File Manifest Generator

Creates a manifest of the files in a directory and its subdirectories, output is a delimited file with information about each subdirectory.

This script is intended to summarize the contents of a directory and its subdirectories for the purposes of digital preservation and archiving.

Usage

Usage: ./create-manifest.sh [-c | -t] [-D | --data | -H | --header]
                            [--debug] [-h | --help]
                            [-s [-p | --preview]]
                            [{[--num-folders=<number>] [--offset=<number>]} |
                             {[--alpha-start=<string>] [--alpha-end=<string>]}]
                            <directory> > manifest.csv

Options

Output format (optional)

• -c, --csv: Output in CSV format (default)
• -t, --tsv: Output in TSV format
• -D, --data: Output only the data (no header)
• -H, --header: Output only the header (no data)

Handling large directories (optional)

• -s: Skip the top-level directory. Without this flag, the top-level directory is included in the output. This can be very slow for large directories. The -s flag omits this and allows you to restrict the output to only a subset of the subdirectories, making it easier to process in smaller chunks.

Limiting output numerically (only in combination with -s)

• --num-folders=<number>: Limit the output to <number> subdirectories. By default it will start with first subdirectory, but you can modify this with the --offset flag.
• --offset=<number>: Start the output at the <number>th subdirectory. This is useful for resuming a previous run or skipping over a large number of subdirectories.
• -p, --preview: Preview the output without writing to a file. This is useful for testing the script with the -s flag to see how many subdirectories will be included in the output.

Limiting output alphabetically (only in combination with -s)

• --alpha-start=<string>: Start the output at the first subdirectory that comes after <string> alphabetically. This is useful for resuming a previous run or skipping over a large number of subdirectories. Default is the first subdirectory.
• --alpha-end=<string>: End the output at the last subdirectory that comes before <string> alphabetically. This is useful for limiting the output to a subset of subdirectories. Default is the last subdirectory.

Previewing which subdirectories will be included in the output

• -p, --preview: Preview which subdirectories will be included . This is useful for testing the script with the -s and the alphabetical or numerical limiter flag to see how which subdirectories will be included in the output if you run it without the -p flag.

Debugging/helpers (optional)

• -d, --debug: Print debugging information
• -h, --help: Print help message

Note: as a bash script, this is intended to run in a Unix-like environment (Linux, macOS, etc.). To run on Windows, use git-bash.

Output

The output is a delimited file with the following columns:

• Folder: The name of the folder
• Path: The path to the folder, relative to the script (this could be better)
• Date Created: The date the folder was created in the file system
• Size In Bytes: The size of the folder in bytes including all files and subfolders
• Size (Human-Readable): The size of the folder in a human-readable format (e.g., KB, MB, GB)
• File Count: The number of files in the folder & subfolders
• Extensions: The file extensions in the folder & subfolders, separated by commas
• Depth: The depth of the folder in the directory tree relative to the start folder (0 for the root folder, 1 for its immediate subfolders, etc.)

License

This open-source script is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details. The script is provided "as-is" without any warranty of any kind, either express or implied. You are free to use, modify, and distribute this script as long as you include the original license.`

Credits

• Author: Ken Irwin, irwinkr@miamioh.edu
• Date: 2025-03-13