cde: Catalog Directory Entries
cde captures the directory entries of your drives into catalog files. You can then search those catalogs, find duplicate files, and browse what was on a disk, even when the disk is not connected.
A catalog records names, sizes and last modified times, and can also hold file hashes. Searching a catalog is fast and does not touch the original drive.
cde is inspired by Cathy, an older tool that could only hold 65,535 entries. cde has no such limit.
What is in the box
| Program | What it is |
|---|---|
cde | The command line program. It scans, searches, hashes and finds duplicates. |
cdeWin | A Windows Forms application to search, sort and browse catalogs. |
cde-tauri | A second desktop application (Windows and Linux) with the same search features. |
See Applications for the details of each one.
What you can do
- Scan a drive or folder into a catalog:
cde scan. - Search every catalog at once, by name, regular expression or Everything-style query.
- Find duplicate files across all your catalogs:
cde hashthencde dupes. - Keep working offline. A catalog of an external drive stays searchable when the drive is in a drawer.
Where to start
- Install cde.
- Follow the Quick start.
- Look up any option in the Command reference.
note
This site documents the current develop branch. If a command is missing from your copy, check that you have the latest release.