Jump-Location: A cd that learns
If you spend any time in a console you know that cd is by far the most
common command that you issue. I'll open up a console to it's default location
in C:\Users\tkellogg or C:\Windows\system32 and then issue a cd C:\work\MyProject.
Jump-Location is a cmdlet lets you issue a j my to jump
directly to C:\work\MyProject.
It learns your behavior by keeping track of how long you spend in certain
directories and favoring them over the ones you don't care about. You don't
have to use Jump-Location as a replacement for cd. Use cd to go local, and
use Jump-Location to jump further away.
Jump-Location is a powershell implementation of autojump.
How it knows where you want to go
It keeps track of how long you stay in a directory and builds a database.
When you use the Jump-Location or j command, it looks through the database
to find the most likely directory and jumps there. You should only need to
give it a 2-3 character hint. For instance, on mine I can do:
j de->C:\Users\tkellogg\code\Jump-Location\bin\Debugj doc->C:\Users\tkellogg\Documents
What if you have several projects and you want to get to the Debug directory
of one that you don't use very often? If you're jumpstat looks like this:
255 C:\Users\tkellogg\code\Jump-Location\bin\Debug
50 C:\Users\tkellogg\code\MongoDB.FSharp\bin\Debug
Using j de will jump to Jump-Location\bin\Debug. But use something like
j mo d if you really want to go to MongoDB.FSharp\bin\Debug. You can
issue a j mo d. mo matches MongoDB.FSharp and d matches Debug.
Quick Primer on jumpstat
You can use jumpstat to see what's in the database. In tradition with autojump,
the database is saved to ~\jump-location.txt. You can open up that file and
make changes. The file will auto-load into any open powershell sessions.
Since we're in Powershell (and not legacy Bash) jumpstat returns objects.
This means that you don't ever have to know anything about ~\jump-location.txt.
You can manipulate the objects it returns. For instance, this is valid:
PS> $stats = jumpstat
PS> $stats[10].Weight = -1
PS> jumpstat -Save
Setting a weight to a negative number like that will cause it to be blacklisted
from all jump results. Use the jumpstat -All option to see negative weights
included in the jumpstat result set.
Why Jump-Location?
In PowerShell, cmdlet names must have a <Verb>-<Noun> format. You can
alias them (like I did with the j command).
PowerShell also has a list of approved verbs.
Jump is not on that list, but I chose it anyway because it's most
descriptive of what you're actually trying to do to Location. It's also
most similar to "autojump".
Installation
- Download latest release.
- Open properties for zip file and click "Unblock" button if you have one.
- Unzip
- Open a PowerShell console
- Run
.\Install.ps1. You may need to allow remote scripts by runningSet-ExecutionPolicy -RemoteSigned. You may also have to right-clickInstall.ps1and Unblock it from the properties window.
Next time you open a PowerShell console Jump-Location will start learning
your habits. You'll also have access to the j and jumpstat aliases.
If you find any bugs, please report them so I can fix them quickly!