Is there a way to catalog the ports tree?

[Beastie7]

Maybe I'm missing something but I've been getting tired of switching between directories to install multiple ports. Is there some type of tool or front-end I can use to enumerate the tree with a arranged descriptions to pick and choose from? Perhaps an aptitude like tool I can use?

 

[MarcoB]

Did you take a look at https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/ports-using.html ?

 

[ANOKNUSA]

Read the "search" and "quicksearch" sections of ports(7), and read the descriptions in /usr/ports/ports-mgmt.

 

[hukadan]

If you do not mind to use your browser, there is also the freshports website. It is, in my eyes, the most convenient way to search ports.

 

[SirDice]

Have a look at ports-mgmt/psearch.

 

[Beastie7]

All right so iI've recently tried these and they all seem to do the same thing; incremental searching. I'm looking for a way to actually browse the tree holistically, not input search.

If you do not mind to use your browser, there is also the freshports website. It is, in my eyes, the most convenient way to search ports.

Yes, this works. The "Category" section is the closest to what I'm looking for. I just wish I had an ncurses based tool with shortcuts/descriptions so iI won't have to switch away from my keyboard.

I guess what I'm looking for is aptitude. The site will do for now though.

Thanks guys

 

[hukadan]

The "Category" section is the closest to what I'm looking for.

Then you might want to try the following (see ports(7) for details) :

$ cd /usr/ports
# make readmes
$ lynx /usr/ports/README.html

You can of course use whatever browser you like.

 

[Beastie7]

Ah yes! This will work. Now, do I have to re-do this every time iI update the ports tree? If so, does it use the existing indexes to speed things up? Because that took a while.

 

[hukadan]

Because that took a while.

Well, we do not live in a perfect world . You do not have to run it every single time. It depends on how often you update your ports tree and how accurate your information about new ports/versions needs to be.

On my computer, it takes six minutes (do not forget that you can use make -j max_jobs readmes where you can replace max_jobs by your CPU core number). Compared to the four to five hours needed to build ports, it would be bearable to run it each time I update the ports tree.

 

[Beastie7]

Ok, will keep in mind. I was just curious about it. At least I'm able to scan through and easily locate stuff for future reference.

Thanks.