linux script that monitors file changes within folders (like autospec does!)

Question

I want to automatically kick off a build whenever a file changes.

I've used autospec (RSpec) in Ruby and loved that.

How can this be done in bash?

Answer 1

keywords are inotifywait & inotifywatch commands

Answer 2

I did it with this :-

#!/bin/bash

ls -ltR > .monitor_compare1

not_changed () {
   echo "No changes yet..."
}

changed () {
    echo "Changed!"
    # perform build
}

while true; do

    ls -ltR > .monitor_compare1

    diff .monitor_compare1 .monitor_compare2 >> /dev/null && not_changed || changed

    cp .monitor_compare1 .monitor_compare2

    sleep 1

done

But I have also read the stat command might be better/quicker!

Answer 3

Take a look at incron and inotify-tools.