rmw (ReMove to Waste) is a safe-remove utility for the command line. It can move and restore files to and from directories specified in a configuration file, and can also be integrated with your regular desktop trash folder (if your desktop environment uses the FreeDesktop.org Trash specification). One of the unique features of rmw is the ability to purge items from your waste (or trash) directories after x number of days.
Web site: https://remove-to-waste.info/
rmw is for people who sometimes use rm or rmdir at the command line and would occasionally like an alternative choice. It's not intended or designed to act as a replacement for rm, as it's more closely related to how the FreeDesktop.org trash system functions.
OPTIONS
-h, --help
show help for command line options
-c, --config FILE
use an alternate configuration
-l, --list
list waste directories
-g[N_DAYS], --purge[=N_DAYS]
purge expired files; optional argument 'N_DAYS' overrides
'expire_age' value from the configuration file (Examples: -g90,
--purge=90)
By default, purging is disabled ('expire_age' is set to '0' in the
configuration file). To enable, set the 'expire_age' value in your
config file to a value greater than '0'
You can use '-vvg' to see when the remaining files in the waste
directories will expire.
-o, --orphaned
check for orphaned files (maintenance)
An orphan is an item in a waste directory that has no
corresponding .trashinfo file, or vice versa. This option is
intended primarily for developers. Orphans may happen while
testing code changes or if rmw is unintentionally released with a
bug.
(see also: <https://remove-to-waste.info/faq.html#dot_trashinfo>)
-f, --force
allow purging of expired files
rmw will refuse to purge directories if they contain non-writable
files or subdirectories. rmw will show a message that tells you
"permission denied; directory still contains files". To override,
you can re-run rmw using '-ffg'.
By default, force is not required to enable the purge feature. If
you would like to require it, add 'force_required' to your config
file.
--empty
completely empty (purge) all waste directories
-r, -R, --recursive
option used for compatibility with rm (recursive operation is
enabled by default)
-v, --verbose
increase output messages
-w, --warranty
display warranty
-V, --version
display version and license information
RESTORING
-z, --restore FILE(s)
To restore items, specify the path to them in the <WASTE>/files
directory (wildcards ok).
When restoring an item, if a file or directory with the same name
already exists at the destination, the item being restored will
have a time/date string (formatted as "_%H%M%S-%y%m%d") appended
to it (e.g. 'foo_164353-210508').
-s, --select
select files from list to restore
Displays a list of items in your waste directories. You can use
the left/right cursor keys to switch between waste directories.
Use the space bar to select the items you wish to restore, then
press enter to restore all selected items.
-u, --undo-last
undo last move
Restores files that were last rmw'ed
-m, --most-recent-list
list most recently rmw'ed files
ENVIRONMENT
These variables are intended only to be used for testing. See the code-
testing page on the rmw website for more details.
RMW_FAKE_HOME
RMW_FAKE_YEAR
RMW_FAKE_MEDIA_ROOT
FILES
On some systems, $HOME/.config and $HOME/.local/share may be replaced
with $XDG_CONFIG_HOME and $XDG_DATA_HOME
$HOME/.config/rmwrc
configuration file
$HOME/.local/share/rmw/purge-time
text file that stores the time of the last purge
$HOME/.local/share/rmw/mrl
text file containing a list of items that were last rmw'ed
NOTES
rmw will not move items from one file system to another. If you try to
rmw a file but don't have a waste directory configured that matches the
file system on which it resides, rmw will refuse to do anything with it.
DESKTOP INTEGRATION
Items will be moved to a waste basket in the same manner as when using
the "move to trash" option from your desktop GUI. They will be separated
from your desktop trash by default; or if you wish for them to share the
same "trash" directory, uncomment the line (in your config file):
(Note that this does not apply to MacOS; while rmw is yet unable to
integrate with the desktop trash directory, you'll still be able to use
the default Waste directory.)
WASTE = $HOME/.local/share/Trash
then comment out the line
WASTE = $HOME/.local/share/Waste
You can reverse which directories are enabled at any time if you ever
change your mind. If both directories are on the same filesystem, rmw
will use the directory listed first in your config file.
It can be beneficial to have them both uncommented. If your desktop trash
directory (~/.local/share/Trash) is listed after the rmw default
(~/.local/share/Waste) and uncommented, rmw will place newly rmw'ed items
into the default, and it will purge expired files from both.
When rmw'ing an item, if a file or directory with the same name already
exists in the waste (or trash) directory, it will not be overwritten;
instead, the current file being rmw'ed will have a time/date string
(formatted as "_%H%M%S-%y%m%d") appended to it (e.g.
'foo_164353-210508').
REMOVABLE MEDIA
The first time rmw is run, it will create a configuration file. Waste
directories will be created automatically (Except for when the
',removable' option is used; see below) e.g., if
'$HOME/.local/share/Waste' is uncommented in the config file, these two
directories will be created:
$HOME/.local/share/Waste/files
$HOME/.local/share/Waste/info
If a WASTE directory is on removable media, you may append ',removable'.
In that case, rmw will not try to create it; it must be initially created
manually. When rmw runs, it will check to see if the directory exists
(which means the removable media containing the directory is currently
mounted). If rmw can't find the directory, it is assumed the media
containing the directory isn't mounted and that directory will not be
used for the current run of rmw.
With the media mounted, once you manually create the waste directory for
that device (e.g. "/mnt/flash/.Trash-$UID") and run rmw, it will
automatically create the two required child directories "files" and
"info".
EXAMPLES
RESTORING
rmw -z ~/.local/share/Waste/files/foo
rmw -z ~/.local/share/Waste/files/bars*
CONFIGURATION
WASTE=/mnt/flash/.Trash-$UID, removable
When using the removable attribute, you must also manually create
the directory
expire_age = 45
rmw will permanently delete files that have been in the waste (or
trash) for more than 45 days.
AUTHORS
Project Manager: Andy Alt
The RMW team: see AUTHORS.md
REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs to <https://github.com/theimpossibleastronaut/rmw/issues>.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2012-2021 Andy Alt
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later
<https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There
is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
See the Screenshots page on the website.
rmw is available in the homebrew and linuxbrew repositories; or there may may be a binary package available for your OS. You can view a list at Repology to see in which repositories rmw is included. Since v0.7.09, x86_64 AppImages are available.
AppImages and maintainer-created amd64 Debian packages are available in the releases section.
- libncursesw (ncurses-devel on some systems, such as CentOS)
- gettext (or use '-Dnls=false' if you only need English language support)
If you're building from source, you will need the libncursesw(5 or 6)-dev package from your operating system distribution. On some systems just the ncurses packages is needed, and it's often already installed.
(This examples places the generated files to a separate folder, but you can run 'configure' from any directory you like.)
meson builddir
cd builddir
ninja
Use meson configure in the build dir to view or change available
options.
If you would like to install rmw without superuser privileges, use a prefix that you have write access to. Example:
meson -Dprefix=$HOME/.local builddir
or while in the build dir
meson configure -Dprefix=$HOME/.local
To install:
meson install
In the example above, the rmw binary will be installed to
$HOME/.local/bin and documentation to $HOME/.local/doc.
On macOS, you may get a message during 'configure' that the menu
library can't be found. The ncurses menu library isn't provided by
default but can be installed using brew install ncurses. Then run
'configure' like this:
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$PKG_CONFIG_PATH:/usr/local/opt/ncurses/lib/pkgconfig
Or you can install rmw using brew.
ninja uninstall (uninstalls the program if installed with 'ninja install`)
Note that if using Meson version < 0.60.0, uninstall does not remove any language files that were installed. To remove them:
sh uninstall_langs.sh