SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

fabertawe · 2012-04-21 13:07:58

@IgnorantGuru: Could you please add the target ("points to") of a symlink to the info tab of file properties? This would be a great help.

Also, regarding adding plugins to the right-click context menu - are they sorted in any way? I'm not bothered if they're not but I have one (Rename) that's appearing above the separator in the section with Open, Go and New. Could this be a clash with F2 Rename? I can change the name of the plugin if needed to avoid this. Are all plugins meant to appear below Edit?

Many thanks.

Edit: p.s. if a symlink is broken could this be reflected on the icon?

Last edited by fabertawe (2012-04-21 13:10:07)

IgnorantGuru · 2012-04-21 13:51:16

fabertawe wrote:

@IgnorantGuru: Could you please add the target ("points to") of a symlink to the info tab of file properties? This would be a great help.

I'll take a look at how that would fit - thanks. Also note that it will show the link target in the status bar when a single link is selected, and you can copy the status bar text by select and right-click Copy (not ctrl-c), but I realize that has its limitations in terms of width.

Also, regarding adding plugins to the right-click context menu - are they sorted in any way? I'm not bothered if they're not but I have one (Rename) that's appearing above the separator in the section with Open, Go and New. Could this be a clash with F2 Rename? I can change the name of the plugin if needed to avoid this. Are all plugins meant to appear below Edit?

When a plugin is pasted into any other menu, it ceases to be a plugin and becomes a custom command. You can paste them almost anywhere, or move them where you like. So they are not sorted (except when in the Plugins menu). Duplicated menu item names aren't a problem.

Edit: p.s. if a symlink is broken could this be reflected on the icon?

That would be rather expensive in terms of performance, as file access is required. But again the status bar will indicate a broken link when it's selected.

Last edited by IgnorantGuru (2012-04-21 13:52:42)

IgnorantGuru · 2012-04-21 15:20:46

Also on link targets... if you select Rename (F2), the link target is show in 'Type:', and if you double-click on 'Type:' (the label itself not the value), the link target's path is copied to the clipboard. (If 'Type:' isn't shown, click Options and check Type, but that is the default iirc.)

Stack · 2012-04-22 05:50:40

Issue solved and post can be deleted.

Last edited by Stack (2012-04-22 10:54:53)

fabertawe · 2012-04-22 13:04:55

IgnorantGuru wrote:

Also on link targets... if you select Rename (F2), the link target is show in 'Type:', and if you double-click on 'Type:' (the label itself not the value), the link target's path is copied to the clipboard. (If 'Type:' isn't shown, click Options and check Type, but that is the default iirc.)

Many thanks for all the explanations, I'd never noticed the status bar 'Link' info. As for rearranging the context menu - I really should pay more attention to the manual! I'm still finding it amazing how configurable SpaceFM is

work · 2012-04-24 14:12:54

IgnorantGuru, do you suggest any specific way to automount?

tri1976 · 2012-04-25 15:41:47

I cannot open spacefm find dialog using keyboard shortcut (ctrl+f in my case), does anybody here has this problem?

fabertawe · 2012-04-25 16:25:54

tri1976 wrote:

I cannot open spacefm find dialog using keyboard shortcut (ctrl+f in my case), does anybody here has this problem?

I just assigned a shortcut of ALT+F and nothing happened here also.

smudge · 2012-04-27 23:25:59

Excellent FM, thanks for making it, it's become my default

Testing 0.7.6, I removed gvfs, udisks and installed pmount and everything works well (for me at least).

Regarding the Permissions options, if I select a folder (or 2) and click "Recursive (apply changes to folder contents)" it also changes the permissions of the folder. I just wanted to suggest having a look at how emelFM2 (or worker) deals with permissions, it gives a lot more control and would be nice to have in SpaceFM.

Just a thought, thanks.

Paramvir · 2012-05-02 16:58:08

OK - have been using the 0.7.6 - looks gr88888

had a major udisks2 issue the other day - it installed as dependency for gvfs which is required on xfce4 for the trash can - huh - i trash-canned the lot - thanks to spacefm ;-)

I have very few posts as I really google well - if you get the hang of that - then it becomes easy to resolve issues - search b4 u ask is a very good idea be it on google or arch forums.

I did read your blog and realised you had implemented the workaround script - I think it was devmon [ read about it on arch wiki ] - it felt so good to sort things out in a few minutes else I started getting a password request for even my cdrom and usb etc. And the udisks rules no longer work!!!

Great stuff - Thanks

myrlin · 2012-05-03 13:22:53

Likewise, the forced installation of udisks2 (as a dependency of pcmanfm) resulted in rsync failing on my machine.

I've now thrown the lot away, and installed spacefm as my default filemanager.

IgnorantGuru · 2012-05-04 14:00:11

Thanks for all the feedback on 0.7.6.

work wrote:

IgnorantGuru, do you suggest any specific way to automount?

Not sure what you mean by specific. Spacefm will handle automounting when it is running if the automount settings are turned on. If you want automounting to take place even when no spacefm window is open, you can run a daemon mode instance or desktop manager instance. Currently, spacefm does its own device event detection (udevd should be running and enable kernel polling), and it will perform the mount using the udisks v2 or v1 command line tool, pmount, or another program you specify. Run spacefm from a terminal to see debug info on automounting.

Last edited by IgnorantGuru (2012-05-04 14:16:58)

IgnorantGuru · 2012-05-04 14:05:32

tri1976 wrote:

I cannot open spacefm find dialog using keyboard shortcut (ctrl+f in my case), does anybody here has this problem?

Thanks, any key binding to File|File Search does appear to be broken in 0.7.6. I'll correct this shortly.

IgnorantGuru · 2012-05-04 14:11:16

smudge wrote:

Regarding the Permissions options, if I select a folder (or 2) and click "Recursive (apply changes to folder contents)" it also changes the permissions of the folder. I just wanted to suggest having a look at how emelFM2 (or worker) deals with permissions, it gives a lot more control and would be nice to have in SpaceFM.

Thanks for the suggestion. I do plan to revisit the file permissions, as I had some other ideas for how to do it, and I'll take a look at emel also. It should really say 'apply changes to folders and their contents'. You might also have a look in the right-click menu's Properties|Quick|Recursive... This too affects the folders themselves (just like chmod -R), but can handle the executable bits more reasonably (X instead of x). You can also add your own custom chmod commands to that menu in addition to the ones provided.

Last edited by IgnorantGuru (2012-05-04 14:16:33)

IgnorantGuru · 2012-05-04 17:16:42

Paramvir wrote:

I did read your blog and realised you had implemented the workaround script - I think it was devmon [ read about it on arch wiki ]

Thanks for the feedback. To clarify, devmon is older than spacefm - devmon currently supports only udisks v1, not udisks v2. devmon isn't necessary with spacefm, as spacefm has built-in automounting functions. But if you prefer to use devmon, you can just turn off automounting in spacefm (best not to run multiple automounting solutions as it's confusing).

I'm also working on a new command line tool to replace udisks and pmount. I haven't had a chance to work on it for the last few weeks, but it was coming along and once that's available, spacefm will be able to use it for mounting if desired (or you can continue to use udisks v1/2 or pmount for this), and devmon will be updated to use this replacement tool, either alone or in combination with udisks or pmount.

ninian · 2012-05-04 21:53:26

IgnorantGuru wrote:

I'm also working on a new command line tool to replace udisks and pmount. I haven't had a chance to work on it for the last few weeks, but it was coming along and once that's available, spacefm will be able to use it for mounting if desired (or you can continue to use udisks v1/2 or pmount for this)

Great stuff! I've given up on udisks/2 myself and gone back to good old faithful pmount. But there are a couple of things that would be good to see implemented:
- an option to set the mount directory, so you could use the standard /media/, or update to the newly 'preferred' /run/media/<USER>/
- an option to "safely remove" media; see http://elliotli.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/ … linux.html and https://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=54191

Never mind SpaceFM being a super file manager itself, it's wonderful to see it spawning other useful programs too - your work is MUCH appreciated!

work · 2012-05-05 08:48:57

http://www.archlinux.org/packages/commu … 4/spacefm/
http://www.archlinux.org/packages/commu … 6/spacefm/
As you can see, your software is now officially supported by Arch Linux. In my humble opinion, you can consider it something like a "seal of approval". Congratulations.

IgnorantGuru wrote:

Thanks for all the feedback on 0.7.6.
Not sure what you mean by specific. Spacefm will handle automounting when it is running if the automount settings are turned on. If you want automounting to take place even when no spacefm window is open, you can run a daemon mode instance or desktop manager instance. Currently, spacefm does its own device event detection (udevd should be running and enable kernel polling), and it will perform the mount using the udisks v2 or v1 command line tool, pmount, or another program you specify. Run spacefm from a terminal to see debug info on automounting.

I wasn't clear enough, I mean which method works best overall in your opinion.
Thank you

Last edited by work (2012-05-05 09:16:29)

GordonGR · 2012-05-05 10:49:54

Just a question, I apologise if it's already answered: Is it possible to create a new file based on a template in ~/Templates, like in Nautilus/Caja/Thunar?

IgnorantGuru · 2012-05-05 13:25:48

work wrote:

As you can see, your software is now officially supported by Arch Linux.

Thanks to Bartłomiej Piotrowski for maintaining these, and to everyone for all the testing and feedback - very helpful. Also note that I'm leaving spacefm-git in the AUR, which provides the 'next' branch as a work in progress. (The broken File|File Search keybinding is already corrected there, for example.)

I wasn't clear enough, I mean which method works best overall in your opinion.

Well my opinion as a user is that with spacefm I no longer use automounting in most cases. I keep the little devices list visible in the corner so when I insert a USB stick or a CD, if I want to access it I just click it to mount/open it in a new tab, then middle-click it to remove it. I prefer this to windows or tabs auto-opening on me, which distracts me from my normal multitasking. And I have a few custom commands in the devices list context menu for doing common tasks with DVDs, etc., and I have a context set on these so they only show up for the appropriate media. For machines where I want CDs and DVDs to autoplay when inserted, I check Auto Mount|Mount Optical and set the Auto Run|On AudioCD and On VideoDVD commands to run vlc.

If you do want automounting, spacefm's built-in features should be able to handle anything a tool like devmon does - in fact maintaining devmon was good experience for designing and implementing spacefm's features, which like devmon are made to allow you to automate it how you like. And unlike some parts of spacefm, all the device features are already fully documented - hover on any menu item and press F1.

IgnorantGuru · 2012-05-05 13:44:34

ninian wrote:

But there are a couple of things that would be good to see implemented:
- an option to set the mount directory, so you could use the standard /media/, or update to the newly 'preferred' /run/media/<USER>/

This would need to be implemented in udisks or pmount (or whatever handles the mounting). But I have always found this aspect of udisks lacking, so it is one of the things I plan to address with my replacement tool. I'm not sure if pmount's config file gives any control over this. My new tool will have a /etc conf file that allows you to specify a list of valid mount points, the first of which will be used as the default. As for /run/media/user/, that's just what linux needed - more confusion in the removable devices department.

- an option to "safely remove" media; see http://elliotli.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/ … linux.html and https://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=54191

Selecting Remove on a device (or middle-clicking it), performs an unmount and sync. In general, once the 'Remove' command disappears from the task manager (indicating the sync has completed), it is safe to remove. In practice it's good to wait a few seconds for any activity to stop before removing it. I did experiment with a few methods for detaching the device, but I didn't like the way udev/sysfs responds. For one, it removes the partition from the database (the device disappears from spacefm's devices list even though it is still physically present - so you must unplug and replug it to do anything further with it). Also, it caused the holding partition to appear. But I'm open to further comment on this. Do you think the USB port should be suspended, etc? In practice, I have found the unmount and sync to be safe. You might consider the 'Remove' command as 'Remove Safely And Eject' - I just tried to keep the menu item names cleaner than that, but that is its full function. But let me know how that is working out for you - the current approach is not set in stone, I was mostly waiting for what people had to say.

IgnorantGuru · 2012-05-05 13:50:20

GordonGR wrote:

Just a question, I apologise if it's already answered: Is it possible to create a new file based on a template in ~/Templates, like in Nautilus/Caja/Thunar?

Not answered - you're actually the first to ask about this. There is no built-in support for this at present - not sure if that will be added. You can create a custom command or menu of templates in the right-click menu to add this yourself. If you do it in a generic way, others might find it useful as a plugin. I will be doing some work on the create new file/folder dialogs at some point, hopefully soon, so I might look into the templates prospect then.

GordonGR · 2012-05-05 14:07:36

IgnorantGuru wrote:

You can create a custom command or menu of templates in the right-click menu to add this yourself.

Right... okay, I'll see what I can do.

By the way, in XFCE 4.10 there is no xfce4-terminal command any more, it's been replaced by Terminal, so you might want to change that.

ninian · 2012-05-05 20:58:42

IgnorantGuru wrote:

I'm not sure if pmount's config file gives any control over this. My new tool will have a /etc conf file that allows you to specify a list of valid mount points, the first of which will be used as the default.

Looking at the source for pmount, the 'configure' file has an option '--with-media-dir' which lets you set a different media mount directory at compile time (not so handy as a command-line option). I like the idea of your new tool having a configuration file which can specify valid mount points.

Selecting Remove on a device (or middle-clicking it), performs an unmount and sync. In general, once the 'Remove' command disappears from the task manager (indicating the sync has completed), it is safe to remove. In practice it's good to wait a few seconds for any activity to stop before removing it ... But I'm open to further comment on this. Do you think the USB port should be suspended, etc? In practice, I have found the unmount and sync to be safe ... But let me know how that is working out for you - the current approach is not set in stone, I was mostly waiting for what people had to say.

Ah, well, I must admit that I just usually 'sync' and 'pumount' myself (plus a respectable few seconds wait) and I don't think it's caused me any problems. It's mostly USB flash drives which I use, but I think Yan Li and others are more worried about external hard drives which physically spin and don't like the plug being pulled on them suddenly. Also, there's a relevant post at http://mywaytoarch.tumblr.com/post/1311 … usb-device. I used to use 'udisks --detach <device>' which, from the man page: "Detaches (e.g. powering down the physical port the device is connected to) the device". This also required the media to be physically unplugged and replugged to access it again. For the user, I suppose it all boils down to "how safe do you want to be" and maybe both "remove lite" and "remove belts-and-braces safe" options do make sense (especially if you want to re-use the device soon, and avoid the unplug+replug)!

IIRC, both Gnome and KDE (which I no longer use) do more than just a "sync and unmount" with removable devices; perhaps one of their users could enlighten us more ...

PS: udisks2 does not seem to have any equivalent to the udisks --detach option

Last edited by ninian (2012-05-05 20:59:43)

ss2 · 2012-05-05 21:49:36

Here's one fan using this amazing file manager. I quite like this approach of flexibility. And finally some (multiple!) panes with tabs that are usable. When are we going to get tab stacking? That should make some extremely chaotic file moving quite interesting.

Anyhow, I have a problem with the plugins menu. It doesn't seem to work. And I haven't found any mention of it not working, yet.

If I provide SpaceFM either a link or a file directly and enter the su's password, nothing seems to happen.

These are the errors the console responds with:

TASK_COMMAND=rm -rf '/usr/share/spacefm/plugins/Rename-110' ; mkdir -p '/usr/share/spacefm/plugins/Rename-110' && cd '/usr/share/spacefm/plugins/Rename-110' && tar --exclude='/*' --keep-old-files -xzf '/home/ss2/Downloads/Rename-1.10.spacefm-plugin.tar.tar' ; err=$?; if [ $err -ne 0 ] || [ ! -e plugin ]; then rm -rf '/usr/share/spacefm/plugins/Rename-110' ; echo 'Error installing plugin (invalid plugin file?)'; exit 1 ; fi ; chown -R root:root '/usr/share/spacefm/plugins/Rename-110' && chmod -R go+rX-w '/usr/share/spacefm/plugins/Rename-110' 
SPAWN=/usr/bin/urxvt  -e  /usr/bin/sudo  /bin/bash  /usr/bin/spacefm-auth  root  /tmp/spacefm.tmp/03953dc7-tmp.sh  8be682ad157f2ee65d7349fdc804c26ed07507c376facf13e027bb24d250721b
    pid = 22215
child finished  pid=22215 exit_status=0

I have repeatedly tested this with a fresh setup and different plugins. I have observed this problem since the first time I started using it where the first release I used was 0.7.2. I have managed to get the plugins working manually, though.

Anyway, I'm still not sure whether this is a bug or some odd local problem to be sorted.

Last edited by ss2 (2012-05-05 21:50:07)

Mr Green · 2012-05-06 07:19:01

#### Moderator please remove #### posted in error

Last edited by Mr Green (2012-05-06 07:44:32)

Arch Linux

#176 2012-04-21 13:07:58

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#177 2012-04-21 13:51:16

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#178 2012-04-21 15:20:46

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#179 2012-04-22 05:50:40

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#180 2012-04-22 13:04:55

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#181 2012-04-24 14:12:54

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#182 2012-04-25 15:41:47

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#183 2012-04-25 16:25:54

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#184 2012-04-27 23:25:59

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#185 2012-05-02 16:58:08

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#186 2012-05-03 13:22:53

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#187 2012-05-04 14:00:11

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#188 2012-05-04 14:05:32

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#189 2012-05-04 14:11:16

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#190 2012-05-04 17:16:42

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#191 2012-05-04 21:53:26

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#192 2012-05-05 08:48:57

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#193 2012-05-05 10:49:54

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#194 2012-05-05 13:25:48

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#195 2012-05-05 13:44:34

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#196 2012-05-05 13:50:20

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#197 2012-05-05 14:07:36

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#198 2012-05-05 20:58:42

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#199 2012-05-05 21:49:36

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#200 2012-05-06 07:19:01

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

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