inotify-rs

Idiomatic inotify wrapper for the Rust programming language.

use inotify::{EventMask, Inotify, WatchMask};
use std::env;

fn main() {
    let mut inotify = Inotify::init().expect("Failed to initialize inotify");

    let current_dir = env::current_dir().expect("Failed to determine current directory");

    inotify
        .watches()
        .add(
            current_dir,
            WatchMask::MODIFY | WatchMask::CREATE | WatchMask::DELETE,
        )
        .expect("Failed to add inotify watch");

    println!("Watching current directory for activity...");

    let mut buffer = [0u8; 4096];
    loop {
        let events = inotify
            .read_events_blocking(&mut buffer)
            .expect("Failed to read inotify events");

        for event in events {
            if event.mask.contains(EventMask::CREATE) {
                if event.mask.contains(EventMask::ISDIR) {
                    println!("Directory created: {:?}", event.name);
                } else {
                    println!("File created: {:?}", event.name);
                }
            } else if event.mask.contains(EventMask::DELETE) {
                if event.mask.contains(EventMask::ISDIR) {
                    println!("Directory deleted: {:?}", event.name);
                } else {
                    println!("File deleted: {:?}", event.name);
                }
            } else if event.mask.contains(EventMask::MODIFY) {
                if event.mask.contains(EventMask::ISDIR) {
                    println!("Directory modified: {:?}", event.name);
                } else {
                    println!("File modified: {:?}", event.name);
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Usage

Include it in your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
inotify = "0.11"

Please refer to the documentation and the example above, for information on how to use it in your code.

Please note that inotify-rs is a relatively low-level wrapper around the original inotify API. And, of course, it is Linux-specific, just like inotify itself. If you are looking for a higher-level and platform-independent file system notification library, please consider notify.

If you need to access inotify in a way that this wrapper doesn't support, consider using inotify-sys instead.

Documentation

The most important piece of documentation for inotify-rs is the API reference, as it contains a thorough description of the complete API, as well as examples.

Additional examples can be found in the examples directory.

Please also make sure to read the inotify man page. Inotify use can be hard to get right, and this low-level wrapper won't protect you from all mistakes.

License

Copyright (c) Hanno Braun and contributors

Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.