File Folder Copy Replace

A powerful, cross-platform Terminal User Interface (TUI) application written in Rust for copying files and folders with advanced content and path replacement capabilities.

🚀 Features

• Recursive Copy: deeply copies directory structures.
• Smart Replacements:
  • Path Replacement: Rename directories and files during the copy process.
  • Content Replacement: Find and replace text within files.
• Filtering:
  • Filter by file extensions (e.g., *.rs, *.txt).
  • Filter by specific filenames.
• Interactive TUI:
  • Directory Explorer: Navigate your filesystem to select source directories.
  • File Preview: See file contents before copying.
  • Live Configuration: Edit replacement rules and notes on the fly.
• Save & Load: Persist your configuration templates (config.json) for reusable workflows.
• Safety: Prevents overwriting existing destination directories to avoid data loss.
• Performance: Uses multi-threading to keep the UI responsive during large copy operations.

🛠️ How to Build

Ensure you have Rust installed. If not, install it from rustup.rs.

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd file-folder-copy-replace

2. Build the project:

   cargo build --release

3. Run: The binary will be located in target/release/.

   ./target/release/file-folder-copy-replace

   Or run directly with Cargo:

   cargo run

📖 Usage Guide

Interface Layout

The application is divided into several key areas:

1. Source Directory: The path you want to copy from.
2. Source Directory Explorer: A navigable list of folders to help you find your source.
3. Files in Folder: Shows files in the currently selected explorer folder.
4. File Preview: Displays the content of the selected file.
5. Replacement Mapping: Where you define your copy/replace rules.
6. Generated Destination Directory: The calculated output path based on your rules.
7. Free Hand Notes: A scratchpad for your own notes (saved with the config).
8. Buttons: Save, Load, Help, and Copy Replace.

Keybindings

• Tab / BackTab: Cycle focus between different sections.
• Enter: Select an item (Explorer) or trigger a button.
• Arrow Keys: Navigate lists or move cursor in text fields.
• e: Enter "Editing Mode" for text fields (Source Input, Mapping, Notes).
• Esc: Exit "Editing Mode" or close popups (Help, Error).
• q: Quit the application (when in Normal mode).

Configuration Rules (Replacement Mapping)

Define rules in the "Replacement Mapping" text area.

Syntax: Value --ConfigurationType

1. Path & Content Replacement

Format: OldValue=NewValue --Type

• --path-only: Replaces text in directory and file paths/names only.
• --files-only: Replaces text inside the file contents only.
• --path-files: Replaces text in BOTH paths and file contents.

Examples:

production=stage --path-only
v1.0=v2.0 --path-files
TODO=DONE --files-only

2. File Filtering

Format: Value1, Value2, ... --Type

• --file-types: Only process files with these extensions.
• --file-names: Only process files with these exact names.

Examples:

*.rs, *.toml, *.md --file-types
config.json, Dockerfile --file-names

📂 Code Structure

For those learning Rust, here is a high-level overview of the codebase:

• src/main.rs: The entry point. Sets up the terminal (Crossterm), initializes the App state, and runs the main event loop.
• src/app.rs: Holds the application state (struct App). Handles user input events (on_key, on_mouse) and updates the state accordingly.
• src/ui.rs: Responsible for rendering the TUI using ratatui. It defines the layout and draws widgets based on the current App state.
• src/logic.rs: Contains the core business logic:
  • perform_copy_replace: The heavy lifting of walking directories, reading files, replacing text, and writing to the destination.
  • read_directory: Helper to list files for the explorer.
  • Config & Template: Structs for parsing rules and saving/loading JSON.

🎓 Learning Rust?

Check the source code! We've added detailed comments explaining various Rust concepts used in this project, such as:

• Structs & Enums
• Result & Option handling
• Multi-threading with Channels (mpsc)
• File I/O & Iterators
• Closures
• Serde (Serialization/Deserialization)