Listen

A simple automation program written in Perl that runs shell command(s) when the specified file(s) are modified.

Why Use Listen?

• Don't switch between terminals and run that command every time! Let Listen do it for you.
• Very useful for singular files or small projects.
  • For example, you can automatically compile a C++ file with g++ anytime you make a change to that source file.
  • Same goes for simple Python scripts, Bash scripts, etc.
• Great for students who work on a small set of source files for assignments.

Other Features

• Run the command when any or all files specified are modified.
• Run the command before Listen starts waiting for modifications.
• Use /bin/cksum to determine file modification instead of the time.
  • Could be useful for binaries.
  • Distributed with Unix-like OSes, such as Linux, BSD, and macOS. No configuration required between OSes.
  • However, if you use Windows (why?), you must use certutils or a third-party tool by modifying the script.
• Timeout between modifications
  • Helpful if linters are involved, such as clang-format, to avoid multiple runs of a command.
• Free and Open Source software!

Documentation

Most of these documents do not exist yet other than Listen's built in --help flag.

• install.md: Install instructions
• usage.md: Basic operation of Listen
• contributing.md: Contributing guidelines for pull requests
• LICENSE: Listen's license agreement

License and Warranty Disclaimer

Listen is distributed under the GNU General Public License v3, of which you agree to by modifying, distributing, or otherwise using this software.

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.