Roxset (Improved)

Filemanagers, partitioning tools, etc.
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seaside
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Roxset (Improved)

#1 Post by seaside »

One thing that always bothered me about Rox is that it often opened it's windows in inconvenient places for what I wanted to do. The windows would overlap and get in the way of drag & drop and have to be constantly moved. My response found it usually faster to just open a new Rox window and soon there was so many Rox windows open that the desktop was a mess and I would start a new desktop which in turn soon became a mess (too risky to close some windows - you never know when you might need it) :D

So...whenever I had some extensive file work (copying, linking, etc..) it seemed much easier to just use a two pane file manager.

A while back, I thought there might be a way, using the SOAP interface, to open Rox windows at specific locations, but there doesn't seem to be one.

Recently, it occurred to me that if you can't set the window size and position at start time, why not try a resize and repostion after creation.

Here then, is Roxset -

Roxset creates two Rox windows - one with the / directory on the left and one with the /root directory on the right. The windows are placed near the top of the screen and do not overlap. This creates a much better starting platform for drag & drop work.

Ideally, it would be nice to have both panes enclosed in fixed windows so that they'll never overlap, but this way greatly reduces the need to move Rox windows and automatically launches two rox windows for drag & drop work.

The Roxset Pet contains the Roxset program, Xdotool, a desktop icon, and appears under Menu > Filesystem.

Roxset requires that the Rox file manager is installed - some Puppy derivatives may have other file managers.

(The directories, placement and windows sizes, can also be altered by changing the roxset script at /usr/local/bin to other preferences, depending on screen size or other preferred opening directories.)

UPDATE: 8-31-09

Roxset now opens two windows - side by side - based on your SCREEN SIZE! (thanks Aragon). If you prefer the two panes to stay in place and not move, a brief message will come up reminding you to right-click on any blank part of either pane and select- Options > Filer windows > Never automatically resize.

Enough space has been left at the bottom of the two panes to expose the desktop drive icons (and any other icons you choose) to provide easy access to a third window opening across the two panes for even more drag & drop fun.

NOTE: While extensively testing this, I discovered that sometimes an initial window will not accept something being dragged into it. If this happens, just slightly move the rejecting window and it should work.
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Open two Rox windows based on SCREEN SIZE
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Last edited by seaside on Mon 31 Aug 2009, 20:26, edited 4 times in total.

aragon
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#2 Post by aragon »

nice one! looks a little funny, but does what it should.

aragon

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MU
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#3 Post by MU »

run2windows allows to run 2 rox-filer windows side by side (free choice of size):
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=1932
It was one of my first Puppybasic programs, even before it was called Puppybasic.
A matching Basicinterpreter is included (only 50 kb).
Mark
[url=http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=173456#173456]my recommended links[/url]

Sylvander
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#4 Post by Sylvander »

Installed Roxset, rebooted, ran it...
What happened was that 2 copies of Xfe ran! :(

I'm running BoxPup 413, with Xfe installed, and also "xfe-default-file-manager-0.1" installed, which makes Xfe the default instead of the "Thunar File Manager".

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MU
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#5 Post by MU »

Sylvander,
simply edit
/usr/local/bin/roxset

It looks like this:

Code: Select all

#!/bin/sh
rox 
WID=`xdotool getactivewindow`
xdotool windowsize $WID 5 190 &
xdotool windowmove $WID 425 5

rox /
WID=`xdotool getactivewindow`
xdotool windowsize $WID 5 190 &
xdotool windowmove $WID 5 5
So you might replace the word "rox" with "thunar".
Idon't have thunar here, so cannot try it, but it might work.
Mark
[url=http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=173456#173456]my recommended links[/url]

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MU
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#6 Post by MU »

or if you want rox, not thunar, replace "rox" with:
/usr/local/apps/ROX-Filer/ROX-Filer

Mark
[url=http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=173456#173456]my recommended links[/url]

Sylvander
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#7 Post by Sylvander »

1. "simply edit
/usr/local/bin/roxset
"
The "Code:" you provided is already in that file, hence no need to change the file, but of course it opens 2 windows of Xfe.

vg1
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#8 Post by vg1 »

Sylvander, I think you're missing Mark's point.
In BoxPup 'rox' is set up to open xfe, so if you want rox instead, replace it with its full path, as per Mark's. For thunar, replace with 'thunar'.

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#9 Post by Sylvander »

OK, I think I get it, but...
The folder /usr/local/apps/ROX-Filer exists, but it is EMPTY.

So what point in specifying /usr/local/apps/ROX-Filer/ROX-Filer ?

This is after I installed Roxset, and rebooted.
And it shows as installed in the "Puppy Package Manager"...
And when I click it, 2 Xfe's run.
And they both open as VERY NARROW RECTANGLES, almost reduced to a line.
I'm forced to right-click their buttons in the taskbar and click "Maximize".

seaside
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#10 Post by seaside »

Sylvander wrote:OK, I think I get it, but...
The folder /usr/local/apps/ROX-Filer exists, but it is EMPTY.

So what point in specifying /usr/local/apps/ROX-Filer/ROX-Filer ?

This is after I installed Roxset, and rebooted.
And it shows as installed in the "Puppy Package Manager"...
And when I click it, 2 Xfe's run.
And they both open as VERY NARROW RECTANGLES, almost reduced to a line.
I'm forced to right-click their buttons in the taskbar and click "Maximize".
Sylvander,

Try typing "rox2" in a terminal.

If it starts Rox, then just change the code to rox2 instead of rox.

Hope it works.

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#11 Post by Sylvander »

Entering the rox2 command didn't work, though rox did. :(

See screenshot below of terminal window.
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seaside
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#12 Post by seaside »

Sylvander wrote:Entering the rox2 command didn't work, though rox did. :(

See screenshot below of terminal window.
Sylvander,

It appears that Rox was removed from Boxpup in favor of Thunar.

As Mu mentioned, you could put "thunar" in the Roxset code, and you probably would have to play around with the window sizing and placement to make it to your preference.

To further complicate matters, the "make Xfe file manager the default manager" code has been put in the "rox" command, so that anytime a file manager is needed, Xfe will load.

If you put "thunar" in the Roxset code, then when Roxset is started, only Thunar will load and not Xfe.

(Personally, I don't think Thunar is as good a candidate for this tool as Rox is) :D

Sylvander
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#13 Post by Sylvander »

So what do you think?

Should we leave well alone?

Or is anyone game to help me win through?

Tried substituting thunar for rox within /usr/local/bin/roxset...
What then happened:
When I ran "Menu->Filesystem->roxset"...
A single instance of thunar ran...
Then when I closed that, after a short delay a 2nd instance opened to take the place of the 1st.

seaside
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#14 Post by seaside »

Sylvander wrote:So what do you think?

Should we leave well alone?

Or is anyone game to help me win through?

Tried substituting thunar for rox within /usr/local/bin/roxset...
What then happened:
When I ran "Menu->Filesystem->roxset"...
A single instance of thunar ran...
Then when I closed that, after a short delay a 2nd instance opened to take the place of the 1st.
Unfortunately, I don't have Thunar and don't know much about it, but you could try commenting out this part of the Roxset code which appears twice.

Code: Select all

xdotool windowsize $WID 5 190 &
by placing a # at the beginning of the lines.

Not sure if this will work...

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#15 Post by Eyes-Only »

.
Last edited by Eyes-Only on Thu 12 Nov 2009, 18:39, edited 1 time in total.
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seaside
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#16 Post by seaside »

Eyes-Only,

Vous êtes très gentil. (This drives my spell checker crazy!) :D

You are very kind to have posted your enthusiasm for Roxset and it is only through the wonderful program- Xdotool - that any of this is possible. My skills are quite meager and not even in the same universe as someone like Mark.

Thanks again and I am very pleased that you found a wide use for this small utility.

Regards,
s

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#17 Post by Sylvander »

1. Had to 1st complete some necessary housekeeping:
e.g.
(a) Had to increase the size of my BoxPup 2GB ext2 partition to 3GB.

(b) Rebooted to Puppy 4.2.1-rc3 held on a 1GB USB2 Flash Drive, and used GParted to do the necessary.

2. As suggested in a PM, I installed Rox [rox_filer-2.8-pup1 as in the Package Manager].
Once that was installed Roxset worked just fine.
Duh, naturally and of course! :oops:
But honestly, being a newbie to Puppy I thought it was installed as part of Roxset. :?
Wouldn't it be logical for Roxset to check if wasn't already installed, and install it if not?

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#18 Post by Sylvander »

Is there any way to get the two windows to open tiled?

i.e. For each to occupy half of the screen; either side-by-side, or top-and-bottom, with no empty space on screen?

seaside
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#19 Post by seaside »

Sylvander wrote:Is there any way to get the two windows to open tiled?

i.e. For each to occupy half of the screen; either side-by-side, or top-and-bottom, with no empty space on screen?
Sylvander,

The window size and placement on the screen is controlled by the code lines "xdotool windowsize $WID 5 190 &" (where the 5 represents the width and the 190 represents the height)
and "xdotool windowmove $WID 425 5" (where 425 and 5 represents the x and y coordinates of the upper left corner of the window).

You can play with these numbers and change things somewhat, but I think what you're looking for is what I'd like as well - two rox panes in two FIXED windows that do not change. Rox is designed to optimize window size and placement according to content, and that works well for a single pane file manager.

Glad you were able to get it working and I've edited the main post to mention that the Rox file manager is a requirement.

Sometimes these things can be a pane :D

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DaveS
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#20 Post by DaveS »

You can get close to what you want. Size the two panes to what works on your screen by editing the script. Next, open a Rox window, right click on the background somewhere, and from the pop-up menu select 'options'. In the pop-up pane, select 'filer window', and check the radio button 'never automatically resize'.
That will give you a nice little work around.
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