Combination console and GUI application?

drcouzelis · 2010-09-02 17:51:09

Is there such an application? One that looks and behaves like a console window, but shows very small icons next to file and directory names? It would provide all the benefits of the CLI with the ability to do things like click and drag files into a running application.

If not, do you think if would be nice to use one?

Last edited by drcouzelis (2010-09-02 18:12:21)

karol · 2010-09-02 18:34:53

CLI means command _line_. Many GUI file managers have e.g. two panes with filenames and small icons and a command line underneath.
As for support for drag&drop - that also depends on the target app.

drcouzelis · 2010-09-02 19:58:48

karol wrote:

CLI means command _line_. Many GUI file managers have e.g. two panes with filenames and small icons and a command line underneath.

I'm a little confused by your response, so I thought I'd just blabber on about my idea, just to make sure I phrased it correctly.

Here is an ugly mockup I did:

As you can see, the output of the "ls" command shows little icons next to the file and directory names. If, for whatever reason, I want to double click on a directory icon, the command line would behave as if I just used a "cd" command. Likewise, if I double click on a file (such as a "jpg" file) it would open in an application, similarly to using Nautilus. And I can click and drag a box around a set of those icons (or use ctrl + clicks like in Nautilus) to select many of them and move them to another location. These are a few examples.

karol wrote:

As for support for drag&drop - that also depends on the target app.

Daily, I drag and drop files from a GUI file manager into other open windows, such as: other file manager windows, the GIMP, Totem, any text editor, KTorrent, console windows, Firefox, and so on. I HATE using "File -> Open..." commands, because in my opinion they are so tedious to use, and I find clicking and dragging a file into an open window even faster than typing, say, "kwrite main.cpp".

Also, please keep in mind that the idea of this console application isn't about helping new Linux users, it's about making a powerful Unix tool more powerful.

What do you think? Does something that sound useful to anyone?

karol · 2010-09-02 20:04:09

What's the advantage of having it in the console? Run outside X?
If I use a filemanager, I don't have to 'ls', because it's the default - it shows my files. Your app can show different data, not only 'ls', so it's more flexible.

http://www.ghisler.com/screenshots/en/01.html
I can likewise 'cd blah' or doubleclick on it. I'm not sure if Midnight Commander supports drag&drop. Even if it does, your idea would blend the commandline and filemanager more.

Last edited by karol (2010-09-02 20:12:49)

drcouzelis · 2010-09-02 20:15:57

karol wrote:

What's the advantage of having it in the console? Run outside X?

No, I wouldn't use it outside of X. The advantage would be to spend most of my time in a console window, but still have the powerful drag and drop capabilities of a GUI.

karol wrote:

http://www.ghisler.com/screenshots/en/01.html
I can likewise 'cd blah' or doubleclick on it. I'm not sure if MC supports drag&drop. Your idea would blend the commandline and filemanager more.

That is a great screenshot! It looks very similar to what I'm describing, but in reverse. (GUI with some CLI vs CLI with some GUI) Even so, the functionality would probably be similar.

I think I'll look into the "commander" type file managers tonight.

...evidently called orthodox file managers.

Last edited by drcouzelis (2010-09-02 20:19:51)

skanky · 2010-09-02 20:22:09

Wouldn't any drag & drop be dependant also on the terminal being used supporting it? You'd need to know what was under the cursor.
I haven't looked into how they work, but maybe the urxvt tools that enable mouse selecting & clicking on urls to work could do the job, maybe? You'd stick the filename into a buffer and pass that to an application that was dropped on? Not sure you'd want/need the icons though - wouldn't just the filename do teh job without cluttering up the terminal?

Just thinking out loud, so I'm sure there are issues.

karol · 2010-09-02 20:25:23

skanky wrote:

Wouldn't any drag & drop be dependant also on the terminal being used supporting it? You'd need to know what was under the cursor.
I haven't looked into how they work, but maybe the urxvt tools that enable mouse selecting & clicking on urls to work could do the job, maybe? You'd stick the filename into a buffer and pass that to an application that was dropped on? Not sure you'd want/need the icons though - wouldn't just the filename do teh job without cluttering up the terminal?
Just thinking out loud, so I'm sure there are issues.

+1 about urxvt.
For some users, icons are "confusing little pictures", so they prefer not having them at all.

BTW, drcouzelis, I edited my post while you posted ;P

I think it's a nice idea, but some powerusers use a combination of mouse and keyboard - select files with a mouse or mouse+kbd (Ctrl + LMB etc.), then press some key combination like Alt + Shift + Q (or just F5) to send it to Gimp This way you can work on a small screen (gimp can be in the background, in another workspace etc.).

drcouzelis · 2010-09-02 20:32:10

skanky wrote:

Wouldn't any drag & drop be dependant also on the terminal being used supporting it? You'd need to know what was under the cursor.

You raise a good point. If I were to write such an application, I would probably make a "GUI" application (for example, with GTK+) that just looked and behaved exactly like a console window. Of course, speed and responsiveness would be a necessity.

karol wrote:

I think it's a nice idea, but some powerusers use a combination of mouse and keyboard - select files with a mouse or mouse+kbd (Ctrl + LMB etc.), then press some key combination like Alt + Shift + Q (or just F5) to send it to Gimp This way you can work on a small screen (gimp can be in the background, in another workspace etc.).

Ooh, that intrigues me a lot! I kind of understand what you mean, but not enough that I would be able to do it myself. Could you explain how to implement that? Or, is there documentation on it?

...by the way, I decided to try out emelfm2 tonight.

Last edited by drcouzelis (2010-09-02 20:33:01)

skanky · 2010-09-02 20:35:27

drcouzelis wrote:

skanky wrote:
Wouldn't any drag & drop be dependant also on the terminal being used supporting it? You'd need to know what was under the cursor.
You raise a good point. If I were to write such an application, I would probably make a "GUI" application (for example, with GTK+) that just looked and behaved exactly like a console window. Of course, speed and responsiveness would be a necessity.

You may find that some DE terminals (eg Gnome Terminal) may allow something like that already.

karol · 2010-09-02 20:37:58

I'm not a dev, so don't ask me about implementation code :-)
The keybinding simply described an action: grab the filenames of selected files and do XYZ.

You can check out http://roscidus.com/desktop/about_rox if you like drag & dropping :-)

Stebalien · 2010-09-02 20:51:35

Looking for this? http://code.google.com/p/hotwire-shell/

karol · 2010-09-02 20:53:15

Stebalien wrote:

Looking for this? http://code.google.com/p/hotwire-shell/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpsZcC5Gb7o :-)

drcouzelis · 2010-09-02 21:03:16

Yep, that pretty much looks like it! http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=12103 I'll go ahead and give hotwire shell a try tonight as well.

Thanks all!

Arch Linux

#1 2010-09-02 17:51:09

Combination console and GUI application?

#2 2010-09-02 18:34:53

Re: Combination console and GUI application?

#3 2010-09-02 19:58:48

Re: Combination console and GUI application?

#4 2010-09-02 20:04:09

Re: Combination console and GUI application?

#5 2010-09-02 20:15:57

Re: Combination console and GUI application?

#6 2010-09-02 20:22:09

Re: Combination console and GUI application?

#7 2010-09-02 20:25:23

Re: Combination console and GUI application?

#8 2010-09-02 20:32:10

Re: Combination console and GUI application?

#9 2010-09-02 20:35:27

Re: Combination console and GUI application?

#10 2010-09-02 20:37:58

Re: Combination console and GUI application?

#11 2010-09-02 20:51:35

Re: Combination console and GUI application?

#12 2010-09-02 20:53:15

Re: Combination console and GUI application?

#13 2010-09-02 21:03:16

Re: Combination console and GUI application?

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