# HOWTO: Color files by extension in tcsh



## Michael-Sanders (Feb 9, 2012)

A simple little hack (for tcsh) that allows ease of use when adding/removing/changing file colors based on file extension. Enjoy.


```
# ~/.colors v0.99 for FreeBSD tcsh - [c]2012 Michael S. Sanders

# SYNOPSIS:  an enhancement  of  the tcsh  builtin  'LS_COLORS' providing  a
# method of  organizing/externalizing file  colors. The  strategy is  to use
# only native FreeBSD components (no 3rd party pkgs or ports).

# REQUIREMENTS: tcsh, awk, & your favorite editor

# UPDATES (if any): http://topcat.hypermart.net/index.html

# LEGALESE:  Permission is  hereby granted,  free of  charge, to  any person
# obtaining a copy of this  software and associated documentation files (the
# "Software"),  to  deal  in  the Software  without  restriction,  including
# without  limitation  the rights  to  use,  copy, modify,  merge,  publish,
# distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies  of the Software, and to permit
# persons  to whom  the  Software is  furnished  to do  so,  subject to  the
# following conditions:
#
# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
# all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
#
# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT  NOT LIMITED TO THE  WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
# FITNESS FOR  A PARTICULAR PURPOSE  AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO  EVENT SHALL
# THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
# LIABILITY, WHETHER  IN AN ACTION  OF CONTRACT, TORT OR  OTHERWISE, ARISING
# FROM,  OUT OF  OR IN  CONNECTION WITH  THE SOFTWARE  OR THE  USE OR  OTHER
# DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

# SETUP (3 steps):
#
# 1. save this file in your home directory as '.colors'
#
# 2. add the following construct to ~/.tcshrc, or ~/.cshrc (excluding '#')
#
# if (-f ~/.colors) then
#    alias ls 'ls-F'
#    set listflags='ha'
#    set color
#    setenv LS_COLORS `awk '! /^#|^$|\t/ {printf $1"="$2":"}' ~/.colors`
# endif
#
# 3. (re)source your ~/.tcshrc by invoking 'source ~/.tcshrc'

# SYNTAX: <*.ext><space>[<intensity<;>]<foreground>[<;><background>]
#
# note: square brackets above indicate items are optional
#
# examples...
#
# *.mp3       31 # normal red
# *.png     1;32 # bold green
# *.doc     4;33 # underlined yellow
# *.man     5;34 # flashing blue
# *.c      30;46 # black foreground/cyan background
# *.xyz 05;31;43 # flashing red foreground/yellow background
#
# ISO 6429 color table
#
# color    intensity     foreground   background
# ----------------------------------------------
# black  | 0 normal    | 30         | 40
# red    | 1 bold      | 31         | 41
# green  | 4 underline | 32         | 42
# yellow | 5 flashing  | 33         | 43
# blue   |             | 34         | 44
# purple |             | 35         | 45
# cyan   |             | 36         | 46
# white  |             | 37         | 47
# ----------------------------------------------

# COLORS: add/remove/season to taste

# media (red)

*.avi        31
*.bmp        31
*.flc        31
*.fli        31
*.flv        31
*.gif        31
*.jpeg       31
*.jpg        31
*.mid        31
*.mov        31
*.mp3        31
*.mpeg       31
*.mpg        31
*.nes        31
*.pls        31
*.png        31
*.swf        31
*.wav        31
*.xbm        31
*.xpm        31

# archive (yellow/brown)

*.bz2        33
*.gz         33
*.img        33
*.iso        33
*.jar        33
*.tar        33
*.tar.gz     33
*.tar.xz     33
*.tbz        33
*.tgz        33
*.xz         33
*.zip        33

# docs (purple)

*.1          35
*.asc        35
*.csv        35
*.doc        35
*.htm        35
*.html       35
*.info       35
*.log        35
*.man        35
*.nfo        35
*.pdf        35
*.pod        35
*.ps         35
*.sig        35
*.tex        35
*.txt        35

# rc/dot files (cyan)

*.cshrc      36
*.exrc       36
*.history    36
*.inputrc    36
*.login      36
*.logout     36
*.mailrc     36
*.muttrc     36
*.nano       36
*.netrc      36
*.newsrc     36
*.pid        36
*.profile    36
*.shrc       36
*.tcshrc     36
*.xinitrc    36

# source (gray)

*.4th      1;30
*.asm      1;30
*.awk      1;30
*.c        1;30
*.cpp      1;30
*.css      1;30
*.diff     1;30
*.git      1;30
*.h        1;30
*.js       1;30
*.lex      1;30
*.lisp     1;30
*.lua      1;30
*.patch    1;30
*.php      1;30
*.pl       1;30
*.py       1;30
*.rb       1;30
*.sed      1;30
*.sh       1;30
*.sql      1;30
*.tcl      1;30
*.xml      1;30
*.yak      1;30
Makefile   1;30

# file attributes (these *always* overide other colors)

no            0 # normal (non-filename) text
fi            0 # regular file
di           34 # directory
ln         1;35 # symbolic link
pi           33 # named pipe (fifo)
so         1;35 # socket
do         1;35 # door
bd         1;33 # block device
cd         1;32 # character device
ex         1;32 # executable file
mi              # (none) missing file (defaults to fi)
or              # (none) orphaned symbolic link (defaults to ln)

# eof
```


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## mb2015 (Dec 1, 2015)

This is great. It brings some GNU `dircolors` functionality to users of tcsh's `ls-F` builtin (e.g. via an "ls" alias) on BSD.

One correction: You can't really specify files to color by their exact name, only by their suffix. So the Makefile entry doesn't actually work unless you change it to *Makefile. This is also required for compatibility with GNU `ls`, which uses LS_COLORS and won't do any coloring at all if it doesn't like the format.

Also, users should be aware of what's actually happening, since it doesn't always work intuitively:

When called _without_ arguments, the tcsh `ls-F` builtin invokes `/bin/ls -F`. If the output is not being piped, and the 'color' shell variable is set, then tcsh colorizes the output itself, based on LS_COLORS, e.g. as set by this script.
When called _with_ arguments, the tcsh `ls-F` builtin invokes `/bin/ls -F -G` (on BSD) or `/bin/ls -F --color=auto` (on GNU/Linux). So instead of tcsh colorizing the output, it just tells `/bin/ls` to do it. On GNU/Linux, this will work as expected (when not piped) because GNU `ls` uses LS_COLORS with the same format. But on BSD, you will find that LS_COLORS is ignored; BSD's `/bin/ls` color output is enabled for non-piped output by using the `-G` flag or setting CLICOLOR, and the colors are set via LSCOLORS, which has a unique and much more limited format than LS_COLORS; see ls(1).
You need to make sure TERM is set to the name of a color-capable terminal type like xterm-256color, and your terminal emulator needs to support it as well.


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