Rox Filer, how to search files from root directory? (Solved)

[miltonx]

Rox has a "find" utility when right clicking a directory. It is a very handy gui. However, the manual does not say how to search the whole "/" dir. Is it possible to do that in rox?

[amethyst]

/ is not the root directory (that would be /root). Everything under / is the file system. For the ROX right-click find to work you must right-click a specific directory under / (and only that specific directory will be searched). Use pfind from menu.

[MochiMoppel]

However, the manual does not say how to search the whole "/" dir

Maybe because technically this is not a directory?

Is it possible to do that in rox?

Yes. Go up to '/' and select everything with Ctrl+A, then open the Find dialog (Ctrl+F) and enter your find expression. But be careful! Some of the directories like /mnt will lead to a deep search into all your mounted partions. You may want to deselect such directories before you use the Find tool.

[miltonx]

/ is not the root directory (that would be /root). Everything under / is the file system. For the ROX right-click find to work you must right-click a specific directory under / (and only that specific directory will be searched). Use pfind from menu.

Root directory does mean /. Please look up "root directory" in wikipedia or google. That said, I also think this is bad naming, considering the potential confusion.

[miltonx]

However, the manual does not say how to search the whole "/" dir

Maybe because technically this is not a directory?

Is it possible to do that in rox?

Yes. Go up to '/' and select everything with Ctrl+A, then open the Find dialog (Ctrl+F) and enter your find expression. But be careful! Some of the directories like /mnt will lead to a deep search into all your mounted partions. You may want to deselect such directories before you use the Find tool.

Thank you!
When I tried it before, seeing the upper box in the find window showing "check /bin", I never proceeded to next step, thinking it was a dead end bug. Today pressing the enter key brought me the twigging moment!

[amethyst]

/ is not the root directory (that would be /root). Everything under / is the file system. For the ROX right-click find to work you must right-click a specific directory under / (and only that specific directory will be searched). Use pfind from menu.

Root directory does mean /. Please look up "root directory" in wikipedia or google. That said, I also think this is bad naming, considering the potential confusion.

You are technically correct. /root is a FOLDER in the/ DIRECTORY. So not really all that confusing. However many people refer to /root as a directory or just root (I do many times) but it's incorrect.

[bigpup]

The / refers to the root directory. The root directory is the one from which all other directories branch off from.

/root is the home directory of the superuser (also known as the “Administrator”) of the system.
Puppy being always run as root, this is your directory.

/home is where you will find your users’ personal directories.
That is normal Linux usage for /home.
In Puppy all that is in this directory is spot directory and maybe finn. ( finn is not in all Puppy versions)
Spot is used for the run as spot, restricted internet programs, run option.
finn is a full non-root login account.

[MochiMoppel]

Thank you!
When I tried it before, seeing the upper box in the find window showing "check /bin", I never proceeded to next step, thinking it was a dead end bug. Today pressing the enter key brought me the twigging moment!

Your're welcome. What puzzles me now is that you described this unintuitive tool as a "very handy gui" .
For me this is by far the worst Find dialog I've ever seen. Just horrible, And when you consider that a search function is one of the most important functions of any file manager I wonder why so many people seem to love ROX-Filer.

[miltonx]

Thank you!
When I tried it before, seeing the upper box in the find window showing "check /bin", I never proceeded to next step, thinking it was a dead end bug. Today pressing the enter key brought me the twigging moment!

Your're welcome. What puzzles me now is that you described this unintuitive tool as a "very handy gui" .
For me this is by far the worst Find dialog I've ever seen. Just horrible, And when you consider that a search function is one of the most important functions of any file manager I wonder why so many people seem to love ROX-Filer.

Well, in fact I have not used very advanced search gui tools. When I say it is handy, it should be understood in the context of puppy, which offers simple, lightweight, but quite functional facilities. The rox find, for example, coming on the folder context menu, makes it quick to access when i want to target specific folders. Another very cool feature is, by double clicking lines of search results, the relevant folder containing the found file pops ups and flickers the found file. This suits my use pattern, as I often need to examine those folders and files to know the file structures, especially when studying what and where files have been added by a newly installed app. Maybe the rox find does not come with more "deep" features for complicated manipulation, but at this moment, it's pretty neat for me.

[MochiMoppel]

Another very cool feature is, by double clicking lines of search results, the relevant folder containing the found file pops ups and flickers the found file.

I can reproduce the flicker and I'm sure that this is a bug, but it's a cute bug

Maybe the rox find does not come with more "deep" features for complicated manipulation, but at this moment, it's pretty neat for me.

Don't get me wrong: FOX-Filer's Find feature is extremely powerful and can do searches and actions not possible with the popular Pfind tool. E.g. it is possible to search for images in multiple directories and not only produce the list you mentioned but at the same time create symlinks to all found images in a separate directory where you can examine them more easily. It's only the lousy GUI I have problems with, not the functionality.

[amethyst]

can do searches and actions not possible with the popular Pfind tool. E.g. it is possible to search for images in multiple directories and not only produce the list you mentioned but at the same time create symlinks to all found images in a separate directory

Easy with pFind.

[MochiMoppel]

I wrote "at the same time".
pFind would need a second manual action after search completion.

[miltonx]

Another very cool feature is, by double clicking lines of search results, the relevant folder containing the found file pops ups and flickers the found file.

I can reproduce the flicker and I'm sure that this is a bug...

Is that meant to be a joke? If not, I disagree. The flicker is the same kind as when you go up from any folder in rox to its parent level. Right after going up, that parent folder has a rectangle box flashing around it for a second, to show you the parent folder. It is obviously an intended (and nice) design.

As for the intuitive gui, indeed that's true with rox, and even with some parts of puppy itself. It is AFTER the initial steep learning curve that i grow into it and admire its elegance. Real cool stuff needs to be intuitive, at least in some parts.

[amethyst]

Another very cool feature is, by double clicking lines of search results, the relevant folder containing the found file pops ups and flickers the found file.

I can reproduce the flicker and I'm sure that this is a bug...

Is that meant to be a joke? If not, I disagree. The flicker is the same kind as when you go up from any folder in rox to its parent level. Right after going up, that parent folder has a rectangle box flashing around it for a second, to show you the parent folder. It is obviously an intended (and nice) design.

As for the intuitive gui, indeed that's true with rox, and even with some parts of puppy itself. It is AFTER the initial steep learning curve that i grow into it and admire its elegance. Real cool stuff needs to be intuitive, at least in some parts.

Agree, the rectancular box and flickering feature is definitely nice and a designed one... not sure if it serves much of a purpose though, seems a bit superfluous.

[miltonx]

When you need to find out a file in a folder filled with hundreds of files and intend to click that file, the flicker saves a lot of eyeballing, unless you exclusively use keyboard for next move.

[amethyst]

When you need to find out a file in a folder filled with hundreds of files and intend to click that file, the flicker saves a lot of eyeballing, unless you exclusively use keyboard for next move.

Yeh in that case probably if I understand you correctly, the flickering of the rectangular parent folder though.....

[step]

I think rox's term for the flickering is "winking", at least that's in Fatdog's rox. Rox winks also when I type rox -s /path/to/folder/or/file in a terminal to show the location of some file. I find winking very useful. I wish it lasted longer, though. Many times, especially in a busy folder with small icons, the wink is too short for me to be able to eyeball the target file. Another inconvenience is that rox -s places the cursor on the icon (good) but the icon isn't selected (bad) so the actual cursor position isn't visible. I usually press an arrow key to be able to see from whence the cursor came.

[MochiMoppel]

@miltonx @amethyst @step
You guys may call it whatever you like, I call it a bug. Looks like a failed attempt to focus because at the end of the flicker the item has no dotted border, i.e. it's not focussed (as it should). Could well be that in recent patched ROX version the effect got worse, but here is what happens in my ROX version 2.1:

Normal (no flicker):
1) Open any folder. One of the items, normally the first one, should have a dotted border to show that it is focussed
2) If none has a border, use Down and Up keys to navigate. This will result in a focussed item
2) Click on any folder and drill down. The last folder must not be empty !
3) Go back either with Backspace key or with Up button
4) No flicker when returning to the parent folders. The parent folders are marked as focussed.

Flicker 1
Do the same as above, but drill down to an empty folder (no item = no focus). Upon return parent folders will flicker

Flicker 2
Start as above, but press ESC key to remove the focus, then drill down. Note that focus it also removed after deselecting a multiple selection with the ESC key. Flicker will occur, even when last folder is not empty.

Bottomline: If ROX loses focus it is unable to reset focus. Shouldn't happen. Doesn't happen in other file managers.

Rox winks also when I type rox -s /path/to/folder/or/file in a terminal to show the location of some file.

ROX never winks to me. ROX sometimes misses the target and shows (=marks with dotted border) a different file but normally gets it right acter a second attempt. Seems to be a timing issue.

[miltonx]

@miltonx @amethyst @step
You guys may call it whatever you like, I call it a bug. Looks like a failed attempt to focus because at the end of the flicker the item has no dotted border, i.e. it's not focussed (as it should). Could well be that in recent patched ROX version the effect got worse, but here is what happens in my ROX version 2.1:

.............

I'm testing on fatdog811. I know it's different from the rox on fossapup64. Anyway, there will be differences across different distros, some of which have more glitches.

1) Open any folder. One of the items, normally the first one, should have a dotted border to show that it is focussed
2) If none has a border, use Down and Up keys to navigate. This will result in a focussed item
There is no focus, till I hit arrow keys, then the first or last file will be in focus (depending on key pressed), in a dotted rectangle. Does not seem to be illogical. Moving from nothing focused to the first/last file focused is quite natural. If the first file were in focus without pressing any key, the user might make some mistaken moves on that file.
2) Click on any folder and drill down. The last folder must not be empty !
3) Go back either with Backspace key or with Up button
4) No flicker when returning to the parent folders. The parent folders are marked as focussed.
from 2 to 4, did not duplicate the problems. Always winked the parent. Nothing was focused after the wink (unless I hit arrow keys after the wink, which moves the focus one step from the parent.

Flicker 1
Do the same as above, but drill down to an empty folder (no item = no focus). Upon return parent folders will flicker
Yes, winked. Not different from non-empty folders.

Flicker 2
Start as above, but press ESC key to remove the focus, then drill down. Note that focus it also removed after deselecting a multiple selection with the ESC key. Flicker will occur, even when last folder is not empty.
Not sure what this means.

[step]

You guys may call it whatever you like, I call it a bug. Looks like a failed attempt to focus because at the end of the flicker the item has no dotted border, i.e. it's not focussed (as it should).

I called it wink because that's the name that jun7's ROX[1] source files use. Here's an example. It is a feature and not an accident.

[1] The ROX version in Fatdog64. It's version 2.11, 1023 commits ahead of the original rox-desktop:master version.

ROX never winks to me. ROX sometimes misses the target and shows (=marks with dotted border) a different file but normally gets it right acter a second attempt. Seems to be a timing issue.

As @miltonx wrote, jun7's ROX 2.11 doesn't set focus on the first item when you open a folder. I have never noticed that it misses the target as it happens to your ROX 2.1 version. Possibly winking was introduced after version 2.1, and perhaps partially to replace automatic focus. IIRC ROX 2.11 never sets focus automatically. At most it winks.