Xfce Forum

nouvo09

Member

Registered: 2011-06-26

Posts: 31

File finder in Xfce

Hi everybody !

It's me or there is no applet in Xfce to find a file by typing in his name or part of it ?

It got it on Gnome2 and I wonder not to have such a tool in Xfce.

thanks

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,485

Re: File finder in Xfce

Not part of the Xfce project, but you can give catfish a try. It integrates well and should be in your distro's repositories.

To integrate within Xfce:

1. You can create a Thunar Custom Action using catfish so you can initiate the search from within Thunar:

   <action>
   	<icon>xfce4-appfinder</icon>
   	<name>Find...</name>
   	<unique-id>1426466013179488-2</unique-id>
   	<command>catfish --hidden --path=%f</command>
   	<description>Search for files in a directory</description>
   	<patterns>*</patterns>
   	<startup-notify/>
   	<directories/>
   </action>

   ...this will pop-up the catfish window and allow to enter a search term.
   .

2. Or, if you use the Application Finder application, an Appfinder Custom Action with a command like:

   catfish --hidden --start --path=$HOME "%s"

   ...will also work. Assign whatever prefix you'd like to use. In this case, you would enter something like (if the prefix is ~):

   ~myfile

   ...and catfish would pop-up with the search completed and the search results displayed.
   .

3. If you want a search field text entry field on the panel, you can also use the verve plugin. To do so, create an executable shell script somewhere in your path (I named the script just 's' for ease of entry) with the following content:

   #!/bin/bash
   catfish --hidden --start --path=$HOME "$1"

   ...Add the verve plugin to the panel and type into the panel "s myfile" and it will open catfish with the search results displayed.

Last edited by ToZ (2015-05-25 12:43:23)

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nouvo09

Member

Registered: 2011-06-26

Posts: 31

Re: File finder in Xfce

Hi and thanks for your reply. I'll try soon.

Could you pls just tell me where I have to place the script <action> <\action> ? Thanks again.

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,485

Re: File finder in Xfce

Could you pls just tell me where I have to place the script <action> <\action> ? Thanks again.

You can either copy/paste it directly into ~/.config/Thunar/uca.xml (make sure you get the formatting correct), or from Thunar, select Edit >> Configure Custom Actions, click on the Add button and create a new based on the information in that xml snippet:

- Name = Find...
- Description = Search for files in a directory
- Command = catfish --hidden --path=%f
- Icon = <select any one you like>
- Use Startup Notification = checked
- Appearance tab:
   - File Pattern = *
   - Directories = checked

More information here.

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nouvo09

Member

Registered: 2011-06-26

Posts: 31

Re: File finder in Xfce

Thank you !

catfish is buggy in Fedora 20 ! ...

actually it is python which is buggy !

Last edited by nouvo09 (2015-05-26 17:15:36)

Jerry3904

Member

Registered: 2013-11-09

Posts: 863

Re: File finder in Xfce

I use gnome-search-tool instead, which has proved to be an excellent tool.

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MX-23 (based on Debian Stable) with our flagship Xfce 4.18.

nouvo09

Member

Registered: 2011-06-26

Posts: 31

Re: File finder in Xfce

I use gnome-search-tool instead, which has proved to be an excellent tool.

Tried but it leaks some dependencies.

Jerry3904

Member

Registered: 2013-11-09

Posts: 863

Re: File finder in Xfce

...lacks...?

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MX-23 (based on Debian Stable) with our flagship Xfce 4.18.

nouvo09

Member

Registered: 2011-06-26

Posts: 31

Re: File finder in Xfce

...lacks...?

Yes of course, sorry !

Jerry3904

Member

Registered: 2013-11-09

Posts: 863

Re: File finder in Xfce

I kind of like the concept of "leaking some dependencies" though, hate to give it up. ;-D

I'm a bit surprised about the dependencies, since it has been around a long time and does not "leak" any in Debian.

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MX-23 (based on Debian Stable) with our flagship Xfce 4.18.

nouvo09

Member

Registered: 2011-06-26

Posts: 31

Re: File finder in Xfce

Ok sorry for my poor english. I meaned : missing dependencies.

Jerry3904

Member

Registered: 2013-11-09

Posts: 863

Re: File finder in Xfce

Your English is fine. I was trying to make a joke, and it was not a very good one. Sorry.

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MX-23 (based on Debian Stable) with our flagship Xfce 4.18.

nouvo09

Member

Registered: 2011-06-26

Posts: 31

Re: File finder in Xfce

You're welcome

And I got it !

fabioxxxx

Member

Registered: 2011-10-04

Posts: 18

Re: File finder in Xfce

Still cant get why devs put their foot down on this feature... having to manually add search it's not user friendly ...

Catfish it's really buggy and gnome-search-tools requires nautilus that requires a butt load of gnome packages  : P

After so many posts like these on the internet... the search feature still not deemed worthy.

(my setup)

apt-get install gnome-search-tool  nautilus

thunar> edit>custom actions>add(+)

-Name: Search
-command: gnome-search-tool --path=%F
-chose a system icon
tab in the same page "Appearance Conditions page"
mark all options or it won't show up

Last edited by fabioxxxx (2015-06-16 12:36:28)

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,485

Re: File finder in Xfce

Catfish it's really buggy

Out of curiosity, how do you find catfish to be buggy? I use it and don't notice any bugs.
What kind of bugs are you seeing? And what version are you running?

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fabioxxxx

Member

Registered: 2011-10-04

Posts: 18

Re: File finder in Xfce

during search, sometimes mouse will disappear when passed on the catfish window , application becomes unresponsive during search

Probably it's my version ubuntu LTS 12.04 ... catfish 0.3.2-2ubuntu1

Just tested on debian 8, catfish worked fine  1.2.2-1 : P

Last edited by fabioxxxx (2015-06-15 20:48:31)

MountainDewManiac

Member

From: Where Mr. Bankruptcy is Prez

Registered: 2013-03-24

Posts: 1,115

Re: File finder in Xfce

Probably it's my version ubuntu LTS 12.04 ... catfish 0.3.2-2ubuntu1

Just tested on debian 8, catfish worked fine  1.2.2-1 : P

You might try adding this PPA:

https://launchpad.net/~catfish-search/+archive/ubuntu/catfish-stable

to your sources list.

Regards,
MDM

Last edited by MountainDewManiac (2015-06-16 01:40:24)

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