How can you hook a script that will run after simply saving a file?

Question

So, I wrote a fast script that you run with ". .script [name]". It's stupid simple, but I love it. Took me like an hour or so and a good dose of Stack Overflow. :P

I use Codekit on an iMac at work. I set it up as a hook, not understanding the coolness of those. So, I came home and tried it with Prepros. My conclusion: "Not sure. Don't think so."

How do I get Windows, OS X and Ubuntu/CentOS to watch a file in a specified project directory, and run the script I tell it to when I save it?

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 11 '16 at 23:55

Without encoding support for each system's respective filesystem event notifier (linux has inotifytools, and I don't know what the rest do), you can poll for timestamp changes and run your hook if one takes place:

tm=$(stat -c%Y file) #get the m(odification)time of file
while : ; do 
   last_tm=$tm
   tm=$(stat -c%Y file) 
   [ "$last_tm" = "$tm" ] || echo "file changed"
   sleep 0.2 #poll interval
done

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 12 '16 at 00:16

1

fswatch might be what you want. It support both linux, windows and MacOS.

http://emcrisostomo.github.io/fswatch/

answered Jul 12 '16 at 00:16

ruijin

186
3

Figured I'd come back and let you know that I feel this is a better answer since it's a cross-platform solution. Thanks! – Steven Ventimiglia May 11 '18 at 20:17

How can you hook a script that will run after simply saving a file?

2 Answers2