Next generation PCManFM is now under development!

[PCMan]

Hi all.
Due to some limitations and various hard-to-fix problems in the original pcmanfm, a new project is started.
Now I've created a project named libfm. It's a gio-based library used to develop file manager-like programs.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/libfm
This will be the core of next generation PCManFM.
Currently the work that has been done is in branches.
It contains a simple demo program.

The project is in its very early stage, but you can see the progress here.
http://cia.vc/stats/project/libfm

After finished, the lib will be separated into two parts, libfm and libfm-gtk.
The former is a generic non-gui library, and the later provides useful file manager-related widgets.

If someone is willing to help, that'll be appreciated.

[juergenhoetzel]

Good news! I will check it out!

BTW: have you considered switching to git? SF provides git
repositories. Branching/merging is real pain in SVN (Even with merge
tracking -> which just reflects SVNs defective design under the hood).

I don't see merges in LXDEs history (just svn copy back in the
trunk).

Git could really simplify/speed-up development (especially at this
early stage of development) not only technically but also
organisationally.

Jürgen

[msdark]

can you add some kind of documentation to the project.... i mean i want help but i was recently look the code... but i think with documentation work in the developed process (or search for bugs or other jobs) will be more easy and standard...

greetings and good luck

PD: Sorry for my english
PD2: and like juergenhoetzel says... why not use git?

[heaths]

Thanks for replying, everyone. It appears we have a decent cross-section of people here and a lot of well thought-out discussion.
simulationcredit

[nicholas]

in pcmanfm may be doing icon for category in settings. Design easy change icon for category Desktop etc.
Also listbox in sidebar, not only. Doing beautifil design and easy manged.
Option for automatic mount all devices.
Great work. I am awating.

[PCMan]

Recent Advancement on libfm (core of next generation pcmanfm).

Everybody loves screenshots!



Look! It’s sftp://.

By utilizing glib/gio and gvfs, now libfm can access remote filesystems supported by gvfs. Currently there is no auto-mounting. So when testing libfm, you need to mount the filesystems with gvfs-mount manually. However this should work once libfm is finished.

The current source code in svn repositoy can already work as a good filesystem browser. However other parts are not yet finished so it’s not fully working. Anyways, browsing local and remote filesystems already works.

For those who claimed that gio and gvfs are heavy and slow, please try libfm. Although it uses gio/gvfs in several parts, the speed and memory usage are still quite acceptible. Sometimes programs using gio and gvfs can be slow, but libfm is not slow at all. Nor will the next generation pcmanfm be slow. Please give it a try and you’ll see it.

Related blog post: http://blog.lxde.org/?p=445

[PCMan]

Recently libfm, the core of next generation file manager, underwent heavy development and rapid changes. Here are some exciting highlights.

1. The repository was completely moved from svn to git now.
You can grab the latest source code with following command line:
git clone git://libfm.git.sourceforge.net/gitroot/libfm
2. Drag and drop now works! You can even drag and drop between two different remote filesystems.
3. Clipboard handing is greatly improved. Files cut/copied in GNOME/Nautilus, XFCE/Thunar, and even KDE/Dolphin can now be correctly pasted in libfm.
4. Now libfm correctly mounts remote filesystems on demand.
5. Basic bookmark support was added.
6. File associations (default application for file types) can now be changed in properties dialog.
7. Partial auto-completion for path entry
8. Moving files now works, but error handling is not yet implemented.
9. Now errors are correctly reported when the loading of folders failed.

Now we’re more and more closer to our goals, to build a modern, fast, and lightweight file manager supporting gio/gvfs for LXDE. After the core library, libfm, is finished, the development of the next major release of PCManFM will be started. This will fix various old bugs in the original 0.5.x series and provide full access to remote filesystems. So stay tunned and get it well-tested!

Last but not the least, developers are wanted! Please join us if you like LXDE and you know gtk+ and gio programming in C language.

[karabaja4]

You can grab the latest source code with following command line:
git clone git://libfm.git.sourceforge.net/gitroot/libfm

For some reason I cannot get the source (git hung up unexpectedly error), it doesn't seem to be there. Also, sourceforge gives a 404 error for this page: http://libfm.sourceforge.net/

[phillipe]

You can grab the latest source code with following command line:
git clone git://libfm.git.sourceforge.net/gitroot/libfm

For some reason I cannot get the source (git hung up unexpectedly error), it doesn't seem to be there. Also, sourceforge gives a 404 error for this page: http://libfm.sourceforge.net/

Read this my friend: http://blog.lxde.org/?p=541

[Telecaster72]

(edit) this might be more appropriately posted in the PCManFM section, moderator please move it if you want (/edit)

Great News! I really like PCmanFM and am happy to see it evolve.Since i am not a programmer i can not help you, but i have a tip that would make PCManFM stand out in the Linux file manager crowd. In _none_ of the filemanagers i have tried (nautilus, thunar, dolphin, konkerour, PCmanFM and what have you) klicking on a folder will show you the actual size at the bottom (size as in MB), only the number of items it contains (not real size). In my humble opinion that is pretty useless information in 99% of the cases. What i want to know is how big the folder is (size) to see if i can squeeze it into a usb-stick or whatever, WITHOUT having to right-click and check preferences, which would be an eliminated unnecessary action if the size was there when you clicked the folder.
Connected with this it would also be good to have the folders also sorted in size (real size) when sort by size is checked, which is a good way to clean out you home directory for example, to see which folders are the biggest space (size) consumers, and not which folders contains the most items (not real size).
Well you see where i am going with this and i am sure many people would like this implemented in PCmanFM, why not have a choice in settings : "show folder size as MB" and "show folder size as number of items"?

Anyway this issue is something that has bugged me since i started with Linux and i would love to see the fast and lightweight PCmanFM (David) beat the giants (Goliaths) Nautilus and Dolphin in this regard.

Thanks for you great work and sorry for my passionated rant

Telecaster

P.S Now something that would be great is if you could implement a split view of two folders in the same window like Dolphin but that is a whole different rant...