Xfce Forum

Laurentius

Member

Registered: 2016-09-04

Posts: 58

thunar select file when "open containing folder" from brwsr [SOLVED]

Hello.
how could i make thunar selects (highlight) the file when opening from the "open containing folder" from the web browser (e.g. firefox)
does that depend on thunar or the web bowser?
It works with firefox and nautilus on ubuntu but it doesen t on xfce with thunar (at least at my os mx-17)
I find that quite useful

Last edited by Laurentius (2020-08-16 17:17:57)

mint4all

Member

From: off the map

Registered: 2018-08-21

Posts: 276

Re: thunar select file when "open containing folder" from brwsr [SOLVED]

Greetings!

Ifaik, FF's "Download" button, once added to the FF-toolbar via FF's "Customize..." option, provides you with 3 built-in options: "open containing folder" by clicking on the [symbolic] folder icon (in the button's pop-up), just as you have been observing; "open the downloaded file" by clicking on the downloaded file's name itself, or near it (in the button's pop-up), or perform other operations by right-clicking the button's pop-up. Using FF 61.0.1, the foregoing 3 functions tested just fine for me.

Good luck, M4A

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Linux Mint 21.3 -- xfce 4.18 ... Apple iMAC -- Lenovo, Dell, HP Desktops and Laptops -- Family & Community Support

Laurentius

Member

Registered: 2016-09-04

Posts: 58

Re: thunar select file when "open containing folder" from brwsr [SOLVED]

thank you mint4all for your answer.

Does any of the options that you mention get the file selected (highlighted) on thunar? I couldn't get that.

What i currently get with the "open containing folder" option is that the folder where the file is located opens on thunar. Right. Then, i have to search for the file (scrolling or using other methods) on the folder.

What i would like to get is the containing folder opened but also the file selected. So as an example, if you would like to change the file name after download (or move it or whatever), you would just have to press F2 (or CTRL+x to move... etc.). What i currently have to do is (for this example)

1- "open containing folder" (on the web browser)
2- Search for the file on the folder
3- Press F2 (or whatever action)

I find it increases efficiency if step 2 could be saved.

A workaround i find is to get the files sorted by Date Modified column so the file i want is usually sorted first.

Last edited by Laurentius (2018-09-07 01:54:55)

mint4all

Member

From: off the map

Registered: 2018-08-21

Posts: 276

Re: thunar select file when "open containing folder" from brwsr [SOLVED]

After looking into this deeper, i've come to the conclusion that there's nothing out there that might do what you want (short of hacking both your browser's & thunar's code base).

For 2 reasons: afaict, FF does not expose the file name of your download in a way that could be gleaned easily, and thunar is being invoked (and all the other file manager's alike) by your browser in one of 2 ways, per your choice, to either open the download folder sans a file selection, or immediately open the downloaded file per its mime-type setup.

Sooo, imho, it is time to "think outside the box" ... How about creating an "incoming" subfolder in your "Downloads" folder, and change FF's config to always download to "incoming"? Since you seem to prefer working with your downloaded files right/soon afterwards (ie renaming, moving etc), "incoming" could be kept lean and easily/routinely cleaned out. Just a creative thought to deal with your conundrum ...

Cheers, M4A

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Linux Mint 21.3 -- xfce 4.18 ... Apple iMAC -- Lenovo, Dell, HP Desktops and Laptops -- Family & Community Support

Laurentius

Member

Registered: 2016-09-04

Posts: 58

Re: thunar select file when "open containing folder" from brwsr [SOLVED]

Hello.
Just here to report that this feature now works!.
I don't know if it is a xfce 4.14 or Thunar or Firefox enhancement.
But there it is!

mint4all

Member

From: off the map

Registered: 2018-08-21

Posts: 276

Re: thunar select file when "open containing folder" from brwsr [SOLVED]

Hello.
Just here to report that this feature now works!.
I don't know if it is a xfce 4.14 or Thunar or Firefox enhancement.
But there it is!

Thanks for the update! Just tried it myself, and i can confirm this now works as expected -- opens the proper folder/directory, and selects/highlights the correct file/object. Since thunar doesn't know its invokee, my guess is the  fix/mod was done on the firefox side...

Cheers, m4a

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Linux Mint 21.3 -- xfce 4.18 ... Apple iMAC -- Lenovo, Dell, HP Desktops and Laptops -- Family & Community Support