How do I search ROX file manager for files by name?

[Valerio]

Pressing ctrl+f doesn't seem to work...

[bigpup]

Use the Pfind program to do searches.
menu->Filesystem->Pfind file finder

Usually select to search system files is only option needed.

When it finds a file or directory you are looking for.
Right click on it in the listing.
Select show location.
It will open a Rox window for that location.

All kinds of other options on that right click menu.

Also. more search options under advanced.

What I like best.
Put in just a word or group of letters to search for.
Results are anything that has that in it's name.

[bigpup]

Rox ctrl+F works, but it is a little funky.

When you use ctrl+F
Mouse pointer turns into a + sign.
Place that over a directory you want to search in.
Left click.
A search window will open.

Funky way to do a search.

That is why Puppy has Pfind.

[Semme]

Hello Valerio. Instead of mouse clks you can just as well create a key-combo shortcut.

[Valerio]

Hello Valerio. Instead of mouse clks you can just as well create a key-combo shortcut.

Use the Pfind program to do searches.
menu->Filesystem->Pfind file finder

Usually select to search system files is only option needed.

When it finds a file or directory you are looking for.
Right click on it in the listing.
Select show location.
It will open a Rox window for that location.

All kinds of other options on that right click menu.

Also. more search options under advanced.

What I like best.
Put in just a word or group of letters to search for.
Results are anything that has that in it's name.

Hey guys, thanks for the answers. Those are good methods and will surely come in handy. Anyway, I wanted to drag an icon to the desktop. pFind doesn't allow that. Sure you can access to the directory where the file is but you have to search it among the other files in the same directory! Ctrl+f in Rox manager sort of does that. When searching a file it opens the directory where the file is and highlights it for a second. Well the thing is that you have to type the exact name of the file between apostrophes so it's a bit cumbersome
I asked just out of curiosity, things should go wrong I can use another file manager like nautilus
I was wondering why puppy linux is so counter-intuitive. Documentation is also missing. I can't find explanations on the web

[Semme]

As for an alternate file manager, take emelFM2 out for a ride. It's in PPM.

[bigpup]

I was wondering why puppy linux is so counter-intuitive

After using Puppy for so many years and learning how to do things in Puppy.
Other operating systems seem messed up to me.

I guess if Puppy Linux was 4GB in size, it could do a lot of things differently. All the Puppy software programs, would be big and complicated and do anything, any way, you could think of.

A Puppy Linux of around 300MB, does not do the stuff a Operating system, of around 4GB, does.
It is more about being able to do the same thing, but do it in a different way.

This is a good search to use for finding stuff on the web
http://puppylinux.us/psearch.html

[vtpup]

Well the thing is that you have to type the exact name of the file between apostrophes so it's a bit cumbersome

Not sure what this means.....

I don't have to type an exact name to do a search.

1.) Pfind part of the name,
2.) Choose the particular hit you want, right click on it,
3.) "Show location"
all, as mentioned already.

4.) Then to create a link on the desktop, drag the file to desktop.

I'm not sure how "counter-intuitive" this is, I would call that "unfamiliar" if coming from a different OS, to be more accurate.

Likewise going to another operating system from Puppy would require re-learning how to do some things which were habits and second nature in a pup.

On the other hand Puppy will perform far more efficiently than bloated modern commercial systems for many purposes -- many of which I need and appreciate.

For one thing, because of its speed and efficiency, I can use a new computer effectively for ten years, rather than adding to world pollution and plunking down cash for a new one every 3.

[MochiMoppel]

pFind doesn't allow that. Sure you can access to the directory where the file is but you have to search it among the other files in the same directory!

Normally it jumps directly to the file, but sometime it jumps only to the directory. An old ROX-Filer bug. Apparently ROX-Filer can't scan the directory fast enough. If you repeat the action it usually will work as expected.

Well the thing is that you have to type the exact name of the file between apostrophes so it's a bit cumbersome

Not sure what this means.....

I don't have to type an exact name to do a search.

He refers to ROX-Filer's Find, where you indeed need single quotes, but his claim that the "exact name" is needed is wrong. It's all explained in the help, accessible right next to the input field. The examples given also explain how the Find dialog can search for much more than just file names.

[musher0]

Hello Valerio.

Here are a couple of additional tricks to find files from console, which may come
in handy. Globally called the "CLI detectives"!

First of course, open a terminal.

If you know the file is an executable, you can use the < which > utility.
Example, trying to find the < tree > utility.
(Do not type the chevrons, I'm using them in this post only to draw attention
to the executable searched.)

Code: Select all

[~]>which tree
/usr/bin/tree

If < tree > exists, which will find it in a jiffy and only it.

If you wish to know if there's a man (aka manual) or other file associated with
an executable, use < whereis executable >
Example searching for <find >:

Code: Select all

[~]>whereis find
find: /usr/bin/find /usr/share/man/mann/find.n.gz

< which > and < whereis > are not designed to search for general file types such
as png or txt. So If you wish to know what jpg pictures you have in your
/root/my-documents directory, type

Code: Select all

[~]>tree -fish | grep jpg | grep my-do
[131K]  ./my-documents/Captures/mtpaint-font-selector.jpg
[ 29K]  ./my-documents/Captures/strange-noises.jpg

Note about using < tree >
This is usually faster than using Pfind. I said "usually"! The < tree | grep >
combination can take longer, depending on how narrow or how wide you
make your search using < grep >.

It also depends which directory you start from. If you start from / , the absolute top
directory, maybe you'll have time to go warm up your coffee before you get results
-- or not!

Don't forget the < | more > pipe if you need to display the results one screen at a time.

And of course you can type

Code: Select all

man which
man whereis
man tree
man grep
man more
man man

to learn more about any of these utilities.

IHTH

[Valerio]

'xxx*' works only if the part of the name of the file you type (xxx) matches the beginning of the file's name. If you want to find a file typing just part of the file's name you have to type IsReg system(grep -q part_of_the_file's_name "%").

In the image's example (https://postimg.cc/K3Pt7cmd), however, it does not work. Some other times it does. Do you know the reason why? Thanks

[musher0]

Hello Valerio.

First time I ever heard of that, and I have been using grep a few years.

If you want to find the "jpg" only at the end of the file name, you'd type:

Code: Select all

grep -E jpg$

But you don't need to get that fancy; by default grep will find the searched
sequence anywhere in the filename.

The -q parameter in your formula above means "silent" in Linux grep, so I
doubt you would see any results.

In any case, here's a good source for using RegEx on Linux.

IHTH
~~~~~~~~~~~~

P.S. I viewed the image you mentioned, and it's like comparing apples and oranges, I'm
afraid. You're offering a screenshot of Pfind, whereas I'm talking about using grep from
the tree utility in a console. The two approaches do not have the same parameters.

Another thing: in your example, you put an asterisk after "xxx", which is Bash short-
hand meaning "xxxWhateverElseFollows". With that, if "xxx" is at the end of the
expression, you may never find it.

Please be aware that usage of the "*" and "?" "matchers" in Bash and RegEx overlaps
at times, but is not identical.

[Valerio]

Is there a website where to learn how to use the terminal in puppy linux?

[MochiMoppel]

'xxx*' works only if the part of the name of the file you type (xxx) matches the beginning of the file's name.

Sure, because that's what you ask for. If you want to match it at any place, type '*xxx*'. See explanation by musher0.

In the image's example (https://postimg.cc/K3Pt7cmd), however, it does not work. Some other times it does. Do you know the reason why? Thanks

Are you talking to me? It works but you misinterpreted the help explanation: "IsReg system(grep -q fred "%") (contains the word 'fred')" . It certainly should be clearer. It means that you can search for (usually text files) that contain the string 'fred' in their file content, but not for file names that contain 'fred'.
grep searches for file content, not for file names.

If you want to find the "jpg" only at the end of the file name, you'd type:

Code: Select all

grep -E jpg$

That's wrong for the same reasons. Needs no -E but still needs a file source. Even then would search for files containing lines ending with 'jpg', irrespective of their file names.

The -q parameter in your formula above means "silent" in Linux grep, so I
doubt you would see any results.

He would.

[musher0]

@MochiMoppel:

Hummm. Used in a pipe, it works.

Code: Select all

[~]>tree -fish | grep -E jpg$ | grep my-doc
[131K]  ./my-documents/Captures/mtpaint-font-selector.jpg
[ 29K]  ./my-documents/Captures/strange-noises.jpg

[~]>tree -fish | grep -qE jpg$ | grep my-doc

I included that blank line in the latter example, because it is the result.

Not that I deliberately wish to contradict anyone! It just happened so!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@Valerio
Really basic: to open a console on your monitor, click on the console icon,
which is either directly on your desktop
OR
is hidden in the "bigger" icon bar at the top of your jwm desktop.
(Hover the mouse over the top area in the middle to make it appear,
then click on the console icon.)

Once you have it opened... there are dozens of primers to help a newbie learn how
to use the console in Linux. Just do a search in the Duck or StartPage with the
keywords < Linux console primer >.

Maybe start with this one?

The "Bible" for Bash commands being of course
https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manua ... index.html

As you progress, at some point you'll probably need to refer to one of these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaBf_yFHps8
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Rxvt-unicode
https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Rxvt-unicode
since urxvt (aka Rxvt-unicode) is 90 % of the time the default terminal in PuppyLinux.

IHTH.

[Valerio]

Thanks musher0

[Valerio]

If you want to match it at any place, type '*xxx*'. See explanation by musher0.

Thanks, that did the trick!

grep searches for file content, not for file names.

That's why!