checkerPY - Easy File Change Detection

checkerPY is a Python program designed to monitor changes in files within a directory by computing and comparing their SHA256 hashes. It can detect modifications, additions, and deletions of files. This is useful for tracking changes in a directory over time.

Features

• Hash Computation: Calculates SHA256 hashes of files in a directory and its subdirectories.
• Change Detection: Compares current file hashes with previously saved hashes to detect modifications, additions, and deletions.
• Persistent Storage: Saves and loads file hashes to and from a JSON file for persistent monitoring.
• Change Reporting: Provides a human-readable report of detected changes with relative paths.

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/kapitoshka1337/checkerPY.git
   cd checkerPY

2. Ensure you have Python 3.6+ installed.

Usage

1. Create a text file named path.txt in the same directory as the script. This file should contain the absolute path of the directory you want to monitor.

   /absolute/path/to/your/directory
   

2. Run the script:

   python checkerPY.py

3. The script will read the path from path.txt, compute file hashes, compare them with previously saved hashes (if any), and print out the changes. If changes are detected, it will update the hashes.json file with the new hashes.

Functions

• get_file_hash(file_path): Returns the SHA256 hash of a file specified by file_path.
• get_file_hash_with_path(file_path): Returns a tuple containing the file path and its SHA256 hash.
• get_folder_hashes(folder_path): Computes and returns a dictionary of file paths and their hashes for all files in the specified folder and its subdirectories.
• save_hashes_to_file(hashes, file_path): Saves the dictionary of file hashes to a JSON file specified by file_path.
• load_hashes_from_file(file_path): Loads and returns the dictionary of file hashes from a JSON file specified by file_path. Returns an empty dictionary if the file does not exist.
• compare_hashes(old_hashes, new_hashes): Compares old and new file hashes and returns a dictionary of changes, including modified, added, and deleted files.
• pretty_print_changes(changes, root_path): Nicely formats and prints the detected changes with relative paths.

Example Output

Modified files:
  relative/path/to/modified/file.txt (modified)

Added files:
  relative/path/to/new/file.txt (added)

Deleted files:
  relative/path/to/deleted/file.txt (deleted)

Notes

• Ensure path.txt is correctly configured with a valid directory path.
• The hashes.json file will be created or updated in the same directory as the script.
• To ignore certain files or directories, you may need to modify the script to add filtering logic.

Contributing

Feel free to fork the repository and submit pull requests. Ensure that your contributions follow the coding style and pass any existing tests.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.