1 #This file was created by <tal197> Tue May 16 11:38:42 2000
2 #LyX 0.12 (C) 1995-1998 Matthias Ettrich and the LyX Team
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34 Thomas Leonard, tal197@ecs.soton.ac.uk
44 ROX-Filer is a graphical file manger for the X Window System.
45 Its user interface is based on the RISC OS filer and it supports similar
46 features such as application directories and drag-and-drop loading and
51 \begin_inset LatexCommand \tableofcontents
61 ROX-Filer is a simple and easy to use graphical file manager for X11, the
62 windowing system used on Unix and Unix-like operating systems.
63 It is also the core component of the ROX Desktop
64 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{ROX}
74 XDND A common drag-and-drop protocol used, for example, by the GNOME desktop
75 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{GNOME}
80 This allows data to be loaded into an application by dragging it from a
81 filer window to a program.
82 The full specification is given in
83 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{DND}
90 XDS An extension to XDND that allows applications to save data by dragging
91 an icon back to a filer window.
92 The full specification is given in
93 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{XDS}
102 Choices A simple, but flexible, system for managing user choices.
104 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{Choices}
113 directories Self contained relocatable applications, where installation
114 is as simple as copying it to where you want it and uninstalling it is
115 just a matter of deleting a directory.
116 Described later in this documentation.
122 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
123 under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
124 Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option)
128 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
129 ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
130 FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
131 See the GNU General Public License for more details.
134 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
135 with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
136 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA, 02111-1307, USA.
145 ROX-Filer is usually supplied in source-only form.
146 To compile and run it, you will require
149 Unix or Linux (root access is not required),
152 The X Window system (supplied as standard on all modern systems),
155 GTK+ 1.2.0 or later (libraries and headers) --- get the latest version from
157 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{GTK+}
164 A C compiler (standard on most systems).
167 All of the above are standard on most modern Linux distributions.
168 To check which version of GTK+ you have installed, run the
176 is the shell prompt):
179 $ gtk-config --version
188 Change to the directory containing the ROX-Filer subdirectory.
191 Run the AppRun script with the
199 $ ROX-Filer/AppRun --compile
203 ROX-Filer will perform various checks to find out what kind of system it
204 is being run on and will then compile.
205 If it doesn't work then please e-mail me and complain! Tell me what kind
206 of system you have and what errors were reported.
207 If you manage to fix the problem yourself then please e-mail me the fix.
210 You can now run the filer by running the AppRun script without any options,
217 A window should appear and display the contents of your home directory.
220 The executables files are stored inside the ROX-Filer directory in a different
221 subdirectory for each platform.
222 Therefore, you can compile the same application on several different types
223 of machine and then run it from any of them using the AppRun script.
224 This is particularly useful in a network environment.
230 By default, ROX-Filer will start by displaying your home directory.
231 You can get it to display other directories instead by listing them after
235 $ ROX-Filer/AppRun /home /usr /usr/local
238 If you want one of the directories to be opened as a panel put
246 before the directory (for `bottom' or `top' panels).
247 If you don't know what a panel is, try it and see! To run the filer in
248 the background, put an & at the end of the line.
254 $ ln -s $HOME ~/Panel/Home
257 $ ROX-Filer/AppRun -b ~/Panel &
260 The panel should be displayed in a window without a title bar.
261 If this does not work then you may need to update your window manager.
262 The filer was designed and tested using the Enlightenment window manager
263 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{enlightenment}
268 You could also try using the
272 option which bypasses the window manager entirely (also use this if the
273 panel appears in the wrong place):
276 $ ROX-Filer/AppRun -o -b ~/Panel &
279 Note that if the same version of the filer is already running on this machine
280 then, by default, it will be used to open the directories and the new copy
281 will exit immediately.
282 You can override this (perhaps because the old copy has stopped responding
283 for some reason) using the `
290 Mouse button and key bindings
293 By default, the mouse button bindings are designed to fit in with X conventions.
294 You can get the old RISC OS bindings by opening the Options window and
295 clicking on a few toggle buttons.
296 By default, the mouse buttons and key bindings for filer windows are as
384 Select (only) the item clicked on, or clear the selection.
388 Toggle the item between being selected and unselected.
393 Hold down Ctrl while clicking to go directly to
397 the Selection submenu.
401 Copy the file(s) to the destination (an application or another filer window).
405 Hold down Shift to move the file, or Ctrl+Shift to create a symbolic link.
409 As above, but always moves rather than copying or symlinking.
411 (middle mouse button)
415 Drag (not over an item)
417 Select a group of items by dragging a box around them.
421 If you use the left button then the boxed items only are selected, otherwise
425 the boxes items are toggled between selected and unselected.
427 Double click left button
429 Open the file or directory or run the application.
433 Holding down Shift while clicking does the same thing as choosing
437 `Shift Open' from the menu.
439 Double click middle button
441 Open the file and close the directory viewer,
445 or open the directory in a new window.
449 Change to viewing the parent directory.
453 Move the cursor around.
457 Move up and down in steps of ten rows at a time.
461 Move to the first/last entry in the directory.
465 Open the item under the cursor.
466 With Shift held down this acts like choosing 'Shift Open' from the menu.
470 Toggles the item under the cursor between being selected and unselected.
481 You can simulate a click of the middle mouse button by clicking with Ctrl
483 Other keys can easily be defined by opening the menu, moving the pointer
484 over the item you want to use and pressing a key.
485 The key will appear in the menu and can be used from then on.
486 To make the new key bindings permanent, open the Options box from the menu
493 While items are selected in a ROX-Filer window the filer has the global
495 You can then paste into another window to get the pathnames of the selected
497 For example, to extract the files from a .tgz archive on a floppy disk into
501 Choose `Xterm here' from the menu in your home directory.
504 Type `tar xzf ' (but don't press Return)
507 Click on the .tgz file to select it.
510 Click the middle button in the xterm window to paste the name of the file
514 Press Return in the xterm to execute the command.
518 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: Toolbar}
525 By default, each window has a toolbar along the top.
526 You can disable this from the Options window.
527 The three buttons on the toolbar are:
529 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center \LyXTable
560 Change to parent directory
562 Show parent in a new window
566 Change to home directory
568 Show home in a new window
572 Reread the directory contents
583 If the toolbar is in Normal mode (ie, not GNOME mode) then you may also
584 use button 3 (usually the right-most button) to perform the `Other action'.
590 You can open a menu by right clicking
591 \begin_float footnote
594 If the Use `RISC OS mouse bindings' option is on then use the middle button
597 over a panel or filer window.
598 Here is a full description of each choice and what it does:
600 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center \LyXTable
630 Select every item in this window.
634 Unselect every item in this window.
642 Create a new directory in this one.
646 Open an xterm with its current directory set to this directory.
647 \layout Subsubsection
651 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center \LyXTable
696 Each object in the directory is shown as a large icon with its name below.
700 Items are drawn smaller that usual, allowing you to see more files at once.
710 Entries are displayed with their icon, name, type, permissions, owner and
715 Items are arranged in ASCII order.
716 Note that `Z' is considered to come before `a'.
720 Items are grouped by their MIME-types and sorted by name within the groups.
724 Most recently modified first.
732 If on, files beginning with a dot are shown, otherwise they are hidden.
736 Rereads the contents of the directory and details of all the files in it.
740 Use this if the display becomes out-of-date.
753 If ROX-Filer was unable to find ImLib
754 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{ImLib}
758 when it was compiled then the icons are shown cropped rather than scaled.
759 Get ImLib and recompile if you want it to look nice.
760 \layout Subsubsection
763 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: Permissions}
770 The permissions display, shown in Full Info mode, is made up of four groups
772 Each flag is displayed as a letter if it is on and a dash (-) if not.
773 The first three characters show the permissions for the owner of the file,
774 the second for other members of the file's group and the third for everyone
776 Whichever group applies to the ROX-Filer process itself is shown underlined.
777 The fourth group shows any special flags.
780 The meanings of the characters are:
783 r Permission to read the contents of a file, or the names of files in a
787 w Permission to alter the contents of a file, or change which names appear
791 x Permission to run the file as a program, or refer to the files listed
792 within the directory.
795 U This program executes with the
799 of its owner rather than the person who ran it.
802 G This program executes with the
806 of its group, regardless of who ran it.
809 T Entries in this directory can only be altered or removed by the people
810 who own the files even if they have write permission on the directory itself.
820 ' means that the owner of the file is the same as the effective user of
821 ROX-Filer (basically, you own the file), you and members of the file's
822 group have read, write and execute permission and other people have only
823 read and execute permission.
824 There are no special flags set.
827 The rules which determine which permissions apply may vary slightly between
828 operating systems, but a rough guide is:
835 of the process is equal to the file's owner, then the owner permissions
843 of the process is equal to the file's group OR the file's group is one
848 then the group permissions apply.
851 Otherwise, the `other' permissions apply.
860 have no effect (except that a process may set its real IDs to its effective
862 \layout Subsubsection
867 All of these work in the same way - if you open the menu with some items
868 selected then the operation applies to those items.
869 If you open then menu over an item while there is no selection then that
870 item is temporarily selected.
871 If you choose one of these while there is no selection at all then the
872 window goes into `target mode' - the operation happens to the next item
874 Click on the window background, press Escape, or click with the right mouse
875 button to cancel target mode.
876 Target mode is mainly useful with the `Single click navigation' option
877 and keys bound to the various menu entries.
879 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center \LyXTable
951 Make a copy of this object in the same directory.
955 Change the name used for this object.
959 Create a symbolic link to this name in the same directory.
963 Opens applications as directories, files as text/plain, mount points
967 by mounting or unmounting them and symlinks by opening the directory
971 containing the thing they point to.
975 This is the same as double-clicking with Shift held down.
979 Explain what kind of thing is selected.
984 display the help files.
988 Display extra information about this object.
992 Open the file as if it was a directory --- see section
993 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: vfs}
1001 Mount or unmount each mount point selected.
1005 Remove all the selected entries from the directory.
1009 Subdirectories will have their contents deleted first.
1013 Deleting symlinks only removes the link, not the thing it points to.
1017 Count the sizes of all the selected items.
1018 Directories also have their
1023 Symlinks count themselves, not the things they point to.
1027 Allows you to change the permissions for the selected files.
1031 Search for files by specifying various conditions --- see section
1032 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: Searching}
1037 \layout Subsubsection
1041 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center \LyXTable
1043 10 2 0 0 -1 -1 -1 -1
1083 Open a new window displaying this window's parent.
1087 As above, but reuse this window.
1091 Open another window onto this directory.
1099 Open the path-entry box (see section
1100 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: mini}
1108 Open the shell command box (see section
1109 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: mini}
1117 Allows you to set the program to use when double-clicking on a file.
1122 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: RunAction}
1130 Same as selecting ROX-Filer and choosing `Help' from the menu.
1131 \layout Subsubsection
1136 This is just a cut-down version of the window menu.
1137 The only new entry is `Open Panel as Directory', which displays the panel
1138 in a new, non-panel, window.
1139 `Remove Item' is a cut-down version of `Delete'; it only works for symbolic
1140 links and never asks for confirmation.
1141 Since dragging applications and directories to the panel creates symlinks
1142 it is very easy to change the panel contents to suit your needs.
1146 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: vfs}
1150 Virtual file systems
1153 Some types of file can be represented as a directory.
1154 A typical example is a zip file, which contains an entire directory structure
1156 It is often useful to be able to open up such a file as if it was a real
1157 directory, and the VFS system allows you to do this.
1160 To use this feature you must have one or both of the following:
1163 A system (such as PODFUK
1164 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{PODFUK}
1168 ) which causes the kernel to support various Virtual File Systems directly.
1169 This is the best option since all programs will be able to access the contents
1171 You will require root access to install such a system, however, and it
1172 is not available on all platforms.
1175 Support for the Midnight Commander VFS library compiled into ROX-Filer.
1176 This happens automatically when you compile ROX-Filer if it can find the
1177 VFS library --- this means having
1185 ) in a system library directory or in the directory in the environment variable
1191 In this case, you will be able to view the directory structure and copy
1192 files out of it, but not change it.
1193 Support for this may be added later.
1194 Midnight Commander is part of the GNOME project.
1197 Note that using the `Open VFS' menu is simply a short-cut for using the
1198 path-entry box (explained below), so if you want to use a VFS not listed
1199 on the menu you can type in the path directly, eg:
1204 /home/fred/archive.zip#uzip/
1213 Don't forget the final slash!
1214 \layout Subsubsection
1216 Step by step example of adding VFS support
1219 This assumes that you have the Midnight Commander source in a directory
1221 You might need to replace
1244 If you have the root password then install the library in a system library
1245 directory as normal.
1255 $ cp libvfs.so ~/lib
1258 $ cd ~/Apps/ROX-Filer
1265 file to include this as the
1272 LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${HOME}/lib; export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
1275 This will ensure that ROX-Filer will look for the library in the new
1283 $ ./AppRun --compile
1289 checking for mc_stat in -lvfs...
1293 If you saw that line then it's worked! Well done!
1298 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: mini}
1305 The mini-buffer is a white bar that appears along the bottom of the window
1306 and allows you to enter some text.
1307 Press Escape to get rid of it again.
1308 It behaves in different ways depending on how you invoked it:
1309 \layout Subsubsection
1314 This allows you to type in a path directly.
1315 As you type the display is updated to show the item entered visually.
1316 The main use is to find a file in a large directory quickly, but you can
1317 also use it for navigating between directories, or for selecting a full
1318 pathname from somewhere else and pasting it directly into the path-entry
1321 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center \LyXTable
1345 Open the currently selected item.
1349 Shell-style tab completion.
1353 Select the previous/next matching entry.
1356 Tab completion tries to fill in as many characters for you as it can.
1357 For example, if there are two files in a directory called `save-mail-nov-1999'
1358 and `save-mail-dec-1999' then typing 'save' and pressing Tab will expand
1359 `save' to `save-mail-' and beep to indicate that the match is not complete.
1360 If you use tab completion on a directory and it is unique then the filer
1361 will automatically change into the directory.
1362 This behavior should be familiar to shell users.
1363 \layout Subsubsection*
1368 Let's say you want to locate the documentation for Wine in the directory
1369 /usr/doc (which is usually very large).
1370 Here's how you could do it:
1373 Open the minibuffer by choosing 'Enter Path' from the Window menu.
1374 I usually bind this function to the slash (`/') key.
1377 Press CTRL-U to delete the existing contents --- this moves you to the root
1400 As you type, the cursor will move to the correct subdirectory.
1401 If it beeps when you press Tab then you need to supply more letters.
1402 \layout Subsubsection
1405 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: RunAction}
1412 This box appears when you choose `Set Run Action' from the Window menu.
1413 You can now either drag a file onto an application, or you can enter a
1415 In either case, the action is not actually performed but instead becomes
1416 the default action for files of that type.
1419 All files have a MIME type in the form `
1441 Whichever method you use to set the action you will be given the choice
1442 of setting the run action just for that type, or setting the default for
1443 all files with that media-type which don't already have a specific action.
1446 For example, let's say you want to set things up so that double-clicking
1447 on a `.gif' file loads it into the Gimp:
1450 Setting the run action by drag-and-drop
1455 Choose `Set Run Action' from the Window menu and, while the minibuffer is
1456 still open, drag a GIF file from the filer window onto the Gimp's application
1457 directory (probably in another filer window).
1460 Setting the run action by entering a shell command
1469 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1473 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1480 Note that the cursor (the black box) must be on the GIF file when you press
1482 \layout Subsubsection
1484 The shell command box
1487 This provides a quick way of entering shell commands if you don't want to
1489 If you don't know what shell commands are, skip this section!
1492 Just type in the command and press Return to execute it.
1493 Up and Down arrows move through previously entered commands.
1494 Tab does shell-style completion.
1495 Clicking on an item inserts its name into the minibuffer.
1496 If some items are selected then they are assigned to the positional parameters
1506 \layout Subsubsection*
1518 Open the minibuffer by choosing `Shell Command' from the Window menu.
1519 I usually bind this to the bang (`!') key.
1526 ' and click on the file.
1527 The leading space is automatically inserted.
1530 Press Return to execute it.
1533 To print all the selected files:
1536 Open the shell command minibuffer.
1544 \layout Subsubsection*
1549 Be careful; you will not be asked to confirm! If in doubt, start the command
1554 ' so that it will be displayed rather than executed.
1557 The above command won't work if some of the files contain spaces --- use
1569 ' instead to be safe.
1572 `sh' is always used as the name of the shell to run (mainly because bash
1573 and csh treat positional parameters differently).
1574 However, PATH is searched to find it so you can still use another shell
1575 if you want by naming it sh and putting it in your path.
1578 Commands execute in the background, so you can say:
1582 sleep 240; xmessage Time to go!
1589 Action windows are those boxes that appear while you're doing a Copy/Move/Link/e
1591 The status line at the top of the window shows the current directory or
1592 object that the window is processing.
1593 The scrolling area below is the log area --- it shows what has been done
1594 and may display questions here.
1597 At the bottom are four buttons and, sometimes, some options.
1598 The buttons work as follows:
1601 Quiet will do simple operations without asking you to confirm each one.
1602 By turning this on and off during an operation you can use it like a pause
1606 Yes answers yes to the question displayed in the log area.
1609 No answers no to the question displayed in the log area.
1612 Abort kills the current operation (if any) and closes the action window.
1615 You can control which actions get started automatically (without you having
1616 to click on Quiet at the start) from the Options window.
1617 \layout Subsubsection
1619 Action window options
1622 Some actions have options, which appear as option boxes at the bottom of
1627 `Force' means that the filer won't treat non-writeable files as special.
1628 Normally, it confirms the deletion even if Quiet is pressed.
1629 Note that you still can't remove files from non-writeable directories because
1630 in that case you really don't have permission.
1633 `Brief' prevents the filer logging a message every time it does something.
1634 Use this to speed things up if large numbers of messages are being logged.
1637 `Recurse' means that doing something to a directory will also do the same
1638 thing to all its contents, and the contents of any subdirectories, and
1643 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: Searching}
1650 The Find feature looks through all the selected files and directories and
1651 any subdirectories (recursively) looking for items that match a particular
1655 If you know the name of a file then just enter it in the `Expression:' box,
1656 enclosed in single quotes.
1657 For example, to find a file called `log' you would enter:
1663 Remember to use normal quotes, not double quotes (
1666 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1678 As the filer finds matching files they are added to the results list.
1679 Clicking on an entry in the list opens a viewer showing the file you clicked
1681 The filer will use the same window to view other results (so, if you want
1682 the results shown in separate windows you must explicitly create a new
1683 window from the Window menu).
1684 \layout Subsubsection
1689 You can also put shell-style wildcard characters inside the quotes, for
1709 manpage if you want to know more about shell wildcards.
1712 If the pattern you enter contains a slash ('/') character then the pattern
1713 is matched against the file's full path, otherwise only the leafname is
1719 will find 'tmp' and 'tmpfile' but not '/tmp/file' ---
1723 will find all three.
1724 \layout Subsubsection
1729 As well as finding files by their names you can also find them by various
1731 Note that `file' is used here to mean anything that can appear in the filesyste
1732 m --- including directories, devices and so on.
1743 These look at the type of the item being checked:
1746 IsReg matches any regular (ie, normal) file.
1749 IsLink matches symlinks.
1752 IsDir matches directories.
1755 IsChar matches character device files.
1758 IsBlock matches block device files.
1761 IsDev matches block or character device files.
1764 IsPipe matches pipes.
1767 IsSocket matches sockets.
1770 These look at the permissions set on the file - see section
1771 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: Permissions}
1778 IsSUID matches files which have the Set-UID bit set.
1781 IsSGID matches files which have the Set-GID bit set.
1784 IsSticky matches files with the sticky bit set,
1787 IsReadable matches files which you can read from.
1790 IsWriteable matches files which you can write to.
1793 IsExecutable matches files which you can execute.
1796 And a couple of other useful ones:
1799 IsEmpty finds empty files (ie, those whose length is 0 bytes).
1802 IsMine finds files which you own.
1803 \layout Subsubsection
1808 You can combine the above tests in various ways to perform more advanced
1810 An expression is actually made up of a list of
1814 , separated by commas.
1815 The filer will try to match each case in turn until one matches or there
1816 are no more cases left.
1817 For example, to search for files with several possible endings:
1820 '*.gif', '*.htm', '*.html'
1823 Further, each of the cases is actually a list of conditions.
1824 The case only matches if all of its conditions are met.
1825 So, to find a directory called
1829 or a regular file ending in
1836 IsDir 'lib', IsReg '*.so'
1839 You can negate a condition by putting a
1843 in front of it and you can use a sub-expression as a condition by bracketing
1853 Not isdir and not isreg
1856 All three do the same thing.
1857 \layout Subsubsection
1862 You can also compare various values using the operators
1866 (for less-than, less-than-or-equal-to, equal-to, not-equal-to, greater-than
1867 and greater-than-or-equal-to).
1868 When comparing times, you may find it helpful to use
1884 to make things clearer.
1887 The following are read from the file being checked and may be used for the
1888 values being compared:
1891 atime The time that the file was last accessed.
1894 ctime The time that the file's status was last changed.
1897 mtime The time that the file's contents were last modified.
1900 size The size of the file.
1903 inode The file's inode (index) number
1906 nlinks The number of links to this file (that is, the number of directory
1907 entries which refer to this file.
1908 Note that symlinks don't count as references).
1911 uid The User ID of the file.
1914 gid The Group ID of the file.
1917 blocks The number of disk blocks being used by the file.
1920 Times are measured as seconds since the Unix Epoch (00:00:00 UTC, January
1923 When specifying constants to compare these values with you may use various
1924 keywords to scale the value:
1927 Byte(s) has no effect, but looks better.
1930 Kb multiplies by 1024, so 2Kb is the same as 2048.
1934 \begin_inset Formula \( 1024^{2} \)
1940 Sec(s) has no effect, but looks nice.
1943 Min(s) multiplies by 60 to get minutes.
1947 \protected_separator
1949 \protected_separator
1951 \protected_separator
1952 Year(s) likewise convert to the relevant unit.
1955 Ago makes the time in the past relative to when the check is done.
1958 Hence makes the time in the future.
1968 Some examples should make this all a bit clearer!
1971 mtime after 1 day ago
1977 IsReg and nlinks > 1
1980 The first finds files modified within the last 24 hours.
1989 but it's not so clear what is meant.
1990 The second finds files larger than 10 Mb and the last finds regular files
1991 with more than one directory entry.
1994 Be careful though --- the filer doesn't check the context of the modifiers,
1999 is allowed, although it doesn't make much sense! Also, forgetting to use
2008 will cause odd effects (the time will be measured relative to the Epoch
2009 rather than the current time).
2010 Finally, don't use = with times ---
2014 looks for a file accessed
2018 86400 seconds ago...
2019 \layout Subsubsection
2024 System(Command) executes `Command' on the file.
2025 The test succeeds if the command returns an exit status of zero.
2026 A `%' character in `Command' is replaced by the full path of the file being
2028 System is a very slow test to perform, so do it last if possible.
2029 For example, if you're looking for a .c file containing the word `main',
2034 '*.c' system(grep -q main
2049 so that the grep is only performed for files ending in .c (as opposed to
2050 only checking that the file ends in .c if it contains the word `main').
2055 \begin_float footnote
2058 Note that this is the opposite of the
2064 However, if it gets evaluated at all then it prevents the filer from checking
2065 inside the current directory.
2066 Remember the order in which the filer checks the expression!
2072 '*.old' system(echo rm %)
2078 The first displays a command to delete each file ending in
2082 ; you can either paste the results into an xterm to execute them or run
2083 the search again without the
2088 It's always a good idea to use
2092 first with dangerous commands! The second looks for
2096 files, but does not bother checking inside directories called
2101 The expression is evaluated like this:
2103 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center
2105 \begin_inset Figure size 216 180
2118 You can configure various aspects of ROX-Filer from the Options box.
2119 Choose `Options...' from a filer window menu to open it.
2123 At the bottom of the window are four buttons:
2126 Save puts all your choices into effect, and also saves them into your Choices
2127 directory for next time ROX-Filer is loaded.
2128 ROX-Filer will never save any preferences to disk unless you click on the
2129 `Save' button in the options window.
2130 Exactly where choices are loaded from and saved to is controlled by the
2135 environment variable --- see
2136 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{Choices}
2143 OK puts your choices into effect without writing anything to disk.
2146 Apply works like OK, but without closing the Options window.
2149 Cancel closes the options box and forgets any changes you made.
2150 \layout Subsubsection
2152 Action window options
2155 You can choose to start some operations automatically, without waiting for
2156 you to click on Quiet.
2157 Select each operation that you want to auto-start here.
2158 \layout Subsubsection
2160 Filer window options
2163 `Ignore case when sorting' treats upper and lower case letters as equivalent
2165 If this is off then `Zoo' comes before `animal', for example.
2168 `New window on button 1' swaps the actions of the two non-menu buttons when
2169 opening directories.
2170 This is provided for people who are used to the RISC OS mouse bindings.
2173 `Menu on button 2' swaps the actions of buttons 2 and 3 so that the middle
2174 button brings up the menus.
2175 This is provided for people who are used to the RISC OS mouse bindings.
2178 `Single-click navigation' treats a single click over an item as if it was
2180 This allows you to move around, run applications and open files without
2186 opening it you must hold down CTRL while you click.
2189 `Unique windows' prevents you from having two windows showing the same directory.
2190 Opening a second view onto a directory closes the first.
2193 `Toolbar type for new windows' allows you to choose what kind of toolbar
2194 will be used for future filer windows (the currently open windows are not
2196 None means that new windows will not have a toolbar, Normal provides a
2197 small bar of icons, and GNOME displays larger icons with textual labels
2198 and allows the bar to be detached from the window by dragging it.
2200 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: Toolbar}
2207 The last display style and sort type you chose will also be saved as the
2208 defaults for next time.
2209 \layout Subsubsection
2211 Drag-And-Drop options
2214 ROX-Filer uses the standard XDND protocol for drag-and-drop.
2215 This protocol recommends that URIs should contain the hostname of the computer
2216 that the resource is on so that the program receiving the data can determine
2217 whether it can get the data directly or whether it must go via the X-server.
2218 However, many older programs (particularly GNOME applications) get confused
2219 by the hostname and fail to load the data correctly.
2220 If `Don't use hostnames' is on then the hostname part is omitted and ROX-Filer
2221 will work with these applications BUT you can't drag data to a program
2222 running on a different machine.
2225 `Allow dragging to icons in filer windows' controls what happens when you
2226 drop files onto icons in filer windows.
2227 If on then drops onto directories will save the data inside the directory
2228 while dropping onto programs will invoke the program on that data.
2229 If off then drops anywhere inside a filer window act like drops onto the
2230 window background --- that is, the data will be saved into the directory
2232 \layout Subsubsection
2237 The `Xterm here' program is the one used when you choose `Xterm here' from
2239 You can replace it with another program such as `gnome-terminal' if you
2241 In fact, any program will do, but note that you cannot pass any options
2242 to the program at present.
2248 ROX-Filer uses three sub-directories in your Choices directory for filetypes:
2251 MIME-info contains files which specify what the MIME type for a file should
2252 be, based on its extention.
2253 All the files in all the MIME-info directories are scanned when the filer
2255 In addition, ROX-Filer is now supplied with a file called `MIME-info' (inside
2256 its application directory), which is also scanned --- this allows new users
2257 to get started more easily.
2258 Many applications now come with a file called `something.mime'; copy these
2259 files into your MIME-info directory to make ROX-Filer automatically recognise
2263 MIME-types contains symlinks, one for each MIME type, which point to programs
2264 that can handle files of that type.
2265 For example, to make opening an HTML file load it into Netscape:
2269 Find the Netscape application and go to `Link...' on the menu.
2272 Enter `text_html' as the name for the link and drag the icon from the Link
2273 box into the MIME-types directory.
2276 You can also put actual programs in here as well as links if you want to.
2280 MIME-icons contains the images used to display each type of file.
2281 So the filer will try to display an HTML file using the icon `MIME-icons/text_h
2285 Many sample files are supplied as part of the ROX desktop
2286 \begin_inset LatexCommand \cite{ROX}
2293 In both MIME-types and MIME-icons directories you can also provide default
2294 actions/images for each media type.
2295 For example, if `text_html' isn't found then the filer will try simply
2299 Application directories
2302 An application directory is a directory which can be run as an application.
2303 It contains all the resources of an application - source code, binaries,
2304 documentation and so on.
2305 Keeping everything in one place make installation and uninstallation much
2307 You can also keep multiple versions of a program by simply having several
2308 application directories.
2309 You may move and rename them as you please.
2310 Application directories are easier to use and install and are more secure
2312 \begin_float footnote
2315 Because you can compile an application as a user and then simply copy it
2316 as root rather than having to run an install script you are free from the
2317 danger of running untrusted code as root.
2318 All you have to watch out for is setuid binaries.
2323 To make a directory executable all you need to do is create a executable
2324 file called `AppRun' inside it.
2325 This file is run when the user double-clicks on the application.
2326 You should also provide `AppIcon.xpm' (which will be used as the image for
2327 the application) and `Help' (which is a directory that is opened when the
2328 user asks for help).
2329 Have a look at the ROX-Filer application directory for a full example.
2332 Internationalisation
2336 \begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec: LANG}
2340 Selecting a translation
2343 ROX-Filer is able to translate many of its messages, provided suitable translati
2344 on files are provided.
2345 If you know that your language is supported then simply set the
2349 environment variable to the appropriate code for your country before starting
2353 LANG=fr; export LANG
2359 To see which translations are currently provided, open the ROX-Filer application
2360 directory (hold down Shift and double-click) and look inside the `
2367 Creating a new translation
2374 directory and create the file `
2389 Copy the file into the `
2393 ' subdirectory under
2398 \begin_inset Formula \( \langle \hbox {name}\rangle \hbox {\tt .po} \)
2402 Eg, if your language is referred to as `ml' (`my language'):
2406 $ cp messages.pot po/ml.po
2410 Load the copy into a text editor.
2413 Fill in the translations, which are all blank to start with.
2420 ' script to create the binary file which ROX-Filer can use.
2421 You will need the GNU gettext package for this.
2422 If you don't have it then just send me the
2426 file and I'll convert it for you.
2430 $ cd ROX-Filer/src/po
2436 Created file ../../Messages/ml.gmo OK
2440 Set the LANG variable to `
2444 ' and restart the filer (see section
2445 \begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec: LANG}
2456 file to me so that I can include it in future releases of the filer.
2459 Updating an existing translation
2462 Go into the directory containing the
2471 This checks the source code for new and changed strings and updates all
2472 the translation files.
2476 $ cd ROX-Filer/src/po
2483 Edit the file by hand as before, filling in the new blanks and updating
2484 out-of-date translations.
2485 Look out for `fuzzy' entries where
2489 has made a guess; check it's correct and remove the `fuzzy' line.
2499 Submit the updated file to me.
2506 info page for more instructions on creating a translation.
2512 This is a quick start guide for people who want to modify the source code.
2513 If you make useful changes or fix bugs, please send patches to me or to
2515 Tell me which version you're using!
2521 The first time you compile the program you need to do `
2525 ', but in future you only need to run `
2533 ' directory when you change the
2542 You might want to run `
2549 Creating and applying patches
2552 When people make small modifications to the sources they will often distribute
2557 --- usually on the mailing list.
2558 To apply a patch, go into the 'src' directory and run patch with the patch
2560 Then recompile, like this:
2569 $ ../AppRun --compile
2572 You can remove the patch by simply repeating the above sequence - patch
2573 will detect that the patch is already applied and offer to remove it.
2574 To create a patch you need to take a copy of the old 'src' directory before
2575 you modify it (before you compile, even):
2584 Now, modify and compile until it works they way you want it to.
2591 $ diff -cr old_src src > my_patch
2594 This creates a human- and machine-readable patch file.
2595 Submit this to the mailing list.
2596 The are many reasons for posting patches rather that the modified files:
2599 They are smaller, and hence shouldn't bounce.
2600 They are also quicker to download for people with slow connections.
2603 People can see what they're getting into before applying them!
2606 Patches can (usually) be applied to slightly modified versions of the sources.
2607 This means that people can apply several patches without each new one overwriti
2614 Here's a quick explanation of the autoconf system in case you haven't used
2616 See `info autoconf' for full details.
2619 There's a file called 'configure.in' which contains various tests (`info
2621 You run `autoconf' and it reads through the file and generates a shell
2622 script to perform the tests, saving it as `configure'.
2623 `configure' is normally distributed with the program because not everyone
2627 You then run `configure' (in fact, let the `AppRun' script do it because
2628 it passes it some arguments), which performs all the tests.
2629 It reads in `Makefile.in' and `config.h.in' and fills in the missing values
2630 with the test results to produce `Makefile' and `config.h'.
2633 You run `make', which creates .o files from the .c files and links to produce
2640 The diagram below shows some of the major structures found in the filer
2641 along with their most important attributes and methods.
2642 Exactly which attributes have been included is a little hit-and-miss but
2643 it might help you get the overall picture.
2644 If you find it useful, please let me know and I'll try to keep it up-to-date
2645 (or even extend it!).
2648 To summarise, each window (or panel) has its own
2653 This structure has pointers to a
2657 (which is the widget which actually displays the files) and to a
2661 , which is used to cache the directory contents.
2670 have pointers to (the same)
2674 s, each of which corresponds to one filesystem object.
2679 s may share the same
2684 While scanning is in progress the
2688 keeps a list of the new items it has found (
2692 ) and the items which have changed in some way (
2697 It periodically notifies the filer window of the changes-so-far by calling
2698 all the functions in the
2710 to add and remove functions to or from the list).
2712 \added_space_top 0.3cm \added_space_bottom 0.3cm \align center
2714 \begin_inset Figure size 595 604
2722 \layout Bibliography
2729 , <http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~tal197/rox.php3>
2730 \layout Bibliography
2737 , <http://www.gtk.org>
2738 \layout Bibliography
2745 , <http://www.gnome.org>
2746 \layout Bibliography
2751 The Drag and Drop protocol
2753 , <http://www.its.caltech.edu/~jafl/xdnd/>
2754 \layout Bibliography
2759 The X Direct Save protocol
2761 , <http://www.its.caltech.edu/~jafl/xds/>
2762 \layout Bibliography
2767 The ROX Choices system
2769 , <http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~tal197/choices.php3>
2770 \layout Bibliography
2771 \bibitem {enlightenment}
2777 <http://www.enlightenment.org>
2778 \layout Bibliography
2783 POrtable Dodgy Filesystems in Userland (hacK),
2785 <http://atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~pavel/podfuk/podfuk.html>
2786 \layout Bibliography
2793 , <http://www.gnome.org>