[PLUG] Distinguishing instances of GUI file manager by color

[Richard Owlett]

I'm setting up a new machine and copying files from the old machine's
home directory. At the same time I'm creating a new directory structure
to better match how I work.

I found it expedient to have at least three instances of the file
manager open - [one for source directory and at least two for
destination (sub)directories].

Suggestions?
Is it even possible?

Brief web search was not encouraging. But my search terms may have been
the problem. Suggested search terms?

TIA

[Rich Shepard]

I'm setting up a new machine and copying files from the old machine's home
directory. At the same time I'm creating a new directory structure to
better match how I work.

Look for 'mc' (midnight commander) on your system. It can display 2
directories, side-by-side; perhaps more.

Rich

[Richard Owlett]

I'm setting up a new machine and copying files from the old machine's home
directory. At the same time I'm creating a new directory structure to
better match how I work.

  Look for 'mc' (midnight commander) on your system. It can display 2
directories, side-by-side; perhaps more.

Just installed it. It appears to have the right features.

However, on my laptop, the font size is barely visible.
A web search reveals that mc does not control font size.
That is controlled by the terminal emulator used.
How do I determine what emulator is being used - Debian Stretch with
MATE desktop?

[John Jason Jordan]

On Wed, 26 Sep 2018 07:52:34 -0500

Post by Richard Owlett
Just installed it. It appears to have the right features.
However, on my laptop, the font size is barely visible.
A web search reveals that mc does not control font size.
That is controlled by the terminal emulator used.
How do I determine what emulator is being used - Debian Stretch with
MATE desktop?

I have long used Gnome Terminal, currently 3.18.3 on Xubuntu. It allows
setting the font and font size to whatever you want. It is also the
default terminal, and I know I must have set that manually because Xfce
has its own terminal that must have been the original default. Wish I
could remember how I set it to be the default.

[Richard Owlett]

Post by John Jason Jordan
On Wed, 26 Sep 2018 07:52:34 -0500

Post by Richard Owlett
Just installed it. It appears to have the right features.
However, on my laptop, the font size is barely visible.
A web search reveals that mc does not control font size.
That is controlled by the terminal emulator used.
How do I determine what emulator is being used - Debian Stretch with
MATE desktop?

I have long used Gnome Terminal, currently 3.18.3 on Xubuntu. It allows
setting the font and font size to whatever you want. It is also the
default terminal, and I know I must have set that manually because Xfce
has its own terminal that must have been the original default. Wish I
could remember how I set it to be the default.

MATE has a terminal - use routinely.
The web page I found explicitly used the term "terminal emulator".
They are evidently minimally (if at all) related as I changed the font
for "MATE terminal" and it had no effect on mc.

[Rich Shepard]

MATE has a terminal - use routinely. The web page I found explicitly used
the term "terminal emulator". They are evidently minimally (if at all)
related as I changed the font for "MATE terminal" and it had no effect on
mc.

Richard,

I assume you click on an icon to launch your terminal (emulator). How do
you specify which file it should invoke and what icon should be displayed?
If you right-click on the icon do you see a 'properties' option or something
similar?

All terminals I've used (primarily xterm and urxvt) accept command line
options. Read 'man xterm' or 'man rxvt' for details. One of these options
controls the font size (-fn). Here, the command for my urxvt terminals is:

/usr/bin/urxvt -bg \#0b293b -fg lightgrey -sb -cr yellow -pr yellow -fn
10x20 -geometry 75x25 -ls -si -sk -sw -sr -sl 1024 -n urvxt

This sets the background color, foreground (text) color, where the
scrollbar is located, the cursor color, the mouse pointer color, the font
size, the initial window size, and so on.

I'm confident that Mate has similar capabilities.

Regards,

Rich

[Richard Owlett]

Post by Rich Shepard

MATE has a terminal - use routinely. The web page I found explicitly used
the term "terminal emulator". They are evidently minimally (if at all)
related as I changed the font for "MATE terminal" and it had no effect on
mc.

Richard,
  I assume you click on an icon to launch your terminal (emulator). How do
you specify which file it should invoke and what icon should be displayed?
If you right-click on the icon do you see a 'properties' option or something
similar?
  All terminals I've used (primarily xterm and urxvt) accept command line
options. Read 'man xterm' or 'man rxvt' for details. One of these options
/usr/bin/urxvt -bg \#0b293b -fg lightgrey -sb -cr yellow -pr yellow -fn
10x20  -geometry 75x25 -ls -si -sk -sw -sr -sl 1024 -n urvxt
  This sets the background color, foreground (text) color, where the
scrollbar is located, the cursor color, the mouse pointer color, the font
size, the initial window size, and so on.
  I'm confident that Mate has similar capabilities.

Maybe <chuckle>
Just browsed with Synaptic. I have two distinct packages installed -
"MATE terminal emulator application" and "X terminal emulator".

I'm off to read about xterm.
Thanks.

[Richard Owlett]

Post by Richard Owlett

Post by Rich Shepard

MATE has a terminal - use routinely. The web page I found explicitly used
the term "terminal emulator". They are evidently minimally (if at all)
related as I changed the font for "MATE terminal" and it had no effect on
mc.

Richard,
   I assume you click on an icon to launch your terminal (emulator).
How do
you specify which file it should invoke and what icon should be displayed?
If you right-click on the icon do you see a 'properties' option or something
similar?
   All terminals I've used (primarily xterm and urxvt) accept command
line
options. Read 'man xterm' or 'man rxvt' for details. One of these options
/usr/bin/urxvt -bg \#0b293b -fg lightgrey -sb -cr yellow -pr yellow -fn
10x20  -geometry 75x25 -ls -si -sk -sw -sr -sl 1024 -n urvxt
   This sets the background color, foreground (text) color, where the
scrollbar is located, the cursor color, the mouse pointer color, the font
size, the initial window size, and so on.
   I'm confident that Mate has similar capabilities.

Maybe <chuckle>
Just browsed with Synaptic. I have two distinct packages installed -
"MATE terminal emulator application" and "X terminal emulator".
I'm off to read about xterm.
Thanks.

xterm was relevant. Was only able to set font size on a per-session
basis (didn't find clear instructions on setting it permanently.

I tried the "huge" font size. It's still to small to be comfortable.
I do have an auxiliary monitor available. But it is annoying to set up.

[Rich Shepard]

xterm was relevant. Was only able to set font size on a per-session basis
(didn't find clear instructions on setting it permanently.

Richard,

If you look where the command to open a terminal is presented to you add
the options on the command line; e.g., '/usr/bin/xterm -fn 16x20' (or
whatever size is appropriate for you.) That applies the size to all terminal
windows you open, regardless of session.

Of course, your distribution might not work that way.

Rich

[Ben Koenig]

Here is an interesting idea for on-the-fly changes to your filemanager.

The colors are defined by your desktop theme. If you are using MATE then
there is a settings module that defines this.

However it can be changed on a per-application basis, by running from the
commandline. Like this for GNOME3:

GTK_THEME=theme:variant nautilus

The GTK_THEME variable should override the desktop default when you run the
filemanager. Other Desktop environments will have other variables for this.
Themes set the background and foreground colors, so all you need to do is
install additional themes, and override them when you launch your second
and third file manager windows. I hope. Haven't actually tried this yet.

Post by Rich Shepard

xterm was relevant. Was only able to set font size on a per-session basis
(didn't find clear instructions on setting it permanently.

Richard,
If you look where the command to open a terminal is presented to you add
the options on the command line; e.g., '/usr/bin/xterm -fn 16x20' (or
whatever size is appropriate for you.) That applies the size to all terminal
windows you open, regardless of session.
Of course, your distribution might not work that way.
Rich
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[Richard Owlett]

I Like it. Will investigate after a good night's sleep and a cup of
coffee. Thanks.

Post by Ben Koenig
Here is an interesting idea for on-the-fly changes to your filemanager.
The colors are defined by your desktop theme. If you are using MATE then
there is a settings module that defines this.
However it can be changed on a per-application basis, by running from the
GTK_THEME=theme:variant nautilus
The GTK_THEME variable should override the desktop default when you run the
filemanager. Other Desktop environments will have other variables for this.
Themes set the background and foreground colors, so all you need to do is
install additional themes, and override them when you launch your second
and third file manager windows. I hope. Haven't actually tried this yet.

Post by Rich Shepard

xterm was relevant. Was only able to set font size on a per-session basis
(didn't find clear instructions on setting it permanently.

Richard,
If you look where the command to open a terminal is presented to you add
the options on the command line; e.g., '/usr/bin/xterm -fn 16x20' (or
whatever size is appropriate for you.) That applies the size to all terminal
windows you open, regardless of session.
Of course, your distribution might not work that way.
Rich

[Richard Owlett]

Post by Richard Owlett
I'm setting up a new machine and copying files from the old machine's
home directory. At the same time I'm creating a new directory structure
to better match how I work.
I found it expedient to have at least three instances of the file
manager open - [one for source directory and at least two for
destination (sub)directories].
Suggestions?
Is it even possible?
Brief web search was not encouraging. But my search terms may have been
the problem. Suggested search terms?
TIA

I asked related questions on a Debian list and a Tcl/Tk group.
Suggestions tended towards a two pane file manager.
Having followed multiple chains of links caused me to rethink my work
flow simplifying use of my current file manager (Caja).

Long term, I'll pursue a two pane solution.
I've installed Krusader and GNOME Commander for testing.

A chain of links led to 'filerunner'
[https://sourceforge.net/projects/filerunner/] which I downloaded and am
reading the documentation to chose which options to initially chose.

Usage appears to be intuitive - at least for my work style.
It is intrinsically highly configurable.
It is written in Tcl/Tk allowing/encouraging further customization.

It will likely be my long term solution.

Thanks for all the links.

[David Bridges]

You might look into the Meld application. It is file/directory compare
tool with multiple panes that works pretty well although it can be a
bit slow when working with large remote directories. It's available
via apt-get on Debian.

--
David

Post by Richard Owlett

Post by Richard Owlett
I'm setting up a new machine and copying files from the old
machine's
home directory. At the same time I'm creating a new directory structure
to better match how I work.
I found it expedient to have at least three instances of the file
manager open - [one for source directory and at least two for
destination (sub)directories].
Suggestions?
Is it even possible?
Brief web search was not encouraging. But my search terms may have been
the problem. Suggested search terms?
TIA

I asked related questions on a Debian list and a Tcl/Tk group.
Suggestions tended towards a two pane file manager.
Having followed multiple chains of links caused me to rethink my work
flow simplifying use of my current file manager (Caja).
Long term, I'll pursue a two pane solution.
I've installed Krusader and GNOME Commander for testing.
A chain of links led to 'filerunner'
[https://sourceforge.net/projects/filerunner/] which I downloaded and am
reading the documentation to chose which options to initially chose.
Usage appears to be intuitive - at least for my work style.
It is intrinsically highly configurable.
It is written in Tcl/Tk allowing/encouraging further customization.
It will likely be my long term solution.
Thanks for all the links.
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