1 #This file was created by <tal197> Mon Apr 24 16:52:36 2000
2 #LyX 0.12 (C) 1995-1998 Matthias Ettrich and the LyX Team
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34 Thomas Leonard, tal197@ecs.soton.ac.uk
44 ROX-Filer is a graphical file manger for the X Window System.
45 Its user interface is based on the RISC OS filer and it supports similar
46 features such as application directories and drag-and-drop loading and
51 \begin_inset LatexCommand \tableofcontents
61 ROX-Filer is a simple and easy to use graphical file manager for X11, the
62 windowing system used on Unix and Unix-like operating systems.
63 It is also the core component of the ROX Desktop
64 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{ROX}
74 XDND A common drag-and-drop protocol used, for example, by the GNOME desktop
75 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{GNOME}
80 This allows data to be loaded into an application by dragging it from a
81 filer window to a program.
82 The full specification is given in
83 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{DND}
90 XDS An extension to XDND that allows applications to save data by dragging
91 an icon back to a filer window.
92 The full specification is given in
93 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{XDS}
102 Choices A simple, but flexible, system for managing user choices.
104 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{Choices}
113 directories Self contained relocatable applications, where installation
114 is as simple as copying it to where you want it and uninstalling it is
115 just a matter of deleting a directory.
116 Described later in this documentation.
122 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
123 under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
124 Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option)
128 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
129 ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
130 FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
131 See the GNU General Public License for more details.
134 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
135 with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
136 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA, 02111-1307, USA.
145 ROX-Filer is usually supplied in source-only form.
146 To compile and run it, you will require
149 Unix or Linux (root access is not required),
152 The X Window system (supplied as standard on all modern systems),
155 GTK+ 1.2.0 or later (libraries and headers) - get the latest version from
157 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{GTK+}
164 A C compiler (standard on most systems).
167 All of the above are standard on most modern Linux distributions.
168 To check which version of GTK+ you have installed, run the gtk-config command,
169 like this ($ is the shell prompt):
172 $ gtk-config --version
181 Change to the directory containing the ROX-Filer subdirectory.
184 Run the AppRun script with the --compile option, like this:
188 $ ROX-Filer/AppRun --compile
192 ROX-Filer will perform various checks to find out what kind of system it
193 is being run on and will then compile.
194 If it doesn't work then please e-mail me and complain! Tell me what kind
195 of system you have and what errors were reported.
196 If you manage to fix the problem yourself then please e-mail me the fix.
199 You can now run the filer by running the AppRun script without any options,
206 A window should appear and display the contents of your home directory.
209 The executables files are stored inside the ROX-Filer directory in a different
210 subdirectory for each platform.
211 Therefore, you can compile the same application on several different types
212 of machine and then run it from any of them using the AppRun script.
213 This is particularly useful in a network environment.
219 By default, ROX-Filer will start by displaying your home directory.
220 You can get it to display other directories instead by listing them after
224 $ ROX-Filer/AppRun /home /usr /usr/local
227 If you want one of the directories to be opened as a panel put
235 before the directory (for `bottom' or `top' panels).
236 If you don't know what a panel is, try it and see! To run the filer in
237 the background, put an & at the end of the line.
243 $ ln -s $HOME ~/Panel/Home
246 $ ROX-Filer/AppRun -b ~/Panel &
249 The panel should be displayed in a window without a title bar.
250 If this does not work then you may need to update your window manager.
251 The filer was designed and tested using the Enlightenment window manager
252 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{enlightenment}
257 You could also try using the -o option which bypasses the window manager
258 entirely (also use this if the panel appears in the wrong place):
261 $ ROX-Filer/AppRun -o -b ~/Panel &
264 Note that if the same version of the filer is already running on this machine
265 then, by default, it will be used to open the directories and the new copy
266 will exit immediately.
267 You can override this (perhaps because the old copy has stopped responding
268 for some reason) using the `
275 Mouse button and key bindings
278 By default, the mouse button bindings are designed to fit in with X conventions.
279 You can get the old RISC OS bindings by opening the Options window and
280 clicking on a few toggle buttons.
281 By default, the mouse buttons and key bindings for filer windows are as
369 Select (only) the item clicked on, or clear the selection.
373 Toggle the item between being selected and unselected.
378 Hold down Ctrl while clicking to go directly to
382 the Selection submenu.
386 Copy the file(s) to the destination (an application or another filer window).
390 Hold down Shift to move the file, or Ctrl+Shift to create a symbolic link.
394 As above, but always moves rather than copying or symlinking.
396 (middle mouse button)
400 Drag (not over an item)
402 Select a group of items by dragging a box around them.
406 If you use the left button then the boxed items only are selected, otherwise
410 the boxes items are toggled between selected and unselected.
412 Double click left button
414 Open the file or directory or run the application.
418 Holding down Shift while clicking does the same thing as choosing
422 `Shift Open' from the menu.
424 Double click middle button
426 Open the file and close the directory viewer,
430 or open the directory in a new window.
434 Change to viewing the parent directory.
438 Move the cursor around.
442 Move up and down in steps of ten rows at a time.
446 Move to the first/last entry in the directory.
450 Open the item under the cursor.
451 With Shift held down this acts like choosing 'Shift Open' from the menu.
455 Toggles the item under the cursor between being selected and unselected.
466 You can simulate a click of the middle mouse button by clicking with Ctrl
468 Other keys can easily be defined by opening the menu, moving the pointer
469 over the item you want to use and pressing a key.
470 The key will appear in the menu and can be used from then on.
471 To make the new key bindings permanent, open the Options box from the menu
478 While items are selected in a ROX-Filer window the filer has the global
480 You can then paste into another window to get the pathnames of the selected
482 For example, to extract the files from a .tgz archive on a floppy disk into
486 Choose `Xterm here' from the menu in your home directory.
489 Type `tar xzf ' (but don't press Return)
492 Click on the .tgz file to select it.
495 Click the middle button in the xterm window to paste the name of the file
499 Press Return in the xterm to execute the command.
503 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: Toolbar}
510 By default, each window has a toolbar along the top.
511 You can disable this from the Options window.
512 The three buttons on the toolbar are:
514 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center \LyXTable
545 Change to parent directory
547 Show parent in a new window
551 Change to home directory
553 Show home in a new window
557 Reread the directory contents
568 If the toolbar is in Normal mode (ie, not GNOME mode) then you may also
569 use button 3 (usually the right-most button) to perform the `Other action'.
575 You can open a menu by right clicking
576 \begin_float footnote
579 If the Use `RISC OS mouse bindings' option is on then use the middle button
582 over a panel or filer window.
583 Here is a full description of each choice and what it does:
585 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center \LyXTable
615 Select every item in this window.
619 Unselect every item in this window.
627 Create a new directory in this one.
631 Open an xterm with its current directory set to this directory.
632 \layout Subsubsection
636 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center \LyXTable
681 Each object in the directory is shown as a large icon with its name below.
685 Items are drawn smaller that usual, allowing you to see more files at once.
695 Entries are displayed with their icon, name, type, permissions, owner and
700 Items are arranged in ASCII order.
701 Note that `Z' is considered to come before `a'.
705 Items are grouped by their MIME-types and sorted by name within the groups.
709 Most recently modified first.
717 If on, files beginning with a dot are shown, otherwise they are hidden.
721 Rereads the contents of the directory and details of all the files in it.
725 Use this if the display becomes out-of-date.
738 If ROX-Filer was unable to find ImLib
739 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{ImLib}
743 when it was compiled then the icons are shown cropped rather than scaled.
744 Get ImLib and recompile if you want it to look nice.
745 \layout Subsubsection
748 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: Permissions}
755 The permissions display is made up of four groups of three flags.
756 Each flag is displayed as a letter if it is on and a dash (-) if not.
757 The first three characters show the permissions for the owner of the file,
758 the second for other members of the file's group and the third for everyone
760 Whichever group applies to the ROX-Filer process itself is shown underlined.
761 The fourth group shows any special flags.
764 The meanings of the characters are:
767 r Permission to read the contents of a file, or the names of files in a
771 w Permission to alter the contents of a file, or change which names appear
775 x Permission to run the file as a program, or refer to the files listed
776 within the directory.
779 U This program executes with the
783 of its owner rather than the person who ran it.
786 G This program executes with the
790 of its group, regardless of who ran it.
793 T Entries in this directory can only be altered or removed by the people
794 who own the files even if they have write permission on the directory itself.
804 ' means that the owner of the file is the same as the effective user of
805 ROX-Filer (basically, you own the file), you and members of the file's
806 group have read, write and execute permission and other people have only
807 read and execute permission.
808 There are no special flags set.
811 The rules which determine which permissions apply may vary slightly between
812 operating systems, but a rough guide is:
819 of the process is equal to the file's owner, then the owner permissions
827 of the process is equal to the file's group OR the file's group is one
832 then the group permissions apply.
835 Otherwise, the 'other' permissions apply.
844 have no effect (except that a process may set its real IDs to its effective
846 \layout Subsubsection
851 All of these work in the same way - if you open the menu with some items
852 selected then the operation applies to those items.
853 If you open then menu over an item while there is no selection then that
854 item is temporarily selected.
855 If you choose one of these while there is no selection at all then the
856 window goes into `target mode' - the operation happens to the next item
858 Click on the window background, press Escape, or click with the right mouse
859 button to cancel target mode.
860 Target mode is mainly useful with the `Single click navigation' option
861 and keys bound to the various menu entries.
863 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center \LyXTable
935 Make a copy of this object in the same directory.
939 Change the name used for this object.
943 Create a symbolic link to this name in the same directory.
947 Opens applications as directories, files as text/plain, mount points
951 by mounting or unmounting them and symlinks by opening the directory
955 containing the thing they point to.
959 This is the same as double-clicking with Shift held down.
963 Explain what kind of thing is selected.
968 display the help files.
972 Display extra information about this object.
976 Open the file as if it was a directory --- see section
977 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: vfs}
985 Mount or unmount each mount point selected.
989 Remove all the selected entries from the directory.
993 Subdirectories will have their contents deleted first.
997 Deleting symlinks only removes the link, not the thing it points to.
1001 Count the sizes of all the selected items.
1002 Directories also have their
1007 Symlinks count themselves, not the things they point to.
1011 Allows you to change the permissions for the selected files.
1015 Search for files by specifying various conditions --- see section
1016 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: Searching}
1021 \layout Subsubsection
1025 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center \LyXTable
1061 Open a new window displaying this window's parent.
1065 As above, but reuse this window.
1069 Open another window onto this directory.
1077 Open the path-entry box (see section
1078 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: mini}
1086 Open the shell command box (see section
1087 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: mini}
1095 Same as selecting ROX-Filer and choosing `Help' from the menu.
1096 \layout Subsubsection
1101 This is just a cut-down version of the window menu.
1102 The only new entry is `Open Panel as Directory', which displays the panel
1103 in a new, non-panel, window.
1104 `Remove Item' is a cut-down version of `Delete'; it only works for symbolic
1105 links and never asks for confirmation.
1106 Since dragging applications and directories to the panel creates symlinks
1107 it is very easy to change the panel contents to suit your needs.
1111 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: vfs}
1115 Virtual file systems
1118 Some types of file can be represented as a directory.
1119 A typical example is a zip file, which contains an entire directory structure
1121 It is often useful to be able to open up such a file as if it was a real
1122 directory, and the VFS system allows you to do this.
1125 To use this feature you must have one or both of the following:
1128 A system (such as PODFUK
1129 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{PODFUK}
1133 ) which causes the kernel to support various Virtual File Systems directly.
1134 This is the best option since all programs will be able to access the contents
1136 You will require root access to install such a system, however, and it
1137 is not available on all platforms.
1140 Support for the Midnight Commander VFS library compiled into ROX-Filer.
1141 This happens automatically when you compile ROX-Filer if it can find the
1142 VFS library --- this means having
1150 ) in a system library directory or in the directory in the environment variable
1156 In this case, you will be able to view the directory structure but not
1157 change it or access individual files.
1158 Support for this may be added later.
1159 Midnight Commander is part of the GNOME project.
1162 Note that using the `Open VFS' menu is simply a short-cut for using the
1163 path-entry box (explained below), so if you want to use a VFS not listed
1164 on the menu you can type in the path directly, eg:
1169 /home/fred/archive.zip#uzip/
1178 Don't forget the final slash!
1179 \layout Subsubsection
1181 Step by step example of adding VFS support
1184 This assumes that you have the Midnight Commander source in a directory
1186 You might need to replace
1209 If you have the root password then install the library in a system library
1210 directory as normal.
1220 $ cp libvfs.so ~/lib
1223 $ cd ~/Apps/ROX-Filer
1230 file to include this as the
1237 LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${HOME}/lib; export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
1240 This will ensure that ROX-Filer will look for the library in the new
1248 $ ./AppRun --compile
1254 checking for mc_stat in -lvfs...
1258 If you saw that line then it's worked! Well done!
1263 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: mini}
1270 The mini-buffer is a white bar that appears along the bottom of the window
1271 and allows you to enter some text.
1272 Press Escape to get rid of it again.
1273 It behaves in different ways depending on how you invoked it:
1274 \layout Subsubsection
1279 This allows you to type in a path directly.
1280 As you type the display is updated to show the item entered visually.
1281 The main use is to find a file in a large directory quickly, but you can
1282 also use it for navigating between directories, or for selecting a full
1283 pathname from somewhere else and pasting it directly into the path-entry
1286 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center \LyXTable
1310 Open the currently selected item.
1314 Shell-style tab completion.
1318 Select the previous/next matching entry.
1321 Tab completion tries to fill in as many characters for you as it can.
1322 For example, if there are two files in a directory called `save-mail-nov-1999'
1323 and `save-mail-dec-1999' then typing 'save' and pressing Tab will expand
1324 `save' to `save-mail-' and beep to indicate that the match is not complete.
1325 If you use tab completion on a directory and it is unique then the filer
1326 will automatically change into the directory.
1327 This behavior should be familiar to shell users.
1328 \layout Subsubsection*
1333 Let's say you want to locate the documentation for Wine in the directory
1334 /usr/doc (which is usually very large).
1335 Here's how you could do it:
1338 Open the minibuffer by choosing 'Enter Path' from the Window menu.
1339 I usually bind this function to the slash (`/') key.
1342 Press CTRL-U to delete the existing contents --- this moves you to the root
1365 As you type, the cursor will move to the correct subdirectory.
1366 If it beeps when you press Tab then you need to supply more letters.
1367 \layout Subsubsection
1369 The shell command box
1372 This provides a quick way of entering shell commands if you don't want to
1374 If you don't know what shell commands are, skip this section!
1377 Just type in the command and press Return to execute it.
1378 Up and Down arrows move through previously entered commands.
1379 Tab does shell-style completion.
1380 Clicking on an item inserts its name into the minibuffer.
1381 If some items are selected then they are assigned to the positional parameters
1391 \layout Subsubsection*
1403 Open the minibuffer by choosing `Shell Command' from the Window menu.
1404 I usually bind this to the bang (`!') key.
1411 ' and click on the file.
1412 The leading space is automatically inserted.
1415 Press Return to execute it.
1418 To print all the selected files:
1421 Open the shell command minibuffer.
1429 \layout Subsubsection*
1434 Be careful; you will not be asked to confirm! If in doubt, start the command
1439 ' so that it will be displayed rather than executed.
1442 The above command won't work if some of the files contain spaces --- use
1454 ' instead to be safe.
1457 `sh' is always used as the name of the shell to run (mainly because bash
1458 and csh treat positional parameters differently).
1459 However, PATH is searched to find it so you can still use another shell
1460 if you want by naming it sh and putting it in your path.
1463 Commands execute in the background, so you can say:
1467 sleep 240; xmessage Time to go!
1474 Action windows are those boxes that appear while you're doing a Copy/Move/Link/e
1476 The status line at the top of the window shows the current directory or
1477 object that the window is processing.
1478 The scrolling area below is the log area - it shows what has been done
1479 and may display questions here.
1482 At the bottom are four buttons and, sometimes, some options.
1483 The buttons work as follows:
1486 Quiet will do simple operations without asking you to confirm each one.
1487 By turning this on and off during an operation you can use it like a pause
1491 Yes answers yes to the question displayed in the log area.
1494 No answers no to the question displayed in the log area.
1497 Abort kills the current operation (if any) and closes the action window.
1500 You can control which actions get started automatically (without you having
1501 to click on Quiet at the start) from the Options window.
1502 \layout Subsubsection
1504 Action window options
1507 Some actions have options, which appear as option boxes at the bottom of
1512 `Force' means that the filer won't treat non-writeable files as special.
1513 Normally, it confirms the deletion even if Quiet is pressed.
1514 Note that you still can't remove files from non-writeable directories because
1515 in that case you really don't have permission.
1518 `Brief' prevents the filer logging a message every time it does something.
1519 Use this to speed things up if large numbers of messages are being logged.
1522 `Recurse' means that doing something to a directory will also do the same
1523 thing to all its contents, and the contents of any subdirectories, and
1528 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: Searching}
1535 The Find feature looks through all the selected files and directories and
1536 any subdirectories (recursively) looking for items that match a particular
1540 If you know the name of a file then just enter it in the `Expression:' box,
1541 enclosed in single quotes.
1542 For example, to find a file called `log' you would enter:
1548 Remember to use normal quotes, not double quotes (
1551 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1563 As the filer finds matching files they are added to the results list.
1564 Clicking on an entry in the list opens a viewer showing the file you clicked
1566 The filer will use the same window to view other results (so, if you want
1567 the results shown in separate windows you must explicitly create a new
1568 window from the Window menu).
1569 \layout Subsubsection
1574 You can also put shell-style wildcard characters inside the quotes, for
1594 manpage if you want to know more about shell wildcards.
1597 If the pattern you enter contains a slash ('/') character then the pattern
1598 is matched against the file's full path, otherwise only the leafname is
1604 will find 'tmp' and 'tmpfile' but not '/tmp/file' ---
1608 will find all three.
1609 \layout Subsubsection
1614 As well as finding files by their names you can also find them by various
1616 Note that `file' is used here to mean anything that can appear in the filesyste
1617 m --- including directories, devices and so on.
1628 These look at the type of the item being checked:
1631 IsReg matches any regular (ie, normal) file.
1634 IsLink matches symlinks.
1637 IsDir matches directories.
1640 IsChar matches character device files.
1643 IsBlock matches block device files.
1646 IsDev matches block or character device files.
1649 IsPipe matches pipes.
1652 IsSocket matches sockets.
1655 These look at the permissions set on the file - see section
1656 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: Permissions}
1663 IsSUID matches files which have the Set-UID bit set.
1666 IsSGID matches files which have the Set-GID bit set.
1669 IsSticky matches files with the sticky bit set,
1672 IsReadable matches files which you can read from.
1675 IsWriteable matches files which you can write to.
1678 IsExecutable matches files which you can execute.
1681 And a couple of other useful ones:
1684 IsEmpty finds empty files (ie, those whose length is 0 bytes).
1687 IsMine finds files which you own.
1688 \layout Subsubsection
1693 You can combine the above tests in various ways to perform more advanced
1695 An expression is actually made up of a list of
1699 , separated by commas.
1700 The filer will try to match each case in turn until one matches or there
1701 are no more cases left.
1702 For example, to search for files with several possible endings:
1705 '*.gif', '*.htm', '*.html'
1708 Further, each of the cases is actually a list of conditions.
1709 The case only matches if all of its conditions are met.
1710 So, to find a directory called
1714 or a regular file ending in
1721 IsDir 'lib', IsReg '*.so'
1724 You can negate a condition by putting a
1728 in front of it and you can use a sub-expression as a condition by bracketing
1738 Not isdir and not isreg
1741 All three do the same thing.
1742 \layout Subsubsection
1747 You can also compare various values using the operators
1751 (for less-than, less-than-or-equal-to, equal-to, not-equal-to, greater-than
1752 and greater-than-or-equal-to).
1753 When comparing times, you may find it helpful to use
1769 to make things clearer.
1772 The following are read from the file being checked and may be used for the
1773 values being compared:
1776 atime The time that the file was last accessed.
1779 ctime The time that the file's status was last changed.
1782 mtime The time that the file's contents were last modified.
1785 size The size of the file.
1788 inode The file's inode (index) number
1791 nlinks The number of links to this file (that is, the number of directory
1792 entries which refer to this file.
1793 Note that symlinks don't count as references).
1796 uid The User ID of the file.
1799 gid The Group ID of the file.
1802 blocks The number of disk blocks being used by the file.
1805 Times are measured as seconds since the Unix Epoch (00:00:00 UTC, January
1808 When specifying constants to compare these values with you may use various
1809 keywords to scale the value:
1812 Byte(s) has no effect, but looks better.
1815 Kb multiplies by 1024, so 2Kb is the same as 2048.
1819 \begin_inset Formula \( 1024^{2} \)
1825 Sec(s) has no effect, but looks nice.
1828 Min(s) multiplies by 60 to get minutes.
1832 \protected_separator
1834 \protected_separator
1836 \protected_separator
1837 Year(s) likewise convert to the relevant unit.
1840 Ago makes the time in the past relative to when the check is done.
1843 Hence makes the time in the future.
1853 Some examples should make this all a bit clearer!
1856 mtime after 1 day ago
1862 IsReg and nlinks > 1
1865 The first finds files modified within the last 24 hours.
1874 but it's not so clear what is meant.
1875 The second finds files larger than 10 Mb and the last finds regular files
1876 with more than one directory entry.
1879 Be careful though --- the filer doesn't check the context of the modifiers,
1884 is allowed, although it doesn't make much sense! Also, forgetting to use
1893 will cause odd effects (the time will be measured relative to the Epoch
1894 rather than the current time).
1895 Finally, don't use = with times ---
1899 looks for a file accessed
1903 86400 seconds ago...
1904 \layout Subsubsection
1909 System(Command) executes `Command' on the file.
1910 The test succeeds if the command returns an exit status of zero.
1911 A `%' character in `Command' is replaced by the full path of the file being
1913 System is a very slow test to perform, so do it last if possible.
1914 For example, if you're looking for a .c file containing the word `main',
1919 '*.c' system(grep -q main
1934 so that the grep is only performed for files ending in .c (as opposed to
1935 only checking that the file ends in .c if it contains the word `main').
1940 \begin_float footnote
1943 Note that this is the opposite of the
1949 However, if it gets evaluated at all then it prevents the filer from checking
1950 inside the current directory.
1951 Remember the order in which the filer checks the expression!
1957 '*.old' system(echo rm %)
1963 The first displays a command to delete each file ending in
1967 ; you can either paste the results into an xterm to execute them or run
1968 the search again without the
1973 It's always a good idea to use
1977 first with dangerous commands! The second looks for
1981 files, but does not bother checking inside directories called
1986 The expression is evaluated like this:
1988 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center
1990 \begin_inset Figure size 216 180
2003 You can configure various aspects of ROX-Filer from the Options box.
2004 Choose `Options...' from a filer window menu to open it.
2008 At the bottom of the window are four buttons:
2011 Save puts all your choices into effect, and also saves them into your Choices
2012 directory for next time ROX-Filer is loaded.
2013 ROX-Filer will never save any preferences to disk unless you click on the
2014 `Save' button in the options window.
2015 Exactly where choices are loaded from and saved to is controlled by the
2020 environment variable --- see
2021 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{Choices}
2028 OK puts your choices into effect without writing anything to disk.
2031 Apply works like OK, but without closing the Options window.
2034 Cancel closes the options box and forgets any changes you made.
2035 \layout Subsubsection
2037 Action window options
2040 You can choose to start some operations automatically, without waiting for
2041 you to click on Quiet.
2042 Select each operation that you want to auto-start here.
2043 \layout Subsubsection
2045 Filer window options
2048 `Ignore case when sorting' treats upper and lower case letters as equivalent
2050 If this is off then `Zoo' comes before `animal', for example.
2053 `New window on button 1' swaps the actions of the two non-menu buttons when
2054 opening directories.
2055 This is provided for people who are used to the RISC OS mouse bindings.
2058 `Menu on button 2' swaps the actions of buttons 2 and 3 so that the middle
2059 button brings up the menus.
2060 This is provided for people who are used to the RISC OS mouse bindings.
2063 `Single-click navigation' treats a single click over an item as if it was
2065 This allows you to move around, run applications and open files without
2071 opening it you must hold down CTRL while you click.
2074 `Unique windows' prevents you from having two windows showing the same directory.
2075 Opening a second view onto a directory closes the first.
2078 `Toolbar type for new windows' allows you to choose what kind of toolbar
2079 will be used for future filer windows (the currently open windows are not
2081 None means that new windows will not have a toolbar, Normal provides a
2082 small bar of icons, and GNOME displays larger icons with textual labels
2083 and allows the bar to be detached from the window by dragging it.
2085 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: Toolbar}
2092 The last display style and sort type you chose will also be saved as the
2093 defaults for next time.
2094 \layout Subsubsection
2096 Drag-And-Drop options
2099 ROX-Filer uses the standard XDND protocol for drag-and-drop.
2100 This protocol recommends that URIs should contain the hostname of the computer
2101 that the resource is on so that the program receiving the data can determine
2102 whether it can get the data directly or whether it must go via the X-server.
2103 However, many older programs (particularly GNOME applications) get confused
2104 by the hostname and fail to load the data correctly.
2105 If `Don't use hostnames' is on then the hostname part is omitted and ROX-Filer
2106 will work with these applications BUT you can't drag data to a program
2107 running on a different machine.
2110 `Allow dragging to icons in filer windows' controls what happens when you
2111 drop files onto icons in filer windows.
2112 If on then drops onto directories will save the data inside the directory
2113 while dropping onto programs will invoke the program on that data.
2114 If off then drops anywhere inside a filer window act like drops onto the
2115 window background --- that is, the data will be saved into the directory
2117 \layout Subsubsection
2122 The `Xterm here' program is the one used when you choose `Xterm here' from
2124 You can replace it with another program such as `gnome-terminal' if you
2126 In fact, any program will do, but note that you cannot pass any options
2127 to the program at present.
2133 ROX-Filer uses three sub-directories in your Choices directory for filetypes:
2136 MIME-info contains files which specify what the MIME type for a file should
2137 be, based on its extention.
2138 All the files in all the MIME-info directories are scanned when the filer
2140 In addition, ROX-Filer is now supplied with a file called `MIME-info' (inside
2141 its application directory), which is also scanned --- this allows new users
2142 to get started more easily.
2143 Many applications now come with a file called `something.mime'; copy these
2144 files into your MIME-info directory to make ROX-Filer automatically recognise
2148 MIME-types contains symlinks, one for each MIME type, which point to programs
2149 that can handle files of that type.
2150 For example, to make opening an HTML file load it into Netscape:
2154 Find the Netscape application and go to `Link...' on the menu.
2157 Enter `text_html' as the name for the link and drag the icon from the Link
2158 box into the MIME-types directory.
2161 You can also put actual programs in here as well as links if you want to.
2165 MIME-icons contains the images used to display each type of file.
2166 So the filer will try to display an HTML file using the icon `MIME-icons/text_h
2170 Many sample files are supplied as part of the ROX desktop
2171 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{ROX}
2178 In both MIME-types and MIME-icons directories you can also provide default
2179 actions/images for each media type.
2180 For example, if `text_html' isn't found then the filer will try simply
2184 Application directories
2187 An application directory is a directory which can be run as an application.
2188 It contains all the resources of an application - source code, binaries,
2189 documentation and so on.
2190 Keeping everything in one place make installation and uninstallation much
2192 You can also keep multiple versions of a program by simply having several
2193 application directories.
2194 You may move and rename them as you please.
2195 Application directories are easier to use and install and are more secure
2197 \begin_float footnote
2200 Because you can compile an application as a user and then simply copy it
2201 as root rather than having to run an install script you are free from the
2202 danger of running untrusted code as root.
2203 All you have to watch out for is setuid binaries.
2208 To make a directory executable all you need to do is create a executable
2209 file called `AppRun' inside it.
2210 This file is run when the user double-clicks on the application.
2211 You should also provide `AppIcon.xpm' (which will be used as the image for
2212 the application) and `Help' (which is a directory that is opened when the
2213 user asks for help).
2214 Have a look at the ROX-Filer application directory for a full example.
2217 Internationalisation
2221 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: LANG}
2225 Selecting a translation
2228 ROX-Filer is able to translate many of its messages, provided suitable translati
2229 on files are provided.
2230 If you know that your language is supported then simply set the
2234 environment variable to the appropriate code for your country before starting
2238 LANG=fr; export LANG
2244 To see which translations are currently provided, open the ROX-Filer application
2245 directory (hold down Shift and double-click) and look inside the `
2252 Creating a new translation
2259 directory and create the file `
2274 Copy the file into the `
2278 ' subdirectory under
2282 (not the other one!) as
2283 \begin_inset Formula \( \langle \hbox {name}\rangle \hbox {\tt .po} \)
2287 Eg, if your language is referred to as `ml' (`my language'):
2291 $ cp messages.pot po/ml.po
2295 Load the copy into a text editor.
2298 Fill in the translations, which are all blank to start with.
2305 ' script to create the binary file which ROX-Filer can use.
2306 You will need the GNU gettext package for this.
2307 If you don't have it then just send me the
2311 file and I'll convert it for you.
2315 $ cd ROX-Filer/src/po
2321 Created file ../../Messages/ml.gmo OK
2325 Set the LANG variable to `
2329 ' and restart the filer (see section
2330 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: LANG}
2341 file to me so that I can include it in future releases of the filer.
2344 Updating an existing translation
2347 Go into the directory containing the
2356 This checks the source code for new and changed strings and updates all
2357 the translation files.
2361 $ cd ROX-Filer/src/po
2368 Edit the file by hand as before, filling in the new blanks and updating
2369 out-of-date translations.
2370 Look out for `fuzzy' entries where
2374 has made a guess; check it's correct and remove the `fuzzy' line.
2384 Submit the updated file to me.
2391 info page for more instructions on creating a translation.
2397 This is a quick start guide for people who want to modify the source code.
2398 If you make useful changes or fix bugs, please send patches to me or to
2400 Tell me which version you're using!
2406 The first time you compile the program you need to do `
2410 ', but in future you only need to run `
2418 ' directory when you change the
2427 You might want to run `
2434 Creating and applying patches
2437 When people make small modifications to the sources they will often distribute
2442 --- usually on the mailing list.
2443 To apply a patch, go into the 'src' directory and run patch with the patch
2445 Then recompile, like this:
2454 $ ../AppRun --compile
2457 You can remove the patch by simply repeating the above sequence - patch
2458 will detect that the patch is already applied and offer to remove it.
2459 To create a patch you need to take a copy of the old 'src' directory before
2460 you modify it (before you compile, even):
2469 Now, modify and compile until it works they way you want it to.
2476 $ diff -cr old_src src > my_patch
2479 This creates a human- and machine-readable patch file.
2480 Submit this to the mailing list.
2481 The are many reasons for posting patches rather that the modified files:
2484 They are smaller, and hence shouldn't bounce.
2485 They are also quicker to download for people with slow connections.
2488 People can see what they're getting into before applying them!
2491 Patches can (usually) be applied to slightly modified versions of the sources.
2492 This means that people can apply several patches without each new one overwriti
2499 Here's a quick explanation of the autoconf system in case you haven't used
2501 See `info autoconf' for full details.
2504 There's a file called 'configure.in' which contains various tests (`info
2506 You run `autoconf' and it reads through the file and generates a shell
2507 script to perform the tests, saving it as `configure'.
2508 `configure' is normally distributed with the program because not everyone
2512 You then run `configure' (in fact, let the `AppRun' script do it because
2513 it passes it some arguments), which performs all the tests.
2514 It reads in `Makefile.in' and `config.h.in' and fills in the missing values
2515 with the test results to produce `Makefile' and `config.h'.
2518 You run `make', which creates .o files from the .c files and links to produce
2525 The diagram below shows some of the major structures found in the filer
2526 along with their most important attributes and methods.
2527 Exactly which attributes have been included is a little hit-and-miss but
2528 it might help you get the overall picture.
2529 If you find it useful, please let me know and I'll try to keep it up-to-date
2530 (or even extend it!).
2533 To summarise, each window (or panel) has its own
2538 This structure has pointers to a
2542 (which is the widget which actually displays the files) and to a
2546 , which is used to cache the directory contents.
2555 have pointers to (the same)
2559 s, each of which corresponds to one filesystem object.
2564 s may share the same
2569 While scanning is in progress the
2573 keeps a list of the new items it has found (
2577 ) and the items which have changed in some way (
2582 It periodically notifies the filer window of the changes-so-far by calling
2583 all the functions in the
2595 to add and remove functions to or from the list).
2597 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center
2599 \begin_inset Figure size 595 604
2607 \layout Bibliography
2614 , <http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~tal197/rox.php3>
2615 \layout Bibliography
2622 , <http://www.gtk.org>
2623 \layout Bibliography
2630 , <http://www.gnome.org>
2631 \layout Bibliography
2636 The Drag and Drop protocol
2638 , <http://www.its.caltech.edu/~jafl/xdnd/>
2639 \layout Bibliography
2644 The X Direct Save protocol
2646 , <http://www.its.caltech.edu/~jafl/xds/>
2647 \layout Bibliography
2652 The ROX Choices system
2654 , <http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~tal197/choices.php3>
2655 \layout Bibliography
2656 \bibitem {enlightenment}
2662 <http://www.enlightenment.org>
2663 \layout Bibliography
2668 POrtable Dodgy Filesystems in Userland (hacK),
2670 <http://atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~pavel/podfuk/podfuk.html>
2671 \layout Bibliography
2678 , <http://www.gnome.org>