NNN_OPTS=Tv T-v -T-v

[miaLDN]

#1557 states the problem, was closed †

Q. how to permanently set the sort order for ALL with a configuration setting?

NNN_OPTS OR NNN_ORDER et al?

As per the documentation, 'Path must be absolute'

Sort keys can be a/d/e/r/s/t/v (see program option -T). Capitalise to reverse (except r). Path must be absolute.

#1557 (comment)

#1557 (comment)

† and locked with a post telling people to go here, rather than actually providing any information.

[N-R-K]

You can use an alias, or a wrapper script.

[Yigtwxx]

The reason none of the three spellings work is that NNN_OPTS doesn't go through getopt at all. The option loop in src/nnn.c is:

const char * const env_opts = xgetenv(env_cfg[NNN_OPTS], NULL);
int env_opts_id = env_opts ? (int)xstrlen(env_opts) : -1;

while ((opt = (env_opts_id > 0
	       ? env_opts[--env_opts_id]
	       : getopt(argc, argv, "aAb:BcCdDeEfF:gHiJKl:nNop:P:QrRs:St:T:uUVxz0h"))) != -1) {

Two consequences, and between them they cover all three attempts.

Options that take an argument can't take one from NNN_OPTS. Every such case is guarded on where the option came from. -T is:

case 'T':
	if (env_opts_id < 0)
		sort = (uchar_t)optarg[0];
	break;

env_opts_id < 0 is only true for command-line options. Coming from NNN_OPTS, sort is never assigned, so -T there is a no-op. The same guard sits on b, F, l, p, P, s and t.

Each character is read as a separate flag, back to front (env_opts[--env_opts_id]), and anything outside that getopt string falls through to:

default:
	usage();
	return EXIT_FAILURE;

v isn't in the string, and neither is -. So NNN_OPTS=Tv reads v first and exits with the usage text, and T-v / -T-v fail on - the same way. That part isn't being ignored — nnn is refusing to start.

So NNN_OPTS can't carry a sort key in any syntax. The variable that does is NNN_ORDER, but it's directory-scoped by design — from nnn.1:

export NNN_ORDER='t:/home/user/Downloads;S:/tmp'

That's where the "path must be absolute" note comes from: the key is looked up per directory (get_kv_key(order, path, maxorder, NNN_ORDER)), so there's no path-less form meaning "everywhere".

Which leaves the alias or wrapper N-R-K mentioned as the way to get a global default:

alias n='nnn -T v'

-T works there because it's going through getopt and can pick up its argument.

[miaLDN]

@Yigtwxx thank you for writing a friendly and detailed reply! It's most appreciated.
Most projects you just get it closed and effectively told to go away!

Answer

getopt_long(3)

I'm going to add this directly into the C-code using getopt_long(3), or into a config file (which is long overdue): JSON probably.

improved UX and UI

this is just not great; and it's not even mentioned on the ? help screen.

'a'u/'d'u/'e'xt/'r'ev/'s'z/'t'm/'v'er/'c'lr/'^T'?

I've already changed this:

1. removed the 18 apostrophes(!) and added extra letters instead.
2. Added details on the ? screen

Forked

I've forked nnn to see if I can get it to work for my use cases.

nnn has some defects and interactions with readline - I'm now building without readline; but the way nnn calls shell processes is contaminating my .bash_history with pages and pages of shell script dumps.

[jarun]

Implemented at commit 3529500.

Thank you for your patience. I have been planning to do this for a while but this is a significant change and required time.