rmw_man.html

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title: rmw manual
layout: default
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<a href="#NAME">NAME</a><br>
<a href="#SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a><br>
<a href="#DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a><br>
<a href="#OPTIONS">OPTIONS</a><br>
<a href="#RESTORING">RESTORING</a><br>
<a href="#ENVIRONMENT">ENVIRONMENT</a><br>
<a href="#FILES">FILES</a><br>
<a href="#NOTES">NOTES</a><br>
<a href="#DESKTOP INTEGRATION">DESKTOP INTEGRATION</a><br>
<a href="#REMOVABLE MEDIA">REMOVABLE MEDIA</a><br>
<a href="#EXAMPLES">EXAMPLES</a><br>
<a href="#RESTORING">RESTORING</a><br>
<a href="#CONFIGURATION">CONFIGURATION</a><br>
<a href="#AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a><br>
<a href="#REPORTING BUGS">REPORTING BUGS</a><br>
<a href="#COPYRIGHT">COPYRIGHT</a><br>
<a href="#SEE ALSO">SEE ALSO</a><br>

<hr>


<h2>NAME
<a name="NAME"></a>
</h2>


<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">rmw -
safe-remove utility for the command line</p>

<h2>SYNOPSIS
<a name="SYNOPSIS"></a>
</h2>


<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em"><b>rmw</b>
[<i>OPTION</i>]... <i>FILE</i>...</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">Move FILE(s) to
a WASTE directory listed in configuration file</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em"><b>rmw -s <br>
rmw -u <br>
rmw -z</b> FILE...</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">Restore FILE(s)
from a WASTE directory</p>

<h2>DESCRIPTION
<a name="DESCRIPTION"></a>
</h2>


<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">rmw (ReMove to
Waste) is a trashcan/recycle bin utility for the command
line. It can move and restore files to and from directories
specified in a configuration file, and can also be
integrated with your regular desktop trash folder (if your
desktop environment uses the FreeDesktop.org Trash
specification). One of the unique features of rmw is the
ability to purge items from your waste (or trash)
directories after x number of days.</p>

<h2>OPTIONS
<a name="OPTIONS"></a>
</h2>


<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em"><b>-h</b>,
<b>--help</b></p>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">show help for command line
options</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%;"><b>-c</b>, <b>--config</b>
FILE</p>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">use an alternate
configuration</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%;"><b>-l</b>, <b>--list</b></p>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">list waste directories</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%;"><b>-g[N_DAYS]</b>,
<b>--purge</b>[=<i>N_DAYS</i>]</p>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">purge expired files; optional
argument &rsquo;N_DAYS&rsquo; overrides
&rsquo;expire_age&rsquo; value from the configuration file
(Examples: <b>-g90</b>, <b>--purge</b>=<i>90</i>)</p>

<p style="margin-left:18%; margin-top: 1em">By default,
purging is disabled (&rsquo;expire_age&rsquo; is set to
&rsquo;0&rsquo; in the configuration file). To enable, set
the &rsquo;expire_age&rsquo; value in your config file to a
value greater than &rsquo;0&rsquo;</p>

<p style="margin-left:18%; margin-top: 1em">You can use
&rsquo;-vvg&rsquo; to see when the remaining files in the
waste directories will expire.</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%;"><b>-o</b>, <b>--orphaned</b></p>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">check for orphaned files
(maintenance)</p>

<p style="margin-left:18%; margin-top: 1em">An orphan is an
item in a waste directory that has no corresponding
<b>.trashinfo</b> file, or vice versa. This option is
intended primarily for developers. Orphans may happen while
testing code changes or if rmw is unintentionally released
with a bug. <br>
(see also:
&lt;https://theimpossibleastronaut.github.io/rmw-website/faq.html#dot_trashinfo&gt;)</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%;"><b>-f</b>, <b>--force</b></p>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">allow purging of expired
files</p>

<p style="margin-left:18%; margin-top: 1em">By default,
force is not required to enable the purge feature. If you
would like to require it, add &rsquo;force_required&rsquo;
to your config file.</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%;"><b>--empty</b></p>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">completely empty (purge) all
waste directories</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%;"><b>-r</b>, <b>-R</b>,
<b>--recursive</b></p>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">option used for compatibility
with rm (recursive operation is enabled by default)</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%;"><b>--top-level-bypass</b></p>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">bypass protection of top-level
files (added in v0.9.0)</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%;"><b>-v</b>, <b>--verbose</b></p>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">increase output messages</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%;"><b>-w</b>, <b>--warranty</b></p>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">display warranty</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%;"><b>-V</b>, <b>--version</b></p>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">display version and license
information</p>

<h3>RESTORING
<a name="RESTORING"></a>
</h3>


<table width="100%" border="0" rules="none" frame="void"
       cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tr valign="top" align="left">
<td width="9%"></td>
<td width="27%">


<p style="margin-top: 1em"><b>-z</b>, <b>--restore</b>
FILE(s)</p> </td>
<td width="64%">
</td></tr>
</table>

<p style="margin-left:18%; margin-top: 1em">To restore
items, specify the path to them in the &lt;WASTE&gt;/files
directory (wildcards ok).</p>

<p style="margin-left:18%; margin-top: 1em">When restoring
an item, if a file or directory with the same name already
exists at the destination, the item being restored will have
a time/date string (formatted as &quot;_%H%M%S-%y%m%d&quot;)
appended to it (e.g. &rsquo;foo_164353-210508&rsquo;).</p>

<p><b>-s</b>, <b>--select</b></p></table>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">select files from list to
restore</p>

<p style="margin-left:18%; margin-top: 1em">Displays a list
of items in your waste directories. You can use the
left/right cursor keys to switch between waste directories.
Use the space bar to select the items you wish to restore,
then press enter to restore all selected items.</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%;"><b>-u</b>,
<b>--undo-last</b></p>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">undo last move</p>

<p style="margin-left:18%; margin-top: 1em">Restores files
that were last rmw&rsquo;ed</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%;"><b>-m</b>,
<b>--most-recent-list</b></p>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">list most recently rmw&rsquo;ed
files</p>

<h2>ENVIRONMENT
<a name="ENVIRONMENT"></a>
</h2>


<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">These variables
are intended only to be used for testing. See the
code-testing page on the rmw website for more details.
<b><br>
RMW_FAKE_HOME <br>
RMW_FAKE_YEAR</b></p>

<h2>FILES
<a name="FILES"></a>
</h2>


<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">On some systems,
$HOME/.config and $HOME/.local/share may be replaced with
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME and $XDG_DATA_HOME <i><br>
$HOME/.config/rmwrc</i></p>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">configuration file</p>


<p style="margin-left:9%;"><i>$HOME/.local/share/rmw/purge-time</i></p>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">text file that stores the time
of the last purge</p>


<p style="margin-left:9%;"><i>$HOME/.local/share/rmw/mrl</i></p>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">text file containing a list of
items that were last rmw&rsquo;ed</p>

<h2>NOTES
<a name="NOTES"></a>
</h2>


<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">rmw will not
move items from one file system to another. If you try to
rmw a file but don&rsquo;t have a waste directory defined in
your configuration file that matches the file system on
which it resides, rmw will refuse to do anything with
it.</p>

<h3>DESKTOP INTEGRATION
<a name="DESKTOP INTEGRATION"></a>
</h3>


<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">Items will be
moved to a waste basket in the same manner as when using the
&quot;move to trash&quot; option from your desktop GUI. They
will be separated from your desktop trash by default; or if
you wish for them to share the same &quot;trash&quot;
directory, uncomment the line (in your config file):</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">(Note that this
does not apply to MacOS; while rmw is yet unable to
integrate with the desktop trash directory, you&rsquo;ll
still be able to use the default Waste directory.)</p>

<p style="margin-left:18%; margin-top: 1em">WASTE =
$HOME/.local/share/Trash</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">then comment out
the line</p>

<p style="margin-left:18%; margin-top: 1em">WASTE =
$HOME/.local/share/Waste</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">You can reverse
which directories are enabled at any time if you ever change
your mind. If both directories are on the same filesystem,
rmw will use the directory listed first in your config
file.</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">It can be
beneficial to have them both uncommented. If your desktop
trash directory (&#732;/.local/share/Trash) is listed after
the rmw default (&#732;/.local/share/Waste) and uncommented,
rmw will place newly rmw&rsquo;ed items into the default,
and it will purge expired files from both.</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">When
rmw&rsquo;ing an item, if a file or directory with the same
name already exists in the waste (or trash) directory, it
will not be overwritten; instead, the current file being
rmw&rsquo;ed will have a time/date string (formatted as
&quot;_%H%M%S-%y%m%d&quot;) appended to it (e.g.
&rsquo;foo_164353-210508&rsquo;).</p>

<h3>REMOVABLE MEDIA
<a name="REMOVABLE MEDIA"></a>
</h3>


<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">The first time
rmw is run, it will create a configuration file. Waste
directories will be created automatically (Except for when
the &rsquo;,removable&rsquo; option is used; see below)
e.g., if &rsquo;$HOME/.local/share/Waste&rsquo; is
uncommented in the config file, these two directories will
be created:</p>


<p style="margin-left:18%; margin-top: 1em">$HOME/.local/share/Waste/files
<br>
$HOME/.local/share/Waste/info</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">If a WASTE
directory is on removable media, you may append
&rsquo;,removable&rsquo;. In that case, rmw will not try to
create it; it must be initially created manually. When rmw
runs, it will check to see if the directory exists (which
means the removable media containing the directory is
currently mounted). If rmw can&rsquo;t find the directory,
it is assumed the media containing the directory isn&rsquo;t
mounted and that directory will not be used for the current
run of rmw.</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">With the media
mounted, once you manually create the waste directory for
that device (e.g. &quot;/mnt/flash/.Trash-$UID&quot;) and
run rmw, it will automatically create the two required child
directories &quot;files&quot; and &quot;info&quot;.</p>

<h2>EXAMPLES
<a name="EXAMPLES"></a>
</h2>


<h3>RESTORING
<a name="RESTORING"></a>
</h3>


<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">rmw -z
&#732;/.local/share/Waste/files/foo <br>
rmw -z &#732;/.local/share/Waste/files/bars*</p>

<h3>CONFIGURATION
<a name="CONFIGURATION"></a>
</h3>



<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">WASTE=/mnt/flash/.Trash-$UID,
removable</p>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">When using the removable
attribute, you must also manually create the directory</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%;">expire_age = 45</p>

<p style="margin-left:18%;">rmw will permanently delete
files that have been in the waste (or trash) for more than
45 days.</p>

<h2>AUTHORS
<a name="AUTHORS"></a>
</h2>


<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">Project Manager:
Andy Alt <br>
The RMW team: see AUTHORS.md</p>

<h2>REPORTING BUGS
<a name="REPORTING BUGS"></a>
</h2>


<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">Report bugs to
&lt;https://github.com/theimpossibleastronaut/rmw/issues&gt;.</p>

<h2>COPYRIGHT
<a name="COPYRIGHT"></a>
</h2>


<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">Copyright &copy;
2012-2024 Andy Alt</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">License GPLv3+:
GNU GPL version 3 or later
&lt;https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html&gt;. <br>
This is free software: you are free to change and
redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by law.</p>

<h2>SEE ALSO
<a name="SEE ALSO"></a>
</h2>


<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">mv(1), rm(1),
rmdir(1)</p>

<p style="margin-left:9%; margin-top: 1em">Full
documentation at:
&lt;https://theimpossibleastronaut.github.io/rmw-website/&gt;</p>