XFce 4 Filemanager

The local files branch is the traditional tree where files on the local computer are displayed. The tree can be opened to any level of nesting, and the top level can be relocatable to any directory on the local computer. To invoke the filemanager with only the local files branch activated, use xftree4 as the command line.

The SMB network branch is the way to navigate through a SMB network using the samba suite programs. To invoke the filemanager with only the SMB network branch active, use xfsamba4 as the command line.

The bookmarks branch is a way to create virtual directories with local files and remote SMB network files or shares. Multiple bookmark configurations can be used and toggled using ctrl-B. To invoke the filemanager with only the bookmark branch active, use xfbook4 as the command line.

The find results branch is where the results of find queries are displayed. Full filemanager operations are enabled on the results. To invoke the filemanager with only the find branch active, use xfglob4 as the command line.

The frequent files branch contains a tree structure with those files or directories which are frequently accessed via the filemanager. The default frequency threshold is set at 13 hits, but may be changed by means of the main menu. To invoke the filemanager with only the recent branch active, use xfapps4 as the command line.

The recent files branch contains a tree structure with those files or directories which have been accessed recently via the filemanager. The default recent threshold is set at 3 days, but may be changed by means of the main menu. To invoke the filemanager with only the recent branch active, use xfapps4 as the command line.

The fstab branch is a alternate way of viewing the filesystem, where the physical devices are listed by mount point. This enables easy mount/unmount operations with the keyboard RIGHT and LEFT cursor, mouse double-click, or menu selection. To invoke the file manager with only the fstab branch active, use xffstab4 as the command line.

The trashcan branch is a collection of trash bins. These may include Xffm wastebaskets or GNOME and KDE trash bins. This branch is a means of managing trash which is generated in different parts of the filesystem. You can collect trash bins belonging to other users among other functions available. To invoke the file manager with only the trash branch active, use xftrash4 as the command line.

Figure 2. 

In the figure is the main menu. This can be called by right or left clicking on the main menu bar, or by pressing function key F10.

The main menu consists of four submenus:

The Go menu may be greyed out if there is ambiguity as to which window pane the functions should apply to. If you have anything selected, or only have one window pane visible, there is no ambiguity. Check it out ;-)

Figure 3. The tools menu

The tools menu can be displayed from the main menu or by using F3, and has the following entries:

Figure 4. The open menu

The open menu can be displayed from the main menu or by using F4, and has the following entries:

Figure 5. The go menu

The go menu can be displayed from the main menu or by using F5, has the following entries:

Figure 6. The options menu

The options menu can be displayed from the main menu or by using F6, has the following entries:

Figure 7. The preferences menu

The preferences submenu can be displayed from the main menu or by using F7, and has the following checkboxes:

The popup menu is dynamically configured, depending on what is selected when the popup appears. In the following paragraphs we shall examine the most common scenarios. The popup menu can be shown by right clicking with the mouse or pressing F9

Figure 8. The book popup menu

Aside from the normal operations, from this popup menu you can also open a named book, open the default book, list all named books, create a new book, and save the current book with a new name.

Figure 9. The frequent popup menu

Aside from the normal operations, from this popup menu you can reset the frequency threshold from the default value of 13 hits.

Figure 10. The recent popup menu

Aside from the normal operations, from this popup menu you can reset the recent threshold from the default value of 3 days.

Figure 11. The fstab popup menu (mount/unmount)

Aside from the normal operations, from this popup menu you can either mount or unmount volumes which are listed in the fstab file information (they may be SMB shares, NFS volumes or local filesystems).

Figure 12. The trash popup menu

Aside from the normal operations, from this popup menu you can permanently delete all the collected trash from the filesystem. You can also clear the contents of the trash, in which case you would have to collect trash from the directory popup to make it appear again.

Figure 13. The directory popup menu

Aside from the normal operations, from this popup menu you can create gzipped or bzipped tarballs. You can also create iso filesystem files to directly burn CD-RW volumes.

Figure 14. The directory popup menu (unmount)

In the case where a directory is also listed in the fstab file as a mount point, you can mount/unmount volumes from this popup.

Figure 15. The file popup menu

The file popup has all the operations normally performed on files. Depending on the mimetype of the selected file, you may get several options with which to open the file. These options are constructed from the system wide mimetype applications, the user mimetype applications (constructed by clicking remember when the open with function is used), and the last application used to open the file (whether remember was checked or not). Thus in the above figure you can observe that the TeX file selected has several option with which to open it with.

Further file operations are included in the file submenu, described below and which may be quickly accessed with F8.

Figure 16. The file popup submenu

The file submenu which may be quickly accessed with F8, contains the basic operations normally done to the filesystem:

Figure 17. The netfile popup menu

The popup for SMB network files is similar to the one for local files, but does not contain the file submenu.

Figure 18. The columns popup menu

If you right click over the titles of the columns, you get the columns popup. With this popup you can toggle which columns you wish to be visible or not. By default configuration, the right pane has all optional columns visible, and the left column has none of the optional columns visible.

Figure 19. The icon title smart button

This is the popup for the icon column title. By keeping pressed you make a popup of buttons appear. Release on any button determines which one gets the click. These buttons are used to toggle main branches on and off. If you want to see the fstab branch, click on the fstab symbol. If you want to hide the local branch, click on the local branch symbol.

Figure 20. The sort popup submenu

The sort submenu allows you to toggle the set sorting method for the treeview. The unsorted method implies a sorting by name and subsorted by filetype. You may also toggle the sorting method by clicking on the column titles. The purpose of this menu is to make a sort method toggle available from the keyboard.

Figure 21. 

The standard toolbar is a shortcut to many menu functions. By right clicking on any button with a down arrow, you can appear or dissappear the corresponding side bar. You can also bring up a popup with the sidebar elements by pressing with the button and not releasing. You then release on the popup element you desire to click. The last clicked element of the group becomes the top button visible in the toolbar.

The menu toolbar consists of the following elements:

Figure 22. The filter box

This allows you to filter the contents of a directory before being inserted into the treeview. Regular expressions such as that shown in the figure are also acceptable (besides classic filters like *.c). After changing the filter string, refresh the view. If the treeview is hidden, nothing is filtered.

Figure 23. The hide/show buttons

In the menu toolbar, you have buttons for showing only the right treeview (also with F12), the left treeview (also with F11), viewing both treeviews (either F11 or F12 twice), and hiding and showing the filter box and the standard toolbar. (If you compiled with --enable-panel, you will have a second toolbar reflectiong your xfce4-panel configuration, complete with hide and unhide buttons, replacing the applications root branch from xffm-4.0).

There are several sidebars available in the default configuration.

Figure 24. The file submenu sidebar

See "File submenu" for an explanation of the available options. Exactly one item must be selected from the treeview for this sidebar to be active.

Figure 25. The go sidebar

See "go menu" for an explanation of the available options.

Figure 26. The multiple_select sidebar

You can create a new file or directory or open the properties dialog from here. At least one item must be selected from the treeview for this to be active. See "File submenu" for an explanation of the available options.

Figure 27. The open sidebar

See "open menu" for an explanation of the available options.

Figure 28. The options sidebar

See "options menu" for an explanation of the available options.

Figure 29. The paste sidebar

You can paste the contents of the pasteboard, or paste-link the contents of the pasteboard. The paste-link function creates symlinks of the files referenced in the pasteboard.

Figure 30. The tools sidebar

See "tools menu" for an explanation of the available options.

This will probably appear in version 4.4

Use the xfmime-edit program (in options menu). This program works with drag and drop or inline editing. Upon saving, you will create the necessary mime.xml file in $HOME/.themes directory. You can also invoke xfmime-edit from a terminal command line. The iconset used will be that selected from xfce-setting-show (user interface).

Yes. From command line execute fgr.

Sure. Just open the selected files with xfdiff4.

Yes. Just use the scramble program from a terminal. This program will act recursively on directories.

If you want to see servers on a remote subnet (beyond a router), then you must have a domain master on each subnet. You can define your local host to be a domain master with the samba configuration file.

If there is no domain master on the remote subnet, you can still connect to a server if you know its BIOS name. Just use the go to function and preceed the server name with a double slash, i.e., //server. In order for this to work, both your local machine and the remote server must be configured to use the same WINS server.

The character set which is used by the remote server is determined by the remote server. And this varies according to the operating system. The result: a mess. Xfsamba tries its best to guess what's right and you can help by defining the SMB_CODESET with the MCS manager. YMMV. If you have problems with transferring files with non-ascii embedded characters, use the popup menu to mount the remote share as a local file system.

Click on it with button 3.

Click with button 3 on any toolbar that has a dropdown arrow.

Press on F1 to find out.

If a directory takes longer than a certain amount of time to reload (non-configurable option), then xftree will not reload automatically when changes are detected. Use the reload button, or CTRL-Z, to refresh.

Select the directory. Then with the popup menu, select Create isofs. Choose an output directory and wait until completion. Then select the newly created isofs file and bring up the popup menu. Select cdrecord (or burncd on systems which use this program instead). Wait for burn to finish.

Depending on whether sudo and cdrecord or burncd is installed, you will have the following commands to burn a CDRW:

You should be able to select the isofs file and use the open with function to use your own custom command if these defaults are not appropriate.

Last used string has top score. Otherwise the autocompletion strings are sorted with the most frequently used entries at the top.

Use the popup menu and select the open with function. Write in the string to be used to open the program. You can use "%s" to place the selected file path in a place other than the end. Check the Remember box. If the command fails to execute, nothing will be registered.

Say you want to execute a terminal command with output to STDOUT, like ls /tmp. In order to keep the terminal window open so you can see what was output, use the hold command. Once the output is no longer needed, you must manually destroy the terminal window. If the Hold xterms is selected in the MCS manager, then all xterms are held and the checkbox will be grayed out.

Typing any letter will scroll you down to the first row starting with that letter (at current selected level). If you want to scroll backwards, use SHIFT-letter. There is no distinguishing between lower and upper case.

Press return (and in some cases, right-arrow).

Press tab.

Press left-arrow.