xfce4-finder

Smart and intuitive application finder, complete with theme and customization support.

Key Features

• Blazingly fast realtime application finding
• Inline application argument launching using tab
  • Begin by typing an application name, hit TAB_KEY to lock it in, begin typing arguments to that application (ie. "mail" TAB_KEY "[email protected]" ENTER_KEY).
• Customizable UI and theme using CSS
• Intuitive Web/Desktop Integration
  • Just type what you're looking for, the application will determine whether or not an application should be launched or if the context requires an online web search.
• Direct command invocation
  • Utilize terminal commands directly by typing the executable name (ie. "gedit" ENTER_KEY).
• Supports tab autocomplete for local application and filenames
• Supports CONTROL_KEY + ENTER_KEY for domain name completion (ie. google => www.google.com, google.com => www.google.com, www.google => www.google.com).

Customizable Settings

Application settings can be controlled using xfconf-query.

Available settings:

• /file-extension - defaults to ".desktop", controls the filenames to use for parsing.
• /web-search - defaults to "https://www.google.com/#safe=on&q=%s", controls the url format to use when applying a web search, %s is replaced by the query to be used.
• /theme = defaults to "default", controls the CSS file to use for the application (Default location is: ~/.config/xfce4/finder/default.css).
• /application-directories - defaults to /usr/share/applications and ~/.local/share/applications, specifies the directories in which to look for application files with matching /file-extension.

List all available settings:

xfconf-query -c xfce4-finder -l

List a setting:

xfconf-query -c xfce4-finder -p /web-search

Change a setting:

xfconf-query -c xfce4-finder -p /web-search -s https://www.bing.com?q=%s

Set array values:

xfconf-query -c xfce4-finder -p /application-directories -s /usr/share/applications -s /usr/local/share/applications

The above sets the application-directories array property which is used by xfce4-finder to location application files to /usr/share/applications and /usr/local/share/applications. You may need to update this setting if your applications directory is not included by default.

Installation

This application is available under the Arch Linux AUR repository as a PKGBUILD. To install using yay, use the following command:

yay xfce4-finder

Building

To build the application you will need to have the following dependencies installed.

• Glib 2.0
• Gio 2.0
• Gtkmm 3.0
• Garcon
• libxfconf
• libxfce4util
• libxfce4ui
• automake
• autoconf
• xfce4-dev-tools

On Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S glib2 gtkmm garcon xfconf libxfce4util libxfce4ui automake autoconf xfce4-dev-tools

Building the application:

cd xfce4-finder/
./autogen.sh
make
make install

Running

Open xfce4-keyboard-settings and bind a key combination to use for the xfce4-finder such as META_KEY + SPACE_KEY or ALT_KEY + SPACE_KEY and invoke /usr/bin/xfce4-finder.

Once the application is displayed, begin typing. Execute commands with either the ENTER_KEY or by mouse clicking a selection in the autocomplete list.

Command Arguments

xfce4-finder 1.0

Usage:
  xfce4-finder [OPTION...]

Help Options:
  -h, --help	        Show help options
  -v, --verbose         Show verbose text

Features/Issues

Feel free add feature requests or report issues: Features/Issues.

Troubleshooting

• The application won't run resulting the error: Error: Could not open directory /home/USER/.local/share/applications

  • Update the application-directories setting using the Set array values example listed under Customizable Settings.

Community

Keep track of development and community news.

• Follow @Collaboradev on Twitter.
• Follow the Collaboradev Blog.

License

xfce4-finder is released under the MIT License.