Trash Management

This script provides an alternative to permanently deleting files by moving them to a "trash" or "recycle" directory, where they can be reviewed, restored, or purged at a later time. It allows management of files in the trash directory through various commands, offering enhanced control over accidental deletions and organized file removal.

Features

• Move to Trash: Moves specified files or directories to a designated trash directory instead of deleting them permanently.
• Listing Trash Contents: Lists files in the trash, with the option to filter files by age (default: older than 7 days).
• Purge Old Files: Deletes files from the trash that are older than a specified number of days.
• Dry Run Mode: Displays command(s) that would be executed without making any actual changes.

In the future

• Restore Functionality: (Concept) Allows for restoring files to their original paths.
• Compression Support: (Concept) Compresses trash contents, supporting background execution and safe handling of active files.

Installation

You can download the repo from github if you wish, but to pull down the script and start using it on you Linux machine, run the following commands:

curl -o /usr/local/sbin/trash https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jerrens/Trash/refs/heads/main/trash
chmod +x /usr/local/sbin/trash

To confirm that trash is working, run one or more of the following commands:

trash version
trash help
trash dir

Default Settings

• Trash Directory Path: Default paths include $XDG_DATA_HOME/Trash or a custom ~/.recycle-bin if no XDG directory is found.
• Default Age for Purge/List: 7 days
• Verbose Level: 0 (adjustable via args)
• Dry Run: Disabled by default

Usage

trash  [command] [options] <path>...

Commands

• list [age]: Lists files in the trash that are older than the specified age (in days).
  • Default age: 7 days
  • Example: ./trash_management_script.sh list 5
• purge [age]: Permanently deletes files from the trash that are older than the specified age.
  • Example: ./trash_management_script.sh purge 10
• dir: Outputs the current trash directory path.
  • Example: ./trash_management_script.sh dir
• help: Displays help information.
  • Example: ./trash_management_script.sh help
• version: Displays the script version.
  • Example: ./trash_management_script.sh version
• : Moves the specified file(s) or directory(s) to the trash.
  • Example: ./trash_management_script.sh path/to/file1 path/to/file2

Options

These are set within the trash script itself and not normally edited by users. At some point in the future, they may be properly exposed via a config file or environment variables

• FILE_DELIM: Delimiter used for naming trashed files (default: ___TRASHED_ON__).
• DEFAULT_AGE: Default number of days for the purge and list commands (default: 7).
• VERBOSE: Controls logging output (higher values show more details).

Examples

1. Move files to trash:

   ./trash_management_script.sh path/to/file1 path/to/file2

2. List files older than 5 days in the trash:

   ./trash_management_script.sh list 5

3. Purge files older than 10 days:

   ./trash_management_script.sh purge 10

4. Check trash directory path:

   ./trash_management_script.sh dir