L command

l command is a smart file and directory viewer that can replace both less and ls. It intelligently detects the content type and displays it in the most appropriate way.

Usage

• l /path/to/file: Display file content appropriately
  • PDF files: Extract and display text content using pdfminer.six
  • Image files: Display in terminal using timg or show metadata
  • Audio/Video files: Show detailed metadata using ffprobe
  • XML/HTML files: Format and validate using xmllint
  • CSV/TSV files: Display structured table with column information
  • Markdown files: Render using glow, mdcat, or pandoc
  • YAML files: Format and validate using yq with color output
  • JSON files: Format and display using jq
  • Archive files: List contents using appropriate tools (unzip -l, tar -tvf)
  • Binary files: Display using hexdump -C
  • Text files: Short files via cat, long files via less -RFX
• l /path/to/directory: Works as ls -la --color=auto /path/to/directory

Detailed Behavior

File Type Detection and Processing

The tool uses a priority-based handler system to process different file types:

Priority Order: Image (65) > PDF (60) > Media (55) > JSON (50) > XML/HTML (45) > CSV (40) > Markdown (35) > YAML (30) > Archive (80) > Binary (20) > Default (0)

PDF Files (Priority: 60)

• Extensions: .pdf
• Content Detection: Files starting with %PDF-
• Processing: Extract text using pdfminer.six, display metadata and content
• Fallback: Show file information when pdfminer.six is unavailable

Image Files (Priority: 65)

• Extensions: .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .bmp, .webp, .tiff, .tif
• Content Detection: Magic bytes for PNG, JPEG, GIF, BMP, WebP, TIFF
• Processing: Display in terminal using timg, show dimensions and metadata
• Fallback: Show file information and dimensions when timg is unavailable

Audio/Video Files (Priority: 55)

• Extensions: Audio (.mp3, .flac, .wav, .aac, .ogg, .m4a, .wma), Video (.mp4, .mkv, .avi, .mov, .wmv, .flv, .webm, .m4v, .3gp)
• Processing: Analyze using ffprobe to show format, duration, bitrate, streams, and metadata
• Fallback: Show basic file information when ffmpeg is unavailable

XML/HTML Files (Priority: 45)

• Extensions: .xml, .html, .htm, .xhtml, .svg, .xsl, .xslt
• Content Detection: XML declaration, DOCTYPE, or XML/HTML tag patterns
• Processing: Format using xmllint --format, validate syntax
• Fallback: Show raw content when xmllint is unavailable

CSV/TSV Files (Priority: 40)

• Extensions: .csv, .tsv, .txt (with CSV content detection)
• Content Detection: Consistent delimiter patterns across lines
• Processing: Display structured table with column headers and data preview
• Features: Auto-detect delimiters (comma, tab, semicolon, pipe), show row/column counts

Markdown Files (Priority: 35)

• Extensions: .md, .markdown, .mdown, .mkd, .mdx
• Processing: Render using glow (with smart paging), mdcat, or pandoc
• Features: Smart paging based on content length, syntax highlighting fallback with bat
• Fallback: Show source with syntax highlighting

YAML Files (Priority: 30)

• Extensions: .yaml, .yml
• Content Detection: YAML document markers (---, %YAML) or YAML structure patterns
• Processing: Format using yq --colors, validate syntax
• Fallback: Show raw content with syntax highlighting when yq is unavailable

JSON Files (Priority: 50)

• Extensions: .json
• Content Detection: Files starting with { or [ (UTF-8 encoded)
• Processing: Format using jq --color-output, validate syntax
• Features: Size limit check (10MB), smart paging
• Fallback: Show raw content for invalid JSON or when jq is unavailable

Archive Files (Priority: 80)

• Extensions: ZIP (.zip, .jar, .war, .ear, .apk, .ipa), TAR (.tar.gz, .tgz, .tar.bz2, .tbz2, .tar.xz, .txz, .tar.zst)
• Processing: List contents using unzip -l or tar -tvf
• Features: Smart paging for large archive listings

Binary Files (Priority: 20)

• Detection: Uses file command or content-based detection (null bytes, non-printable characters)
• Processing: Display using hexdump -C
• Features: Handles various binary formats

Text Files (Default Priority: 0)

• Processing: Automatically detects file size and line count
• Features: Uses cat for short files, less -RFX for long files
• Smart Paging: Compares file line count with terminal height

Options

Currently, the command line arguments are as follows:

• Positional argument path: Path to the file or directory to display (default: current directory .)

Use Cases

• View file content quickly: l file.txt
• Check directory contents: l ./myfolder
• Read PDF documents: l document.pdf
• View images in terminal: l image.png
• Analyze media files: l video.mp4 or l audio.mp3
• Format structured data: l data.json, l config.yaml, l data.csv
• Read documentation: l README.md
• Validate markup: l page.html, l config.xml
• Inspect archives: l archive.zip, l backup.tar.gz
• Debug binary files: l binary.bin

Optional Dependencies

For enhanced functionality, install these optional tools:

• PDF support: pip install pdfminer.six
• Image display: Install timg via your package manager
• Media analysis: Install ffmpeg (includes ffprobe)
• XML formatting: Install libxml2-utils (includes xmllint)
• Markdown rendering: Install glow, mdcat, or pandoc
• YAML processing: Install yq
• Syntax highlighting: Install bat for enhanced fallback display

The tool gracefully handles missing dependencies by showing basic file information and falling back to appropriate display methods.