YosriMlik.FileWatcher 1.0.2

🔍 .NET File Watcher Tool

A powerful, colorful file watcher tool for .NET developers that monitors file changes and automatically rebuilds/restarts your application with beautiful console output.

✨ Features

✅ Customizable Build & Run Commands - Define your own build and run commands
✅ File Filtering - Include/exclude files using powerful glob patterns
✅ Auto Kill & Restart - Automatically kills and restarts your app on changes
✅ Debouncing - Configurable debounce to avoid rapid rebuilds
✅ Cross-Platform - Works on Windows, Linux, and macOS
✅ .NET 8+ Compatible - Built for .NET 8 and works with newer versions
✅ Colorful Console Output - Beautiful, emoji-rich colored terminal output
✅ No Shell Wrapper - Direct process execution preserves all colors and emojis

📦 Installation

Install from NuGet (Recommended)

dotnet tool install --global DotNet.FileWatcher

Update to Latest Version

dotnet tool update --global DotNet.FileWatcher

Install from Source

git clone https://github.com/YourUsername/FileWatcher.git
cd FileWatcher
dotnet pack -c Release
dotnet tool install --global --add-source ./bin/Release DotNet.FileWatcher

Verify Installation

dotnet-file-watcher --help

🚀 Quick Start

1. Initialize Configuration

Navigate to your project directory and create a configuration file:

cd YourProject
dotnet-file-watcher init

This creates a filewatcher.json file with default settings:

{
  "BuildCommand": "dotnet build",
  "RunCommand": "dotnet run",
  "IncludedFiles": [
    "**/*.cs",
    "**/*.csproj",
    "**/*.json",
    "**/*.razor",
    "**/*.cshtml"
  ],
  "ExcludedFiles": [
    "**/bin/**",
    "**/obj/**",
    "**/.git/**",
    "**/.vs/**",
    "**/node_modules/**"
  ],
  "DebounceMilliseconds": 500,
  "KillOnChange": true,
  "WorkingDirectory": "."
}

2. Customize Configuration

Edit filewatcher.json to match your needs:

Example for ASP.NET Core:

{
  "BuildCommand": "dotnet build",
  "RunCommand": "dotnet run --urls=https://localhost:5001",
  "IncludedFiles": ["**/*.cs", "**/*.cshtml", "**/*.razor", "**/*.css"],
  "ExcludedFiles": ["**/bin/**", "**/obj/**"],
  "DebounceMilliseconds": 300,
  "KillOnChange": true,
  "WorkingDirectory": "."
}

Example for Custom Scripts:

{
  "BuildCommand": "npm run build",
  "RunCommand": "node dist/server.js",
  "IncludedFiles": ["**/*.ts", "**/*.js"],
  "ExcludedFiles": ["**/node_modules/**", "**/dist/**"],
  "DebounceMilliseconds": 1000,
  "KillOnChange": true,
  "WorkingDirectory": "."
}

3. Start Watching

dotnet-file-watcher

The tool will:

1. Run the initial build command
2. Start your application
3. Watch for file changes
4. Kill the current process and rebuild/restart on changes

4. Stop Watching

Press Ctrl+C to stop the watcher.

⚙️ Configuration Options

Glob Pattern Examples

• **/*.cs - All C# files in all directories
• *.json - JSON files in root directory only
• src/**/*.cs - All C# files under src directory
• !**/bin/** - Exclude bin directories (use in ExcludedFiles)

🎯 Use Cases

ASP.NET Core Development

Watch for changes in controllers, views, and models:

{
  "BuildCommand": "dotnet build",
  "RunCommand": "dotnet run",
  "IncludedFiles": ["**/*.cs", "**/*.cshtml", "**/*.razor"]
}

Blazor Development

{
  "BuildCommand": "dotnet build",
  "RunCommand": "dotnet run",
  "IncludedFiles": ["**/*.cs", "**/*.razor", "**/*.css"]
}

Worker Service

{
  "BuildCommand": "dotnet build",
  "RunCommand": "dotnet run",
  "IncludedFiles": ["**/*.cs", "**/*.json"],
  "DebounceMilliseconds": 1000
}

💡 Tips

• Set a higher DebounceMilliseconds value if you're making rapid changes
• Use specific include patterns to reduce unnecessary rebuilds
• Set KillOnChange: false if you want to manually manage processes
• You can omit BuildCommand if you only need to restart without rebuilding
• Use relative paths in WorkingDirectory or absolute paths

🗑️ Uninstall

dotnet tool uninstall --global DotNet.FileWatcher

🛠️ Building from Source

git clone https://github.com/YourUsername/FileWatcher.git
cd FileWatcher
dotnet build
dotnet pack -c Release
dotnet tool install --global --add-source ./bin/Release DotNet.FileWatcher

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

📝 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Built with ❤️ for the .NET community
• Inspired by the need for a better file watching experience
• Thanks to all contributors!

📧 Support

If you encounter any issues or have questions:

• Open an issue on GitHub
• Check out the Quick Start Guide
• Read the Complete Code Explanation

🌟 Star History

If you find this tool useful, please consider giving it a ⭐ on GitHub!