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11 <ulink url="http://rox.sourceforge.net"/>
14 <firstname>Thomas</firstname><surname>Leonard</surname>
16 <address><email>tal197@users.sourceforge.net</email></address>
19 <copyright><year>2002</year><holder>Thomas Leonard</holder></copyright>
21 <title>Conditions</title>
23 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
24 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published
25 by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License,
26 or (at your option) any later version.
28 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
29 WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY
30 or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License
33 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
34 along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
35 Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA, 02111-1307, USA.
41 <application>ROX-Filer</application> is a graphical file manger for the X
42 Window System. Its user interface is based on the RISC OS filer and it
43 supports similar features such as application directories and drag-and-drop
44 loading and saving of files. The filer can also act as a pinboard, allowing
45 you to pin frequently used files onto the desktop background.
51 <title>Introduction</title>
53 <application>ROX-Filer</application> is a simple and easy to use graphical
54 file manager for X11 — the windowing system used on Unix and Unix-like
55 operating systems. It is also the core component of the ROX Desktop
56 <citation>ROX</citation>. Many of the filer's features were inspired by RISC
57 OS <citation>RISC OS</citation>. `ROX' stands for `RISC OS–On–X'.
61 <title>Features</title>
66 <varlistentry><term>XDND</term>
68 A common drag-and-drop protocol used, for example, by the GNOME
69 desktop<citation>GNOME</citation>. This allows data to be loaded into an
70 application by dragging it from a filer window to a program. The full
71 specification is given in <citation>DND</citation>.
72 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
74 <varlistentry><term>XDS</term>
76 An extension to XDND that allows applications to save data by
77 dragging an icon back to a filer window. The full specification is given in
78 <citation>XDS</citation>.
79 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
81 <varlistentry><term>Choices</term>
83 A simple, but flexible, system for managing user choices. See
84 <citation>Choices</citation> for details.
85 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
87 <varlistentry><term>Application directories</term>
89 Self contained relocatable applications, where installation is as simple as
90 copying it to where you want it and uninstalling it is just a matter of
91 deleting a directory. Described later in this documentation.
92 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
94 <varlistentry><term>Thumbnails</term>
96 The filer can be made to display image files by using the image itself for the
97 icon, instead of a generic `this-is-an-image' icon. Very useful for organising
98 a directory full of photos! See <citation>Thumbs</citation> for details
99 (spec is still in developement).
100 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
102 <varlistentry><term>Shared MIME Info Database</term>
104 In the past, each desktop had its own database of rules for determining the
105 type of files. The Shared MIME Info Database<citation>SharedMIME</citation>
106 unifies these into a single system shared by all desktops.
107 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
116 <chapter id="compiling">
117 <title>Compiling</title>
120 If you've just got hold of the filer by downloading the source archive
121 then you'll need to compile it before you can use it. If you downloaded
122 and installed a binary package, or if <application>ROX-Filer</application>
123 was included with your system, then you can skip this section. If you got
124 here by clicking on the `i' symbol in a filer window, or if typing
125 <command>rox</command> at a shell prompt works, then you don't need to
128 <itemizedlist><title>To compile, you will need the following:</title>
131 Unix or Linux (root access is not required),
135 The X Window system (supplied as standard on all modern systems),
139 GTK+ 2.0.0 or later (libraries and headers) — get the latest version
140 from <citation>GTK+</citation>,
144 LibXML 2.0.0 or later (libraries and headers) — get the latest
145 version from <citation>libxml</citation>,
149 A C compiler, such as `gcc' (standard on most systems).
154 All of the above are standard on most modern Linux distributions.
155 To check which version of GTK+ you have installed, run the
156 <command>pkg-config</command> command, like this
157 (<prompt>$</prompt> is the shell prompt):
159 <screen>$ pkg-config --modversion gtk+-2.0
163 <procedure><title>To compile:</title>
166 The filer now uses the Shared MIME Database<citation>SharedMIME</citation>
167 to work out the types of files. You need to install this before the
168 filer will work properly (ROX-Filer will warn you if it's not installed
173 Change to the directory containing the ROX-Filer subdirectory.
177 Run the <command>install.sh</command> script, like this:
179 <screen>$ ./install.sh</screen>
184 <application>ROX-Filer</application> will perform various checks to find
185 out what kind of system it is being run on and will then compile. If it
186 doesn't work then please e-mail me and complain! Tell me what kind of
187 system you have and what errors were reported. If you manage to fix the
188 problem yourself then please e-mail me the fix.
190 The executable file is stored inside the ROX-Filer directory in a
191 different subdirectory for each platform. Therefore, you can compile
192 the same application on several different types of machine and then
193 run it from any of them using the <filename>AppRun</filename> script.
194 This is particularly useful in a network environment.
198 Once the filer has compiled you will be asked where you want to install
199 it. If you want to do a system-wide installation as root, you may
200 want to stop here, <command>su</command> to root and rerun the install
203 If you don't have the root password then don't worry — just follow
204 the instructions for installing into your home directory.
209 You can now run the filer by running the <command>rox</command> script
210 without any options, like this:
212 <screen>$ rox</screen>
214 A window should appear and display the contents of the current directory.
216 If you installed the script into your home directory then you may
217 need to set your <envar>PATH</envar> environment variable so that the shell can
218 find it. For example, if you installed it into a directory called
219 <filename>bin</filename> in your home directory, use this:
221 <screen>$ PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH; export PATH</screen>
223 or (if you are using the <citerefentry><refentrytitle>csh</refentrytitle>
224 <manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> shell):
226 <screen>$ setenv PATH $HOME/bin:$PATH
233 <chapter id="invoking">
234 <title>Invoking</title>
237 By default, <application>ROX-Filer</application> will start by displaying
238 the current directory. You can get it to display other directories instead
239 by listing them after the command:
241 <screen>$ rox /home /usr /usr/local</screen>
243 You can also use it to open files, like this:
245 <screen>$ rox README</screen>
247 The filer supports various options; use <option>-h</option> for a list.
248 All options have long and short forms (eg <option>-h</option> and
249 <option>--help</option>) — although on some systems you can only use the
252 Note that if the same version of the filer is already running on this
253 machine then, by default, it will be used to open the directories.
254 You can override this (perhaps because the old copy has stopped responding for
255 some reason) using the <option>--new</option> option.
257 For a complete list of command-line options, see <xref linkend="manpage"/>
261 <title><anchor id="run_pin" xreflabel="Pinboard support"/>Pinboard support</title>
264 If you want the filer to manage your desktop background then you use
265 the <option>--pinboard</option> option and supply a name for the pinboard,
268 <screen>$ rox --pinboard=MyPinboard</screen>
270 The pinboard configuration is saved in
271 <filename><Choices>/ROX-Filer/pb_MyPinboard</filename>
272 as soon as you change it in some way (for example, by dropping a file
273 onto the background). You can have as many pinboards as you like and
274 switch between them by running rox again, eg:
276 <screen>$ rox --pinboard=MyOtherPinboard</screen>
278 To turn off the pinboard again, set the name to an empty string:
280 <screen>$ rox --pinboard=</screen>
282 See the <xref linkend="winman"/> if you have trouble getting the icons to
283 display correctly. The pinboard may also be turned on and off by locating
284 <filename>ROX-Filer</filename> in a filer window and choosing `Enable
285 pinboard' or `Disable pinboard' from the menu. </para>
289 <title><anchor id="run_pan" xreflabel="Panel support"/>Panels</title>
292 Panels work just like the pinboard. You can create a panel on any
293 side of the screen by using the options <option>--left</option>, <option>--right,</option>
294 <option>--top</option> and <option>--bottom</option>, depending on which side
295 of the screen the panel should appear on. On some systems, the short
296 (one letter) form of the options must be used. For example, to create
297 a panel along the bottom edge of the screen:
299 <screen>$ rox -b=MyPanel</screen>
301 The panel should be displayed in a window without a title bar. If
302 this does not work then see the <xref linkend="winman"/> for some ideas.
303 You can drag files onto either side of the panel to add them. Panel icons
304 can be repositioned by dragging them with the middle mouse button.
305 Changes to the panel are automatically saved to
306 <filename><Choices>/ROX-Filer/pan_MyPanel</filename>.
307 As with the pinboard, you can switch between panel configurations
308 simply by running rox again with a different panel name. Specify a
309 blank name to remove the panel.
311 <screen>$ rox --bottom=MyOtherPanel
312 $ rox --bottom=</screen>
317 <title id="winman" xreflabel="window manager notes">Window manager notes</title>
319 You may have to play around with your window manager a bit to get
320 the pinboard icons and panels to display correctly (eg, without borders
321 and underneath all other windows). In particular, try setting the
322 stacking level / depth to low (or a negative value). Make sure any
323 'Keep transients above other windows' type options are turned off!
326 <sect2><title>Sawfish / sawmill</title>
328 Sawfish tries to guess whether you are using GNOME at start-up and only
329 provides support if so. You may need to add the line
330 <programlisting>(require 'gnome)</programlisting>
331 to your <filename>.sawfishrc</filename> file (see the sawfish manual
336 <sect2><title>IceWM</title>
339 Paste these configuration settings into
340 <filename>~/.icewm/preferences</filename>:
343 # Manage root window (EXPERIMENTAL - normally enabled!)
344 GrabRootWindow=1 # 0/1
345 # Bitmask of root window button click to use in window manager
346 UseRootButtons=3 # [0-255]
347 # Desktop mouse-button click to show the menu
348 DesktopWinMenuButton=1 # [0-20]
349 # Desktop mouse-button click to show the window list
350 DesktopWinListButton=2 # [0-5]
351 # Desktop mouse-button click to show the window list menu
352 DesktopMenuButton=0 # [0-20]</programlisting>
353 Paste these into <filename>~/.icewm/winoptions</filename>:
356 # ROX-Filer pinboard and panel
357 ROX-Filer.icon: folder
358 ROX-Panel.layer: Dock
359 ROX-Panel.doNotCover: 1
360 ROX-Panel.ignoreWinList: 1
361 ROX-Panel.ignoreTaskBar: 1
362 ROX-Panel.ignoreQuickSwitch: 1
363 ROX-Pinboard.layer: Below
364 ROX-Pinboard.ignoreWinList: 1
365 ROX-Pinboard.ignoreTaskBar: 1
366 ROX-Pinboard.ignoreQuickSwitch: 1
367 ROX-Filer.layer: Normal</programlisting>
368 Restart IceWM and the filer for the new settings to take effect.
373 <sect2><title>Window Maker</title>
375 <step><para>Run the filer using <userinput>rox -p=Default</userinput>.</para></step>
377 Press <keycap>Control</keycap>+<keycap>Escape</keycap>, or
378 [RightButtonDown] on any window's titlebar.
379 Choose <guimenuitem>Attributes...</guimenuitem> from the menu.
383 The Attributes Inspector window appears. From the pulldown menu
384 at the top, choose <guimenuitem>Window Specification</guimenuitem>
389 Press the <guibutton>Select window</guibutton> button.
390 The cursor changes to a double crosshair. Select one of the
391 <application>ROX-Filer</application> pinboard icons. The radio buttons
392 in the <guilabel>Window Specification</guilabel> frame should change
393 their labels to include <userinput>ROX-Pinboard.ROX-Filer</userinput>
394 as the first item. Select that radio button.
398 Choose <guimenuitem>Window Attributes</guimenuitem> from the pulldown
399 menu. In the <guilabel>Attributes</guilabel> frame, choose the
400 features you want the pinboard icons to have; I recommend the
403 <listitem><para>Disable titlebar</para></listitem>
404 <listitem><para>Disable resizebar</para></listitem>
405 <listitem><para>Disable close button</para></listitem>
406 <listitem><para>Disable miniaturize button</para></listitem>
407 <listitem><para>Keep at bottom (sunken)</para></listitem>
408 <listitem><para>Omnipresent</para></listitem>
414 Choose <guimenuitem>Advanced Options</guimenuitem> from the pulldown
415 menu. In the <guilabel>Advanced</guilabel> frame, choose the advanced
416 features you wish; I recommend the following:
419 <listitem><para>Do not show in the window list</para></listitem>
420 <listitem><para>Ignore 'Hide Others'</para></listitem>
421 <listitem><para>Ignore 'Save Session' (possibly)</para></listitem>
426 When you're finished selecting window attributes, press the
427 <guibutton>Save</guibutton> button, and then close the Attributes
428 Inspector window using the <guibutton>X</guibutton> button in the titlebar.
433 <sect2><title>Others</title>
436 If all else fails, try running rox with the <option>-n</option> and
437 <option>-o</option> options; this overrides window manager control of the
438 icons altogether (<option>-n</option> forces the filer to start a new
446 <title>Running as root</title>
449 If you run the filer as the `root' user then the filer will display
450 a message at the top of each window to remind you. The root user has
451 permission to access or change any file in the system, so be very
452 careful when using the filer like this.
454 Normally, you should log in as an ordinary user and only change to
455 root when you need to. If you have <command>sudo</command> installed
456 and set up then you can run the filer like this:
458 <screen>$ sudo rox</screen>
460 Remember, any file operations you perform and any programs you run from
461 these windows will run as root too! Be careful!
463 You may find that the X server won't allow root (or other users) to
464 connect. Reading the manual pages for <command>xauth</command> and
465 <command>xhost</command> may give you some hints, but it varies
466 between systems (which is why this isn't built in to the filer!).
473 <chapter id="keys" xreflabel="mouse and key bindings">
474 <title>Mouse button and key bindings</title>
476 <itemizedlist><title>Quick start:</title>
478 <listitem><para>Click the left
479 <footnote><para>This documentation assumes that button–1 is the left
480 button, button–2 is the middle button and button–3 is the
481 right button. This is not always the case — for example, in a
482 left-handed setup.</para></footnote> mouse button to open files and
483 directories.</para></listitem>
486 Click the right button to get a menu. Click over a file to perform an action on that file.
490 Drag files between windows with the left button to copy them, or with
491 the middle button to get a menu of possible actions (copy, move, link,
498 By default, the mouse button bindings are designed to fit in with X
499 conventions. However, the behaviour is highly configurable — have a play in
500 the Options window if you don't like the normal settings. The normal settings
506 <thead><row><entry>Key or mouse button</entry><entry>Action</entry></row></thead>
510 <row><entry>Left button click</entry><entry>
511 Open the file or directory clicked on. Hold down <keycap>Control</keycap>
512 to select things instead of opening them. Hold down <keycap>Shift</keycap>
513 to look inside applications, treat files as text, follow symlinks or
517 <row><entry>Middle button click</entry><entry>
518 Same as left click, but open a directory in a new window or close the viewer
522 <row><entry>Right button click</entry><entry>
523 Open the main menu. Hold down <keycap>Control</keycap> while clicking to go
524 directly to the Selection submenu. Hold down <keycap>Shift</keycap> to get the
525 <guimenu>Send To</guimenu> menu (see the <xref linkend="SendTo"/> section).
528 <row><entry>Drag an item (left mouse button)</entry><entry>
529 Copy the file(s) to the destination (an application or another filer
530 window). Hold down <keycap>Shift</keycap> to move the file,
531 <keycap>Control</keycap>+<keycap>Shift</keycap> to create
532 a symbolic link, or <keycap>Alt</keycap> to get a menu of possible actions.
535 <row><entry>Drag an item (middle mouse button)</entry><entry>
536 When you let go, display a menu of possible actions.
537 There is an option to make this move the files rather than open the menu.
540 <row><entry>Drag (not over an item)</entry><entry>
541 Select a group of items by dragging a box around them. With the left
542 mouse button, only the files in the box will be selected. If you hold
543 down <keycap>Control</keycap> then the boxed items are added to the selection.
544 If you use the middle button then the boxed items switch between being selected
548 <row><entry>Double-click background</entry><entry>
549 Resize the window to a sensible size.
552 <row><entry><keycap>Backspace</keycap></entry><entry>
553 Change to viewing the parent directory.
556 <row><entry>Cursor keys</entry><entry>
557 Move the cursor around.
561 <keycap>Page Up</keycap>, <keycap>Page Down</keycap></entry><entry>
562 Move the cursor up and down a page at a time.
565 <row><entry><keycap>Home</keycap>, <keycap>End</keycap></entry><entry>
566 Move to the first/last entry in the directory.
569 <row><entry><keycap>Return</keycap></entry><entry>
570 Acts like clicking on the file. You may hold down Shift for other
571 effects, as with clicking.
574 <row><entry><keycap>Spacebar</keycap></entry><entry>
575 Toggles the item under the cursor between being selected and unselected,
576 and moves to the next item.
579 <row><entry><keycap>Tab</keycap>, <keycap>Shift</keycap>+<keycap>Tab</keycap></entry><entry>
580 Moves the cursor to the next/previous selected item.
583 <row><entry>Hold mouse over an item</entry><entry>
584 Shows a tooltip containing a brief description of an application (if
585 available), the target of a symbolic link, and the full name of a file,
586 if it's too long to show in the main window.
589 </tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
592 If you have user-defineable key-bindings enabled, then other keys can easily
593 be set by opening the menu, moving the pointer over the item you want to use
594 and pressing a key. The key will appear in the menu and can be used from
595 then on. Key bindings are automatically saved when the filer quits.
596 You can use an XSettings manager, such as ROX-Session, to turn this feature
597 on for all Gtk+-2.0 applications.
601 <chapter id="selection">
602 <title>The selection and file groups</title>
604 When you select items in a <application>ROX-Filer</application> window,
605 the filer takes the <emphasis>primary selection</emphasis>. You can then paste
606 into another window to get the pathnames of the selected files.
610 <title>Example: loading a file into an application that doesn't support
611 drag-and-drop:</title>
613 <step><para>Open the application's Open dialog box.</para></step>
616 <keycap>Control</keycap>-click on the file in
617 <application>ROX-Filer</application> to select it.</para></step>
620 Click the middle button in the filename box in the application to paste the
626 Note that clicking the middle mouse button in the main area of most web-browsers
627 will open the selected file.
629 If you select something else (eg, some text in another program), the selected
630 items in the filer window will be shown shaded (the filer no longer has the
631 primary selection). Clicking on one of the shaded items will cause the
632 filer to regain the primary selection.
635 <sect1><title>Saving and restoring the selection</title>
637 It is sometimes useful to save the current selection for later. You can
638 save the current selection to one of ten numbered groups by pressing
639 <keycap>Control</keycap>+<keycap><number></keycap>.
640 You can restore a saved group by pressing the group number on its own. You
641 can do this from a different directory, or even a different filer window.
643 Saving is also useful even if there is no selection, since it still saves
644 the current directory.
646 <procedure><title>Example: saving a directory and returning to it later:</title>
647 <step><para>You are looking at a directory, and wish to remember it.
648 Press <keycap>Control</keycap>+<keycap>1</keycap>.</para></step>
649 <step><para>Move to another directory, or close the window, etc.</para></step>
650 <step><para>Press <keycap>1</keycap> in any filer window to return
651 to the first directory.</para></step> </procedure>
652 <para>The groups are saved automatically for next time the filer is loaded.
656 <chapter id="toolbar">
657 <title><anchor id="Toolbar" xreflabel="Toolbar"/>The toolbar</title>
660 By default, each window has a toolbar along the top. You can disable
661 this (or make it larger) from the Options window, as well as set which
662 tools appear on the toolbar. Normally, you should click with the left
663 mouse button (1). However, many tools can perform a related function
664 if clicked on with buttons 2 or 3 (middle or right).
667 <informaltable><tgroup cols="3">
672 Mouse button 1</entry><entry>
681 Close the window</entry><entry>
683 </entry></row><row><entry>
684 Up arrow</entry><entry>
685 Change to parent directory</entry><entry>
686 Show parent in a new window <xref linkend="newwin_fn"/>
687 </entry></row><row><entry>
689 Change to home directory</entry><entry>
690 Show home in a new window <xref linkend="newwin_fn"/>
691 </entry></row><row><entry>
692 Looping arrows</entry><entry>
693 Reread the directory contents</entry><entry>
695 </entry></row><row><entry>
696 Magnifying glass</entry><entry>
697 Make icons bigger</entry><entry>
699 </entry></row><row><entry>
701 Hide or show extra details</entry><entry>
703 </entry></row><row><entry>
704 Dot files</entry><entry>
705 Toggle the display of hidden file (those with names starting with a dot)</entry><entry>
707 </entry></row><row><entry>
708 Information</entry><entry>
709 Show <application>ROX-Filer</application>'s help files</entry><entry>
710 Show help files and close window
712 </tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
715 <anchor id="newwin_fn" xreflabel="[1]"/>[1]
716 If the 'New window on button 1' option is turned on
717 then the default is to open a new window — clicking with the other
718 button reuses the same window instead.
722 Dragging files to the Up or Home icons acts just like dragging them
723 into the directory which the button leads to.
725 The toolbar can also show the number of files in the directory, and
726 information about the selection. This can be turned on or off in the
734 <title>The menus</title>
736 By default, you can open a menu by right clicking over a pinboard, panel or
739 In filer windows, you may also press <keycap>\</keycap> to open the menu. As
740 a shortcut, you can open the File submenu directly by holding down the
741 <keycap>Control</keycap> key when opening the menu. Here is a full
742 description of each menu item:
744 <informaltable><tgroup cols="2">
746 <thead><row><entry>Entry</entry><entry>Action</entry></row></thead>
749 <row><entry><guimenuitem>Display</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
750 Change the display settings.
753 <row><entry><guimenuitem>File</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
754 Operations on the selected items.
757 <row><entry><guimenuitem>Select</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
758 Control which items are selected.
761 <row><entry><guimenuitem>Options...</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
762 Configure <application>ROX-Filer</application>.
765 <row><entry><guimenuitem>New</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
766 Create a new file or subdirectory inside this directory.
769 <row><entry><guimenuitem>Xterm Here</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
770 Open an xterm with its current directory set to this directory.
773 <row><entry><guimenuitem>Window</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
774 Operations on the window as a whole.
777 </tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
782 <title>The display menu</title>
785 <informaltable><tgroup cols="2">
787 <thead><row><entry>Entry</entry><entry>Action</entry></row></thead>
790 <row><entry><guimenuitem>Huge Icons</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
791 Extra large icons (mainly useful with thumbnails, see below).
792 </entry></row><row><entry>
794 <guimenuitem>Large Icons</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
795 Each object in the directory is shown as a large icon with its name
797 </entry></row><row><entry>
799 <guimenuitem>Small Icons</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
800 Items are drawn smaller than usual, allowing you to see more files
802 </entry></row><row><entry>
804 <guimenuitem>Huge, With...</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
805 As for <guimenuitem>Large, With...</guimenuitem>, but with extra large icons.
806 </entry></row><row><entry>
808 <guimenuitem>Large, With...</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
809 <para>Entries are displayed along with some extra details:</para>
812 <listitem><para><guimenuitem>Summary</guimenuitem>
813 shows the file permissions, owner, group, size and modification time.
816 <listitem><para><guimenuitem>Sizes</guimenuitem>
817 shows just the size of each file (not directories).
820 <listitem><para><guimenuitem>Permissions</guimenuitem>
821 shows just the permissions and owner.
824 <listitem><para><guimenuitem>Type</guimenuitem>
825 shows the MIME type of each file.
828 <listitem><para><guimenuitem>Times</guimenuitem>
829 shows the times the file was last accessed, modifed and changed.
830 Reading a file's contents or listing a directory updates the
831 <emphasis>access time</emphasis>; modifying the contents of a file or
832 the list of files in a directory updates the <emphasis>modification
833 time</emphasis>; changing a file's owner or permissions updates the
834 <emphasis>change time</emphasis>.
839 </entry></row><row><entry>
841 <guimenuitem>Small, With...</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
842 As above, but with a smaller icon and all on one line.
843 </entry></row><row><entry>
845 <guimenuitem>Sort by Name</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
846 Items are arranged by name. The default sort mode is case-insensitive
847 and deals with numbers sensibly. There is an option to use straight
849 </entry></row><row><entry>
851 <guimenuitem>Sort by Type</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
852 Items are grouped by their types and then sorted by name within the
854 </entry></row><row><entry>
856 <guimenuitem>Sort by Date</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
857 Most recently modified first.
858 </entry></row><row><entry>
860 <guimenuitem>Sort by Size</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
862 </entry></row><row><entry>
864 <guimenuitem>Show Hidden</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
865 If on, files beginning with a dot are shown, otherwise they are hidden.
866 The titlebar shows <guilabel>(All)</guilabel> when this is on.
867 </entry></row><row><entry>
869 <guimenuitem>Show Thumbnails</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
870 When on, the filer tries to load every image file and use that
871 image as the file's icon. Useful if you have a directory full of
872 photos and can't remember which is which!
873 The thumbnails are saved in <filename>~/.thumbnails</filename> for
874 quick loading next time.
875 While loading thumbnails, a progress bar appears at the bottom of
876 the window. Clicking on the <guibutton>Cancel</guibutton> button
877 beside the bar stops the scan.
878 The titlebar shows <guilabel>(Thumbs)</guilabel> when this is on.
879 </entry></row><row><entry>
881 <guimenuitem>Refresh</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
882 Rereads the contents of the directory and details of all the files
883 in it. Use this if the display becomes out-of-date.
886 </tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
890 <sect2><title><anchor id="Permissions" xreflabel="Permissions"/>
895 The permissions field, when shown, is made up of four groups of three
896 flags. Each flag is displayed as a letter if it is on and a dash (–)
897 if not. The first three characters show the permissions for the owner
898 of the file, the second for other members of the file's group and
899 the third for everyone else. Whichever group applies to the
900 <application>ROX-Filer</application> process itself is shown underlined.
901 The fourth group shows any special flags.
903 The meanings of the characters are:
907 <listitem><para><computeroutput>r</computeroutput> —
908 Permission to read the contents of a file, or the names of files
909 in a directory.</para></listitem>
911 <listitem><para><computeroutput>w</computeroutput> —
912 Permission to alter the contents of a file, or change which names
913 appear in a directory.</para></listitem>
915 <listitem><para><computeroutput>x</computeroutput> —
916 Permission to run the file as a program, or refer to the files
917 listed within the directory.</para></listitem>
919 <listitem><para><computeroutput>U</computeroutput> —
920 This program executes with the <emphasis>effective user ID</emphasis> of its
921 owner rather than the person who ran it.</para></listitem>
923 <listitem><para><computeroutput>G</computeroutput> —
924 This program executes with the <emphasis>effective group ID</emphasis> of its
925 group, regardless of who ran it.</para></listitem>
927 <listitem><para><computeroutput>T</computeroutput> —
928 Entries in this directory can only be altered or removed by the
929 people who own the files even if they have write permission on the
930 directory itself.</para></listitem>
935 <emphasis role="underline">rwx</emphasis>,rwx,r-x/---</programlisting>
936 means that the owner of the file is the same as the effective user of
937 <application>ROX-Filer</application> (basically, you own the file), you and
938 members of the file's group have read, write and execute permission and other
939 people have only read and execute permission. There are no special flags set.
941 The rules which determine which permissions apply may vary slightly between
942 operating systems, but a rough guide is:
946 <listitem><para>If the <emphasis>effective user ID</emphasis> of the
947 process is equal to the file's owner, then the owner permissions apply.
950 <listitem><para>Otherwise, if the <emphasis>effective group ID</emphasis>
951 of the process is equal to the file's group OR the file's group is one
952 of the process's <emphasis>supplemental groups</emphasis> then the
953 group permissions apply.
956 <listitem><para>Otherwise, the `other' permissions apply. The
957 <emphasis>real user ID</emphasis> and <emphasis>real group
958 ID</emphasis> have no effect (except that a process may set its real
959 IDs to its effective IDs).
969 <title>The file menu</title>
971 All of these work in the same way — if you open the menu with some
972 items selected then the operation applies to those items. If you open
973 then menu over an item while there is no selection then that item
974 is temporarily selected.
976 If you choose one of these while there is no selection at all then the
977 window goes into `target mode'; the operation happens to the next item you
978 click on. Click on the window background, press <keycap>Escape</keycap>, or
979 click with the right mouse button to cancel target mode. Target mode is
980 mainly useful with the <guilabel>Single-click navigation in filer
981 windows</guilabel> option and keys bound to the various menu entries.
983 Note that individual applications may add extra menu items to the
984 top of this submenu when you click over them — see
985 <xref linkend="AppDir"/> for details.
987 <informaltable><tgroup cols="2">
988 <thead><row><entry>Entry</entry><entry>Action</entry></row></thead>
992 <guimenuitem>Copy...</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
993 Make a copy of this object.
997 <guimenuitem>Rename...</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
998 Change the name used for this object, or move it between directories.
1002 <guimenuitem>Link...</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1003 Create a symbolic link to this name.
1007 <guimenuitem>Shift Open</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1008 Opens applications as directories, files as text/plain, mount points by
1009 mounting or unmounting them and symlinks by opening the directory containing
1010 the thing they point to. This is the same effect as clicking with
1011 <keycap>Shift</keycap> held down. The text of the menu entry changes
1012 to show which action will be performed.
1016 <guimenuitem>Help</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1017 Explain what kind of thing is selected. For applications, display
1022 <guimenuitem>Info</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1023 Display extra information about this object.
1027 <guimenuitem>Set Run Action...</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1028 Allows you to set the default program to use when opening files of
1029 this type. See <xref linkend="RunAction"/> section for details.
1033 <guimenuitem>Set Icon...</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1034 You can give each file or directory its own special icon using this
1035 feature — simply drag a suitable image onto <xref linkend="SetIcon"/>.
1039 <guimenuitem>Open AVFS</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1040 Open the file as if it was a directory — see the
1041 <xref linkend="vfs"/> section.
1045 <guimenuitem>Send To...</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1046 Opens the `Send To' menu, allowing you to send the selected files
1047 to one of a list of applications. See the
1048 <xref linkend="SendTo"/> section.
1052 <guimenuitem>Delete</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1053 Remove all the selected entries from the directory. Subdirectories
1054 will have their contents deleted first. Deleting symlinks only removes
1055 the link, not the thing it points to.
1059 <guimenuitem>Disk Usage</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1060 Count the sizes of all the selected items. Directories also have their
1061 contents counted. Symlinks count themselves, not the things they point
1066 <guimenuitem>Permissions</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1067 Allows you to change the permissions for the selected files.
1071 <guimenuitem>Find</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1072 Search for files by specifying various conditions — see the
1073 <xref linkend="Searching"/> section.
1076 </tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1079 <formalpara><title>Note about symlinks:</title>
1081 A symbolic link stores the <emphasis>location</emphasis>
1082 of another file. Deleting the symlink doesn't affect the other file.
1083 Deleting the other file means that the symlink won't work. There are
1084 two types of symbolic link — Relative and Absolute. An absolute
1085 link stores the path from the root directory to the target file (eg
1086 <filename>/home/fred/MyFile</filename>).
1088 A relative path stores the path from the symlink
1089 to the target (eg <filename>../fred/MyFile</filename>).
1090 If the target file is never going to move then you want an absolute link,
1091 but if the target may move (and the symlink will be moved with it) then
1092 you want a relative link.
1098 <title>The select menu</title>
1100 This menu allows you to select and unselect files in various ways. See the
1101 <xref linkend="keys"/> section for other ways to select files.
1103 <informaltable><tgroup cols="2">
1104 <thead><row><entry>Entry</entry><entry>Action</entry></row></thead>
1107 <guimenuitem>Select All</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1108 Select every item in this window.
1111 <row><entry><guimenuitem>Clear Selection</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1112 Unselect every item in this window.
1115 <row><entry><guimenuitem>Invert Selection</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1116 Every selected file becomes unselected, and every unselected file
1121 <guimenuitem>Select If...</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1122 Select just those files that match the given pattern —
1123 see the <xref linkend="SelectIf"/> section.
1126 </tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1132 <title>The new menu</title>
1135 Each entry in this submenu opens a savebox for creating a new file or
1136 directory. There are two standard entries; the others are the contents of
1137 your <filename><Choices>/Templates</filename> directory, if it
1141 <informaltable><tgroup cols="2">
1142 <thead><row><entry>Entry</entry><entry>Action</entry></row></thead>
1145 Directory</entry><entry>
1146 Create a new directory.
1147 </entry></row><row><entry>
1149 Create a blank file.
1150 </entry></row><row><entry>
1151 <user entries></entry><entry>
1152 Copy a file from your Templates directory.
1154 </tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1157 To add your own entries, create a new directory called
1158 <filename>~/Choices/Templates</filename>
1159 (if you have the default <envar>CHOICESPATH</envar>) and put any files you
1160 want in there. Each file in the directory will appear on the menu and the
1161 box that appears will copy it. For example, you could create a blank
1167 <title>My Page</title>
1172 </html></programlisting>
1174 Save this as <filename>index.html</filename> inside the
1175 <filename>Templates</filename> directory and you can easily create new
1176 HTML files. You can also save blank documents from various applications
1177 into here (eg, a blank spreadsheet, a blank letter, etc).
1179 Note that you cannot set keyboard shortcuts for these user-defined
1186 <title>The window menu</title>
1190 <informaltable><tgroup cols="2">
1191 <thead><row><entry>Entry</entry><entry>Action</entry></row></thead>
1194 <guimenuitem>Parent, New Window</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1195 Open a new window displaying this window's parent.
1199 <guimenuitem>Parent, Same Window</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1200 As above, but reuse this window.
1204 <guimenuitem>New Window</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1205 Open another window onto this directory.
1209 <guimenuitem>Home Directory</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1210 Change to your home directory.
1214 <guimenuitem>Follow Symbolic Links</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1215 Converts the path shown in the window's titlebar to its canonical form.
1216 For example, if <filename>/home/fred/link</filename> is a symlink
1217 pointing to <filename>/usr/share/doc/</filename> then clicking on the symlink
1218 will take you to that directory and going `up' will take you back to
1219 <filename>/home/fred</filename>.
1220 If you'd used <guimenuitem>Follow Symbolic Links</guimenuitem>, you would
1221 have ended up in <filename>/usr/share</filename> instead.
1225 <guimenuitem>Resize Window</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1226 Set the window to a sensible size for its contents.
1230 <guimenuitem>Close Window</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1235 <guimenuitem>Enter Path...</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1236 Open the path-entry box (see the the <xref linkend="mini"/> section).
1240 <guimenuitem>Shell Command...</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1241 Open the shell command box (see the <xref linkend="mini"/> section).
1245 <guimenuitem>Show ROX-Filer Help</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1246 Same as selecting ROX-Filer and choosing
1247 <guimenuitem>Help</guimenuitem> from the menu.
1250 </tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1257 <title><anchor id="SendTo" xreflabel="Send To menu"/>The send to menu</title>
1260 The `Send To' menu provides a quick way to send some files to an application.
1261 The filer scans all the <filename>SendTo</filename> directories in your
1262 <envar>CHOICESPATH</envar> and lists the contents on this menu.
1264 To change which applications appear here you should choose the
1265 <guimenuitem>Customise</guimenuitem> item from the bottom
1266 of the menu to create and open your own <filename>SendTo</filename>
1267 directory. Applications can be symlinked into this directory by dragging
1268 them in with <keycap>Control</keycap> and <keycap>Shift</keycap> held down.
1270 Opening the Send To menu via the main menu is rather slow, so it is
1271 normally opened by clicking the Menu mouse button over a file while
1272 holding the <keycap>Shift</keycap> key down.
1275 <title>Showing different applications for different types</title>
1277 You may want to set things up so that, for example, the Gimp is
1278 only shown when an image is selected. To do this, create a
1279 hidden directory inside <filename>SendTo</filename> called
1280 <filename>.image</filename>, or whatever type you want to use.
1281 You can use either the complete type (eg <filename>.image_png</filename>)
1282 or just the media type. Use <guimenuitem>Info</guimenuitem> over a file to
1283 find out its MIME type.
1286 Entries in these hidden directories are shown only for files of
1287 the appropriate type. If multiple files are selected, the
1288 <filename>.group</filename> directory is used instead.
1295 <chapter id="icons">
1296 <title>The pinboard and panels</title>
1299 The <xref linkend="run_pin"/> and <xref linkend="run_pan"/> sections explain
1300 how to turn the pinboard and panels on. Once on, you may drop items from filer
1301 windows onto the them to pin them up. Clicking on a pinned item acts just like
1302 clicking on it in a filer window. You can drag pinned icons just like normal
1303 icons and you can right-click on one to see the popup menu.
1305 Drag panel icons with the middle mouse button to move them around.
1306 In previous versions of the filer, pinboard icons were also moved using the
1307 middle mouse button. This may still work (depending on your window manager),
1308 but using the left mouse button is now preferred.
1310 Changes to the pinboard and panel are automatically saved. Clicking on pinned
1311 icons with <keycap>Control</keycap> held down selects and unselects them.
1312 Click on the background to unselect them all.
1314 If the panel has so many icons that they can't all be shown at once
1315 then you can scroll it by dragging the blank area in the middle.
1319 Pinning a file does <emphasis>not</emphasis> copy it, it merely
1320 creates a shortcut to the original file. If you delete the file, then
1321 you've lost it! Removing a pinned file from its pinboard or panel
1322 only removes the link. This is different to most other filers...
1326 <title>The pinboard and panel menus</title>
1329 <informaltable><tgroup cols="2">
1330 <thead><row><entry>Entry</entry><entry>Action</entry></row></thead>
1334 <guimenuitem>ROX-Filer</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1335 Show the filer's help, edit the options or open your home directory.
1339 <guimenuitem>File `file'</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1340 Offers a smaller version of the filer's submenu of the same name.
1344 <guimenuitem>Edit Item</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1345 Change the name displayed under the icon, or the pathname the item
1350 <guimenuitem>Show Location</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1351 Open a directory viewer showing where the file is stored.
1355 <guimenuitem>Remove Item(s)</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1356 Remove the selected items from the pinboard or panel.
1360 <guimenuitem>Backdrop...</guimenuitem></entry><entry>
1361 Set the desktop backdrop image (see below). Only available from
1365 </tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1368 If you are setting up the defaults for multiple users and
1369 you wish to create a `Home' icon that leads to each user's home directory
1370 then you should first create a new icon and then use
1371 <guimenuitem>Edit Icon</guimenuitem> to change the location to
1372 <filename>~</filename> and the name to `Home'.
1374 Note that individual applications may add extra menu items to the
1375 top of this menu when you click over them — see <xref linkend="AppDir"/>
1381 <title>Panel applets</title>
1384 <application>ROX-Filer</application> allows you to run small programs
1385 inside the panel — such programs are called
1386 <emphasis>applets</emphasis>. To run an applet, drag it onto the panel from
1387 a filer window and instead of the applet's icon being shown, the applet
1391 <procedure><title>To create your own applets (programmers only!):</title>
1394 Create a directory for the applet (eg <filename>MyApplet</filename>).
1398 Use the <guimenuitem>Set Icon...</guimenuitem> feature to create an icon
1399 called <filename>.DirIcon</filename> inside it (so the directory appears
1404 Make a <filename>Help</filename> directory inside it for when the user
1405 chooses <guimenuitem>Help</guimenuitem> from the menu.
1409 Create an executable file called <filename>AppletRun</filename>. This will be
1410 passed the XID of the panel socket window when the directory is dragged
1411 onto the panel. You can use this to create a GtkPlug widget. An
1412 example applet (written in python) is available at
1413 <ulink url="http://rox.sourceforge.net/applets.php3"/>
1420 <title><anchor id="iconify" xreflabel="Iconified windows"/>Iconified windows on the pinboard</title>
1422 When the pinboard is in use, ROX-Filer can be used to display an icon for each iconified
1423 (or 'minimised') window. You can turn this on or off from the Options box. Iconified window icons
1424 highlight when you move the mouse over them and can be dragged around.
1425 Clicking on one will expand it back into the window it represents. Some older window managers do not
1426 support this, and no icons will be shown.
1431 <title><anchor id="backdropapp" xreflabel="Backdrop applications"/>The pinboard backdrop image</title>
1433 You can set any image for the backdrop by choosing <guimenuitem>Backdrop...</guimenuitem>
1434 from the pinboard menu (right-click over the desktop background when the pinboard is turned on).
1437 To set an image, select <guilabel>Centred</guilabel>, <guilabel>Scaled</guilabel> or
1438 <guilabel>Tiled</guilabel> to set the style, and then drag an image onto the marked area.
1439 To return to a solid colour backdrop (as set in the Options box), click on
1440 <guibutton>Clear</guibutton>.
1442 <formalpara><title>For programmers...</title>
1444 If you want to create an application to set the backdrop (eg, to choose a
1445 random image, or a slideshow) you need to first create an application directory
1446 (see <xref linkend="AppDir"/>).
1449 When run without arguments, the application should invoke the
1450 <function>SetBackdropApp</function> SOAP method (see <xref
1451 linkend="soap"/>). The filer will immediately run the application again,
1452 this time with the <option>--backdrop</option> option.
1454 When run with <option>--backdrop</option>, the program should write the style and name of
1455 the image file to display to its standard output stream, eg:
1456 <screen>tile /tmp/image.png</screen>
1457 <userinput>centre</userinput> and <userinput>scale</userinput> are the other possible
1460 In the case of a random backdrop chooser it may then quit immediately. If the application
1461 created a temporary image then it should read the line "ok\n" from its standard input
1462 before deleting the image.
1464 If the application wishes to show a sequence of images it should still read "ok\n",
1465 then wait until it's time to display the next image and then write that filename, and
1468 The filer will indicate that the program should stop running by closing the two
1469 streams. The program should clean up and exit at this point. Be sure to catch
1470 SIGPIPE when writing to standard output if you need to delete any temporary files.
1472 This example program will display an image of the Earth on the backdrop, updating it
1473 once a minute. Note the three places we check for the filer closing its connection with
1474 us: when sending the image, when waiting for acknowledgement, and while sleeping.
1475 <programlisting><![CDATA[
1476 #!/usr/bin/env python
1480 if len(sys.argv) == 1:
1481 # Become the backdrop application
1482 app = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(sys.argv[0]))
1483 cin = os.popen('rox -R', 'w')
1484 cin.write("""<?xml version="1.0"?>
1485 <env:Envelope xmlns:env="http://www.w3.org/2001/12/soap-envelope">
1486 <env:Body xmlns="http://rox.sourceforge.net/SOAP/ROX-Filer">
1487 <SetBackdropApp><App>""" + app + """</App></SetBackdropApp>
1492 elif len(sys.argv) != 2 or sys.argv[1] != '--backdrop':
1493 sys.stderr.write("Usage: %s [--backdrop]\n" % sys.argv[0])
1496 # If we get here, we've been run by the filer.
1497 # Generate a sequence of images, sending them to the filer one by one.
1499 import tempfile, time, signal
1500 from select import select
1502 time_between_updates = 60
1505 # Write image to a temporary file
1506 path = tempfile.mktemp('.ppm')
1509 fd = os.open(path, os.O_CREAT | os.O_WRONLY | os.O_TRUNC, 0600)
1511 os.execvp("xearth", ["xearth", "-ppm"])
1513 pid, status = os.waitpid(child, 0)
1515 break # xearth didn't work
1517 # Send message to filer
1520 print "centre " + path
1522 if sys.stdin.readline() != 'ok\n':
1523 quit = 1 # filer closed connection
1525 quit = 1 # filer closed connection
1526 # Delete temporary file
1531 # Wait until the next image is due, or the filer tells us to quit
1532 ready = select([sys.stdin], [], [], time_between_updates)[0]
1534 # filer closed connection while we were waiting
1542 <chapter id="virtual">
1544 <anchor id="vfs" xreflabel="Virtual file systems"/>Virtual file systems
1547 Some types of file can be represented as a directory. A typical example
1548 is a zip file, which contains an entire directory structure in compressed
1549 form. It is often useful to be able to open up such a file as if it
1550 was a real directory, and the VFS system allows you to do this.
1552 To use this feature you must have a system such as
1553 AVFS<citation>AVFS</citation> installed, which causes the kernel to support
1554 various Virtual File Systems directly.
1559 <chapter id="minibuffer">
1560 <title><anchor id="mini" xreflabel="Minibuffer"/>The mini-buffer</title>
1563 The mini-buffer is a white bar that appears along the bottom of the
1564 window and allows you to enter some text. Press <keycap>Escape</keycap> to
1565 get rid of it again. It behaves in different ways depending on how you
1570 <title>The path-entry box</title>
1573 This allows you to type in a path directly. As you type the display
1574 is updated to show the item entered visually. The main use is to find
1575 a file in a large directory quickly, but you can also use it for navigating
1576 between directories, or for selecting a full pathname from somewhere
1577 else and pasting it directly into the path-entry box.
1580 <informaltable><tgroup cols="2">
1581 <thead><row><entry>Key</entry><entry>Action</entry></row></thead>
1585 <keycap>Return</keycap></entry><entry>
1586 Open the currently selected item.
1590 <keycap>Tab</keycap></entry><entry>
1591 Shell-style tab completion.
1595 <keycap>Up</keycap>, <keycap>Down</keycap></entry><entry>
1596 Select the previous/next matching entry.
1598 </tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
1603 If you start entering a name beginning with a `.' then the `Show Hidden'
1604 feature is temporarily turned on so that the file can be shown.
1608 Tab completion tries to fill in as many characters for you as it can.
1609 For example, if there are two files in a directory called
1610 <filename>save-mail-nov-1999</filename> and
1611 <filename>save-mail-dec-1999</filename> then typing
1612 <userinput>save</userinput> and pressing <keycap>Tab</keycap> will expand
1613 <userinput>save</userinput> to <userinput>save-mail-</userinput> and beep
1614 to indicate that the match is not complete. If you use tab completion on a
1615 directory and it is unique then the filer will automatically change into
1616 the directory. This behavior should be familiar to shell users.
1619 <informalexample><para>
1620 Let's say you want to locate the documentation for Wine in the directory
1621 <filename>/usr/share/doc</filename> (which is usually very large).
1622 Here's how you could do it:
1627 Open the minibuffer by choosing <guimenuitem>Enter
1628 Path...</guimenuitem> from the <guimenu>Window</guimenu> menu, or
1629 by pressing the slash (<keycap>/</keycap>) key.
1633 Press <keycap>CTRL</keycap>+<keycap>A</keycap> to select the existing
1639 <userinput>u<Tab>sh<Tab>do<Tab>wi<Tab></userinput>.
1640 As you type, the cursor will move to the correct subdirectory.
1641 If it beeps when you press <keycap>Tab</keycap> then you need to supply
1642 more letters, or press <keycap>Return</keycap>.
1647 </para></informalexample>
1651 <title>The shell command box</title>
1654 This provides a quick way of entering shell commands if you don't
1655 want to open an xterm. If you don't know what shell commands are,
1658 Just type in the command and press <keycap>Return</keycap> to execute it.
1659 <keycap>Up</keycap> and <keycap>Down</keycap> arrows move through previously
1661 <keycap>Tab</keycap> does shell-style completion.
1662 Clicking on an item inserts its name into the minibuffer.
1663 If some items are selected then they are assigned to the positional
1664 parameters <userinput>$1</userinput>, <userinput>$2</userinput>, etc.
1666 Opening the minibuffer with a selection adds <computeroutput>"$@"</computeroutput>
1667 to the end of the command — this expands to all the selected files.
1670 <informalexample><para>Examples:
1672 <orderedlist><title>To untar a <filename>.tgz</filename> archive:</title>
1675 Open the minibuffer by choosing <guimenuitem>Shell Command...</guimenuitem> from
1676 the <guimenu>Window</guimenu> menu.
1677 I usually bind this to the bang (<keycap>!</keycap>) key.
1681 Type <userinput>tar xzf</userinput> and click on the file.
1682 The leading space is automatically inserted.
1686 Press <keycap>Return</keycap> to execute it.
1691 <orderedlist><title>To print all the selected files:</title>
1694 Open the shell command minibuffer.
1698 Type <userinput>lpr</userinput> at the beginning of the line and press
1699 <keycap>Return</keycap>.
1704 </para></informalexample>
1706 <itemizedlist><title>Notes</title>
1709 Be careful; you will not be asked to confirm! If in doubt, start the
1710 command with <userinput>xmessage</userinput> so that it will be displayed
1711 rather than executed.
1715 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>sh</refentrytitle></citerefentry>
1716 is always used as the name of the shell to run (mainly because
1717 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>bash</refentrytitle></citerefentry> and
1718 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>csh</refentrytitle></citerefentry> treat
1719 positional parameters differently).
1720 However, <envar>PATH</envar> is searched to find it so you can still use
1721 another shell if you want by naming it sh and putting it in your path.
1725 Commands execute in the background, so you can say:
1727 <command>sleep 240; xmessage Time to go!</command>
1734 <title><anchor id="SelectIf" xreflabel="Select If"/>The conditional
1735 selection box</title> <para>
1737 Use this if you want to automatically select all files in the directory
1738 which match a condition.
1740 <orderedlist><title>For example, to select all files larger than 5Mb:</title>
1743 Open the Select If minibuffer.
1747 Type <userinput>Size > 5Mb</userinput> and press <keycap>Return</keycap>.
1752 Just those files over 5 Mb in size will be selected. The expressions
1753 you can enter are in the same form as described in the
1754 <xref linkend="Searching"/> section, except that
1755 <userinput>prune</userinput> has no effect since the contents of
1756 directories are never checked anyway. You can press <keycap>Tab</keycap>
1757 to jump to each selected file in turn.
1763 <chapter id="actions">
1764 <title>Action windows</title>
1766 Action windows are those boxes that appear while you're doing a
1767 Copy/Move/Link/etc operation. The status line at the top of the window shows
1768 the current directory or object that the window is processing. The scrolling
1769 area below is the log area — it shows what has been done, and questions
1770 may be displayed here.
1773 <imagedata align="center" format="PNG" fileref="../Action.png"/>
1775 <textobject><para>Can't display image.</para></textobject>
1778 Below this are four buttons and some options. All windows have the
1779 <guilabel>Quiet</guilabel> option. When this is on the filer will only
1780 confirm some operations (such as deleting a non-writeable file). Otherwise,
1781 all operations are confirmed.
1783 The buttons work as follows:
1787 <varlistentry><term><guibutton>Yes</guibutton></term><listitem><para>
1788 answers yes to the question displayed in the log area.
1789 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
1791 <varlistentry><term><guibutton>No</guibutton></term><listitem><para>
1792 answers no to the question displayed in the log area.
1793 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
1795 <varlistentry><term><guibutton>Cancel</guibutton></term><listitem><para>
1796 kills the current operation (if any) and closes the action
1798 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
1800 <varlistentry><term><guibutton>Quiet</guibutton></term><listitem><para>
1801 is a quick way to turn <guilabel>Quiet</guilabel> on and click
1802 <guibutton>Yes</guibutton>.
1803 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
1808 You can control which actions get started automatically (without you
1809 having to click on <guibutton>Quiet</guibutton> at the start) from the
1814 <title>Action window options</title>
1817 Some actions have options, which appear as option boxes at the bottom
1818 of the window. They are:
1823 <guilabel>Force</guilabel> means that the filer won't treat non-writeable
1824 files as special. Normally, it confirms the deletion even if
1825 <guibutton>Quiet</guibutton> is pressed.
1826 Note that you still can't remove files from non-writeable directories because
1827 in that case you really don't have permission.
1831 <guilabel>Brief</guilabel> prevents the filer logging a message every time it
1832 does something. Use this to speed things up if large numbers of messages are
1837 <guilabel>Recurse</guilabel> means that doing something to a directory will
1838 also do the same thing to all its contents, and the contents of any
1839 subdirectories, and so on.
1843 <guilabel>Newer</guilabel> will automatically copy a file over an existing one
1844 if the file is newer than the one it replaces (later modification time).
1850 You can set the defaults for these options from the Options box.
1855 <chapter id="searching">
1856 <title><anchor id="Searching" xreflabel="Searching"/>Searching</title>
1859 The Find feature looks through all the selected files and directories
1860 and any subdirectories (recursively) looking for items that match
1861 a particular expression.
1863 If you know the name of a file then just enter it in the `Expression:'
1864 box, enclosed in single quotes. For example, to find a file called
1865 <filename>log</filename> you would enter <userinput>'log'</userinput>.
1867 Remember to use normal quotes, not double quotes (") or back-quotes (`).
1869 As the filer finds matching files they are added to the results list.
1870 Double-clicking on an entry in the list opens a viewer showing that file.
1871 The filer will use the same window to view other results (so, if you want
1872 the results shown in separate windows you must explicitly create a new
1873 window from the <guimenu>Window</guimenu> menu).
1877 <title>Wildcards</title>
1880 You can also put shell-style wildcard characters inside the quotes,
1885 <member><command>'*.html'</command></member>
1886 <member><command>'Report.*'</command></member>
1887 <member><command>'Draft[1-5]'</command></member>
1888 <member><command>'main.[ch]'</command></member>
1893 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>glob</refentrytitle>
1894 <manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>
1895 manpage if you want to know more about shell wildcards.
1897 If the pattern you enter contains a slash (`/') character then the
1898 pattern is matched against the file's full path, otherwise only the
1899 leafname is used. That is, <userinput>'*tmp*'</userinput> will find
1900 <filename>tmp</filename> and <filename>tmpfile</filename> but not
1901 <filename>/tmp/file</filename> — <userinput>'/*tmp*'</userinput> will find
1907 <title>Simple tests</title>
1909 As well as finding files by their names you can also find them by
1910 various other attributes. Note that <emphasis>file</emphasis> is used here to
1911 mean anything that can appear in the filesystem — including directories,
1914 You can also use a short form for each test; these are shown in brackets.
1915 You can combine multiple tests — `<userinput>-rw</userinput>' is
1916 the same as `<userinput>IsReadable and IsWriteable</userinput>'.
1919 <itemizedlist><title>These look at the type of the item being checked:</title>
1922 <userinput>IsReg (-f)</userinput> matches any regular (ie, normal) file.
1926 <userinput>IsLink (-l)</userinput> matches symlinks.
1930 <userinput>IsDir (-d)</userinput> matches directories.
1934 <userinput>IsChar (-c)</userinput> matches character device files.
1938 <userinput>IsBlock (-b)</userinput> matches block device files.
1942 <userinput>IsDev (-D)</userinput> matches block or character device files.
1946 <userinput>IsPipe (-p)</userinput> matches pipes.
1950 <userinput>IsSocket (-S)</userinput> matches sockets.
1955 <itemizedlist><title>These look at the permissions set on the file —
1956 see the <xref linkend="Permissions"/> section.</title>
1959 <userinput>IsSUID (-u)</userinput> matches files which have the Set-UID
1960 bit set.</para></listitem>
1963 <userinput>IsSGID (-g)</userinput> matches files which have the Set-GID
1964 bit set.</para></listitem>
1967 <userinput>IsSticky (-k)</userinput> matches files with the sticky bit
1968 set.</para></listitem>
1971 <userinput>IsReadable (-r)</userinput> matches files which you can read
1972 from.</para></listitem>
1975 <userinput>IsWriteable (-w)</userinput> matches files which you can write to.
1979 <userinput>IsExecutable (-x)</userinput> matches files which you can execute.
1984 <itemizedlist><title>And a couple of other useful ones:</title>
1987 <userinput>IsEmpty (-z)</userinput> finds empty files (ie, those whose
1992 <userinput>IsMine (-o)</userinput> finds files which you own.
2000 <title>Logic operators</title>
2002 You can combine the above tests in various ways to perform more advanced
2004 An expression is actually made up of a list of <emphasis>cases</emphasis>,
2005 separated by commas. The filer will try to match each case in turn
2006 until one matches or there are no more cases left. For example, to
2007 search for files with several possible endings:
2009 <screen>'*.gif', '*.htm', '*.html'</screen>
2011 Further, each of the cases is actually a list of conditions. The case
2012 only matches if all of its conditions are met. So, to find a directory
2013 called <filename>lib</filename> or a regular file ending in
2014 <filename>.so</filename>:
2016 <screen>IsDir 'lib', IsReg '*.so'</screen>
2018 You can negate a condition by putting a <userinput>!</userinput> in front
2019 of it and you can use a sub-expression as a condition by bracketing it,
2027 Not isdir and not isreg
2030 All four do the same thing.
2035 <title>Comparisons</title>
2037 You can also compare various values using the operators
2038 <userinput><</userinput>,
2039 <userinput><=</userinput>,
2040 <userinput>=</userinput>,
2041 <userinput>!=</userinput>,
2042 <userinput>></userinput>, and
2043 <userinput>>=</userinput>
2044 (for less-than, less-than-or-equal-to, equal-to,
2045 not-equal-to, greater-than and greater-than-or-equal-to).
2047 When comparing times, you may find it helpful to use
2048 <userinput>after</userinput> and <userinput>before</userinput> instead of
2049 <userinput>></userinput> and <userinput><</userinput> to make things
2053 <itemizedlist><title>
2054 The following are read from the file being checked and may be used
2055 for the values being compared:
2059 <userinput>atime</userinput> The time that the file was last accessed.
2063 <userinput>ctime</userinput> The time that the file's status was last changed.
2067 <userinput>mtime</userinput> The time that the file's contents were last modified.
2071 <userinput>size</userinput> The size of the file.
2075 <userinput>inode</userinput> The file's inode (index) number.
2079 <userinput>nlinks</userinput> The number of links to this file. That is,
2080 the number of directory entries which refer to this file. Note that
2081 symlinks don't count as references.
2085 <userinput>uid</userinput> The User ID of the file.
2089 <userinput>gid</userinput> The Group ID of the file.
2093 <userinput>blocks</userinput> The number of disk blocks being used by the file.
2099 Times are measured as seconds since the Unix Epoch (00:00:00 UTC,
2100 January 1, 1970). Sizes are in bytes. When specifying constants to
2101 compare these values with you may use various keywords to scale the
2107 <userinput>Byte(s)</userinput> has no effect, but looks better.
2111 <userinput>Kb</userinput> multiplies by 1024, so 2Kb is the same as 2048.
2115 <userinput>Mb</userinput> multiplies by 1024<superscript>2</superscript>,
2120 <userinput>Sec(s)</userinput> has no effect, but looks nice.
2124 <userinput>Min(s)</userinput> multiplies by 60 to get minutes.
2128 <userinput>Hour(s), Day(s), Week(s), Year(s)</userinput> likewise
2129 convert to the relevant unit.
2133 <userinput>Ago</userinput> makes the time in the past relative to when
2138 <userinput>Hence</userinput> makes the time in the future.
2142 <userinput>Now</userinput> is short for <userinput>0 Secs Hence</userinput>.
2147 Some examples should make this all a bit clearer!
2150 mtime after 1 day ago
2154 IsReg and nlinks > 1</screen>
2155 The first finds files modified within the last 24 hours. You could
2156 use <userinput>></userinput> instead of <userinput>after</userinput>,
2157 but it's not so clear what is meant.
2159 The second finds files larger than 10 Mb. The last finds regular files with
2160 more than one directory entry.
2162 Be careful though — the filer doesn't check the context of the
2163 modifiers, so <userinput>size > 1 day ago</userinput> is allowed,
2164 although it doesn't make much sense!
2166 Also, forgetting to use <userinput>ago</userinput> or
2167 <userinput>hence</userinput> will cause odd effects (the time will be
2168 measured relative to the Epoch rather than the current time).
2169 Finally, don't use <userinput>=</userinput> with times —
2170 <userinput>atime = 1 day ago</userinput> looks for a file accessed
2171 <emphasis>exactly</emphasis> 86400 seconds ago...
2177 <title>Specials</title>
2183 <userinput>System(Command)</userinput> executes `Command' on the file.
2184 The test succeeds if the command returns an exit status of zero. A `%'
2185 character in `Command' is replaced by the full path of the file being
2186 checked. <userinput>System</userinput> is a very slow test to perform,
2187 so do it last if possible. For example, if you're looking for a
2188 <filename>.c</filename> file containing the word `main', do:
2190 <screen>'*.c' system(grep -q main "%")</screen>
2191 so that the grep is only performed for files ending in <filename>.c</filename>
2192 (as opposed to only checking that the file ends in <filename>.c</filename> if
2193 it contains the word `main').
2197 <userinput>Prune</userinput> Always fails!
2198 <footnote><para>Note that this is the opposite of the
2199 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>find</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
2200 </citerefentry> command.</para></footnote>
2202 However, if it gets evaluated at all then it prevents the filer
2203 from checking inside the current directory. Remember the order in which
2204 the filer checks the expression!
2212 '*.old' system(rm '%')
2214 'src' prune, '*.c'</screen>
2215 The first deletes each file ending in <filename>.old</filename>.
2216 The second looks for <filename>.c</filename> files, but does not bother
2217 checking inside directories called <filename>src</filename>.
2218 The expression is evaluated like this:
2220 If file is named <filename>src</filename> then `Prune'.
2221 Either way, check if it ends in <filename>.c</filename> and include
2222 it in the results if so.
2227 <chapter id="options">
2228 <title>Options</title>
2231 You can configure various aspects of <application>ROX-Filer</application>
2232 from the Options box.
2233 Choose <guimenuitem>Options...</guimenuitem> from a filer window menu to
2234 open it. The list on the left of the window lists the various sections —
2235 click on one to see its options.
2237 At the bottom of the window are two buttons:
2242 <guibutton>OK</guibutton>
2243 saves the current choices into your Choices directory for next time
2244 <application>ROX-Filer</application> is loaded, if anything changed.
2245 Exactly where choices are loaded from and saved to is controlled by the
2246 <envar>CHOICESPATH</envar> environment variable — see
2247 <citation>Choices</citation> for details.
2248 Changes made in the Options box take effect instantly, so you don't need to
2249 click on <guibutton>OK</guibutton> just to try them out.
2253 <guibutton>Revert</guibutton>
2254 Restores all choices to how they were when the options box was opened.
2255 This button is shown shaded if you haven't made any changes.
2256 The Options window is not closed when this is used.
2261 Many of the options in the Options window have tooltips — hold the
2262 mouse pointer over the option to find out what it does.
2267 <title>Translation options</title>
2270 You can choose which language the filer will display messages in from
2271 here, or get it to read the LANG environment variable to get the desired
2278 <title>Filer window options</title>
2282 <listitem><para><guilabel>Automatically resize filer windows</guilabel> can be
2283 used to control when windows are automatically resized:
2286 <listitem><para><guilabel>Never automatically resize</guilabel>
2287 turns off auto-resizing. Windows must be resized manually.
2290 <listitem><para><guilabel>Resize when changing the display style</guilabel>
2291 will resize the window automatically when you change the icon size or
2292 the type of details to be displayed.
2295 <listitem><para><guilabel>Always resize</guilabel>
2296 causes the window to resize whenever it seems useful (that is, when
2297 changing to a different directory or when switching between display
2304 <listitem><para> <guilabel>Largest window size</guilabel> sets the largest size
2305 (as a percentage of the screen size) that the auto-resizer will resize windows
2309 <listitem><para> <guilabel>Short titlebar flags</guilabel> abbreviates
2310 the All, Thumbs and Scanning titlebar indicators to single letters.
2313 <listitem><para> <guilabel>Unique windows</guilabel> prevents you from having
2314 two windows showing the same directory. Opening a second view onto a directory
2315 simply reshows the first one.
2318 <listitem><para> <guilabel>New window on button 1</guilabel> swaps the
2319 actions of the two non-menu buttons when opening directories. This is
2320 provided for people who are used to the RISC OS mouse bindings.
2323 <listitem><para> <guilabel>Single-click navigation in filer windows</guilabel>
2324 means that clicking on a file or directory will open it. If off, clicking on
2325 files selects them instead — you must double click on a file to open it.
2332 <title>Display options</title>
2336 <listitem><para><guilabel>Intelligent sorting</guilabel>
2337 treats upper and lower case letters as equivalent when sorting, ignores
2338 punctuation, and sorts numbers numerically. If this is off then
2339 <filename>Zoo</filename> comes before <filename>animal</filename>, for
2343 <listitem><para><guilabel>Directories always come first</guilabel> means that
2344 all directories are sorted and displayed at the top, then all the other items
2345 are sorted and displayed below. With this option off, directories are mixed in
2346 with the other files.
2349 <listitem><para><guilabel>Large wrap width</guilabel> sets the maximum width
2350 for a file's name in `Large Icons' display mode before the text will wrap onto
2351 two lines. In `Huge Icons' mode, the wrap width is 50% larger than this value.
2354 <listitem><para><guilabel>Max Small Icons width</guilabel> — in
2355 `Small Icons' mode, any text longer than this is chopped off (a red bar
2356 indicates that some text is not shown). You can hold the mouse over the
2357 truncated name to see the full text.
2360 <listitem><para><guilabel>Default settings for new windows</guilabel> —
2361 these options provide the default settings for newly opened
2362 windows. They correspond to choosing styles from the
2363 <guimenuitem>Display</guimenuitem> menu.
2364 If <guilabel>Inherit options from source window</guilabel>
2365 is on then opening a new window from an existing window
2366 (eg, by clicking the middle button over a directory) gives the new window
2367 the same options (icon size, sort order, etc) as the old window. If
2368 off, the new window has the default settings chosen here.
2375 <sect2><title>Toolbar options</title>
2377 The toolbar is described in the <xref linkend="Toolbar"/> section.
2379 <listitem><para> <guilabel>Unshade the tools you want:</guilabel> allows
2380 you to set which tools should appear on the toolbar. Click on the
2381 buttons below to shade and unshade them — shaded tools will not be
2382 shown on filer window toolbars.
2385 <listitem><para> <guilabel>Toolbar type</guilabel> allows you to choose
2386 what kind of toolbars you want.
2387 <guimenuitem>None</guimenuitem> means that windows will not have a
2389 <guimenuitem>Normal</guimenuitem> provides a small bar of icons, and
2390 <guimenuitem>Large</guimenuitem> displays larger buttons, with textual labels.
2393 <listitem><para> <guilabel>Show totals of items</guilabel> shows the
2394 number of items displayed in a filer window, as well as the number of
2395 hidden items (if any) on the toolbar. When there's a selection, it
2396 shows the number of selected items and their combined size (excluding
2405 <sect2><title>Minibuffers</title>
2407 These two options control what happens when you press <keycap>Tab</keycap>
2408 in the path entry minibuffer:
2412 <listitem><para> <guilabel>Beep if Tab-completion fails</guilabel> — beep
2413 if there is no match, or there are several possible completions, each starting
2417 <listitem><para> <guilabel>Beep if there are several matches</guilabel> —
2418 beep if there are several matches, even though some letters were added.
2427 <title>Pinboard options</title>
2429 See the <xref linkend="run_pin"/> section for instructions on enabling the
2434 <listitem><para><guilabel>Colours</guilabel>
2435 sets the colours used for the text under the icons, and the background colour
2436 (if no background image is set).
2439 <listitem><para><guilabel>Single-click to open</guilabel>
2440 allows you to open a file or directory just by clicking on it. Hold down
2441 <keycap>Control</keycap> to select things. If this is off, clicking selects
2442 and double-clicking opens.
2445 <listitem><para><guilabel>Pass button-3 clicks to window manager</guilabel>
2446 may be needed if your window manager uses button-3 clicks on the desktop
2447 for an important function. Normally, clicking button-3 will display
2448 the filer's pinboard menu.
2451 <listitem><para><guilabel>Keep icons within screen limits</guilabel>
2452 prevents icons from going partly off the side of the screen.
2455 <listitem><para> <guilabel>Icon grid step</guilabel> controls how finely
2456 the icons may be positioned.
2459 <listitem><para> <guilabel>Iconified windows</guilabel> controls how the
2460 filer deals with iconified (or 'minimised') windows. If
2461 <guilabel>Show iconified windows</guilabel> is on then the filer shows
2462 an icon on the pinboard for each iconified window. The other two options
2463 let you choose the method of placing the icons. See <xref linkend="iconify"/>
2473 <title>Panel options</title>
2476 If you are using panels (see the <xref linkend="run_pan"/> section)
2477 then this section lets you choose which icons will have textual labels
2479 You can have labels on all icons, on no icons, or on all icons except
2486 <title>Action window options</title>
2489 You can choose to start some operations automatically, without waiting
2490 for you to click on <guibutton>Quiet</guibutton>.
2491 Select each operation that you want to auto-start here. You can also set
2492 the default state for each of the options that appear inside action
2499 <title>Drag-And-Drop options</title>
2503 <listitem><para><application>ROX-Filer</application> uses the standard
2504 XDND protocol for drag-and-drop. This protocol recommends that URIs
2505 should contain the hostname of the computer that the resource is on so
2506 that the program receiving the data can determine whether it can get the
2507 data directly or whether it must go via the X-server. However, many
2508 older programs (particularly GNOME applications) get confused by the
2509 hostname and fail to load the data correctly. If <guilabel>Don't use
2510 hostnames</guilabel> is on then the hostname part is omitted and
2511 <application>ROX-Filer</application> will work with these applications
2512 BUT you can't drag data to a program running on a different machine.
2515 <listitem><para><guilabel>Allow dragging to icons in filer
2516 windows</guilabel> controls what happens when you drop files onto icons
2517 in filer windows. If on then drops onto directories will save the data
2518 inside the directory, while dropping onto programs will invoke the
2519 program on that data. If off then drops anywhere inside a filer window
2520 act like drops onto the window background — that is, the data will
2521 be saved into the directory being displayed.
2524 <listitem><para><guilabel>Directories spring open</guilabel> controls what
2525 happens when you hold a file over a directory while dragging it. If on,
2526 the directory will `spring open' after a short pause, allowing you to
2527 navigate to any directory during a drag. You can also hold the pointer
2528 over the Home and Up buttons on the toolbar for a similar effect. You
2529 need to have the previous option enabled for this to have any effect on
2530 files displayed in a directory.
2533 <listitem><para><guilabel>Spring delay</guilabel> sets how long, in
2534 thousanths of a second, the filer will wait before spring opening a
2535 directory as described above. If the above option is turned off, then
2539 <listitem><para><guilabel>Dragging files with the middle mouse button</guilabel>
2540 you can choose whether this displays a menu (like <keycap>Alt</keycap>
2541 dragging) or moves the files (like <keycap>Shift</keycap> dragging).
2550 <title>Menu options</title>
2555 <listitem><para><guilabel>Menu on button 2</guilabel> swaps the actions
2556 of buttons 2 and 3 so that the middle button brings up the menus. This
2557 is provided for people who are used to the RISC OS mouse bindings.
2559 As an alternative to using the options window to put menu on button-2,
2560 some people prefer to use the command <command>xmodmap -e "pointer
2561 = 1 3 2"</command>, which makes the right mouse button button-2 and
2562 the middle one button-3 (this affects all programs, not just
2563 <application>ROX-Filer</application>).
2566 <listitem><para><guilabel>Size of icons in menus</guilabel> controls the
2567 size of the icons in the <guimenuitem>Send To</guimenuitem> and
2568 <guimenuitem>New</guimenuitem> menus.</para></listitem>
2570 <listitem><para><guilabel>Xterm here program</guilabel> is the command
2571 used when you choose <guimenuitem>Xterm here</guimenuitem> from the
2572 menu. You can replace it with another command such as
2573 <command>gnome-terminal</command>, <command>konsole</command>, or
2574 anything else.</para></listitem>
2581 <title>Types</title>
2583 <guilabel>Ignore eXecutable bit for known extensions</guilabel> means that
2584 when a file has a known extension (eg <filename>.gif</filename>) the
2585 executable bit is ignored. This is useful if you have files on a
2586 Windows-type filesystem which are being shown as executable programs.
2587 However, it prevents a file such as <filename>script.sh</filename> from
2588 being treated as a program.
2590 The MIME type system used in the filer is described more fully in
2591 <xref linkend="types"/>.
2593 <listitem><para><guibutton>Show name-to-type rules</guibutton>
2594 opens the directories containing the files which tell the filer what
2595 type to give each file.</para></listitem>
2597 <listitem><para><guibutton>Re-read files</guibutton> causes the filer to
2598 reread these files after you've finished changing them.
2603 <sect2><title>Colours</title>
2605 <guilabel>Colour files based on their types</guilabel>. If on, each
2606 file's name is coloured depending on what kind of thing it is (regular
2607 file, directory, executable, etc). You can choose the colours from the
2614 <chapter id="types">
2615 <title>Filetypes</title>
2618 All files have a MIME type in the form <emphasis>text/plain</emphasis>. Here,
2619 <emphasis>text</emphasis> is the <emphasis>media type</emphasis> and
2620 <emphasis>plain</emphasis> is the <emphasis>sub-type</emphasis>.
2622 <application>ROX-Filer</application> uses a file's name to decide what its MIME
2623 type is, and then uses the MIME type to decide what icon to give it and what
2624 program to use when you open the file.
2628 <title><anchor id="RunAction" xreflabel="the Set Run Action box"/>
2633 This box appears when you choose <guimenuitem>Set Run Action...</guimenuitem>
2634 from the File menu, and is used to set which application is loaded when you click
2637 For example, let's say you want to set things up so that opening a
2638 <filename>.gif</filename> file loads it into the Gimp.
2639 First, right-click over a gif image to open the menu and choose
2640 <guimenuitem>Set Run Action...</guimenuitem> from the
2641 <guimenuitem>File</guimenuitem> submenu.
2642 Then, you have a choice of two methods to set the run action:
2645 <sect2><title>Setting the run action by drag-and-drop</title>
2647 Drag the Gimp (from a filer window, a panel or the pinboard) onto
2648 the area marked <guilabel>Drop a suitable application here</guilabel>.
2649 From now on, clicking on a GIF file will load it into the Gimp.
2653 <sect2><title>Setting the run action by entering a shell command</title>
2655 Type: <userinput>gimp "$1"</userinput>
2656 into the box labelled <guilabel>Enter a shell command</guilabel> and press
2657 <keycap>Return</keycap>. <userinput>$1</userinput>
2658 will be replaced by the name of the file you click on when this command
2659 is used. As before, clicking on any GIF image will now load it into
2664 <sect2><title>Setting the default media-type handlers</title>
2666 Whichever method you use to set the action you have the choice of
2667 setting the run action just for that type, or setting the default
2668 for all files with that media-type which don't already have a specific
2671 Since the Gimp can load many types of image, it makes sense
2672 to select the <guilabel>Set default for all `image/<anything>'</guilabel>
2673 option so you don't have to do it again for image/jpeg files and so on. However,
2674 this only affects types that don't already have a specific action
2675 (ie, those that would have brought up an error box if you tried to
2682 <title><anchor id="SetIcon" xreflabel="the Set Icon box"/>
2687 This box appears when you choose <guimenuitem>Set Icon...</guimenuitem>
2688 from the File menu, and is used to set which image to use to represent
2691 It works much like the Set Run Action box described above, except that
2692 you may specifiy an icon for one file individually (by name) as well as
2693 for all files of a particular type. When setting the icon for a single
2694 file, the filer stores the name of the file and the name of the icon inside
2695 your Choices directory. If either moves, the icon won't be displayed.
2697 When setting the icon for a directory, you have the additional option of
2698 storing the image inside the directory itself as a hidden file. This means
2699 that other users will see the icon too, and you can safely delete the original
2700 image after the copy (note that the image is scaled down if needed, and converted
2703 The directory icon inside the <guilabel>Drop an icon here</guilabel>
2704 area allows you to quickly get to a directory from which you are already
2705 using one or more icons.
2710 <title>How filetypes are stored</title>
2713 <application>ROX-Filer</application> uses two sub-directories in your Choices
2714 directory for filetypes:
2718 <varlistentry><term><filename>MIME-types</filename></term><listitem><para>
2719 contains symlinks, one for each MIME type, which point
2720 to programs that can handle files of that type. To set what program
2721 is run when you click on the file you should normally use the <guimenuitem>Set
2722 Run Action...</guimenuitem> feature (see the <xref linkend="RunAction"/> section).
2723 However, you can also set the actions manually — for example, to make
2724 opening an HTML file load it into Netscape:
2728 Find the Netscape application and go to <guimenuitem>Link...</guimenuitem>
2733 Enter <userinput>text_html</userinput> as the name for the link and drag the
2734 icon from the Link box into the <filename>MIME-types</filename> directory.
2739 You can also put actual programs in here as well as links if you want
2741 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
2743 <varlistentry><term><filename>MIME-icons</filename></term><listitem><para>
2744 contains the images used to display each type of file.
2745 So the filer will try to display an HTML file using the icon
2746 <filename>MIME-icons/text_html.png</filename>.
2747 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
2751 In both <filename>MIME-types</filename> and <filename>MIME-icons</filename>
2752 directories you can also provide default actions/images for each media type.
2753 For example, if <filename>text_html</filename> isn't found then the filer
2754 will try simply using <filename>text</filename>.
2758 The filer works out the type for a file from its name. These are specified by
2759 `.mimeinfo' files — see <citation>SharedMIME</citation> for details.
2764 <chapter id="appdirs">
2765 <title><anchor id="AppDir" xreflabel="Application directories"/>
2766 Application directories
2769 An application directory is a directory which can be run as an application.
2770 It contains all the resources of an application — source code, binaries,
2771 documentation and so on. Keeping everything in one place make installation
2772 and uninstallation much easier for users. You can also keep multiple
2773 versions of a program by simply having several application directories.
2774 You may move and rename them as you please. Application directories
2775 make programs easier to use and install.
2777 They're more secure too, because you can compile an application as a user and
2778 then simply copy it as root. Since you don't have to run an install script
2779 you are free from the danger of running untrusted code as root. All you have
2780 to watch out for is setuid binaries.
2783 The following files are treated as special by
2784 <application>ROX-Filer</application>:
2789 <filename>AppRun</filename>
2790 is executed when you click on the directory — make sure
2791 it is executable (use the Permissions box)!
2795 <filename>.DirIcon</filename>
2796 is the image used to represent the directory (this works even if
2797 there is no <filename>AppRun</filename>).
2801 <filename>Help</filename>
2802 is the directory to be opened when you choose <guimenuitem>Help</guimenuitem>
2807 <filename>AppInfo.xml</filename>
2808 contains extra information about an application (see below).
2812 <filename>AppIcon.xpm</filename>
2813 is used if <filename>.DirIcon</filename> is missing (for backwards
2814 compatibility; not to be used anymore).
2819 Have a look at the <filename>ROX-Filer</filename> application directory for a
2824 <note><para>For security reasons, an application directory must have the
2825 same owner as the <filename>AppRun</filename> file inside.</para></note>
2828 <title>The AppInfo file</title>
2831 <filename>AppInfo.xml</filename> is an XML file with the following structure
2832 (any elements may be omitted, and the file itself is optional):
2835 <?xml version="1.0"?>
2837 <Summary>A graphical file manager</Summary>
2839 <Purpose>File manager</Purpose>
2840 <Version>1.1.3 (07-May-2001)</Version>
2841 <Authors>Thomas Leonard and others</Authors>
2842 <License>GNU General Public License</License>
2843 <Homepage>http://rox.sourceforge.net</Homepage>
2846 <Item label="Enable pinboard" option="-p=Default"/>
2847 <Item label="Disable pinboard" option="-p="/>
2849 </AppInfo></screen>
2854 <userinput>Summary</userinput>
2855 is displayed in a tooltip when the mouse is held over the application.
2859 <userinput>About</userinput>
2860 contains a list of fields which are shown in the `File Info'
2861 box for the application (any element names may be used, but the above
2866 <userinput>AppMenu</userinput>
2867 is a list of extra menu items to display for the application.
2868 When one is chosen, <filename>AppRun</filename> is called with
2869 <userinput>option</userinput> as its only argument. You can nest
2870 AppMenus inside other AppMenus.
2880 <title>Internationalisation</title>
2886 <title><anchor id="LANG" xreflabel="Translations"/>
2887 Selecting a translation
2891 <application>ROX-Filer</application> is able to translate many of its messages,
2892 provided suitable translation files are provided:
2895 <listitem><para>Open the Options box from the menu,</para></listitem>
2896 <listitem><para>Select a language from the menu at the top,</para></listitem>
2897 <listitem><para>Click on <guibutton>Save</guibutton> and restart the filer
2898 for the new setting to take full effect.</para></listitem>
2905 <title>Creating a new translation</title>
2909 <listitem><para>Go into the <filename>src</filename> directory and create
2910 the file <filename>messages.pot</filename>:
2914 $ make messages.pot</screen>
2918 <listitem><para>Copy the file into the <filename>po</filename>
2919 subdirectory under <filename>src</filename> as
2920 <filename><name>.po</filename>. Eg, if your
2921 language is referred to as `ml' (`my language'):
2923 <screen>$ cp messages.pot po/ml.po</screen>
2926 <listitem><para>Load the copy into a text editor.</para></listitem>
2928 <listitem><para>Fill in the translations, which are all blank to start with.
2931 <listitem><para>Run the <filename>make-mo</filename> script to create the
2932 binary file which <application>ROX-Filer</application> can use.
2933 You will need the GNU gettext package for this.
2934 If you don't have it then just send me the <filename>.po</filename> file
2935 and I'll convert it for you.
2938 $ cd ROX-Filer/src/po
2940 Created file ../../Messages/ml.gmo OK</screen>
2943 <listitem><para>Edit <filename>ROX-Filer/Options.xml</filename> so that
2944 your language is listed, restart the filer and select it from the Options box
2945 (see the <xref linkend="LANG"/> section).
2948 <listitem><para>Submit the <filename>.po</filename> file to me so that I
2949 can include it in future releases of the filer.
2957 <title>Updating an existing translation</title>
2961 <listitem><para>Go into the directory containing the <filename>.po</filename>
2962 files and run the <filename>update-po</filename> script.
2963 This checks the source code for new and changed strings and updates all
2964 the translation files.
2967 $ cd ROX-Filer/src/po
2968 $ ./update-po</screen>
2971 <listitem><para>Edit the file by hand as before, filling in the new blanks
2972 and updating out-of-date translations.
2973 Look out for <computeroutput>fuzzy</computeroutput> entries where
2974 <command>update-po</command> has made a guess; check it's correct and
2975 remove the <computeroutput>fuzzy</computeroutput> line.
2978 <listitem><para>Run <command>make-mo</command> as before.</para></listitem>
2980 <listitem><para>Submit the updated file to me.</para></listitem>
2984 See the <command>gettext</command> info page for more instructions on creating
2991 <chapter id="hacking">
2992 <title>Hacking</title>
2994 This is a quick start guide for people who want to modify the source
2995 code. If you make useful changes or fix bugs, please send patches
2996 to me or to the mailing list. Tell me which version you're using!
3000 <title>Compiling</title>
3002 The first time you compile the program you need to do <command>AppRun
3003 --compile</command>, but in future you only need to run <command>make</command>
3004 in the <filename>src</filename> directory when you change the
3005 <filename>.c</filename> and <filename>.h</filename> files.
3006 You might want to run <command>make depend</command> too.
3011 <title>Creating and applying patches</title>
3013 When people make small modifications to the sources they will often
3014 distribute them as <emphasis>patch files</emphasis> — usually on the
3017 To apply a patch, go into the <filename>src</filename> directory and run
3018 <command>patch</command> with the patch file. Then recompile, like this:
3022 $ patch < patchfile
3023 $ ../AppRun --compile</screen>
3025 You can remove the patch by simply repeating the above sequence —
3026 <command>patch</command> will detect that the patch is already applied
3027 and offer to remove it.
3029 To create a patch you should first get the latest version of the filer
3030 from CVS (instructions on using CVS can be found on the web-site).
3031 Modify the program as you please. Create the patch using
3032 <command>cvs diff</command> from the appropriate directory:
3034 <screen>$ cvs diff -u > my_patch</screen>
3036 This creates a human– and machine-readable patch file. Submit this
3037 to the mailing list. The are many reasons for posting patches rather
3038 that the modified files:
3041 <listitem><para>They are smaller, and hence shouldn't bounce.
3042 They are also quicker to download for people with slow connections.
3045 <listitem><para>People can see what they're getting into before applying them!
3048 <listitem><para>Patches can (usually) be applied to slightly modified
3049 versions of the sources. This means that people can apply several patches
3050 without each new one overwriting the others.
3059 <title>Autoconf</title>
3061 Here's a quick explanation of the autoconf system in case you haven't
3062 used it before. See <command>info autoconf</command> for full details.
3064 There's a file called <filename>configure.in</filename> which contains
3065 various tests (<command>info autoconf</command>).
3066 You run <command>autoconf</command> and it reads through the file
3067 and generates a shell script to perform the tests, saving it as
3068 <filename>configure</filename>.
3069 <filename>configure</filename> is normally distributed with the program because
3070 not everyone has autoconf.
3072 You then run <filename>configure</filename> (in fact, let the
3073 <filename>AppRun</filename> script do it because
3074 it passes it some arguments), which performs all the tests. It reads
3075 in <filename>Makefile.in</filename> and <filename>config.h.in</filename>
3076 and fills in the missing values with the test results to produce
3077 <filename>Makefile</filename> and <filename>config.h</filename>.
3079 You run <command>make</command>, which creates <filename>.o</filename>
3080 files from the <filename>.c</filename> files and links to produce
3081 <filename>ROX-Filer</filename>.
3085 <sect1><title>Data-structures</title>
3087 The <filename>global.h</filename> file lists each major data-structure used
3088 in the filer and explains its purpose. This is a good place to start reading
3089 if you want to know how the filer works.
3093 In summary, each window has its own <classname>FilerWindow</classname>
3095 This structure has pointers to a <classname>Collection</classname>
3096 (which is the widget which actually displays the files) and to a
3097 <classname>Directory</classname>, which is used to cache the directory
3100 Both <classname>Collection</classname> and
3101 <classname>Directory</classname> have pointers to (the same)
3102 <classname>DirItem</classname>s, each of which corresponds to one filesystem
3105 Several <classname>FilerWindow</classname>s may share the same
3106 <classname>Directory</classname>.
3108 While scanning is in progress the <classname>Directory</classname>
3109 keeps a list of the new items it has found
3110 (<emphasis>new_items</emphasis>) and the items which have changed in some way
3111 (<emphasis>up_items</emphasis>). It periodically notifies the filer window of
3112 the changes-so-far by calling all the functions in the
3113 <emphasis>users</emphasis> list (use <function>attach()</function>
3114 and <function>detach()</function> to add and remove functions to or from
3120 <appendix id="manpage"><title>Manual page</title>
3125 <refentrytitle>ROX</refentrytitle>
3126 <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
3130 <refname>ROX-Filer</refname>
3131 <refpurpose>a simple graphical file manager</refpurpose>
3136 <command>rox</command>
3137 <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat"><option>OPTION</option></arg>
3138 <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">FILE</arg>
3142 <refsect1><title>DESCRIPTION</title>
3144 ROX-Filer is a simple and easy to use graphical file manager for X11, the
3145 windowing system used on Unix and Unix-like operating systems.
3147 It is also the core component of the ROX Desktop:
3148 <ulink url="http://rox.sourceforge.net"/>
3150 Invoking <command>rox</command> opens each directory or file listed,
3151 or the current working directory if no arguments are given.
3155 <refsect1><title>COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS</title>
3159 <varlistentry><term><option>-b</option></term><term><option>--bottom=PANEL</option></term>
3160 <listitem><para>open PANEL as a bottom-edge panel.
3161 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
3163 <varlistentry><term><option>-c</option></term><term><option>--client-id=ID</option></term>
3164 <listitem><para>used for session management.
3165 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
3167 <varlistentry><term><option>-d</option></term><term><option>--dir=DIR</option></term>
3168 <listitem><para>open DIR as directory (not as an application, even if it looks like one).
3169 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
3171 <varlistentry><term><option>-D</option></term><term><option>--close=DIR</option></term>
3172 <listitem><para>close DIR and all its subdirectories.
3173 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
3175 <varlistentry><term><option>-h</option></term><term><option>--help</option></term>
3176 <listitem><para>display help about the various options.
3177 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
3179 <varlistentry><term><option>-l</option></term><term><option>--left=PANEL</option></term>
3180 <listitem><para>open PANEL as a left-edge panel.
3181 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
3183 <varlistentry><term><option>-m</option></term><term><option>--mime-type=FILE</option></term>
3184 <listitem><para>print MIME type of FILE and exit.
3185 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
3187 <varlistentry><term><option>-n</option></term><term><option>--new</option></term>
3188 <listitem><para>start a new filer, even if one already seems to be running. This also prevents the filer from forking (running in the background), which is useful for debugging.
3189 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
3191 <varlistentry><term><option>-o</option></term><term><option>--override</option></term>
3192 <listitem><para>override window manager control of panels.
3193 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
3195 <varlistentry><term><option>-p</option></term><term><option>--pinboard=PIN</option></term>
3196 <listitem><para>use pinboard PIN as the pinboard.
3197 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
3199 <varlistentry><term><option>-r</option></term><term><option>--right=PANEL</option></term>
3200 <listitem><para>open PANEL as a right-edge panel.
3201 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
3203 <varlistentry><term><option>-R</option></term><term><option>--RPC</option></term>
3204 <listitem><para>read and invoke SOAP RPC from standard input (see <xref linkend="soap"/>).
3205 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
3207 <varlistentry><term><option>-s</option></term><term><option>--show=FILE</option></term>
3208 <listitem><para>open a directory showing FILE.
3209 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
3211 <varlistentry><term><option>-t</option></term><term><option>--top=PANEL</option></term>
3212 <listitem><para>open PANEL as a top-edge panel.
3213 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
3215 <varlistentry><term><option>-u</option></term><term><option>--user</option></term>
3216 <listitem><para>show user name in each window.
3217 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
3219 <varlistentry><term><option>-v</option></term><term><option>--version</option></term>
3220 <listitem><para>display the version information and exit.
3221 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
3223 <varlistentry><term><option>-x</option></term><term><option>--examine=FILE</option></term>
3224 <listitem><para>FILE has changed; re-examine it.
3225 </para></listitem></varlistentry>
3231 <refsect1><title>NOTES</title>
3233 The main documentation for ROX-Filer is available by choosing
3234 <guimenuitem>Show ROX-Filer Help</guimenuitem> from the
3235 popup menu, or by clicking on the <guibutton>i</guibutton>
3240 <refsect1><title>LICENSE</title>
3241 <para>Copyright (C) 2002 Thomas Leonard.
3243 You may redistribute copies of ROX-Filer under the terms of the GNU General
3248 <refsect1><title>BUGS</title>
3250 Report bugs to <email>tal197@users.sourceforge.net</email>.
3254 <refsect1><title>AUTHORS</title>
3256 ROX-Filer was created by Thomas Leonard, with help from:
3258 <simplelist columns='3'>
3259 <member>Christopher Arndt</member>
3260 <member>Jens Askengren</member>
3261 <member>Liav Asseraf</member>
3262 <member>Wilbert Berendsen</member>
3263 <member>Francesco Bochicchio</member>
3264 <member>Andrzej Borsuk</member>
3265 <member>Richard Boulton</member>
3266 <member>Simon Britnell</member>
3267 <member>Arnaud Calvo</member>
3268 <member>Andrew Clover</member>
3269 <member>Fabien Coutant</member>
3270 <member>Couderc Damien</member>
3271 <member>Andreas Dehmel</member>
3272 <member>Micah Dowty</member>
3273 <member>Dmitry Elfimov</member>
3274 <member>Mattias Engdegard</member>
3275 <member>Andrew Flegg</member>
3276 <member>Olivier Fourdan</member>
3277 <member>Eric Gillespie</member>
3278 <member>Thierry Godefroy</member>
3279 <member>Alex Holden</member>
3280 <member>Jasper Huijsmans</member>
3281 <member>Bernard Jungen</member>
3282 <member>James Kermode</member>
3283 <member>Jim Knoble</member>
3284 <member>Krzysztof Krzyzaniak</member>
3285 <member>Vincent Ledda</member>
3286 <member>Vincent Lefevre</member>
3287 <member>Victor Liu See-le</member>
3288 <member>Anders Lundmark</member>
3289 <member>Jose Romildo Malaquias</member>
3290 <member>Denis Manente</member>
3291 <member>Brendan McCarthy</member>
3292 <member>Andras Mohari</member>
3293 <member>Christiansen Merel</member>
3294 <member>Jimmy Olgeni</member>
3295 <member>Andy Piper</member>
3296 <member>Marcelo Ramos</member>
3297 <member>Michel Alexandre Salim</member>
3298 <member>Chris Sawer</member>
3299 <member>Christian Storgaard</member>
3300 <member>Taras</member>
3301 <member>Simon Truss</member>
3302 <member>Jan Wagemakers</member>
3303 <member>Stephen Watson</member>
3304 <member>Andre Wyrwa</member>
3305 <member>Geoff Youngs</member>
3306 <member>Diego Zamboni</member>
3309 and many others; the <filename>Changes</filename> file contains more
3310 detailed information!
3317 <appendix id="soap"><title>SOAP RPC</title>
3319 <para>When the filer starts you can use command-line options to control its behaviour.
3320 As an alternative to this, the filer allows you to specify an operation with a
3321 <citation>SOAP</citation> RPC format message. In fact, if you use the command-line options,
3322 the filer converts to SOAP RPC internally.
3325 <para>All SOAP RPC messages are passed on standard input, like this:
3328 $ rox --RPC << EOF
3329 <?xml version="1.0"?>
3330 <env:Envelope xmlns:env="http://www.w3.org/2001/12/soap-envelope">
3331 <env:Body xmlns="http://rox.sourceforge.net/SOAP/ROX-Filer">
3333 <Name>Default</Name>
3334 <Side>Bottom</Side>
3337 </env:Envelope>
3340 The following methods are recognised:</para>
3344 <listitem><para><function>Version</function>()
3345 Returns the filer's version.
3348 <listitem><para><function>CloseDir</function>(<parameter>Filename</parameter>)
3349 Close directory <parameter>Filename</parameter> and all its subdirectories.
3352 <listitem><para><function>Examine</function>(<parameter>Filename</parameter>)
3353 <parameter>Filename</parameter> may have changed — check it and
3357 <listitem><para><function>OpenDir</function>(<parameter>Filename</parameter>,
3358 [<parameter>Style</parameter>, <parameter>Details</parameter>, <parameter>Sort</parameter>])
3359 Open a window showing directory <parameter>Filename</parameter>.
3360 <parameter>Style</parameter> is one of <userinput>Large</userinput>, <userinput>Small</userinput>
3361 or <userinput>Huge</userinput>.
3362 <parameter>Details</parameter> is one of <userinput>None</userinput>, <userinput>Summary</userinput>, <userinput>Size</userinput>, <userinput>Type</userinput>, <userinput>Times</userinput> or <userinput>Permissions</userinput>.
3363 <parameter>Sort</parameter> is one of <userinput>Name</userinput>, <userinput>Type</userinput>, <userinput>Date</userinput> or <userinput>Size</userinput>.
3364 If any of these three option parameters are missing, the default is used.
3367 <listitem><para><function>Panel</function>(<parameter>Side</parameter>,
3368 [<parameter>Name</parameter>])
3369 Open the panel named <parameter>Name</parameter> on screen side
3370 <parameter>Side</parameter> (<userinput>Top</userinput>|<userinput>Bottom</userinput>|<userinput>Left</userinput>|<userinput>Right</userinput>).
3371 <parameter>Name</parameter> can be a name in Choices (eg,
3372 <userinput>MyPanel</userinput>) or a full pathname.
3373 If not given, the panel on that side is turned off.
3376 <listitem><para><function>PanelAdd</function>(<parameter>Side</parameter>,
3377 <parameter>Path</parameter>, [<parameter>Label</parameter>,
3378 <parameter>After</parameter>])
3379 Add <parameter>Path</parameter> to the panel on side <parameter>Side</parameter>,
3380 with label <parameter>Label</parameter>. If <parameter>After</parameter> is
3381 <userinput>true</userinput> the icon goes on the right/bottom side of the panel,
3382 otherwise on the left/top side.
3385 <listitem><para><function>Pinboard</function>([<parameter>Name</parameter>])
3386 Display pinboard <parameter>Name</parameter> on the desktop background.
3387 <parameter>Name</parameter> can be a name in Choices (eg,
3388 <userinput>MyPinboard</userinput>) or a full pathname.
3389 If not given, the pinboard is turned off.
3392 <listitem><para><function>PinboardAdd</function>(<parameter>Path</parameter>,
3393 <parameter>X</parameter>, <parameter>Y</parameter>, [<parameter>Label</parameter>])
3394 Add <parameter>Path</parameter> to the pinboard at position
3395 (<parameter>X</parameter>, <parameter>Y</parameter>), giving it the label
3396 <parameter>Label</parameter>.
3399 <listitem><para><function>SetBackdropApp</function>(<parameter>App</parameter>)
3400 Make <parameter>App</parameter> (an application directory) the new handler
3401 for the current pinboard's backdrop.
3402 The <filename>AppInfo.xml</filename> file inside <parameter>App</parameter>
3403 must contain the CanSetBackdrop element, eg:
3405 <?xml version="1.0"?>
3407 <ROX:CanSetBackdrop xmlns:ROX="http://rox.sourceforge.net/SOAP/ROX-Filer"/>
3408 </AppInfo></programlisting>
3409 The application will be run with the <option>--backdrop</option> option
3410 as it's only argument after invoking this method, and whenever the pinboard is
3411 reloaded. DO NOT use this method if invoked with <option>--backdrop</option> or
3412 you will get stuck in an infinite loop!
3413 See <xref linkend="backdropapp"/> for a guide to writing backdrop applications.
3416 <listitem><para><function>Run</function>(<parameter>Filename</parameter>)
3417 Run <parameter>Filename</parameter> as if it was clicked on in the filer.
3420 <listitem><para><function>Show</function>(<parameter>Directory</parameter>,
3421 <parameter>Leafname</parameter>)
3422 Open <parameter>Directory</parameter> and flash the file
3423 <parameter>Leafname</parameter> inside it.
3426 <listitem><para><function>FileType</function>(<parameter>Filename</parameter>)
3427 Returns the MIME-type of <parameter>Filename</parameter> (by writing the
3428 SOAP response to standard output).
3433 The following calls can be used to start new file actions.
3434 <parameter>Quiet</parameter> can be <userinput>true</userinput> if the
3435 operation should start immediately, instead of waiting for the user to
3436 confirm. If <userinput>false</userinput>, the user must always confirm. If
3437 not given, the default setting is used.
3441 <listitem><para><function>Copy</function>(<parameter>From</parameter>,
3442 <parameter>To</parameter>, [<parameter>Leafname</parameter>,
3443 <parameter>Quiet</parameter>])
3444 Copy each file in the array <parameter>From</parameter> to the directory
3445 <parameter>To</parameter>. If <parameter>Leafname</parameter> is given
3446 then <parameter>From</parameter> should contain a single entry only;
3447 <parameter>Leafname </parameter> gives the new leafname.
3450 <listitem><para><function>Move</function>(<parameter>From</parameter>,
3451 <parameter>To</parameter>, [<parameter>Leafname</parameter>,
3452 <parameter>Quiet</parameter>])
3453 Move each file in the array <parameter>From</parameter> to the directory
3454 <parameter>To</parameter>. If <parameter>Leafname</parameter> is given
3455 then <parameter>From</parameter> should contain a single entry only;
3456 <parameter>Leafname</parameter> gives the new leafname.
3459 <listitem><para><function>Link</function>(<parameter>From</parameter>,
3460 <parameter>To</parameter>, [<parameter>Leafname</parameter>])
3461 Symlink each file in the array <parameter>From</parameter> to the
3462 directory <parameter>To</parameter>. If <parameter>Leafname</parameter> is
3463 given then <parameter>From</parameter> should contain a single entry only;
3464 <parameter>Leafname</parameter> gives the new leafname.
3467 <listitem><para><function>Mount</function>(<parameter>MountPoints</parameter>,
3468 [<parameter>OpenDir</parameter>, <parameter>Quiet</parameter>])
3469 Mount each directory in the list <parameter>MountPoints</parameter>. If
3470 <userinput>true</userinput>, <parameter>OpenDir</parameter> causes each
3471 directory to be opened once it is mounted.
3479 <title>References</title>
3482 <abbrev>ROX</abbrev><citetitle>The ROX desktop,
3483 <ulink url="http://rox.sourceforge.net"/></citetitle>
3487 <abbrev>RISC OS</abbrev><citetitle>RISC OS,
3488 <ulink url="http://www.riscos.com"/></citetitle>
3492 <abbrev>GTK+</abbrev><citetitle>GTK+ Toolkit,
3493 <ulink url="http://www.gtk.org"/></citetitle>
3497 <abbrev>libxml</abbrev><citetitle>The XML C library for Gnome
3498 <ulink url="http://www.xmlsoft.org"/></citetitle>
3502 <abbrev>GNOME</abbrev><citetitle>The GNOME desktop,
3503 <ulink url="http://www.gnome.org"/></citetitle>
3507 <abbrev>DND</abbrev><citetitle>The Drag and Drop protocol,
3508 <ulink url="http://www.newplanetsoftware.com/xdnd/"/></citetitle>
3512 <abbrev>XDS</abbrev><citetitle>The X Direct Save protocol,
3513 <ulink url="http://www.newplanetsoftware.com/xds/"/></citetitle>
3517 <abbrev>Choices</abbrev><citetitle>The ROX Choices system,
3518 <ulink url="http://rox.sourceforge.net/choices.php3"/></citetitle>
3522 <abbrev>AVFS</abbrev><citetitle>AVFS - A Virtual File System,
3523 <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/projects/avf/"/></citetitle>
3527 <abbrev>SOAP</abbrev><citetitle>Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) 1.2
3528 <ulink url="http://www.w3.org/TR/SOAP/"/></citetitle>
3532 <abbrev>Thumbs</abbrev><citetitle>Thumbnail Managing Standard (Version 0.5)
3533 <ulink url="http://triq.net/~pearl/thumbnail-spec/"/></citetitle>
3537 <abbrev>SharedMIME</abbrev><citetitle>Shared MIME-info Database (Version 0.7)
3538 <ulink url="http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/shared-mime-info.html"/></citetitle>