dotlink

A simple program that can help you link all your dotfiles in place.

Supports multiple presets, in order to avoid linking every file in every machine.

Features!

• Simple configuration file (TOML, YAML or JSON).
• Ability to have multiple presets for different machines.
• Cross-Platform (Unix and Windows).
• Doesn't overwrite links or files.
• If a link alreay exists, checks if it points to the right file.

A real life use case (simplicity showcase)

I've setup my own dotfiles repo with a dotlink.toml file.

In my case i simply clone the repo and run dotlink inside of it.

bash $ git clone https://github.com/TheRealLorenz/dotfiles.git $ cd dotfiles $ dotlink -p macOS

The program automatically picks up the config file inside the current working directory and links everything!

How does it work?

dotlink relies on a config file, named dotlink.toml, dotlink.yaml or dotlink.json.

In the config file you can specify multiple presets, where every presets is a vector of entries.

Presets are top level keys of the config file.

There are two types of entries:

• Simple entries: toml [[preset_name]] name = 'foo' # File name to = '/path/to/destination' # Destination directory rename = 'foo2' # Link name (optional, defaults to the file name) ```yaml preset_name:

  • name: 'foo' # File name to: '/path/to/destination' # Destination directory rename: 'foo2' # Link name (optional, defaults to the file name) jsonc { "preset_name": [ { "name": "foo", // File name "to": "/path/to/destination", // Destination directory "rename": "foo2" // Link name (optional, defaults to the file name) } ] } ```

• Multiple entries: toml [[preset_name]] names = [ 'foo', 'bar', 'baz' ] # Multiple file names to = '/path/to/destination/' # Destination directory ```yaml preset_name:

  • names: [ 'foo', 'bar', 'baz' ] # Multiple file names to: '/path/to/destination/' # Destination directory jsonc { "preset_name": [ { "names": [ "foo", "bar", "baz" ], // Multiple file names "to": "/path/to/destination/" // Destination directory } ] } ```

The program than simply symlinks every file specified by name or names to the corresponding to.

Presets example

```toml [[linux-wayland]] names = [ 'sway', 'sov', 'zsh', 'nushell', 'waybar' ] to = '~/.config'

[[linux-wayland]] name = 'rc.zsh' to = '~/' rename = '.zshrc'

[[linux-wayland]] name = 'tmux.conf' to = '~/' rename = '.tmux.conf'

[[linux-xorg]] names = [ 'i3', 'polybar', 'zsh', 'nushell' ] to = '~/.config'

[[linux-xorg]] name = 'rc.zsh' to = '~/' rename = '.zshrc'

[[linux-xorg]] name = 'tmux.conf' to = '~/' rename = '.tmux.conf'

[[server]] name = 'tmux.conf' to = '~/' rename = '.tmux.conf'

[[macOS]] name = 'zsh' to = '~/.config'

[[macOS]] name = 'rc.zsh' to = '~/' rename = '.zshrc'

[[macOS]] name = 'tmux.conf' to = '~/' rename = '.tmux.conf'

[[macOS]] name = 'nushell' to = '~/Application Support'

```

The example above defines 4 presets: linux-wayland, linux-xorg, server, macOS.

Usage

Running dotlink -h will show the help message ``` Usage: dotlink [OPTIONS] [PATH]

Arguments: [PATH]

Options: -p, --preset Which preset to use [default: default] -l, --list-presets
-F, --file Custom config file location --dry-run
-h, --help Print help

```

PATH represents the path to the dotfiles. Defaults to the current working directory.

Installing

Clone the repository

bash $ git clone https://github.com/TheRealLorenz/dotlink

Install with Cargo

bash $ cargo install --path dotlink

Planned features

• Tests.
• Automated tests.
• Manage linked files.
• Force linking.
• Publish to crates.io.