1 #This file was created by <tal197> Wed Jun 7 10:53:24 2000
2 #LyX 0.12 (C) 1995-1998 Matthias Ettrich and the LyX Team
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34 Thomas Leonard, tal197@ecs.soton.ac.uk
44 ROX-Filer is a graphical file manger for the X Window System.
45 Its user interface is based on the RISC OS filer and it supports similar
46 features such as application directories and drag-and-drop loading and
51 \begin_inset LatexCommand \tableofcontents
61 ROX-Filer is a simple and easy to use graphical file manager for X11, the
62 windowing system used on Unix and Unix-like operating systems.
63 It is also the core component of the ROX Desktop
64 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{ROX}
74 XDND A common drag-and-drop protocol used, for example, by the GNOME desktop
75 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{GNOME}
80 This allows data to be loaded into an application by dragging it from a
81 filer window to a program.
82 The full specification is given in
83 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{DND}
90 XDS An extension to XDND that allows applications to save data by dragging
91 an icon back to a filer window.
92 The full specification is given in
93 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{XDS}
102 Choices A simple, but flexible, system for managing user choices.
104 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{Choices}
113 directories Self contained relocatable applications, where installation
114 is as simple as copying it to where you want it and uninstalling it is
115 just a matter of deleting a directory.
116 Described later in this documentation.
122 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
123 under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
124 Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option)
128 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
129 ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
130 FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
131 See the GNU General Public License for more details.
134 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
135 with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
136 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA, 02111-1307, USA.
145 ROX-Filer is usually supplied in source-only form.
146 To compile and run it, you will require
149 Unix or Linux (root access is not required),
152 The X Window system (supplied as standard on all modern systems),
155 GTK+ 1.2.0 or later (libraries and headers) --- get the latest version from
157 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{GTK+}
164 A C compiler (standard on most systems).
167 All of the above are standard on most modern Linux distributions.
168 To check which version of GTK+ you have installed, run the
176 is the shell prompt):
179 $ gtk-config --version
188 Change to the directory containing the ROX-Filer subdirectory.
191 Run the AppRun script with the
199 $ ROX-Filer/AppRun --compile
203 ROX-Filer will perform various checks to find out what kind of system it
204 is being run on and will then compile.
205 If it doesn't work then please e-mail me and complain! Tell me what kind
206 of system you have and what errors were reported.
207 If you manage to fix the problem yourself then please e-mail me the fix.
211 The executables files are stored inside the ROX-Filer directory in a different
212 subdirectory for each platform.
213 Therefore, you can compile the same application on several different types
214 of machine and then run it from any of them using the AppRun script.
215 This is particularly useful in a network environment.
219 The filer needs some shared files to work --- icons for the various file
220 types, rules for determining file types and default run actions.
221 These are installed, along with the filer itself, by the '
225 ' script supplied with the filer.
233 [ enter root password ]
239 If you don't have the root password then don't worry --- skip the '
243 ' step and follow the instructions for installing into your home directory.
248 You can now run the filer by running the AppRun script without any options,
255 A window should appear and display the contents of your home directory.
256 If you opted to install the `
260 ' script then you can simply run that to open a viewer onto the current
262 You can also use it to open files in the same way that the filer would.
263 If you installed the script into your home directory then you may need
264 to set your PATH environment variable so that the shell can find it.
270 By default, ROX-Filer will start by displaying your home directory.
271 You can get it to display other directories instead by listing them after
275 $ ROX-Filer/AppRun /home /usr /usr/local
278 If you want one of the directories to be opened as a panel put
286 before the directory (for `bottom' or `top' panels).
287 If you don't know what a panel is, try it and see! To run the filer in
288 the background, put an & at the end of the line.
294 $ ln -s $HOME ~/Panel/Home
297 $ ROX-Filer/AppRun -b ~/Panel &
300 The panel should be displayed in a window without a title bar.
301 If this does not work then you may need to update your window manager.
302 The filer was designed and tested using the Enlightenment window manager
303 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{enlightenment}
308 You could also try using the
312 option which bypasses the window manager entirely (also use this if the
313 panel appears in the wrong place):
316 $ ROX-Filer/AppRun -o -b ~/Panel &
319 Note that if the same version of the filer is already running on this machine
320 then, by default, it will be used to open the directories and the new copy
321 will exit immediately.
322 You can override this (perhaps because the old copy has stopped responding
323 for some reason) using the `
330 Mouse button and key bindings
337 \begin_float footnote
340 This documentation assumes that button--1 is the left button, button--2
341 is the middle button and button--3 is the right button.
342 This is not always the case --- for example, in a left-handed setup.
344 mouse button to open files and directories.
347 Click the right button to get a menu.
348 Click over a file to perform an action on that file.
351 Drag files between windows to copy (left button) or move (middle button)
361 By default, the mouse button bindings are designed to fit in with X conventions.
362 However, the behaviour is highly configurable --- have a play in the Options
363 window if you don't like the normal settings.
364 The normal settings behave as follows:
442 Open the file or directory clicked on.
446 Hold down Ctrl to select things instead of opening them.
450 Hold down Shift to look inside applications, treat files as text, follow
451 symlinks or mount devices.
455 Same as left click, but open a directory in a new window or close the viewer
461 Hold down Ctrl while clicking to go directly to the Selection submenu.
465 Copy the file(s) to the destination (an application or another filer window).
469 Hold down Shift to move the file, or Ctrl+Shift to create a symbolic link.
473 As above, but always moves rather than copying or symlinking.
475 (middle mouse button)
479 Drag (not over an item)
481 Select a group of items by dragging a box around them.
482 With the left mouse button, only the files
486 in the box will be selected.
487 If you hold down Ctrl then the boxed items are added to the selection.
491 If the other mouse button is used then the boxed items are toggled between
492 selected and unselected.
496 Change to viewing the parent directory.
500 Move the cursor around.
504 Move up and down in steps of ten rows at a time.
508 Move to the first/last entry in the directory.
512 Open the item under the cursor.
513 With Shift held down this acts like choosing 'Shift Open' from the menu.
517 Toggles the item under the cursor between being selected and unselected.
528 Other keys can easily be defined by opening the menu, moving the pointer
529 over the item you want to use and pressing a key.
530 The key will appear in the menu and can be used from then on.
531 To make the new key bindings permanent, open the Options box from the menu
538 While items are selected in a ROX-Filer window the filer has the global
540 You can then paste into another window to get the pathnames of the selected
542 For example, to extract the files from a .tgz archive on a floppy disk into
546 Choose `Xterm here' from the menu in your home directory.
549 Type `tar xzf ' (but don't press Return)
552 Ctrl-click on the .tgz file to select it.
555 Click the middle button in the xterm window to paste the name of the file
559 Press Return in the xterm to execute the command.
563 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: Toolbar}
570 By default, each window has a toolbar along the top.
571 You can disable this (or make it larger) from the Options window.
572 The four buttons on the toolbar are:
574 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center \LyXTable
609 Change to parent directory
611 Show parent in a new window
615 Change to home directory
617 Show home in a new window
621 Reread the directory contents
627 Show ROX-Filer's help files
638 If the toolbar is in Normal mode (ie, not GNOME mode) then you may also
639 use either of the other buttons to perform the `Other action'.
645 You can open a menu by right clicking
646 \begin_float footnote
649 If the Use `RISC OS mouse bindings' option is on then use the middle button
652 over a panel or filer window.
653 Here is a full description of each choice and what it does:
655 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center \LyXTable
685 Select every item in this window.
689 Unselect every item in this window.
697 Create a new directory in this one.
701 Open an xterm with its current directory set to this directory.
702 \layout Subsubsection
706 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center \LyXTable
751 Each object in the directory is shown as a large icon with its name below.
755 Items are drawn smaller that usual, allowing you to see more files at once.
765 Entries are displayed with their icon, name, type, permissions, owner and
770 Items are arranged by name.
771 There is an option to make this case-sensitive.
775 Items are grouped by their types and then sorted by name within the groups.
779 Most recently modified first.
787 If on, files beginning with a dot are shown, otherwise they are hidden.
791 Rereads the contents of the directory and details of all the files in it.
795 Use this if the display becomes out-of-date.
808 If ROX-Filer was unable to find ImLib
809 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{ImLib}
813 when it was compiled then the icons are shown cropped rather than scaled.
814 Get ImLib and recompile if you want it to look nice.
815 \layout Subsubsection
818 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: Permissions}
825 The permissions display, shown in Full Info mode, is made up of four groups
827 Each flag is displayed as a letter if it is on and a dash (--) if not.
828 The first three characters show the permissions for the owner of the file,
829 the second for other members of the file's group and the third for everyone
831 Whichever group applies to the ROX-Filer process itself is shown underlined.
832 The fourth group shows any special flags.
835 The meanings of the characters are:
838 r Permission to read the contents of a file, or the names of files in a
842 w Permission to alter the contents of a file, or change which names appear
846 x Permission to run the file as a program, or refer to the files listed
847 within the directory.
850 U This program executes with the
854 of its owner rather than the person who ran it.
857 G This program executes with the
861 of its group, regardless of who ran it.
864 T Entries in this directory can only be altered or removed by the people
865 who own the files even if they have write permission on the directory itself.
875 ' means that the owner of the file is the same as the effective user of
876 ROX-Filer (basically, you own the file), you and members of the file's
877 group have read, write and execute permission and other people have only
878 read and execute permission.
879 There are no special flags set.
882 The rules which determine which permissions apply may vary slightly between
883 operating systems, but a rough guide is:
890 of the process is equal to the file's owner, then the owner permissions
898 of the process is equal to the file's group OR the file's group is one
903 then the group permissions apply.
906 Otherwise, the `other' permissions apply.
915 have no effect (except that a process may set its real IDs to its effective
917 \layout Subsubsection
922 All of these work in the same way --- if you open the menu with some items
923 selected then the operation applies to those items.
924 If you open then menu over an item while there is no selection then that
925 item is temporarily selected.
926 If you choose one of these while there is no selection at all then the
927 window goes into `target mode'; the operation happens to the next item
929 Click on the window background, press Escape, or click with the right mouse
930 button to cancel target mode.
931 Target mode is mainly useful with the `Single click navigation' option
932 and keys bound to the various menu entries.
934 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center \LyXTable
1003 Make a copy of this object in the same directory.
1007 Change the name used for this object.
1011 Create a symbolic link to this name in the same directory.
1015 Opens applications as directories, files as text/plain, mount points
1019 by mounting or unmounting them and symlinks by opening the directory
1023 containing the thing they point to.
1027 This is the same effect as clicking with Shift held down.
1031 Explain what kind of thing is selected.
1032 For applications, display the help files.
1036 Display extra information about this object.
1040 Open the file as if it was a directory --- see section
1041 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: vfs}
1049 Mount or unmount each mount point selected.
1053 Remove all the selected entries from the directory.
1057 Subdirectories will have their contents deleted first.
1061 Deleting symlinks only removes the link, not the thing it points to.
1065 Count the sizes of all the selected items.
1066 Directories also have their
1071 Symlinks count themselves, not the things they point to.
1075 Allows you to change the permissions for the selected files.
1079 Search for files by specifying various conditions --- see section
1080 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: Searching}
1085 \layout Subsubsection
1089 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center \LyXTable
1091 11 2 0 0 -1 -1 -1 -1
1134 Open a new window displaying this window's parent.
1138 As above, but reuse this window.
1142 Open another window onto this directory.
1150 Open the path-entry box (see section
1151 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: mini}
1159 Open the shell command box (see section
1160 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: mini}
1168 Allows you to set the program to use when double-clicking on a file.
1173 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: RunAction}
1181 Select just those files that match the given pattern --- see section
1182 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: SelectIf}
1190 Same as selecting ROX-Filer and choosing `Help' from the menu.
1191 \layout Subsubsection
1196 This is just a cut-down version of the window menu.
1197 The only new entry is `Open Panel as Directory', which displays the panel
1198 in a new, non-panel, window.
1199 `Remove Item' is a cut-down version of `Delete'; it only works for symbolic
1200 links and never asks for confirmation.
1201 Since dragging applications and directories to the panel creates symlinks
1202 it is very easy to change the panel contents to suit your needs.
1206 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: vfs}
1210 Virtual file systems
1213 Some types of file can be represented as a directory.
1214 A typical example is a zip file, which contains an entire directory structure
1216 It is often useful to be able to open up such a file as if it was a real
1217 directory, and the VFS system allows you to do this.
1220 To use this feature you must have one or both of the following:
1223 A system (such as PODFUK
1224 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{PODFUK}
1228 ) which causes the kernel to support various Virtual File Systems directly.
1229 This is the best option since all programs will be able to access the contents
1231 You will require root access to install such a system, however, and it
1232 is not available on all platforms.
1235 Support for the Midnight Commander VFS library compiled into ROX-Filer.
1236 This happens automatically when you compile ROX-Filer if it can find the
1237 VFS library --- this means having
1245 ) in a system library directory or in the directory in the environment variable
1251 In this case, you will be able to view the directory structure and copy
1252 files out of it, but not change it.
1253 Support for this may be added later.
1254 Midnight Commander is part of the GNOME project.
1257 Note that using the `Open VFS' menu is simply a short-cut for using the
1258 path-entry box (explained below), so if you want to use a VFS not listed
1259 on the menu you can type in the path directly, eg:
1264 /home/fred/archive.zip#uzip/
1273 Don't forget the final slash!
1274 \layout Subsubsection
1276 Step by step example of adding VFS support
1279 This assumes that you have the Midnight Commander source in a directory
1281 You might need to replace
1304 If you have the root password then install the library in a system library
1305 directory as normal.
1315 $ cp libvfs.so ~/lib
1318 $ cd ~/Apps/ROX-Filer
1325 file to include this as the
1332 LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${HOME}/lib; export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
1335 This will ensure that ROX-Filer will look for the library in the new
1343 $ ./AppRun --compile
1349 checking for mc_stat in -lvfs...
1353 If you saw that line then it's worked! Well done!
1358 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: mini}
1365 The mini-buffer is a white bar that appears along the bottom of the window
1366 and allows you to enter some text.
1367 Press Escape to get rid of it again.
1368 It behaves in different ways depending on how you invoked it:
1369 \layout Subsubsection
1374 This allows you to type in a path directly.
1375 As you type the display is updated to show the item entered visually.
1376 The main use is to find a file in a large directory quickly, but you can
1377 also use it for navigating between directories, or for selecting a full
1378 pathname from somewhere else and pasting it directly into the path-entry
1381 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center \LyXTable
1405 Open the currently selected item.
1409 Shell-style tab completion.
1413 Select the previous/next matching entry.
1416 Tab completion tries to fill in as many characters for you as it can.
1417 For example, if there are two files in a directory called `save-mail-nov-1999'
1418 and `save-mail-dec-1999' then typing 'save' and pressing Tab will expand
1419 `save' to `save-mail-' and beep to indicate that the match is not complete.
1420 If you use tab completion on a directory and it is unique then the filer
1421 will automatically change into the directory.
1422 This behavior should be familiar to shell users.
1423 \layout Subsubsection*
1428 Let's say you want to locate the documentation for Wine in the directory
1429 /usr/doc (which is usually very large).
1430 Here's how you could do it:
1433 Open the minibuffer by choosing 'Enter Path' from the Window menu.
1434 I usually bind this function to the slash (`/') key.
1437 Press CTRL-U to delete the existing contents --- this moves you to the root
1460 As you type, the cursor will move to the correct subdirectory.
1461 If it beeps when you press Tab then you need to supply more letters.
1462 \layout Subsubsection
1465 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: RunAction}
1472 This box appears when you choose `Set Run Action' from the Window menu.
1473 You can now either drag a file onto an application, or you can enter a
1475 In either case, the action is not actually performed but instead becomes
1476 the default action for files of that type.
1479 All files have a MIME type in the form `
1501 Whichever method you use to set the action you will be given the choice
1502 of setting the run action just for that type, or setting the default for
1503 all files with that media-type which don't already have a specific action.
1506 For example, let's say you want to set things up so that double-clicking
1507 on a `.gif' file loads it into the Gimp:
1510 Setting the run action by drag-and-drop
1515 Choose `Set Run Action' from the Window menu and, while the minibuffer is
1516 still open, drag a GIF file from the filer window onto the Gimp's application
1517 directory (probably in another filer window).
1520 Setting the run action by entering a shell command
1529 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1533 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1540 Note that the cursor (the black box) must be on the GIF file when you press
1542 \layout Subsubsection
1544 The shell command box
1547 This provides a quick way of entering shell commands if you don't want to
1549 If you don't know what shell commands are, skip this section!
1552 Just type in the command and press Return to execute it.
1553 Up and Down arrows move through previously entered commands.
1554 Tab does shell-style completion.
1555 Clicking on an item inserts its name into the minibuffer.
1556 If some items are selected then they are assigned to the positional parameters
1566 \layout Subsubsection*
1578 Open the minibuffer by choosing `Shell Command' from the Window menu.
1579 I usually bind this to the bang (`!') key.
1586 ' and click on the file.
1587 The leading space is automatically inserted.
1590 Press Return to execute it.
1593 To print all the selected files:
1596 Open the shell command minibuffer.
1604 \layout Subsubsection*
1609 Be careful; you will not be asked to confirm! If in doubt, start the command
1614 ' so that it will be displayed rather than executed.
1617 The above command won't work if some of the files contain spaces --- use
1629 ' instead to be safe.
1632 `sh' is always used as the name of the shell to run (mainly because bash
1633 and csh treat positional parameters differently).
1634 However, PATH is searched to find it so you can still use another shell
1635 if you want by naming it sh and putting it in your path.
1638 Commands execute in the background, so you can say:
1642 sleep 240; xmessage Time to go!
1644 \layout Subsubsection
1647 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: SelectIf}
1651 The conditional selection box
1654 Use this if you want to automatically select all files in the directory
1655 which match a condition.
1656 The syntax for the conditions is given in section
1657 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: Searching}
1662 For example, to select all files larger than 5Mb:
1665 Open the Select If minibuffer.
1675 Just those files over 5 Mb in size will be selected.
1676 The expressions you can enter are in the same form as described in section
1678 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: Searching}
1686 ' has no effect since the contents of directories are never checked anyway.
1692 Action windows are those boxes that appear while you're doing a Copy/Move/Link/e
1694 The status line at the top of the window shows the current directory or
1695 object that the window is processing.
1696 The scrolling area below is the log area --- it shows what has been done
1697 and may display questions here.
1700 At the bottom are four buttons and, sometimes, some options.
1701 The buttons work as follows:
1704 Quiet will do simple operations without asking you to confirm each one.
1705 By turning this on and off during an operation you can use it like a pause
1709 Yes answers yes to the question displayed in the log area.
1712 No answers no to the question displayed in the log area.
1715 Abort kills the current operation (if any) and closes the action window.
1718 You can control which actions get started automatically (without you having
1719 to click on Quiet at the start) from the Options window.
1720 \layout Subsubsection
1722 Action window options
1725 Some actions have options, which appear as option boxes at the bottom of
1730 `Force' means that the filer won't treat non-writeable files as special.
1731 Normally, it confirms the deletion even if Quiet is pressed.
1732 Note that you still can't remove files from non-writeable directories because
1733 in that case you really don't have permission.
1736 `Brief' prevents the filer logging a message every time it does something.
1737 Use this to speed things up if large numbers of messages are being logged.
1740 `Recurse' means that doing something to a directory will also do the same
1741 thing to all its contents, and the contents of any subdirectories, and
1746 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: Searching}
1753 The Find feature looks through all the selected files and directories and
1754 any subdirectories (recursively) looking for items that match a particular
1758 If you know the name of a file then just enter it in the `Expression:' box,
1759 enclosed in single quotes.
1760 For example, to find a file called `log' you would enter:
1766 Remember to use normal quotes, not double quotes (
1769 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1781 As the filer finds matching files they are added to the results list.
1782 Clicking on an entry in the list opens a viewer showing the file you clicked
1784 The filer will use the same window to view other results (so, if you want
1785 the results shown in separate windows you must explicitly create a new
1786 window from the Window menu).
1787 \layout Subsubsection
1792 You can also put shell-style wildcard characters inside the quotes, for
1812 manpage if you want to know more about shell wildcards.
1815 If the pattern you enter contains a slash ('/') character then the pattern
1816 is matched against the file's full path, otherwise only the leafname is
1822 will find 'tmp' and 'tmpfile' but not '/tmp/file' ---
1826 will find all three.
1827 \layout Subsubsection
1832 As well as finding files by their names you can also find them by various
1834 Note that `file' is used here to mean anything that can appear in the filesyste
1835 m --- including directories, devices and so on.
1846 These look at the type of the item being checked:
1849 IsReg matches any regular (ie, normal) file.
1852 IsLink matches symlinks.
1855 IsDir matches directories.
1858 IsChar matches character device files.
1861 IsBlock matches block device files.
1864 IsDev matches block or character device files.
1867 IsPipe matches pipes.
1870 IsSocket matches sockets.
1873 These look at the permissions set on the file --- see section
1874 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: Permissions}
1881 IsSUID matches files which have the Set-UID bit set.
1884 IsSGID matches files which have the Set-GID bit set.
1887 IsSticky matches files with the sticky bit set,
1890 IsReadable matches files which you can read from.
1893 IsWriteable matches files which you can write to.
1896 IsExecutable matches files which you can execute.
1899 And a couple of other useful ones:
1902 IsEmpty finds empty files (ie, those whose length is 0 bytes).
1905 IsMine finds files which you own.
1906 \layout Subsubsection
1911 You can combine the above tests in various ways to perform more advanced
1913 An expression is actually made up of a list of
1917 , separated by commas.
1918 The filer will try to match each case in turn until one matches or there
1919 are no more cases left.
1920 For example, to search for files with several possible endings:
1923 '*.gif', '*.htm', '*.html'
1926 Further, each of the cases is actually a list of conditions.
1927 The case only matches if all of its conditions are met.
1928 So, to find a directory called
1932 or a regular file ending in
1939 IsDir 'lib', IsReg '*.so'
1942 You can negate a condition by putting a
1946 in front of it and you can use a sub-expression as a condition by bracketing
1956 Not isdir and not isreg
1959 All three do the same thing.
1960 \layout Subsubsection
1965 You can also compare various values using the operators
1969 (for less-than, less-than-or-equal-to, equal-to, not-equal-to, greater-than
1970 and greater-than-or-equal-to).
1971 When comparing times, you may find it helpful to use
1987 to make things clearer.
1990 The following are read from the file being checked and may be used for the
1991 values being compared:
1994 atime The time that the file was last accessed.
1997 ctime The time that the file's status was last changed.
2000 mtime The time that the file's contents were last modified.
2003 size The size of the file.
2006 inode The file's inode (index) number
2009 nlinks The number of links to this file (that is, the number of directory
2010 entries which refer to this file.
2011 Note that symlinks don't count as references).
2014 uid The User ID of the file.
2017 gid The Group ID of the file.
2020 blocks The number of disk blocks being used by the file.
2023 Times are measured as seconds since the Unix Epoch (00:00:00 UTC, January
2026 When specifying constants to compare these values with you may use various
2027 keywords to scale the value:
2030 Byte(s) has no effect, but looks better.
2033 Kb multiplies by 1024, so 2Kb is the same as 2048.
2037 \begin_inset Formula \( 1024^{2} \)
2043 Sec(s) has no effect, but looks nice.
2046 Min(s) multiplies by 60 to get minutes.
2050 \protected_separator
2052 \protected_separator
2054 \protected_separator
2055 Year(s) likewise convert to the relevant unit.
2058 Ago makes the time in the past relative to when the check is done.
2061 Hence makes the time in the future.
2071 Some examples should make this all a bit clearer!
2074 mtime after 1 day ago
2080 IsReg and nlinks > 1
2083 The first finds files modified within the last 24 hours.
2092 but it's not so clear what is meant.
2093 The second finds files larger than 10 Mb and the last finds regular files
2094 with more than one directory entry.
2097 Be careful though --- the filer doesn't check the context of the modifiers,
2102 is allowed, although it doesn't make much sense! Also, forgetting to use
2111 will cause odd effects (the time will be measured relative to the Epoch
2112 rather than the current time).
2113 Finally, don't use = with times ---
2117 looks for a file accessed
2121 86400 seconds ago...
2122 \layout Subsubsection
2127 System(Command) executes `Command' on the file.
2128 The test succeeds if the command returns an exit status of zero.
2129 A `%' character in `Command' is replaced by the full path of the file being
2131 System is a very slow test to perform, so do it last if possible.
2132 For example, if you're looking for a .c file containing the word `main',
2137 '*.c' system(grep -q main
2152 so that the grep is only performed for files ending in .c (as opposed to
2153 only checking that the file ends in .c if it contains the word `main').
2158 \begin_float footnote
2161 Note that this is the opposite of the
2167 However, if it gets evaluated at all then it prevents the filer from checking
2168 inside the current directory.
2169 Remember the order in which the filer checks the expression!
2175 '*.old' system(echo rm %)
2181 The first displays a command to delete each file ending in
2185 ; you can either paste the results into an xterm to execute them or run
2186 the search again without the
2191 It's always a good idea to use
2195 first with dangerous commands! The second looks for
2199 files, but does not bother checking inside directories called
2204 The expression is evaluated like this:
2206 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center
2208 \begin_inset Figure size 216 180
2221 You can configure various aspects of ROX-Filer from the Options box.
2222 Choose `Options...' from a filer window menu to open it.
2226 At the bottom of the window are four buttons:
2229 Save puts all your choices into effect, and also saves them into your Choices
2230 directory for next time ROX-Filer is loaded.
2231 ROX-Filer will never save any preferences to disk unless you click on the
2232 `Save' button in the options window.
2233 Exactly where choices are loaded from and saved to is controlled by the
2238 environment variable --- see
2239 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{Choices}
2246 OK puts your choices into effect without writing anything to disk.
2249 Apply works like OK, but without closing the Options window.
2252 Cancel closes the options box and forgets any changes you made.
2253 \layout Subsubsection
2255 Action window options
2258 You can choose to start some operations automatically, without waiting for
2259 you to click on Quiet.
2260 Select each operation that you want to auto-start here.
2261 \layout Subsubsection
2263 Filer window options
2266 `Ignore case when sorting' treats upper and lower case letters as equivalent
2268 If this is off then `Zoo' comes before `animal', for example.
2271 `New window on button 1' swaps the actions of the two non-menu buttons when
2272 opening directories.
2273 This is provided for people who are used to the RISC OS mouse bindings.
2276 `Menu on button 2' swaps the actions of buttons 2 and 3 so that the middle
2277 button brings up the menus.
2278 This is provided for people who are used to the RISC OS mouse bindings.
2281 `Single-click navigation' treats a single click over an item as if it was
2283 This allows you to move around, run applications and open files without
2289 opening it you must hold down CTRL while you click.
2292 `Unique windows' prevents you from having two windows showing the same directory.
2293 Opening a second view onto a directory closes the first.
2296 `Toolbar type for new windows' allows you to choose what kind of toolbar
2297 will be used for future filer windows (the currently open windows are not
2299 None means that new windows will not have a toolbar, Normal provides a
2300 small bar of icons, and GNOME displays larger icons with textual labels
2301 and allows the bar to be detached from the window by dragging it.
2303 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: Toolbar}
2310 The last display style and sort type you chose will also be saved as the
2311 defaults for next time.
2312 \layout Subsubsection
2314 Drag-And-Drop options
2317 ROX-Filer uses the standard XDND protocol for drag-and-drop.
2318 This protocol recommends that URIs should contain the hostname of the computer
2319 that the resource is on so that the program receiving the data can determine
2320 whether it can get the data directly or whether it must go via the X-server.
2321 However, many older programs (particularly GNOME applications) get confused
2322 by the hostname and fail to load the data correctly.
2323 If `Don't use hostnames' is on then the hostname part is omitted and ROX-Filer
2324 will work with these applications BUT you can't drag data to a program
2325 running on a different machine.
2328 `Allow dragging to icons in filer windows' controls what happens when you
2329 drop files onto icons in filer windows.
2330 If on then drops onto directories will save the data inside the directory
2331 while dropping onto programs will invoke the program on that data.
2332 If off then drops anywhere inside a filer window act like drops onto the
2333 window background --- that is, the data will be saved into the directory
2335 \layout Subsubsection
2340 The `Xterm here' program is the one used when you choose `Xterm here' from
2342 You can replace it with another program such as `gnome-terminal' if you
2344 In fact, any program will do, but note that you cannot pass any options
2345 to the program at present.
2351 ROX-Filer uses three sub-directories in your Choices directory for filetypes:
2354 MIME-info contains files which specify what the MIME type for a file should
2355 be, based on its extention.
2356 All the files in all the MIME-info directories are scanned when the filer
2358 ROX-Filer comes with many such rules --- these are installed into the MIME-info
2359 directory by the install script.
2363 Many applications now come with a file called `something.mime'; copy these
2364 files into your MIME-info directory to make ROX-Filer automatically recognise
2369 MIME-types contains symlinks, one for each MIME type, which point to programs
2370 that can handle files of that type.
2371 To set what program is run when you click on the file you should normally
2372 use the `Set Run Action' feature (see section
2373 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: RunAction}
2378 However, you can also set the actions manually --- for example, to make
2379 opening an HTML file load it into Netscape:
2383 Find the Netscape application and go to `Link...' on the menu.
2386 Enter `text_html' as the name for the link and drag the icon from the Link
2387 box into the MIME-types directory.
2390 You can also put actual programs in here as well as links if you want to.
2394 MIME-icons contains the images used to display each type of file.
2395 So the filer will try to display an HTML file using the icon `MIME-icons/text_h
2399 In both MIME-types and MIME-icons directories you can also provide default
2400 actions/images for each media type.
2401 For example, if `text_html' isn't found then the filer will try simply
2405 Application directories
2408 An application directory is a directory which can be run as an application.
2409 It contains all the resources of an application --- source code, binaries,
2410 documentation and so on.
2411 Keeping everything in one place make installation and uninstallation much
2413 You can also keep multiple versions of a program by simply having several
2414 application directories.
2415 You may move and rename them as you please.
2416 Application directories are easier to use and install and are more secure
2418 \begin_float footnote
2421 Because you can compile an application as a user and then simply copy it
2422 as root rather than having to run an install script you are free from the
2423 danger of running untrusted code as root.
2424 All you have to watch out for is setuid binaries.
2429 To make a directory executable all you need to do is create a executable
2430 file called `AppRun' inside it.
2431 This file is run when the user double-clicks on the application.
2432 You should also provide `AppIcon.xpm' (which will be used as the image for
2433 the application) and `Help' (which is a directory that is opened when the
2434 user asks for help).
2435 Have a look at the ROX-Filer application directory for a full example.
2438 Internationalisation
2442 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: LANG}
2446 Selecting a translation
2449 ROX-Filer is able to translate many of its messages, provided suitable translati
2450 on files are provided.
2451 If you know that your language is supported then simply set the
2455 environment variable to the appropriate code for your country before starting
2459 LANG=fr; export LANG
2465 To see which translations are currently provided, open the ROX-Filer application
2466 directory (hold down Shift and double-click) and look inside the `
2473 Creating a new translation
2480 directory and create the file `
2495 Copy the file into the `
2499 ' subdirectory under
2504 \begin_inset Formula \( \langle \hbox {name}\rangle \hbox {\tt .po} \)
2508 Eg, if your language is referred to as `ml' (`my language'):
2512 $ cp messages.pot po/ml.po
2516 Load the copy into a text editor.
2519 Fill in the translations, which are all blank to start with.
2526 ' script to create the binary file which ROX-Filer can use.
2527 You will need the GNU gettext package for this.
2528 If you don't have it then just send me the
2532 file and I'll convert it for you.
2536 $ cd ROX-Filer/src/po
2542 Created file ../../Messages/ml.gmo OK
2546 Set the LANG variable to `
2550 ' and restart the filer (see section
2551 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: LANG}
2562 file to me so that I can include it in future releases of the filer.
2565 Updating an existing translation
2568 Go into the directory containing the
2577 This checks the source code for new and changed strings and updates all
2578 the translation files.
2582 $ cd ROX-Filer/src/po
2589 Edit the file by hand as before, filling in the new blanks and updating
2590 out-of-date translations.
2591 Look out for `fuzzy' entries where
2595 has made a guess; check it's correct and remove the `fuzzy' line.
2605 Submit the updated file to me.
2612 info page for more instructions on creating a translation.
2618 This is a quick start guide for people who want to modify the source code.
2619 If you make useful changes or fix bugs, please send patches to me or to
2621 Tell me which version you're using!
2627 The first time you compile the program you need to do `
2631 ', but in future you only need to run `
2639 ' directory when you change the
2648 You might want to run `
2655 Creating and applying patches
2658 When people make small modifications to the sources they will often distribute
2663 --- usually on the mailing list.
2664 To apply a patch, go into the 'src' directory and run patch with the patch
2666 Then recompile, like this:
2675 $ ../AppRun --compile
2678 You can remove the patch by simply repeating the above sequence --- patch
2679 will detect that the patch is already applied and offer to remove it.
2680 To create a patch you need to take a copy of the old 'src' directory before
2681 you modify it (before you compile, even):
2690 Now, modify and compile until it works they way you want it to.
2697 $ diff -cr old_src src > my_patch
2700 This creates a human- and machine-readable patch file.
2701 Submit this to the mailing list.
2702 The are many reasons for posting patches rather that the modified files:
2705 They are smaller, and hence shouldn't bounce.
2706 They are also quicker to download for people with slow connections.
2709 People can see what they're getting into before applying them!
2712 Patches can (usually) be applied to slightly modified versions of the sources.
2713 This means that people can apply several patches without each new one overwriti
2720 Here's a quick explanation of the autoconf system in case you haven't used
2722 See `info autoconf' for full details.
2725 There's a file called 'configure.in' which contains various tests (`info
2727 You run `autoconf' and it reads through the file and generates a shell
2728 script to perform the tests, saving it as `configure'.
2729 `configure' is normally distributed with the program because not everyone
2733 You then run `configure' (in fact, let the `AppRun' script do it because
2734 it passes it some arguments), which performs all the tests.
2735 It reads in `Makefile.in' and `config.h.in' and fills in the missing values
2736 with the test results to produce `Makefile' and `config.h'.
2739 You run `make', which creates .o files from the .c files and links to produce
2746 The diagram below shows some of the major structures found in the filer
2747 along with their most important attributes and methods.
2748 Exactly which attributes have been included is a little hit-and-miss but
2749 it might help you get the overall picture.
2750 If you find it useful, please let me know and I'll try to keep it up-to-date
2751 (or even extend it!).
2754 To summarise, each window (or panel) has its own
2759 This structure has pointers to a
2763 (which is the widget which actually displays the files) and to a
2767 , which is used to cache the directory contents.
2776 have pointers to (the same)
2780 s, each of which corresponds to one filesystem object.
2785 s may share the same
2790 While scanning is in progress the
2794 keeps a list of the new items it has found (
2798 ) and the items which have changed in some way (
2803 It periodically notifies the filer window of the changes-so-far by calling
2804 all the functions in the
2816 to add and remove functions to or from the list).
2818 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center
2820 \begin_inset Figure size 595 604
2828 \layout Bibliography
2835 , <http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~tal197/rox.php3>
2836 \layout Bibliography
2843 , <http://www.gtk.org>
2844 \layout Bibliography
2851 , <http://www.gnome.org>
2852 \layout Bibliography
2857 The Drag and Drop protocol
2859 , <http://www.its.caltech.edu/~jafl/xdnd/>
2860 \layout Bibliography
2865 The X Direct Save protocol
2867 , <http://www.its.caltech.edu/~jafl/xds/>
2868 \layout Bibliography
2873 The ROX Choices system
2875 , <http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~tal197/choices.php3>
2876 \layout Bibliography
2877 \bibitem {enlightenment}
2883 <http://www.enlightenment.org>
2884 \layout Bibliography
2889 POrtable Dodgy Filesystems in Userland (hacK),
2891 <http://atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~pavel/podfuk/podfuk.html>
2892 \layout Bibliography
2899 , <http://www.gnome.org>