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#1 2013-10-10 08:45:01

reset042
Member
Registered: 2012-04-26
Posts: 24

Remove "Recently Used" from open and save dialogs

One of the annoyances of Gnome that made me switch to XFCE in the first place was the open and save dialog defaults. I never use Recently Used file lists. I know exactly where I want to open and save files.

When saving a text file, for example, I want to save it in a specific sub-directory I can quickly choose in my home folder. I do not want to be presented with a list of recent files by default (why would I want to save a text file as a video file I might have opened a week ago? Is that not a crazy default?) and then have to waste time navigating away from a folder I never use.

Having moved to Debian XFCE I was disappointed to see that this silly behavior is the same, and I can't find a way to make my home folder the default in these dialogs. Ideally I'd like to remove the Recently Used option altogether, but I'd be happy if the dialog would default to any other folder.

Is there a config file I can edit to make file chooser dialogs default to my home folder? Or a way to patch this?

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#2 2013-10-10 10:36:19

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 10,949

Re: Remove "Recently Used" from open and save dialogs

Some history here.
I found that for gtk2 apps, if you edit ~/.config/gtk-2.0/gtkfilechooser.ini and change:

StartupMode=recent

...to:

StartupMode=cwd

...it will default to your home directory. However, something seems to overwrite that setting and eventually I'm back to displaying the recently-used folder.


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#3 2013-11-08 12:33:21

reset042
Member
Registered: 2012-04-26
Posts: 24

Re: Remove "Recently Used" from open and save dialogs

Thanks ToZ. (I've only just seen your reply. I don't know if this forum is not sending email notifications, or if Google's recently overzealous spam filters are at fault. I'm guessing the latter.)

Some amusing and sensible comments in the thread you posted. It's a shame that when so many people find a part of Gnome so counterproductive, the Gnome developers won't even allow users to set an option! It's a shame that Xfce suffers because of this silliness too. I'd like to know if other Xfce users dislike this unconfigurable default.

I didn't have the file to which you refer, so I assume I don't have any gtk2 apps.

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#4 2013-11-08 13:25:13

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 10,949

Re: Remove "Recently Used" from open and save dialogs

Here is the contents of the file on my system (Xubuntu 13.10).

[Filechooser Settings]
LocationMode=path-bar
ShowHidden=false
ShowSizeColumn=true
GeometryX=308
GeometryY=116
GeometryWidth=792
GeometryHeight=585
SortColumn=name
SortOrder=ascending
StartupMode=cwd

Try adding it and see if works. You must have gtk2 apps - Xfce is still based on gtk2.


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#5 2013-11-09 04:53:24

Spect73
Member
Registered: 2013-10-31
Posts: 17

Re: Remove "Recently Used" from open and save dialogs

Well, I agree that having stuff get in your way and not being able to configure it out isn't pleasant.  But, for the life of me I can't seem to find any recently used items in open/save dialogs.  What apps are displaying these?  I ask just so I can understand Xfce a little better.

Coordially


Coordially,
Spect73

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#6 2013-11-09 09:13:21

reset042
Member
Registered: 2012-04-26
Posts: 24

Re: Remove "Recently Used" from open and save dialogs

Thanks ToZ. I'll try that. I'm using Debian Wheezy, so I guess it'll be quite different from any flavour of Ubuntu.

Hi Spect73. Lots of apps display this time-wasting behaviour, just a couple for example: I just launched Mousepad and after File> Open> the dialog appeared with Recently Used as the default folder (which in my case is silly because there's nothing in the list); I just opened Synaptic and after File > Save Markings As...> the dilaog appeared with Recently Used as the default folder. I'll post more examples, if you like.

The thing that really irks me is the default of Save As in the user's recent folder. As an old git who was taught to keep his disk drive tidy by filing things in a sensible orderly system (and in the old days using as few chars as poss to save space) this is anathema. It seems to me that most operating systems are heading in this dumbed-down just-throw-all-your-files-in-one-place and then use search to find them method. (The flaw in that system for me is that as an old git I can barely remember my name, let alone what I might have called a file 6 months ago. But I *can* remember that I would have saved such a document in a specific folder.)

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#7 2013-11-09 16:23:39

Spect73
Member
Registered: 2013-10-31
Posts: 17

Re: Remove "Recently Used" from open and save dialogs

reset042, thanks for the examples.  I'm using Slackware 14.0 with Xfce4.10 on it.  If Mousepad and Synaptic are even on this machine they don't appear in the default applications menu.  But I do know what you mean.   Long ago I used Open Office and got very tired of it always wanting to store everything in one place.  Seems we are much alike.  I'd rather have a roomful of well organized filing cabinets, than throw everything in a single heap then depend on some 'expert' finding what I'm looking for.  Maybe that's one of the reasons I've quit using most newer software, even opensource.  I find I prefer the old stuff that lets me configure how I want things done.

Coordially,


Coordially,
Spect73

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#8 2013-11-10 16:40:04

reset042
Member
Registered: 2012-04-26
Posts: 24

Re: Remove "Recently Used" from open and save dialogs

Agreed, Spect73. Having spent many years working one way, to find that software wants to force a different, slower, and less efficient way upon you is frustrating to say the least. I also would rather stick with older software that gets things done. It's good to know I'm not alone!

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