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<h1> Xplore FAQ</h1>
          (Last updated 08-16-02. See <a href="http://www.musikwissenschaft.uni-mainz.de/%7Eag/xplore/">
         http://www.musikwissenschaft.uni-mainz.de/~ag/xplore/</a>   for
the   latest  version.)          
<h2> Contents</h2>
                    
<ol>
                <li> <a href="#1">General</a>    </li>
                                      
  <ol>
                    <li> <a href="#1-1">What is xplore?</a>      </li>
                     <li> <a href="#1-2">Why Motif?</a>      </li>
                     <li> <a href="#1-3">Why yet another file manager?</a>
           </li>
                     <li> <a href="#1-4">Can I use xplore with GNOME or KDE?</a>
             </li>
                     <li> <a href="#1-5">Why use xplore when there's Nautilus 
  and  Konqueror?</a>      </li>
                     <li> <a href="#1-6">Where are the desktop icons?</a>
          </li>
                                     
  </ol>
                 <li> <a href="#2">Getting Started</a>    </li>
                                      
  <ol>
                    <li> <a href="#2-1">How do I start and exit xplore?</a>
        </li>
                     <li> <a href="#2-2">What are all the different views 
for?</a>            </li>
                     <li> <a href="#2-3">How can I copy/move/delete files 
and   directories?</a>        </li>
                     <li> <a href="#2-4">How can I open/view/edit a file?</a>
          </li>
                     <li> <a href="#2-5">How do I display/change file permissions?</a>
             </li>
                     <li> <a href="#2-6">How do I change the current directory?</a>
             </li>
                     <li> <a href="#2-7">How do I update the directory view 
 after   changes?</a>      </li>
                                        <li> <a href="#2-8">How do I display
 the hidden files in  a  directory?</a>      </li>
      <li> <a href="#2-9">How do I find files?</a></li>
      <li><a href="#2-10">I don't like the default view style,  how  can
I  change  it?</a>      </li>
                     <li> <a href="#2-11">How do I change the colors?</a>
          </li>
                     <li> <a href="#2-12">How do I get xplore to remember 
my  current  setup  (view settings, colors, etc.)?</a>      </li>
                                     
  </ol>
                 <li> <a href="#3">Advanced Topics</a>    </li>
                                      
  <ol>
                    <li> <a href="#3-1">How can I mount my floppy/cdrom drive?</a>
             </li>
                     <li> <a href="#3-2">How do I run a program or shell
command?</a>             </li>
                     <li> <a href="#3-3">How can I change the command menu
 and   the shelf?</a>      </li>
                     <li> <a href="#3-4">How can I change the icons and actions 
   associated  with a file?</a>      </li>
                     <li> <a href="#3-5">How do I define new MIME types?</a>
         </li>
                     <li> <a href="#3-6">Where can I get more help?</a> 
        </li>
                                     
  </ol>
                   
</ol>
                    
<h2> <a name="1"></a>  1 General</h2>
                    
<h4> <a name="1-1"></a>  1.1 What is xplore?</h4>
          <b><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Xplore</font></b>
is  the   world's  most user-friendly, powerful and configurable file manager 
 based   on the Motif toolkit. But you already knew that anyway. ;-)     
    
<h4> <a name="1-2"></a>  1.2 Why Motif?</h4>
         Because it was (and, to a considerable extent, still is) the industry
   standard.  At the time I started writing xplore, the established portable
   X11 toolkits   were Athena, OpenLook and Motif. Both Gtk and Qt still
were    under heavy construction, so Motif was the only reasonable choice.
Since   Motif 1.x did not have the container widget, I decided to go with
Motif 2.x.  This decision probably hindered xplore's wide-spread use in the
past, but  fortunately you can now get Motif 2.x for free on open source
operating systems,  and it is also more widely available on commercial UNIXes.
Moreover, LessTif  is on the verge of reaching full Motif 2.1 compliance;
when this happens,  portability should not be a major issue anymore. After
hundreds of hours of Motif coding (and bug-chasing ;-), I am the first one
to admit that Motif  is not perfect, but IMHO it's still a viable alternative.
And there are still  many CDE-based  systems out there which do not have
KDE or GNOME.          
<h4> <a name="1-3"></a>  1.3 Why yet another file manager?</h4>
          Well, actually I wrote it just for the fun of it. :) I wanted to
 have   a file manager which has both a nice GUI and extensive configuration
 options    for the poweruser. And I wanted it to handle most of the more
advanced tasks   you normally need the shell for. So xplore offers its own
unique combination   of features which distinguishes it from the plethora
of other UNIX file managers  out there. Some highlights:          
<ul>
                <li> Customizable <i>four-pane layout</i>, which, besides 
the   usual  tree  and file views, also includes the "shelf," a kind of clipboard 
  inspired  by  the NeXT file manager, and a "log" pane for capturing output 
  from child  processes.</li>
                 <li> Files can be moved, copied, executed etc. with simple 
 mouse   operations.  The builtin <i>automounter</i> lets you access special 
 devices   like floppies  and CDROM drives in a transparent manner.</li>
                 <li> Xplore is a single-window application, but of course
 multiple   xplore  instances can be used in concert. In particular, files
 can be moved   between  different xplore windows using <i>drag and drop</i>
  .</li>
                 <li> Full <i>keyboard navigation</i> support, including
an  incremental   filename search facility.</li>
                 <li> Comprehensive <i>session management</i> features, including 
   support  for the X11R5 and R6 session management protocols. This makes 
xplore   a well-behaved  client of most modern desktop environments.</li>
                 <li> Extensive <i>configuration options</i>. In particular,
  file  types are fully configurable, and there is a dialog which allows
you   to quickly  add new and change existing file types at runtime.</li>
                   
</ul>
          Xplore's file type configuration is definitely one of the outstanding 
   features  of the program. Xplore does not only interpret MIME types and 
 filename  extensions,  but allows you to define a file type using a set of
 arbitrary  MIME type and  filename patterns. Actions can be arbitrary shell
 commands.  Xplore also lets  you invoke different actions on a file depending
 on whether  the file was opened with a double-click or is the target of
a  drag-and-drop  operation, and gives you full control about the directory
in which the operation  is to be executed. Type-specific popup menus are
also supported. Last not  least, xplore uses a real configuration language
featuring C preprocessor  commands, which allows you to set up rather complex
configurations with moderate  effort.          
<h4> <a name="1-4"></a>  1.4 Can I use xplore with GNOME or KDE?</h4>
          Sure. I regularly use both GNOME and KDE and xplore integrates
nicely    into  these environments. GNOME and KDE session management works
with xplore    just  fine, and you can also drag files from xplore to GNOME
and KDE applications and desktop icons (but not vice versa). There even is
a generic color scheme for KDE. If you copy the <tt>Xplore.ad</tt> file 
in the <tt>/usr/X11/lib/X11/xplore/schemes</tt> directory to <tt>share/apps/kdisplay/app-defaults</tt>
          in your KDE directory, then xplore will adapt to
 the   color scheme selected  within the KDE control center.          
<h4> <a name="1-5"></a>  1.5 Why use xplore when there's Nautilus and Konqueror?</h4>
         Nautilus and Konqueror are great as browser programs, but IMHO xplore
   is  superior for plain file management and program launching, because
of   the shell integration and extensive configuration options it provides.
With   xplore you can perform many of the more advanced tasks which you would
normally    use the shell for. You can extract and create compressed files
and archives,    run Makefiles and shell scripts, apply patches, process
TeX documents, print   manpages, etc. etc., all with some simple mouse operations.
If some operation   is not provided in the standard setup, or does not perform
the actions you   would like, you can easily configure it yourself. And you
don't have to program   any "plugins" for this purpose; most things can be
done with a single shell   command or maybe a tiny shell script. So if you
find that you frequently  have to resort to the shell when performing everyday 
routine tasks which you would rather do from your file manager instead, then 
xplore is probably the right tool for you.         
<h4> </h4>
 
<h4><a name="1-6"></a> 1.6 Where are the desktop icons?</h4>
           That's probably the most frequently asked question. I think it 
should    be  up to your desktop environment to provide those. My idea was 
to have   everything  in a single compact window, so xplore has its own integrated 
 "desktop", the shelf, and does not mess around with your X root window. Some
 people might actually prefer that. :)          
<h2> <a name="2"></a>  2 Getting Started</h2>
                    
<h4> <a name="2-1"></a>  2.1 How do I start and exit xplore?</h4>
          Just like any other X application. I.e., you can type the command 
 <tt>      xplore</tt> in an xterm, or invoke it from your desktop/window 
manager    (provided that you have a corresponding desktop icon or menu option). 
To   exit xplore, either close the xplore window, or select the Quit command 
 from  the File menu.          
<p>When you start xplore for the first time, it will prompt you to run the 
    local setup script, which installs your personal "shelf" directory and 
 some   configuration files in your home directory. The configuration files 
 can be  found in your <tt>.xplore</tt> directory; of course, you can edit 
 these to your heart's  content. </p>
                 
<h4> <a name="2-2"></a>  2.2 What are all the different views for?</h4>
          If you know other Explorer-like file managers then you're already 
 familiar    with most of the views. There is a <i>directory tree view</i>
    on the left,    and the <i>file view</i> showing the current directory
 on the right. Below    that is the <i>status line</i>, and a kind of "tray" 
 showing which special    devices are currently mounted. At the top of the 
 window there is the usual    <i>menu bar</i>. See the figure below:     
    
<center>          
<p><img src="Screen.gif" alt="(screenshot)" height="623" width="701">
          </p>
                 
<p><b>Fig. 1</b> Xplore main window.</p>
         </center>
                    
<p>The tiny file view at the top of the window (below the strip of tabs)
is the <i>shelf view</i>, which is associated with your personal shelf directory. 
    The shelf is normally used as a repository for (symbolic links to) directories, 
    documents and programs, to keep together the things you are frequently 
 working   with. You can also use it as a kind of clipboard for moving and 
 copying files.  The tab strip above the shelf lets you select different shelf
 subdirectories,   used for different purposes (including a trashcan). </p>
                 
<p>The scrolled text view at the bottom, right above the status line, is
the <i>log view</i>. It is normally not visible at startup, but pops up when 
    there is some output from programs started with xplore. </p>
                 
<p>Note that xplore's main window is a "paned" window. Thus you can change
     the relative sizes of the views by grabbing one of the "sashes" and
dragging      it into the desired direction. </p>
                 
<h4> <a name="2-3"></a>  2.3 How can I copy/move/delete files and directories?</h4>
          "Drag and drop" with the middle mouse button works as usual (see
 the   <a href="http://docs.hp.com./hpux/onlinedocs/B1171-90146/B1171-90146.html">
         OSF Motif User Guide</a>  ). Press the middle mouse button on the
 file   you want to move, and drag it to the target directory (which can
be  in another   xplore window). During the drag, the current target is shown
 in the status   line, and you can abort the operation with the Esc key.
(Xplore  usually asks  you for confirmation before it actually carries out
the move;  you can switch  this off in the Options  menu.) You can also move
more than  one file, if you first select the files  you want to move. To
copy files,  or create symlinks,  you do a drag with the  Ctrl key (resp.
Shift+Ctrl) depressed.          
<p>Selection is done using any of the usual techniques described in the OSF 
    Motif User Guide. Once you selected a file or group of files, you can 
also    operate on them with the operations in the File menu (or the Shelf 
menu,   if you want to operate on the current selection in the shelf). This 
menu  also has an option for deleting files (and directories). To create a
new directory, use the corresponding operation in the Directory menu.</p>
         
<p><b>IMPORTANT: </b>Xplore's builtin delete operations always deletes files 
  <i>permanently</i>, i.e., there is no provision for recovering the deleted 
 files later. As a safer alternative, you can drag files to the "Trash" icon 
 in the Desk shelf, which causes the files to be moved to the Trash shelf 
from where you can still recover them. The context menu of the Trash icon 
offers an  option to empty the trash when you really want to get rid of the 
files there.<br>
      </p>
                 
<h4> <a name="2-4"></a>  2.4 How can I open/view/edit a file?</h4>
          Simple: double click on the file (with the left mouse button),
or  use   the  Open command. Actually, this will carry out a (configurable) 
file  type-specific    action on the file. By default, text files will be 
opened  in your favourite    text editor. (You can usually set the editor 
you want  to use with the <tt>  XPLORE_EDITOR</tt>   environment variable.) 
Furthermore,  you can also pop  up a context-sensitive   menu on a file in 
the file or shelf view with the  right mouse button. This   menu gives you 
access to the common file operations  (Copy, Move, Delete,  ...) as well as
type-specific operations for editing,  viewing, etc.          
<h4> <a name="2-5"></a>  2.5 How do I display/change file permissions?</h4>
          With the Properties command. You can also invoke this command on
 a  selected    group of files. (But it will not recurse into subdirectories.)
           
<h4> <a name="2-6"></a>  2.6 How do I change the current directory?</h4>
          As usual, with a single-click on a directory in the tree pane,
or  a  double-click   on a directory in the file or shelf pane. The Directory 
 menu  also has commands   for changing to the parent or the home directory, 
 and  the Change directory   command allows you to type in the directory pathname,
  or browse the filesystem   to select the new directory with the standard
 file selection dialog.          
<h4> <a name="2-7"></a>  2.7 How do I update the directory view after changes?</h4>
          This will usually happen automatically in regular time intervals. 
 You   can  also force an update immediately, with the Update command in the
 Options   menu, and force all views to be refreshed with the Reread command.
          
<h4> <a name="2-8"></a>  2.8 How do I display the hidden files in a directory?</h4>
          With the Show hidden files command (Options menu, View submenu).
 Keyboard  shortcut: Ctrl-H.  
<h4><a name="2-9"></a>  2.9 How do I find files?</h4>
   
<p>Xplore does not have a specialized find dialog (yet), but the standard 
 setup provides an interface to the UNIX find command. Run the Find command
 (Alt-F) from the Command menu  and enter the filename pattern and, optionally,
 the regular expression to search for. The results will be listed in the
log  pane. To show any of the listed files in the file pane, press the right
mouse  button on the corresponding line in the log pane to bring up the log
popup  menu and select the Locate command.<br>
  </p>
            
<h4> <a name="2-10"></a>  2.10 I don't like the default view style, how can 
   I change it?</h4>
          You can customize most of the interface according to your taste;
 see   the   View submenu in the Options menu for the most frequently used
 options.   More  exotic settings can be changed by editing resource files.
          
<h4> <a name="2-11"></a>  2.11 How do I change the colors?</h4>
          You can do this with the Color scheme command in the Options menu.
  This   command allows you to pick a standard X11 resource file with color
  (and possibly  other) resource settings, and updates the application accordingly.
  Some nice  color schemes (*.scheme files) can be found in the xplore library
  directory  (use the Browse button to select one of those). To revert to
the  default settings just push the Clear button in the Color scheme dialog.
         
<h4> <a name="2-12"></a>  2.12 How do I get xplore to remember my current 
   setup (view settings, colors,  etc.)?</h4>
          The Save defaults command in the Option menu will save all "global" 
  options   (including the size of the main window, the current layout of 
the  panes,  and the current color scheme) to the defaults file in your <tt>
  ~/.xplore</tt>     directory.   Note that the saved defaults will be used 
by <i>all</i> new  xplore instances   you invoke.          
<p>Xplore can also save and restore settings of individual xplore instances
     on a per session basis. For this to work, your environment must support
   session management features. For instance, desktop environments like KDE
  or GNOME let you save your current session when logging out. The state
of   all running applications (including your xplore windows) is then recorded
  and the session is restored automatically next time you log in again.</p>
   
<h4></h4>
   
<h2><a name="3"></a>  3 Advanced Topics</h2>
          (I'm sorry, but this section is currently rather sketchy. See the 
 xplore    <a href="Manual">manual</a>
      for more information.)          
<h4> <a name="3-1"></a>  3.1 How can I mount my floppy/cdrom drive?</h4>
          Xplore has a builtin automounter, which will automagically mount
 special     devices if the corresponding mount point is accessed within
xplore.  For   this to work, you must correctly configure these devices.
Look at the  beginning     of the <tt>xplorerc</tt> file in your <tt>~/.xplore</tt>
 directory  and  edit the device configuration section to reflect your local
configuration.   For convenience, you can then create some links to your
devices' mount points   in the Desktop shelf. To add custom icons to these
links, see question 3.4   below.<br>
   <br>
   <b>IMPORTANT: </b>Xplore keeps automounted file systems open as long as
 they are in use. Before you change removable media like floppies or cdroms,
 you <b>must</b> unmount the devices using the corresponding commands in
the  Option menu, otherwise the file system on writeable media might become
corrupted.  A quick way to do this is to unmount all automounted devices
with the Unmount  all command (Shift-Ctrl-G), change media, then remount
devices and reread  the contents of all views with the Reread (Ctrl-R) command.<br>
             
<h4> <a name="3-2"></a>  3.2 How do I run a program or shell command?</h4>
          You can run an executable program or shell script by simply double-clicking
     it, and carry out various type-specific commands on a file with the
context      (right mouse button) menu, or when a collection of files is
dropped on   another  file. You can also invoke some preconfigured shell
commands with   the Command  submenu in the File menu; in particular, this
menu also includes   an option  to execute an arbitrary shell command, with
the positional parameters   set  to the currently selected files. If you
have to type a whole sequence   of commands, you can invoke an xterm in the
current directory with the Terminal    command (you can set an alternate
terminal program to use with the <tt>   XPLORE_TERM</tt>    environment variable).
         
<p>All these types of actions are executed by invoking the shell, with standard 
    output and error redirected so that you can read the output produced by
  child  processes in the log view. You can learn about the commands executed 
  for each action if you enable the Echo commands option in the Preferences 
  menu, which causes the executed commands to be printed in the log pane. 
</p>
                 
<h4> <a name="3-3"></a>  3.3 How can I change the command menu and the shelf?</h4>
          By editing the corresponding entries at the beginning of your <tt>
   ~/.xplore/xplorerc</tt>      file.          
<h4> <a name="3-4"></a>  3.4 How can I change the icons and actions associated 
   with a file?</h4>
          Either by editing the <tt>~/.xplore/xplorerc</tt> file, or with 
the  File type dialog   in the File, Shelf and context menus. The configuration 
  options are described   in detail in the xplore <a href="Manual">
       manual page</a>  .          
<h4> <a name="3-5"></a>  3.5 How do I define new MIME types?</h4>
          By editing the <tt>~/.xplore/magic</tt> file. Again, see the xplore 
  <a href="Manual">    manual page</a>
       for details.          
<h4> <a name="3-6"></a>  3.6 Where can I get more help?</h4>
          Read the <a href="Manual">
     manual  page</a>  ! :)          
<p>Suggestions, critizism, humour, any question which should be covered here, 
    something missing in the manual? Please email me at <a href="mailto:ag@muwiinfa.geschichte.uni-mainz.de">
         ag@muwiinfa.geschichte.uni-mainz.de</a>  ! </p>
                 
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