TCDir

TCDir ("Technicolor Directory") is a fast, colorized directory listing tool for Windows consoles. It’s designed as a practical dir-style command with useful defaults (color by extension/attributes, sorting, recursion, wide output, and a multi-threaded enumerator).

Hat tip to Chris Kirmse whose excellent ZDir from the '90s was the original inspiration for TCDir.

Requirements

• Windows 10/11
• PowerShell 7 (pwsh) to run the build/test scripts
• Visual Studio 2026 (v18.x)
  • The free Community edition is fine, but any edition will work
  • Workload: Desktop development with C++
  • Individual components (usually included with the workload, but worth confirming):
    • MSVC v14x x64/x86 build tools
    • Windows 10/11 SDK
    • C++ unit test framework (to build/run the UnitTest project)
    • Optional (ARM64 builds/tests): MSVC v14x ARM64 build tools
  • The scripts use vswhere.exe to locate MSBuild and the test runner
• Optional: VS Code (the repo includes .vscode/ tasks wired up to scripts/Build.ps1 and scripts/RunTests.ps1)

Quick start

Build:

• Visual Studio: open TCDir.sln and Build Solution
• VS Code: run a build task (e.g. Build Release x64 (no test))
• Command line: pwsh -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\Build.ps1 -Configuration Release -Platform x64 -Target Build

Run:

• .\x64\Release\TCDir.exe
• .\ARM64\Release\TCDir.exe

Usage

Show help:

• TCDir.exe -?

Basic syntax:

• TCDIR [drive:][path][filename] [-A[[:]attributes]] [-O[[:]sortorder]] [-S] [-W] [-B] [-P] [-M] [--Env] [--Config]

Common switches:

• -A[:]<attributes>: filter by file attributes
• -O[:]<sortorder>: sort results
  • both -oe and -o:e forms are supported
  • N name, E extension, S size, D date/time
  • prefix - to reverse
• -T:<timefield>: select which timestamp to display and sort by
  • C creation time, A last access time, W last write time (default)
• -S: recurse into subdirectories
• -W: wide listing format
• -B: bare listing format
• -P: show performance timing information
• -M: enable multi-threaded enumeration (default); use -M- to disable
• --Owner: display file owner (DOMAIN\User format)
• --Streams: display NTFS alternate data streams
• --Env: show TCDIR environment variable help/syntax/current value
• --Config: show current color configuration

Attribute filters (/A:)

Standard attributes: D (directory), H (hidden), S (system), R (read-only), A (archive)

Cloud sync attributes (OneDrive, iCloud, etc.):

• O - cloud-only placeholder files (not locally available)
• L - locally available files (hydrated, can be dehydrated)
• V - pinned/always available files (won't be dehydrated)

Extended attributes:

• X - not content indexed (excluded from Windows Search)
• I - integrity stream enabled (ReFS only)
• B - no scrub data (ReFS only)
• F - sparse file
• U - unpinned (allow dehydration)

Use - prefix to exclude (e.g., /A:-H excludes hidden files).

Cloud file visualization

When browsing cloud-synced folders (OneDrive, iCloud Drive, etc.), TCDir displays sync status symbols:

• ○ (hollow) - cloud-only placeholder, not available offline
• ◐ (half) - locally available, can be dehydrated
• ● (solid) - pinned, always available offline

Examples:

• Recurse through subdirectories: TCDir.exe -s

• Wide listing: TCDir.exe -w

Configuration (TCDIR environment variable)

TCDir supports customizing colors (and default switch behavior) via the TCDIR environment variable.

Syntax:

• PowerShell: $env:TCDIR = "[<Switch>] | [<Item> | Attr:<fileattr> | <.ext>] = <Fore> [on <Back>][;...]"
• CMD: set TCDIR=[<Switch>] | [<Item> | Attr:<fileattr> | <.ext>] = <Fore> [on <Back>][;...]

Note: Switch names in the TCDIR variable do NOT include prefixes (/, -, --). Use just the switch name (e.g., W, Owner, Streams).

Default switches

Enable default switches by including the switch name:

• W - enable wide listing by default
• S - enable subdirectory recursion by default
• P - enable performance timing by default
• M - enable multi-threading by default (already on by default)
• B - enable bare listing by default
• Owner - display file ownership by default
• Streams - display NTFS alternate data streams by default

Color customization

Configure colors for display items, file attributes, and extensions:

Color customization

Configure colors for display items, file attributes, and extensions:

Example:

• PowerShell: $env:TCDIR = "W;D=LightGreen;S=Yellow;Attr:H=DarkGrey;.png=Black on Magenta"
• CMD: set TCDIR=W;D=LightGreen;S=Yellow;Attr:H=DarkGrey;.png=Black on Magenta

Decoded breakdown of the example:

• W sets the default switch /W (wide listing) on
• D=LightGreen sets the Date display item color to LightGreen
• S=Yellow sets the Size display item color to Yellow
• Attr:H=DarkGrey sets the Hidden file attribute color to DarkGrey
• .png=Black on Magenta sets the .png extension color to black text on a magenta background

Display items for color configuration:

• D (Date), S (Size), N (Name), Attr (Attributes)
• CloudOnly, Local, Pinned - cloud sync status symbol colors

File attribute colors (Attr:<letter>):

• H (hidden), S (system), R (read-only), D (directory)

• Here's an example of the default output, setting the TCDIR environment variable, then showing its effects:

To see the full list of supported colors and a nicely formatted explanation, use --Env.

• Any errors in the TCDIR variable are shown at the end.
• TCDir.exe --Env:

To see your current color configuration, use --Config:

• All configuration settings are displayed along with the source of that configuration.
• TCDir.exe --Config:

Building

Build options

• Visual Studio: open TCDir.sln and Build Solution
• VS Code: the repo includes .vscode/ (tasks/launch/settings), with tasks wired up to scripts/Build.ps1 and scripts/RunTests.ps1
• Command line: use the PowerShell build scripts below

Build scripts

• Build: pwsh -File .\scripts\Build.ps1 -Configuration <Debug|Release> -Platform <x64|ARM64> -Target Build
• Clean: pwsh -File .\scripts\Build.ps1 -Configuration <Debug|Release> -Platform <x64|ARM64> -Target Clean
• Rebuild: pwsh -File .\scripts\Build.ps1 -Configuration <Debug|Release> -Platform <x64|ARM64> -Target Rebuild
• Build both Release targets: pwsh -File .\scripts\Build.ps1 -Target BuildAllRelease

Build outputs land under:

• x64\Debug\TCDir.exe, x64\Release\TCDir.exe
• ARM64\Debug\TCDir.exe, ARM64\Release\TCDir.exe

Tests

Run unit tests:

• pwsh -File .\scripts\RunTests.ps1

(Uses Visual Studio’s vstest.console.exe, discovered via vswhere.)

Versioning

The build number is auto-incremented by a pre-build script. Details are in BUILD_VERSION.md.

License

MIT License. See LICENSE.