A bit of visual sketch for where I want to go.

I'm looking to emulate a lot of the `HotDir 2.1` look
that I used to use.

Makefile

@@ -6,3 +6,6 @@ CPPFLAGS+= -I.
 LDFLAGS+= -Wl,-rpath,'$$ORIGIN/'
 
 all: cudir
+
+clean:
+	rm -f cudir

cudir.cc

@@ -1,15 +1,29 @@
-#include <filesystem>
 #include <iostream>
+#include <vector>
+#include <algorithm>
+#include <filesystem>
+
+bool
+is_exe( const std::filesystem::directory_entry entry )
+{
+	using std::filesystem::perms;
+	auto p= status( entry.path() ).permissions();
+
+	return ( perms::none != ( p & ( perms::owner_exec | perms::group_exec | perms::others_exec ) ) );
+}
 
 std::string
-drwx( const std::filesystem::perms p )
+drwx( const std::filesystem::directory_entry entry )
 {
+	auto p= status( entry.path() ).permissions();
+
 	std::ostringstream oss;
 	using std::filesystem::perms;
 	auto show = [&](const char op, const perms perm)
 	{
 		oss << (perms::none == (perm bitand p) ? '-' : op);
 	};
+	oss << ( entry.is_directory() ? 'd' : '-' );
 	show('r', perms::owner_read);
 	show('w', perms::owner_write);
 	show('x', perms::owner_exec);
@@ -23,13 +37,63 @@ drwx( const std::filesystem::perms p )
 	return std::move( oss ).str();
 }
 
+struct Entry
+{
+	std::string name;
+	std::string perms;
+	bool is_dir;
+	bool is_exe;
+};
+
+std::string
+format_entry( const Entry &entry, const std::size_t widest )
+{
+	std::ostringstream oss;
+	oss << "[";
+
+	if( entry.is_dir )
+	{
+		oss << "1;35;95";
+	}
+	else if( entry.is_exe )
+	{
+		oss << "1;36;96";
+	}
+	oss << 'm' << std::setw( widest + 8 ) << std::left << entry.name;
+
+	return std::move( oss ).str();
+}
+
 int
 main()
 {
 	std::filesystem::path where="./";
 
+	std::vector< Entry > entries;
+
 	for( const auto &entry: std::filesystem::directory_iterator{ where } )
 	{
-		std::cout << entry.path().string() << " " << drwx( status( entry.path() ).permissions() ) << std::endl;
+		entries.emplace_back( entry.path().filename(), drwx( entry ), entry.is_directory(), is_exe( entry ) );
 	}
+
+	const auto widest= std::max_element( begin( entries ), end( entries ),
+			[]( const auto &lhs, const auto &rhs ) { return lhs.name.size() < rhs.name.size(); } )->name.size();
+
+	for( const auto &entry: entries )
+	{
+		std::cout << format_entry( entry, widest ) << " ";
+		if( entry.is_dir )
+		{
+			std::cout << "<dir>";
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			std::cout <<            "     ";
+		}
+		std::cout << "  ";
+		std::cout << "" << entry.perms << "";
+		std::cout << "  |" << std::endl;
+	}
+
+	return EXIT_SUCCESS;
 }