release: v2.2.0 UI/UX refresh

Author: davidesantangelo

Makefile

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # krep - A high-performance string search utility
 # Author: Davide Santangelo
-# Version: 2.1.0
+# Version: 2.2.0
 
 PREFIX ?= /usr/local
 BINDIR = $(PREFIX)/bin

README.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # k(r)ep - A high-performance string search utility
 
-![Version](https://img.shields.io/badge/version-2.1.0-blue)
+![Version](https://img.shields.io/badge/version-2.2.0-blue)
 ![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-BSD-green)
 
 `krep` is an optimized string search utility designed for maximum throughput and efficiency when processing large files and directories. It is built with performance in mind, offering multiple search algorithms and SIMD acceleration when available.
@@ -29,9 +29,16 @@ Just as skilled fishers identify patterns in the water to locate fish quickly, I
 - **Gitignore support**: Respect `.gitignore` files during recursive search with `--gitignore`
 - **Stdin pattern input**: Read patterns from stdin with `-f -` for seamless pipeline integration
 - **Colored output**: Highlights matches for better readability
+- **UI/UX refresh (v2.2)**: New terminal color palette, clearer `-o` line index styling, and a redesigned help screen
 - **Specialized algorithms**: Optimized handling for single-character and short patterns
 - **Match Limiting**: Stop searching a file after a specific number of matching lines are found.
 
+## What's New in v2.2.0
+
+- Refined terminal-first UI with a cleaner, more legible color theme
+- Better visual hierarchy in `-o` mode (filename, line index, match highlight)
+- Improved `--help` layout with grouped sections and clearer scanning
+
 ## Installation
 
 ### Using Homebrew (macOS)
@@ -161,7 +168,7 @@ make bench-rg
 # optional: RUNS=7 bash test/benchmark_krep_vs_rg.sh Sherlock
 ```
 
-### krep v2.1.0 vs ripgrep (warm cache, 7 runs average)
+### krep v2.1.0 vs ripgrep (warm cache, 7 runs average baseline)
 
 | Pattern | krep avg real (s) | ripgrep avg real (s) | Speedup |
 | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |

krep.c

@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ static bool thread_pool_submit_batch(thread_pool_t *pool, void *(*func)(void *),
 #define LARGE_FILE_THRESHOLD (64 * 1024 * 1024) // 64MB threshold for advanced optimizations
 #define SINGLE_THREAD_FILE_SIZE_THRESHOLD MIN_CHUNK_SIZE
 #define ADAPTIVE_THREAD_FILE_SIZE_THRESHOLD 0
-#define VERSION "2.1.0"
+#define VERSION "2.2.0"
 #ifndef PATH_MAX
 #define PATH_MAX 4096
 #endif
@@ -501,11 +501,13 @@ size_t print_matching_items(const char *filename, const char *text, size_t text_
     const char *color_filename = KREP_COLOR_FILENAME;
     const char *color_reset = KREP_COLOR_RESET;
     const char *color_separator = KREP_COLOR_SEPARATOR;
+    const char *color_line_number = KREP_COLOR_LINE_NUMBER;
     const char *color_text = KREP_COLOR_TEXT;
     const char *color_match = KREP_COLOR_MATCH;
 
     // Precompute lengths to avoid repeated strlen calls
     size_t len_color_reset = color_output_enabled ? strlen(color_reset) : 0;
+    size_t len_color_line_number = color_output_enabled ? strlen(color_line_number) : 0;
     size_t len_color_text = color_output_enabled ? strlen(color_text) : 0;
     size_t len_color_match = color_output_enabled ? strlen(color_match) : 0;
 
@@ -688,7 +690,7 @@ size_t print_matching_items(const char *filename, const char *text, size_t text_
             size_t required_estimate = filename_prefix_len + lineno_len + len + 1; // +1 for newline
             if (color_output_enabled)
             {
-                required_estimate += len_color_match + len_color_reset;
+                required_estimate += len_color_line_number + len_color_match + (len_color_reset * 2);
             }
 
             // Flush the batch buffer to stdout if the new entry won't fit (use estimate)
@@ -714,7 +716,15 @@ size_t print_matching_items(const char *filename, const char *text, size_t text_
             }
 
             // 2. Copy line number
+            if (color_output_enabled)
+            {
+                safe_append_to_batch(&current_write_ptr, batch_buffer_end, &o_batch_pos, O_BATCH_BUFFER_SIZE, color_line_number, len_color_line_number);
+            }
             safe_append_to_batch(&current_write_ptr, batch_buffer_end, &o_batch_pos, O_BATCH_BUFFER_SIZE, lineno_buffer, lineno_len);
+            if (color_output_enabled)
+            {
+                safe_append_to_batch(&current_write_ptr, batch_buffer_end, &o_batch_pos, O_BATCH_BUFFER_SIZE, color_reset, len_color_reset);
+            }
 
             // 3. Start color for match (if enabled)
             if (color_output_enabled)
@@ -1126,46 +1136,62 @@ double get_time(void)
 // Print usage information
 void print_usage(const char *program_name)
 {
-    printf("krep v%s - A high-performance string search utility\n\n", VERSION);
-    printf("Usage: %s [OPTIONS] PATTERN [FILE | DIRECTORY]\n", program_name);
-    printf("   or: %s [OPTIONS] -e PATTERN [-e PATTERN...] [FILE | DIRECTORY]\n", program_name);
-    printf("   or: %s [OPTIONS] -f FILE [FILE | DIRECTORY]\n", program_name);
-    printf("   or: %s [OPTIONS] -s PATTERN STRING_TO_SEARCH\n", program_name);
-    printf("   or: %s [OPTIONS] PATTERN < FILE\n", program_name);
-    printf("   or: cat FILE | %s [OPTIONS] PATTERN\n\n", program_name);
-    printf("OPTIONS:\n");
-    printf("  -i             Perform case-insensitive matching.\n");
-    printf("  -c             Count matching lines. Only a count of lines is printed.\n");
-    printf("  -o             Only matching. Print only the matched parts of lines, one per line.\n");
-    printf("  -e PATTERN     Specify pattern. Can be used multiple times (treated as OR for literal, combined for regex).\n");
-    printf("  -f FILE        Read patterns from FILE, one per line. Use '-' for stdin.\n");
-    printf("  -E             Interpret PATTERN(s) as POSIX Extended Regular Expression(s).\n");
-    printf("                 If multiple -e used with -E, they are combined with '|'.\n");
-    printf("  -F             Interpret PATTERN(s) as fixed strings (literal). Default if not -E.\n");
-    printf("  -r             Search directories recursively. Skips binary files and common dirs.\n");
-    printf("  --gitignore    Respect .gitignore files when searching recursively (-r).\n");
-    printf("  --algo=ALGO    Force search algorithm: 'auto' (default), 'bm', 'kmp'.\n");
-    printf("  -t NUM         Use NUM threads for file search (default: auto-detect cores).\n");
-    printf("  -s             Search in STRING_TO_SEARCH instead of FILE or DIRECTORY.\n");
-    printf("  --color[=WHEN] Control color output ('always', 'never', 'auto'). Default: 'auto'.\n");
-    printf("  --no-simd      Explicitly disable SIMD acceleration.\n");
-    printf("  -v             Show version information and exit.\n");
-    printf("  -h, --help     Show this help message and exit.\n");
-    printf("  -m NUM         Stop reading a file after NUM matching lines.\n");
-    printf("  -w             Select only matches that form whole words.\n\n");
-    printf("EXIT STATUS:\n");
-    printf("  0 if matches were found,\n");
-    printf("  1 if no matches were found,\n");
-    printf("  2 if an error occurred.\n\n");
-    printf("EXAMPLES:\n");
+    bool style = isatty(STDOUT_FILENO);
+    const char *title = style ? KREP_COLOR_HELP_TITLE : "";
+    const char *section = style ? KREP_COLOR_HELP_SECTION : "";
+    const char *option = style ? KREP_COLOR_HELP_OPTION : "";
+    const char *muted = style ? KREP_COLOR_HELP_MUTED : "";
+    const char *reset = style ? KREP_COLOR_RESET : "";
+
+    printf("%skrep v%s%s\n", title, VERSION, reset);
+    printf("%sFast search with polished terminal output.%s\n\n", muted, reset);
+
+    printf("%sUsage%s\n", section, reset);
+    printf("  %s [OPTIONS] PATTERN [FILE | DIRECTORY]\n", program_name);
+    printf("  %s [OPTIONS] -e PATTERN [-e PATTERN...] [FILE | DIRECTORY]\n", program_name);
+    printf("  %s [OPTIONS] -f FILE [FILE | DIRECTORY]\n", program_name);
+    printf("  %s [OPTIONS] -s PATTERN STRING_TO_SEARCH\n", program_name);
+    printf("  %s [OPTIONS] PATTERN < FILE\n", program_name);
+    printf("  cat FILE | %s [OPTIONS] PATTERN\n\n", program_name);
+
+    printf("%sSearch%s\n", section, reset);
+    printf("  %s-i%s             Perform case-insensitive matching.\n", option, reset);
+    printf("  %s-e PATTERN%s     Specify pattern. Reusable for multiple patterns.\n", option, reset);
+    printf("  %s-f FILE%s        Read patterns from FILE (use '-' for stdin).\n", option, reset);
+    printf("  %s-E%s             Use POSIX Extended Regular Expressions.\n", option, reset);
+    printf("  %s-F%s             Use fixed strings (default unless -E).\n", option, reset);
+    printf("  %s-w%s             Match whole words only.\n\n", option, reset);
+
+    printf("%sScope & Performance%s\n", section, reset);
+    printf("  %s-r%s             Search directories recursively.\n", option, reset);
+    printf("  %s--gitignore%s    Respect .gitignore when used with -r.\n", option, reset);
+    printf("  %s--algo=ALGO%s    Force algorithm: auto (default), bm, kmp.\n", option, reset);
+    printf("  %s-t NUM%s         Set thread count (default: auto).\n", option, reset);
+    printf("  %s--no-simd%s      Disable SIMD acceleration.\n\n", option, reset);
+
+    printf("%sOutput & UX%s\n", section, reset);
+    printf("  %s-o%s             Print only matching parts, one per line.\n", option, reset);
+    printf("  %s-c%s             Print only match counts.\n", option, reset);
+    printf("  %s-m NUM%s         Stop after NUM matching lines per file.\n", option, reset);
+    printf("  %s-s%s             Search in STRING_TO_SEARCH.\n", option, reset);
+    printf("  %s--color[=WHEN]%s Color mode: always, never, auto (default).\n", option, reset);
+    printf("  %s-v%s             Show version information.\n", option, reset);
+    printf("  %s-h, --help%s     Show this help page.\n\n", option, reset);
+
+    printf("%sExit Status%s\n", section, reset);
+    printf("  0  match found\n");
+    printf("  1  no match found\n");
+    printf("  2  error\n\n");
+
+    printf("%sExamples%s\n", section, reset);
     printf("  %s \"search term\" input.log\n", program_name);
     printf("  %s -i -c ERROR large_log.txt\n", program_name);
     printf("  %s -t 8 -o '[0-9]+' data.log | sort | uniq -c\n", program_name);
     printf("  %s -E \"^[Ee]rror: .*failed\" system.log\n", program_name);
     printf("  %s -r \"MyClass\" /path/to/project\n", program_name);
     printf("  %s -r --gitignore \"TODO\" /path/to/project\n", program_name);
-    printf("  %s -e Error -e Warning app.log\n", program_name); // Find lines with Error OR Warning
-    printf("  echo 'pattern' | %s -f - target.txt\n", program_name); // Read pattern from stdin
+    printf("  %s -e Error -e Warning app.log\n", program_name);
+    printf("  echo 'pattern' | %s -f - target.txt\n", program_name);
 }
 
 // Helper for case-insensitive comparison using the lookup table

krep.h

@@ -32,10 +32,17 @@ typedef struct ac_trie ac_trie_t;
 /* --- ANSI Color Codes --- */
 // Define colors consistently
 #define KREP_COLOR_RESET "\033[0m"
-#define KREP_COLOR_FILENAME "\033[1;35m"  // Magenta
-#define KREP_COLOR_SEPARATOR "\033[1;90m" // Bright Black (Gray)
-#define KREP_COLOR_MATCH "\033[1;31m"     // Bright Red
-#define KREP_COLOR_TEXT "\033[0m"         // Default terminal text color
+#define KREP_COLOR_FILENAME "\033[1;38;5;81m"   // Bright cyan
+#define KREP_COLOR_SEPARATOR "\033[38;5;244m"   // Muted gray
+#define KREP_COLOR_LINE_NUMBER "\033[1;38;5;111m" // Soft mint
+#define KREP_COLOR_MATCH "\033[1;38;5;222m"     // Warm amber
+#define KREP_COLOR_TEXT "\033[38;5;252m"        // Soft white
+
+/* --- Help UI Colors --- */
+#define KREP_COLOR_HELP_TITLE "\033[1;38;5;81m"
+#define KREP_COLOR_HELP_SECTION "\033[1;38;5;222m"
+#define KREP_COLOR_HELP_OPTION "\033[1;38;5;117m"
+#define KREP_COLOR_HELP_MUTED "\033[38;5;244m"
 
 /* --- Match tracking structure --- */
 // Define match_position_t BEFORE match_result_t
@@ -311,4 +318,4 @@ static inline bool is_whole_word_match(const char *text, size_t text_len, size_t
    return true;
 }
 
-#endif /* KREP_H */
+#endif /* KREP_H */