SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

IgnorantGuru · 2013-02-02 16:20:05

anonymous_user wrote:

I don't know if this is a bug, but I noticed that my mouse's back/forward buttons only work properly while the cursor is inside the main file/folder pane. If I move the cursor to the address bar, menu bar, or side panes, then clicking them results in a left-click.

This should now (spacefm-git or 0.8.6 release) work almost anywhere in the window, except the menu bar or on other widgets that make use of those buttons (4, 5, 8, and 9) (code).

Also, the case sensitive file type sort should now be insensitive.

IgnorantGuru · 2013-02-03 00:37:53

jmartl109 wrote:

Quick request regarding tab completion in the path bar -- it would be nice if "/" would be added to the end of the completed directory. This would make entering long path names more convenient, and make it consistent with bash. For example, now in order to navigate to /usr/share/themes I type /u<tab>/sh<tab>/the<tab> but in bash to get to the same place I type cd /u<tab>sh<tab>th<tab>. Not a huge deal, I know...

I wrote a new completion function, as I couldn't get gtk's stuff to work as I wanted. I'd appreciate it if some people could give this a workout. The new one should behave like bash. Let me know anywhere it doesn't.

Also, it no longer adds the common prefix into the entry, which I think is better (caused various problems). Also, it now sorts the completion popup list (which can be accessed via mouse or arrow keys and enter).

You can test this with AUR spacefm-git (next branch). Do your best to break it.

Last edited by IgnorantGuru (2013-02-04 00:54:58)

dag · 2013-02-03 02:15:14

my favorite fm the best for configuration nothing is so hardcoded that it can not be changed.

J. · 2013-02-05 20:48:00

I just learned about SpaceFM yesterday, and I really like it - better than PCManFM, if a bit heavier. A couple of thoughts I've had (none of them urgent or anything...):

It would be nice to be able to specify multiple keyboard shortcuts for a single menu item. I'm aware you can copy the menu item, but I don't seem to be able to do this for most of them (only plugins I've 'copied' into SpaceFM?).

Not being able to right-click to modify menu items that are insensitive is a bit annoying - you have to find somewhere it's sensitive to change anything about it. This system is really rather clunky in general, especially when you want to do multiple things in some sub-sub-menu, but that's not bad since you only really do much with it when you're starting out.

Preserving the current selection over a refresh and over a rename would be useful, I think. I would expect renaming the selected file to select the file it's moved to (if in the current directory and visible). This one's probably more personal taste, but I think I'd prefer it if copying/moving files into the current directory would add all new files to the selection.

Finally, I've added the plugin that handles trash, but I can't seem to find any way of having an always-present indicator, somewhere in the window, of whether the trash is empty. I can't think, even, how this could be implemented in a plugin within the framework provided. Any ideas?

And thanks again for the great file manager.

Last edited by J. (2013-02-05 20:49:50)

IgnorantGuru · 2013-02-07 00:47:10

J. wrote:

I just learned about SpaceFM yesterday, and I really like it - better than PCManFM, if a bit heavier. A couple of thoughts I've had (none of them urgent or anything...):
It would be nice to be able to specify multiple keyboard shortcuts for a single menu item. I'm aware you can copy the menu item, but I don't seem to be able to do this for most of them (only plugins I've 'copied' into SpaceFM?).

The way to do this at present is to create a second menu item which activates the first item. Then you can assign a different shortcut key to the second item. A more graceful solution is on the list of things to explore.

Not being able to right-click to modify menu items that are insensitive is a bit annoying

I agree, but doing this with gtk involves rewriting parts of gtk - something yet to be done, if it is. Also note Ignore Context.

Finally, I've added the plugin that handles trash, but I can't seem to find any way of having an always-present indicator, somewhere in the window, of whether the trash is empty. I can't think, even, how this could be implemented in a plugin within the framework provided. Any ideas?

A custom command can set and alter the status bar text, so it could add an indication. The only working example of this at present (that I'm aware of) is my new burn plugin on the plugins wiki. Also, some icons in spacefm are updated when the gtk icon cache is updated, including I believe the window icon, so there's some potential there - experimentation required. Beyond that, you could explore external desktop or panel tools for this.

Thanks for your feedback.

Last edited by IgnorantGuru (2013-02-07 00:53:48)

J. · 2013-02-07 22:54:35

IgnorantGuru wrote:

The way to do this at present is to create a second menu item which activates the first item. Then you can assign a different shortcut key to the second item. A more graceful solution is on the list of things to explore.

Okay, this is working, but in setting it up I've found another problem: I can assign backspace to a shortcut, and it won't have an effect when the path bar is focused, but if I do the same for the / key, it activates even when in the path bar. I assume the difference is that / is a printable character - is there any way to safely bind these? I thought maybe the command's context would offer an option, but I can't seem to find anything in there that would help (sorry if I missed it).

IgnorantGuru · 2013-02-07 23:45:00

J. wrote:

Okay, this is working, but in setting it up I've found another problem: I can assign backspace to a shortcut, and it won't have an effect when the path bar is focused, but if I do the same for the / key, it activates even when in the path bar. I assume the difference is that / is a printable character - is there any way to safely bind these? I thought maybe the command's context would offer an option, but I can't seem to find anything in there that would help (sorry if I missed it).

As you found, some editing keys, if the path bar has focus, are sent to it rather than interpreted as a shortcut. These include backspace, delete, home, end, and tab (including specific modifiers). This enables you to use these shortcuts for menu items, but the file list or other window component must have focus rather than the path bar. (Otherwise you wouldn't be able to use backspace for backspace in the path bar, for example). Also note that what key combos are affected has changed for the upcoming release vs 0.8.5, due to the reworking of the path bar.

So backspace isn't a compatible choice for shortcut if you want it to work when the path bar has focus. At least that's how things are currently setup - I haven't received any input on this thus far, no pun intended.

Last edited by IgnorantGuru (2013-02-07 23:49:42)

J. · 2013-02-08 00:02:04

Actually, I wanted / not to activate the shortcut while the path bar is focused, not for backspace to activate the shortcut. It seems to me that, if it's simple enough to implement, no shortcuts that correspond to a printable character with no modifiers should activate shortcuts when in the path bar.

IgnorantGuru · 2013-02-08 00:07:56

J. wrote:

Actually, I wanted / not to activate the shortcut while the path bar is focused, not for backspace to activate the shortcut. It seems to me that, if it's simple enough to implement, no shortcuts that correspond to a printable character with no modifiers should activate shortcuts when in the path bar.

ic - that makes sense. I could try that, but determining what is printable given the variations in international keyboards, etc, is not trivial. I can at least add / to the exceptions, and maybe a-zA-Z0-9.

IgnorantGuru · 2013-02-13 16:50:17

SpaceFM 0.8.6 is available.

@J.: This should capture printable characters for the path bar - found a gdk function for determining what is printable, but let me know if there are any exceptions.

zeltak · 2013-02-13 18:52:04

Thx for another great release!

Can i ask/beg/pray/please pretty please with sugar on top can we have a socket command to sort by (date,name etc) it really is missing that i cant do that with a keyboard shortcut

thx alot

Z.

J. · 2013-02-13 19:19:35

IgnorantGuru wrote:

SpaceFM 0.8.6 is available.
@J.: This should capture printable characters for the path bar - found a gdk function for determining what is printable, but let me know if there are any exceptions.

Works great, thanks.

IgnorantGuru · 2013-02-13 23:11:54

A new cloud-based translation server is available to make it easier for everyone to help translate strings in SpaceFM and udevil - thanks for contributing.

IgnorantGuru · 2013-02-13 23:36:02

zeltak wrote:

Can i ask/beg/pray/please pretty please with sugar on top can we have a socket command to sort by (date,name etc) it really is missing that i cant do that with a keyboard shortcut .

I have your request. In the meantime, you can add a shortcut to any sort. For example, go to View|Sort and set a shortcut key for Type (right-click on the Type menu item and select Key). When you press the shortcut key, the file list will be sorted by file type. (I just noticed that in GTK3 at least, the key shortcut isn't showing on the menu. I'll look into this, but the key shortcut does work.)

You can also create a single command which adjusts multiple sort parameters by using the emit-key socket command.

IgnorantGuru · 2013-02-14 16:01:41

IgnorantGuru wrote:

I just noticed that in GTK3 at least, the key shortcut isn't showing on the menu. I'll look into this, but the key shortcut does work.

This is a known bug in GTK3 (now almost a year old). If you'd like to see it fixed, more comments on the gnome bugtracker may be helpful.

chickenPie4tea · 2013-02-14 21:09:37

I really liked Spacfm but it didn't handle trash well at all so I uninstalled it today. To me a file manager must handle deletion of files well with a good option to have a trash/wastbin built in and working well.

ninian · 2013-02-14 21:33:48

chickenPie4tea wrote:

I really liked Spacfm but it didn't handle trash well at all so I uninstalled it today. To me a file manager must handle deletion of files well with a good option to have a trash/wastbin built in and working well.

Which Trash plugin were you using?

IgnorantGuru · 2013-02-14 23:32:26

chickenPie4tea wrote:

I really liked Spacfm but it didn't handle trash well at all so I uninstalled it today. To me a file manager must handle deletion of files well with a good option to have a trash/wastbin built in and working well.

Thanks for your feedback. Not to negate your own view on this, but a few thoughts.

First priority for me is bugs - making sure what features do exist work according to spec. I consider this a minimum. When it comes to requests, I weigh my own personal interest (since this is my personal free time I use for development), as well as how requests serve the overall software. I do devote some time to 'charity' - implementating features I will never personally use, especially if I feel they improve the software. Yet time is limited of course, so choices must be made. This is a small project in terms of the people involved, and no one has thus far considered trash a priority, including pcman, SpaceFM's grandfather. (Trash is only supported in current pcmanfm because he moved to gvfs, which he definitely regrets.)

While trash has become common since Apple or whoever invented it, I'm not fond of it. I can see how some use cases may make it desirable, but I don't see it as an essential aspect of a file manager - it could be considered bloat by those not using it. Like most freedesktop things, the freedesktop protocol for this is absurd and time-consuming to implement. I'm more of the mind if you don't want to delete it, don't. On rare occasions when I'm cleaning up, I might create a 'trash' folder and dump files into it rather than deleting, then just delete the trash folder. (Also, note SpaceFM's Edit|Move To commands, which can be associated with a key shortcut. This can be used as a temporary trash mechanism.)

While I haven't ruled out implementing it someday if the mood strikes me to spend a few dozen hours coding, testing, documenting, and supporting it, overall I don't see any reason why this can't be handled well via plugin functionality. Plugins in SpaceFM can do just about anything a built-in command can do.

So my first suggestion is try the plugins for this - from what I understand some work well (speed tests show them faster than fm's with built-in trash support, and most people seem satisfied with them, based on what I've heard). Second, let the plugin creator nicely know any issues or requests you have for improvement, and also consider improving it yourself. Working from example, you can learn to do a lot with spacefm even if you're new to scripting. SpaceFM's design is intended to enable users to be de facto developers and designers.

I enjoy developing SpaceFM, but there's no way I can take it in every direction people would like to see it go. Plugins and custom command support is intended to allow for this extensibility. I try to provide the base upon which to build. But I also don't expect SpaceFM will work for everyone - lots of fm's to choose from. I know it's not fun to be stopped from using a program you like by one issue though, which is why I recommend exploring and helping to improve the existing solutions. Some of the 3rd party plugins are now included in Parted Magic by default, for example, and are quite popular there.

anonymous_user · 2013-02-15 00:05:02

When performing a File Search, it would be nice if right-clicking on results brought up the normal SpaceFM context menu. Or at least the very least, allow additional commands to be added to the search context menu. In particular I want a delete function.

IgnorantGuru · 2013-02-15 00:16:55

anonymous_user wrote:

When performing a File Search, it would be nice if right-clicking on results brought up the normal SpaceFM context menu. Or at least the very least, allow additional commands to be added to the search context menu. In particular I want a delete function.

Thanks - you might want to track issue 20 for eventual changes, and further comments can be added there or on some of the other Search requests.

zeltak · 2013-02-15 01:15:40

Just wanted to say that your post above to chickenPie4tea was excellent and is the reason i love free software and its devs, Thx alot again for all the time you put into spaceFM

Z

Last edited by zeltak (2013-02-15 01:15:57)

ninian · 2013-02-15 10:53:15

zeltak wrote:

Just wanted to say that your post above to chickenPie4tea was excellent and is the reason i love free software and its devs, Thx alot again for all the time you put into spaceFM
Z

Hear, hear - could not agree more!

chickenPie4tea · 2013-02-15 11:18:33

Yes it was a good reply.
I do like SpacFm but as I said I feel a trash facility as basic/standard in a file manager.
I cant remember the name of the plugin I was trying but it just didnt work - I mean files would just go and not to a trash bin. The last straw was when I deleted a folder of music files that I was sure I had made a copy but I had made a mistake abt the copy -there was no copy. Do you guys never make mistakes then!! I like the saftey of a trash can !
The reply was good in that I hadn't thought of the suggestion
"Also, note SpaceFM's Edit|Move To commands, which can be associated with a key shortcut. This can be used as a temporary trash mechanism"
If I change my mind in the future and re-intall I might try that.

fabertawe · 2013-02-15 20:05:58

@chickenPie4tea - Last time I looked there were two Trash plugins and both worked for me. Did you try them both?

Another +1 for zeltak's sentiments

chickenPie4tea · 2013-02-17 15:38:17

maybe I wasn't using the plugin every time but forgetting and hitting Del key as I am used to doing that in other file managers - keyboard is quicker. If only there was a way to stop the default behaviour when pressing Del and have it move to trash instead.

Arch Linux

#501 2013-02-02 16:20:05

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#502 2013-02-03 00:37:53

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#503 2013-02-03 02:15:14

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#504 2013-02-05 20:48:00

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#505 2013-02-07 00:47:10

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#506 2013-02-07 22:54:35

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#507 2013-02-07 23:45:00

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#508 2013-02-08 00:02:04

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#509 2013-02-08 00:07:56

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#510 2013-02-13 16:50:17

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#511 2013-02-13 18:52:04

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#512 2013-02-13 19:19:35

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#513 2013-02-13 23:11:54

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#514 2013-02-13 23:36:02

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#515 2013-02-14 16:01:41

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#516 2013-02-14 21:09:37

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#517 2013-02-14 21:33:48

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#518 2013-02-14 23:32:26

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#519 2013-02-15 00:05:02

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#520 2013-02-15 00:16:55

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#521 2013-02-15 01:15:40

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#522 2013-02-15 10:53:15

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#523 2013-02-15 11:18:33

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#524 2013-02-15 20:05:58

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

#525 2013-02-17 15:38:17

Re: SpaceFM - A Customizable File Manager

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