FDclone: ​​Lightweight File Manager

How have they been? I have been stuck between files and folders trying to have a little order, in summary: an impossible task for me. But not everything is lost, the file managers already do everything for us, the only problem I have is the same as always regarding memory consumption, as I say drawer the fewer dependencies the better.

fdclone

Lately they have become fashionable plain and simple file managers, it is never too much to have alternatives to the traditional Nautilus and Dolphin, and what better if you are alternatives are neither more nor less than small utilities for the terminal. Perhaps all of us present here know solutions such as Ranger, Vimfm, the Sunrise commander the Emacs operating system (or was it a text editor?), or even the emblematic Midnight Commander; but today I come to talk about fdclone, my default file manager.

And why talk about it? Well, even though the manual and its help are not very clear to say, with use and practice I have taken out some of its functionalities that were not written there. And if we talk about documentation, it is rather little (and to top it off in Japanese), that's why I am encouraged to share what I've learned from him. As a curious fact, it weighs a little more than 500kb already installed.

A Little History

fdclone is an efficient and small file manager, as the name implies is the FD free clone, a file manager written by atsushi idei for DOS very popular there in Japan. Its name comes from the phrase "File & Directory" (file and directory), and has been developing since the year 1995. If a software has such a long life cycle, it must be for something.

two-fd


FD for DOS.

Installation

Before I forget, the means of installing FDclone is all known. Usually in the repositories of your favorite distribution with the name of «fdclone«, In the case of Ubuntu / Debian and derivatives it is installed via APT.

apt-get install fdclone

To run it simply open a terminal and type fd.

In practice

Its appearance is similar to the managers of its type in text, that is, a list of our files according to the current directory, some "buttons" with the most common actions at the bottom. A little further down is the status bar, which shows a short description of the selected item such as owner, permissions, full name, creation date, and total weight.

fd-newly-installed

The interface is clean, handling all the basic tasks through keyboard shortcuts, the most used are:

↑: Up
↓: down
◂: Left
▸: Right
1: Show files in a column
2: Show files in two columns
3: Show files in three columns
5: Show files in five columns
Tab: Select a file
Space: Select a file and move down.
Ctrl + Esp: Select and move on a page
Home / +: Select all
Backspace: Back
\: Move to the root directory.
l: Go to, change current directory.
x: Run a binary file.
c: Copy
d: Delete
r: Rename a file.
f: Search for a file.
t: Displays the folder tree.
e: Edit using the defined editor.
u: Unzip using the FD decompressor.
a: Change the properties of a file.
i: Current hard drive information, available space, total weight, etc.
m: Move a file or directory.
D: Delete a directory.
p: Compress a file or multiple files using the FD compressor.
k: Create directory.
h: Shows a small space to execute a command.
F: Search recursively.
/: New «tab», splits the screen in two.
W / N: Changes the size of the current "tab".
K: Close «tab»
^: Change "tab".
E: Open the preferences panel.
Enter: Invoke the launcher specified in the .fd2rc file
?: Opens help

These are fully customizable and we can change them in the tab Keyboard shortcuts panel Preferences by FD.

The Preferences panel.

To access it, just press E, the preferences panel is nothing more than a "graphical" tool that allows us to more easily manipulate the .fd2rc configuration file.

panel-preferences_fd

This is divided into 7 tabs with different functions:

Variables

As the name implies, this tab handles appearance and other functions that are not activated by default in FD. Here the language is changed to «Language«, I have changed it to English, since despite having support UTF-8 It will only do this to display the Japanese kanji and display the messages in that language.

English SJIS EUC 7bit-JIS 8bit-JIS ISO-2022-JP UTF-8

I have also changed the inputkcode and fnamekcode by UTF8. I would also like to keep hidden the files that are, in the Displaymode then, change to dotfile: invisible, you can hide or show them by pressing H.

Don't you like the default colors? Change them in ansipalette, activate them before in Ansicolor, valid option.

At sort type You have to change the way you sort files, whether by name, type, creation date, or size. I have ordered them by name, changing to fileName (Up). The Autoupdate serves to define the time (in seconds) that you want to elapse for FD to update the current directory, I have left it at 0.

With sizeinfo shows the total number of files and their weight on the current hard drive, as well as the free space on it, all andexpressed in kilobytes. Click valid if you want to activate it, it will be shown under the title bar.

En minfilename will be modified to change the character size used to show the name of the selected file, I have it in 20.

You probably want to change the default text editor, in Editor this is modified. You can use a text editor in text mode or use a graphical one like Leafpad. For this to run as a independent process from FD is invoked like this:

(leafpad %C &> /dev/null &)

Changing "leaf pad»By the name of your graphic editor.

And finally, you miss the progress bar while copying or moving files ?. FD has a, in Progressbar option valid; although it is not as showy as its graphic counterparts, it does the job well.

Keyboard shortcuts

This tab corresponds to the shortcuts, you can modify the default ones and assign other functions to them. All are listed in the manual, so check it out.

At the moment I want to add a new one, let's new-entry and FD will ask us to press a key to assign it a new function, I used the g. Since I am not interested in the other functions I have gone directly to User Define, and I have written this:

(gimp %C &> /dev/null &)

Which will open the selected file in Gimp by pressing «g«. I have also changed the key to switch between tabs to «n«, To which I have assigned the variable NEXT_WINDOW.

Keyboard map

Function keys like F1, F2, F4, Enter, Backspace, Delete, etc. are changed here. You can also change the direction arrows, perhaps for the famous ones HJKLMore in the style of Dungeon crawl. I have left them as they are.

Pitchers

My favorite part of the setup process is definitely this. Pitchers are nothing other than applications related to our files depending on their extension.

launchers-fd

For example, a file with a txt extension will open in Leafpad, a png in Mirage, a video in mp4 in Mplayer, etc. Surely with this we have work to do, therefore we go to New Entry and add the ones that seem most appropriate to us, FD will ask us for the file extension and the order that will be executed when entering.

In this example, using the image formats.

.png (mirage% C &> / dev / null &)
.gif (mirage% C &> / dev / null &)
.xcf (gimp% C &> / dev / null &)
.jpg (mirage% C &> / dev / null &)
.jpeg (mirage% C &> / dev / null &)
.svg (mirage% C &> / dev / null &)
.xpm (mirage% C &> / dev / null &)
.JPG (mirage% C &> / dev / null &)

This makes the images open with Mirage and the .xcf files in Gimp. Maybe now you want to relate your documents to your office suite, your favorite videos, or your work projects, take your time.

The FD compressor / decompressor

The FD compressor and decompressor is another tool that makes me use it. It really depends on other utilities like Zip, Bzip, Bzip2, etc. So we must have them installed. It also allows us to navigate within our compressed files, as well as compress and decompress.

To use the decompressor you only need to select the desired file, press u and write the desired address where we want to place the files. To compress, you only need to select our files and folders beforehand
and press p, we write the name of the file and its extension, when we give intro we will wait for it to finish compressing it; and that's it, no fuss.

In NewEntry you can define more types of storage formats, I have added for .7z and .emerald files.

.emerald tar cf -% T | gzip -c>% C gzip -cd% C | tar xf -% TA
.7z p7zip% C p7zip -d% C

Where the first command corresponds to the one used to compress and the second to decompression.

Disk DOS

This part is intended to define the location of the floppy drive, and of course if there is one. Since I don't have it, I have left it as is.

Save

Here we keep the changes made in the .fd2rc file, and we have several options:

Cancel / Cancel: Ignore the changes made and restore the previous settings.

Clear / Clean: Returns all the changes made to date and returns them to the default values.

Load / Load: Loads the settings from an existing .f2drc file.

Save / save: Save the changes made to the current file.

Overwrite / Overwrite: Overwrite changes to the existing file.

Whether we save it, FD will ask us which variable to update, and once this is done, the changes will be ready to use.

The .fd2rc file

It is the general configuration file and in which the changes made with the Preferences panel are reflected. After having done all these configurations, the current file should look like mine, maybe you would like to add or improve some of its functions:

# configurations by customizer

# shell variables definition
DISPLAYMODE = 7
ADJTTY = 1
ANSICOLOR = 1
TMPDIR = / home / maxwell
TMPUMASK = 077
LANGUAGE = C
INPUTKCODE = es_MX.UTF-8
FNAMEKCODE = es_MX.UTF-8
SHELL = / bin / bash

# launcherdefinition
launch .zip "unzip -lqq" -f "% s% m-% d-% and% t% * f"
launch .Z "zcat% C |"
launch .gz "gzip -cd% C |"
launch .bz2 "bzip2 -cd% C |"
launch .deb «ar p% C data.tar.gz | gzip -dc | tar tvf -» -f «% a% u /% g% s% y-% m-% d% t% f»
launch .rpm "rpm2cpio% C | cpio -tv" -f "% a% x% u% g% s% m% d% y% f"

# launcherdefinition
launch .png "(mirage% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .gif "(mirage% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .jpg "(mirage% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .jpeg "(mirage% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .svg "(mirage% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .xpm "(mirage% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .JPG "(mirage% C &> / dev / null &)"

# launcherdefinition
launch .flv "(vlc% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .avi "(vlc% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .av "(vlc% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .AVI "(vlc% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .mp4 "(vlc% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .mpg "(vlc% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .3gp "(vlc% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .MPG "(vlc% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .wmv "(vlc% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .mpeg "(vlc% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .webm "(vlc% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .rmvb "(vlc% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .WMV "(vlc% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .mov "(vlc% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .part "(vlc% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .MOV "(vlc% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .mkv "(vlc% C &> / dev / null &)"

# launcherdefinition
launch .abw "(abiword% C &> / dev / null &)"

# archive definition
arch .zip "zip -q% C% TA" "unzip -q% C% TA"
arch .deb "clear; echo ERROR; false »« ar p% C data.tar.gz | gzip -dc | tar -xf -% TA »
arch .rpm «clear; echo ERROR; false »" rpm2cpio% C | cpio -id% TA "

# additional configurations by customizer

# shell variables definition
PROGRESSBAR = 1

# launcherdefinition
launch .html "(midori% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .xcf "(gimp% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .txt "(leafpad% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .theme "(leafpad% C &> / dev / null &)"

# launcherdefinition
launch .pdf "(epdfview% C &> / dev / null &)"

# shell variables definition
SORTTYPE = 201

# additional configurations by customizer

# shell variables definition
EDITOR = »(leafpad% C &> / dev / null &)»

# additional configurations by customizer

# key bind definition
bind g "(gimp% C &> / dev / null &)"

# launcherdefinition
launch .gba "(mednafen% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .gb "(mednafen% C &> / dev / null &)"
launch .nes "(mednafen% C &> / dev / null &)"

# additional configurations by customizer

# shell variables definition
MINFILENAME = 20

# additional configurations by customizer

# archive definition
arch .emerald "tar cf -% T | gzip -c>% C" "gzip -cd% C | tar xf -% TA"

# additional configurations by customizer

# key bind definition
bind n NEXT_WINDOW

And with this we will obtain a very complete file manager, and in my case the perfect substitute for Thunar or Tux Commander, for fewer resources and almost as functional as these. All that remains is to add it to a graphic launcher or a keyboard shortcut. In iceWM, I use this in the keys file:

key "Alt+Ctrl+f" lxterminal -t FDclone -e fd

Finally, I leave you this screenshot of FDclone configured.

fd-configured

Files and directories.

With this ends this "Home manual" by FDclone. If you want to send suggestions, bug reports and any comments you can do it hereYou just have to fill out the registration form and subscribe to the mailing list of fdclone (in Japanese). The only thing I don't like about FD is that it doesn't recognize accents or "eñes" and some files show strange characters, but I rarely use accents in file names and if you have an english keyboard you can overlook that detail.

I hope that with this you can get the most out of this tool, and that in due course I was surprised Seeing all it can do If you have any tips or tricks about its use, do not hesitate to share it. Sure someone will thank you.

Well, this has been it for today. I wish you an excellent weekend, and I apologize for my absence, as it is because I am busy with homework and other matters (does the crawl tournament It's a homework?).

Ahem, over and out!


7 comments, leave yours

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  1.   taregon said

    Excellent entry, I will take my time to read it 😉

  2.   Hugo said

    Maxwell, apart from the dependencies criterion, could you briefly mention what advantages have you noticed in this file manager with respect to MC?

    1.    Maxwell said

      In my case, it seems easier to use, in addition to the fact that thanks to the configuration file you can put more complex commands, to give you an example, in a file that I saw a long time ago I saw one where they related the trash utility with the delete buttons; This made them go to the trash instead of deleting them. Or another where they made every time you enter and open a file it had sound (via ogg123).

      I find it more customizable than MC, except for the color themes.

      Greetings.

  3.   moony said

    Oh, and where are the icons?

    1.    Maxwell said

      Being a file manager in text mode, it is normal that it does not have icons, I am one of those who think that icons are an unnecessary evil, that's why I use FDclone.

      Greetings.

      1.    moony said

        maxwell (there isn't a stack that has that name?) you don't have to be "so so formal". It was a joke to get an occasional laugh from future commentators, nothing more. Notice the use of the expression "ay!" as if it were in pain or in the supposed case of confusion.

        1.    Maxwell said

          I understand what you are saying, it is the bad that you cannot put a tone of irony to the writings as you would if you had expressed it verbally. I promise to reread before commenting to be able to perceive that kind of joke.

          Thanks for the clarification.