Beyond Linux® From Scratch - Version 7.4

Chapter 36. Other X-based Programs

Rox-Filer-2.11

Introduction to Rox-Filer

rox-filer is a fast, lightweight, gtk2 file manager.

This package is known to build and work properly using an LFS-7.4 platform.

Package Information

rox-filer Dependencies

Required

libglade-2.6.4 and shared-mime-info-1.1

User Notes: http://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/wiki/rox-filer

Kernel Configuration

If you want rox-filer to be able to update the contents of a directory when changes are made to the files by other applications (eg, if a script is running) you will need to enable dnotify support in your kernel. In make menuconfig: 

Filesystems --->
  [*] Dnotify support

Save the new .config and then compile the kernel.

Installation of Rox-Filer

Compile rox-filer with the following commands: 

cd ROX-Filer                                                        &&
sed -i 's:g_strdup(getenv("APP_DIR")):"/usr/share/rox":' src/main.c &&

mkdir build                      &&
pushd build                      &&
../src/configure LIBS="-lm -ldl" &&
make                             &&
popd

Now install it as the root user: 

mkdir -p /usr/share/rox                              &&
cp -av Help Messages Options.xml ROX images style.css .DirIcon /usr/share/rox &&

cp -av ../rox.1 /usr/share/man/man1                  &&
cp -v  ROX-Filer /usr/bin/rox                        &&
chown -Rv root:root /usr/bin/rox /usr/share/rox      &&

cd /usr/share/rox/ROX/MIME                           &&
ln -sv text-x-{diff,patch}.png                       &&
ln -sv application-x-font-{afm,type1}.png            &&
ln -sv application-xml{,-dtd}.png                    &&
ln -sv application-xml{,-external-parsed-entity}.png &&
ln -sv application-{,rdf+}xml.png                    &&
ln -sv application-x{ml,-xbel}.png                   &&
ln -sv application-{x-shell,java}script.png          &&
ln -sv application-x-{bzip,xz}-compressed-tar.png    &&
ln -sv application-x-{bzip,lzma}-compressed-tar.png  &&
ln -sv application-x-{bzip-compressed-tar,lzo}.png   &&
ln -sv application-x-{bzip,xz}.png                   &&
ln -sv application-x-{gzip,lzma}.png                 &&
ln -sv application-{msword,rtf}.png

Command Explanations

sed -i 's:g_strdup(getenv("APP_DIR")):"/usr/share/rox":' src/main.c: This command hard codes /usr/share/rox as the directory for rox-filer's private files. Without this sed rox needs the environment variable ${APP_DIR} to be set.

ln -sv application-...: These commands duplicate the icons for some common mime types. Without these links rox-filer would just display the default "unknown binary blob" icon.

Configuring RoxFiler

Configuration Information

Most of the configuration of rox-filer is achieved by right clicking on a rox-filer window and choosing "Options" from the menu. It stores its settings in ~/.config/rox.sourceforge.net.

A rox-filer feature is that if there is an executable file called AppRun in a directory rox-filer will first run AppRun before it opens the folder.

As an example of how this may be used, if you have ssh access to another computer (perhaps another computer on you local network) with ssh configured for passwordless logins and you have sshfs-fuse-2.4 installed you can use AppRun to mount the remote computer in a local folder using sshfs. For this example AppRun script to work the folder must have the same name as the hostname of the remote computer: 

cat > /path/to/hostname/AppRun << "HERE_DOC"
#!/bin/bash

MOUNT_PATH="${0%/*}"
HOST=${MOUNT_PATH##*/}
export MOUNT_PATH HOST
sshfs -o nonempty ${HOST}:/ ${MOUNT_PATH}
rox -x ${MOUNT_PATH}
HERE_DOC

chmod 755 /path/to/hostname/AppRun

That works fine for mounting, but to unmount it the command fusermount -u ${MOUNTPOINT} is ran. You could set that as your default umount command in your rox preferences, but you would then be unable to unmount any normal mountpoints (that need umount). A script is needed that will unmount a Fuse mountpoint with fusermount -u ${MOUNTPOINT} and everything else with umount. As the root user: 

cat > /usr/bin/myumount << "HERE_DOC" &&
#!/bin/bash
sync
if mount | grep "${@}" | grep -q fuse
then fusermount -u "${@}"
else umount "${@}"
fi
HERE_DOC

chmod 755 /usr/bin/myumount

Now, to make Rox use this simple script, open a Rox window, right click on it and choose Options from the menu. In the left hand list choose "Action windows" and then on the right hand side, where it says "Unmount command" change umount to myumount.

If you use a desktop environment like Gnome or KDE you may like to create a rox.desktop file so that rox-filer appears in the panel's menus. As the root user: 

ln -s ../rox/.DirIcon /usr/share/pixmaps/rox.png &&
mkdir -p /usr/share/applications &&

cat > /usr/share/applications/rox.desktop << "HERE_DOC"
[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Type=Application
Name=Rox
Comment=The Rox File Manager
Icon=rox
Exec=rox
Categories=GTK;Utility;Application;System;Core;
StartupNotify=true
Terminal=false
HERE_DOC

Contents

Installed Programs: rox
Installed Libraries: None
Installed Directories: /usr/share/rox

Short Descriptions

rox

is the rox file manager.

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