name, size, modification time, or version number, with reverse and directory-first ordering options.
• Filters filenames and directories using inclusion and exclusion patterns.
• Supports ignoring files according to Git ignore rules.
• Displays symbolic link targets and optionally follows symbolic links during traversal.
• Provides directory and file counts at the end of a listing.
• Calculates cumulative directory sizes and prunes empty directories when requested.
• Exports directory structures as HTML, XML, or JSON.
• Can generate terminal hyperlinks for files and directories.
• Reads directory listings from files or standard input instead of scanning the filesystem directly.
• Supports custom output character sets, indentation styles, and colour configurations.

Website: oldmanprogrammer.net
Support:
Developer: Steve Baker
License: GNU General Public License v2.0

Tree is written in C. Learn C with our recommended free books and free tutorials.

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