Jump-Location: autojump for Windows

Tue August 21, 2012

A while ago I discovered autojump and quickly realized that it could change how I use a console. Autojump listens when you change directories and keeps an index of the directories where you spend the most time. The j command lets you search the index and cd to the most relevant search result. It’s best if you just watch this video:

Introducing Autojump for Windows (via Powershell)

Jump-Location is a Powershell implementation of autojump that I’ve been working on. It does most everything that autojump does, but better.

For instance, after using the j Powershell cmdlet for a while, I quickly realized that I wanted to use it for more than a cd command. I like using pushd and popd, so I made a pushj alias that uses pushd (Push-Location) instead of cd (Set-Location).

I also realized that as a Windows user, you inevitably have to use Windows Explorer for things like TortoiseSVN checkins. But mousing through the folder tree is a pain, so I made the xj alias to query Jump-Location and open up explorer to the result.

You can now use Jump-Location in conjunction with any command. I can use the getj alias to open a file in notepad:

PS> notepad "$(getj ju)\Readme.md"

Enhancements to jumpstat

Autojump provides a jumpstat command to display the index (and debug why you didn’t get the directory you expected). Jump-Location also provides this command (as the Get-JumpStatus cmdlet alias).

Since Powershell deals in actual objects instead of text, the design of jumpstat is a lot different from the original. This really comes out when changing the weights in the index. The documentation for the original instructs you to edit ~/autojump.txt. While we still store the index in a text file, you can just set the weight and save from within Powershell.

For instance, setting a weight to a negative number will remove it from search results:

PS> $record = jumpstat je bin
PS> $record.weight = -1
PS> jumpstat -Save

Go Try It!

I highly recommend installing Jump-Location. Head on over to the downloads area and grab the latest zip file. Running Install.ps1 will register Jump-Location in all future Powershell sessions.