161 lines
6.7 KiB
HTML
161 lines
6.7 KiB
HTML
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<title>A New Filemanager with Amiga Roots</title>
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</head>
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<H4>"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>
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"</H4>
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<HR>
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<center><h1>FileRunner: A New Tk/Tcl File Manager</h1></center>
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<center><h4><a href="mailto: layers@vax2.rain.gen.mo.us">by Larry
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Ayers</a></h4></center>
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<center>Copyright (c) 1996</center><BR>
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<center><H5>Published in Issue 9 of the Linux Gazette</H5></center>
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<hr>
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<center><h3>Introduction</h3></center>
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Recently I happened upon a new Tk-based filemanager, written by <a
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href="mailto: hch@cd.chalmers.se">Henrik Harmsen</a>, who evidently lives in
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Sweden. I've been using TkDesk quite a lot lately (see my review in LG #8) so
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at first I was struck by the resemblance, but the program upon further
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exploration comes from a different philosophy of file-management and fills a
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different niche in the Linux software world.<p>
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<hr>
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<center><h3>Amigan Origins</h3></center>
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I'll let Henrik Harmsen relate to you FileRunner's origins:<br>
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<i>On my good old Amiga, there were a few great file managers called things
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like DirMaster and Directory Opus. They were very simple (in concept) but
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highly usable. Especially I came to love the
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two-filelistings-and-command-buttons concept which is what I've done in
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FileRunner. It's a fast and intuitive way of doing file handling commands as
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very many file commands (mv, ln, cp etc) are happy with a source and a
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destination argument. It also works great for commands that only take a list
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of source files, like an image viewer and an editor. I was considering the way
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the FileManager in Windows displays directory trees, but I came to the
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conclusion that those tree views are more often than not a nuisance to
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navigate. Instead I implemented the cool Directory menu that can take you
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anywhere in the file system by mapping directories to sub-menus (even the ".."
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directory :-). So, basically I just wanted to get back the high usability I
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had with the old file managers on the Amiga (plus add my own stuff like FTP
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browsing, the history and hotlist etc).<p>
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I had a look at a few other file managers for Unix/X11 but none of them
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were even close to the convenient two-filelistings-and-command-buttons
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concept. Some were bloated, some wouldn't compile, some needed Motif etc,
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and none were intuitive (to me :-). So I set out to create my own. Why am
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I just not a happy TkDesk user? Well I started working on FileRunner long
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before TkDesk came out and TkDesk wasn't quite what I was shooting for so
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I continued on FileRunner. That also gave me exactly the file manager I
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wanted, of course :-)</i><p>
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After I read the above explanation, I realized what FileRunner reminds me of:
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I used to use a Norwegian OS/2 filemanager called Dirmaster, which was also
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inspired by the Amiga filemanagers of yore. It had a layout similar to
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FileRunner's, with programmable function buttons and twin directory panes.<p>
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It's interesting that software has been around long enough that
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traditions have evolved. In the text editor world there are emacs, vi, and
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"windows/CUA" strains of editors, while many filemanagers have followed either
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a "Norton Commander" tradition, an Amiga tradition, or a mouse-based iconic
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tradition, with various hybrid strains emerging and recombining.<p>
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<hr>
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<center><h3>Features</h3></center>
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FileRunner will inevitably be compared to TkDesk, as they share many features
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and are both Tk-based. The two programs aren't really designed for the same
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purposes, though. TkDesk is more of a desktop manager combined with a
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filemanager, as it has an integral icon-bar which can serve the same purpose
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as Fvwm's buttonbar, or several other similar utilities. It's best used as an
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app you would open when starting an X-window session and leave open for the
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duration.<p>
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FileRunner is a much less resource-hungry application which starts quickly and
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lends itself to quick tasks followed by dismissal. It uses around one-third
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the memory TkDesk uses. It is probably a more appropriate choice for a
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slower, memory-constrained machine, whereas if you have a fast CPU with plenty
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of RAM TkDesk or Moxfm will run well without using a disproportionate amount
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of your system resources.<p>
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Among the many thoughtfully designed features in FileRunner, the following I
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found to be particularly useful:<br>
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<ul>
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<li>A button for each directory pane which will start an xterm or rxvt in
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the current directory
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<li>Directory hotlists in a drop-down menu
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<li>A dynamically expanding directory tree which allows quick traversal of
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the entire filesystem
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<li>Quick views of text files via a single right-mouse-button-click
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<li>Function buttons in a column dividing the directory panes, with
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instructions for creating new ones
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<li>Menu showing directories visited during the session
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<li>Ability to open remote directories via FTP and browse them as if they
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were local
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</ul>
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Here's a screenshot of a Filerunner window:<br>
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<center><a href="./gx/filerunner9.gif" >FileRunner</a></center><P>
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<p>
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FileRunner also has a feature which has become fashionable lately in many of
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the newer apps: quick rereading of the configuration file(s), allowing
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customization to be done quickly. I first saw this in Fvwm; it's a real
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time-saver.
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<hr>
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<center><h3>Quirks</h3></center>
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FileRunner is almost entirely mouse-based in this first release. I like to
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use a mouse, but I'm fond of arrow-keys and page-up and page-down keys as
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well. Henrik Harmsen mentioned in an email message that keyboard support is
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in the works.<p>
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When using the FTP function, any downloading activity prevents you from doing
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anything else until its done. A separate process or thread would be nice for
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this. One way around this limitation is to open another instance of
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FileRunner. The program is small and fast enough that this is feasible.<p>
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Aside from these two minor complaints, I found the program to be stable and
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reliable. It's a relatively small download; why not give it a try?<p>
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<hr>
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<center><h3>Availability</h3></center>
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As of August 15, 1996, FileRunner can be found in the /pub/Linux/Incoming
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directory of ftp://sunsite.unc.edu and its mirrors. I imagine that it will
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eventually be moved to /pub/Linux/X11/xutils/managers.
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<hr> <center><address><a href="http://vax2.rain.gen.mo.us/~layers/">Larry
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Ayers<layers@vax2.rain.gen.mo.us></a></address></center><br>
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