NautilusScriptsHowto
ContentsBRTableOfContents |
attachment:IconsPage/IconNautilus.png The nautilus file manager is extensible through the use of scripts.
Introduction
Purpose
With scripts you can do many things such as :
- make an enhanced "open with"-alike feature (open some files that match a filter in your preferred application
- make a zip of a directory and mail it
- open a terminal in the selected directory
- ...
all of this with a simple right click
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Managing Nautilus scripts
attachment:nautilus_folder.png
You can find the Nautilus-scripts folder here :
~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts
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Adding scripts
- place your scripts in the nautilus-scripts folder
- name them accordingly to the label you want in the right-click context menu
make them executable (chmod +x my_script_name) That's it!
You will not have a File->Scripts nor see a Scripts entry in the context menu until you first add files there
Removing scripts
- simply remove them from the nautilus-scripts folder
Setting rights to your scripts
attachment:IconsPage/IconWarning3.png You may need to run some scripts as a root user, this is generally a bad idea, unless you BR know what you are doing. Setting appropriate rights can be done thanks to the chmod command.
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Scripting
What is a script ?
You can place in the nautilus several "scripts", they can be :
- binaries (compiled programs)
- shell scripts (bash, sh ...)
- ...
that is to say basically anything that can be run
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Environment variables
Whenever a script is called, nautilus set some variables that can be used in your scripts. These are :
NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS
- newline-delimited paths for selected files (only if local)
NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_URIS
- newline-delimited URIs for selected files
NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_CURRENT_URI
- current location
NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_WINDOW_GEOMETRY
- position and size of current window
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Sample scripts
Notes: These scripts may be out of date. Use at your own risk
Email the selected file
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This one is really useful. How many times have you needed to find a file and then send it? And to be honest, from Evolution or mozilla-thunderbird this is not that simple. It is much easier to use Nautilus to find your file and then send it from there.
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
# By John Russell
# This script sends the selected file(s) with your email client.
use strict;
my $MAILTO_URL="mailto:?";
my @files = split("\n", $ENV{NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS});
my $count = 0;
foreach my $file (@files)
{
if ( ! -f $file && ! -l $file )
{
my @dialog = ("gdialog","--title","Error","--msgbox", "\nError: Can not send $file. \n\n Only regular files can be mailed. ","200", "300");
system (@dialog);
}
else
{
$MAILTO_URL = $MAILTO_URL . "attach=" . $file . "&";
shift;
$count += 1;
}
}
if ($count > 0)
{
my @command = ("gnome-open", $MAILTO_URL);
system(@command);
}Added by Darrell: I found that the mailto: syntax in the above does not work with mozilla-thunderbird. I have created the following amended version which seems to work with Thunderbird:
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
# By John Russell
# and hacked to work with thunderbird by Darrell
# This script sends the selected file(s) with mozilla-thunderbird.
use strict;
my $attach_string="\"attachment='";
my @files = split("\n", $ENV{NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS});
my $count = 0;
foreach my $file (@files)
{
if ( ! -f $file && ! -l $file )
{
my @dialog = ("gdialog","--title","Error","--msgbox", "\nError: Can not send $file. \n\n Only regular files can be mailed. ","200", "300");
system (@dialog);
}
else
{
$attach_string = $attach_string . "file://" . $file . ",";
shift;
$count += 1;
}
}
if ($count > 0)
{
$attach_string = $attach_string . "'\"";
# replace spaces with '%20' as demanded by mozilla/thunderbird
$attach_string =~ s/\s/%20/g;
# invoke shell script to call thunderbird differently depending on whether it's running already or not
my $command = ("~/scripts/thunderbird-email-attachments " . $attach_string);
system($command);
}You will see there is also a shell script which is required, (~/scripts/thunderbird-email-attachments in my example above, don't put it in the nautilus-scripts directory, otherwise it will show up in the context menu):
#!/bin/sh
# if thunderbird is already running open a compose window in the running instance
if `ps xc | grep -q mozilla-thunder`; then
exec mozilla-thunderbird -a Mozilla-Thunderbird -remote "xfeDoCommand(ComposeMessage,$1)"
# else start a new instance with the compose window only
else
exec mozilla-thunderbird -compose $1
fi
Mount ISO
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Mount an ISO image, from Nautilus. Note from carney1979 - this script will be updated to work with filenames containing spaces soon.
#!/bin/bash
#
#By modprobing loop it makes sure that the module is loaded and ready for
#use. If it is already loaded then nothing will happen.
modprobe loop
for I in `echo $*`
do
foo=`gksudo -u root -k -m "enter your password for root terminal access" /bin/echo "got r00t?"`
sudo mount -o loop -t iso9660 $I /media/iso
done
done
exit0
Unmount ISO
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Unmount an iso image, from nautilus. Note from carney1979 - this script will be updated to work with filenames containing spaces soon.
#!/bin/bash
#
for I in `echo $*`
do
foo=`gksudo -u root -k -m "enter your password for root terminal access" /bin/echo "got r00t?"`
sudo umount $I
done
done
exit0
Set file read-only
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Change file-permission to read-only.
#!/bin/bash
chmod ugo-wx $*
Edit file with gedit with root-privileges
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Note from carney1979 - this script will be updated to work with filenames containing spaces soon.
#!/bin/bash
#
for I in `echo $*`
do
foo=`gksudo -u root -k -m "enter your password for root terminal access" /bin/echo "got r00t?"`
sudo gedit $I
done
done
exit0
Open Nautilus with root-privileges here
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#!/bin/bash
# root-nautilus-here
# opens a root-enabled instance of a nautilus window in selected location
# requires sudo privileges and gksudo, which may involve security risks.
#Install in your ~/Nautilus/scripts directory.
#
# Placed in the public domain by Shane T. Mueller 2001
# Fixes provided by Doug Nordwall
#
# 2004.04.18 -- keith@penguingurus.com - Added gksudo usage to provide popup
# password window if sudo has expired. Line only echos got
# root to std output. But gksudo updates your sudo access
# privs, so running nautilus with sudo will succeed
# without asking for a password.
foo=`gksudo -u root -k -m "enter your password for nautilus root access" /bin/echo "got r00t?"`
sudo nautilus --no-desktop $NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_CURRENT_URI
Run file with root privileges
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Note from carney1979 - this script will be updated to work with filenames containing spaces soon.
#!/bin/bash
#
for I in `echo $*`
do
/usr/bin/gksudo $I
done
done
exit0
Open search window here
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#!/bin/sh
# From Johnathan Bailes
# This script opens a gnome-search-tool in the directory you select.
#
# Distributed under the terms of GNU GPL version 2 or later
#
# Install in your ~/Nautilus/scripts directory.
# You need to be running Nautilus 1.0.3+ to use scripts.
cd $NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_CURRENT_URI
exec gnome-search-tool
Open terminal here
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#!/bin/bash
#
# This script opens a gnome-terminal in the directory you select.
#
# Distributed under the terms of GNU GPL version 2 or later
#
# Install in ~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts or ~/Nautilus/scripts
# You need to be running Nautilus 1.0.3+ to use scripts.
# When a directory is selected, go there. Otherwise go to current
# directory. If more than one directory is selected, show error.
if [ -n "$NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS" ]; then
set $NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS
if [ $# -eq 1 ]; then
destination="$1"
# Go to file's directory if it's a file
if [ ! -d "$destination" ]; then
destination="`dirname "$destination"`"
fi
else
zenity --error --title="Error - Open terminal here" \
--text="You can only select one directory."
exit 1
fi
else
destination="`echo "$NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_CURRENT_URI" | sed 's/^file:\/\///'`"
fi
# It's only possible to go to local directories
if [ -n "`echo "$destination" | grep '^[a-zA-Z0-9]\+:'`" ]; then
zenity --error --title="Error - Open terminal here" \
--text="Only local directories can be used."
exit 1
fi
cd "$destination"
exec x-terminal-emulator
Hide or Show Hidden Files
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#!/bin/sh
# When hidden files (.emacs, etc) are hidden, shows "Show Hidden Files" option.
# When hidden files are shown, shows "Hide Hidden Files" option.
# Uses gconf to toggle between the two Nautilus options.
# Should be placed in ~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts/ with executable permission.
OLDSTATE=$(gconftool-2 --get "/desktop/gnome/file_views/show_hidden_files")
if [ "$OLDSTATE" == "false" ] ; then
NEWSTATE="True"
mv ~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts/Show\ Dot\ Files ~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts/Hide\ Dot\ Files
else
NEWSTATE="False"
mv ~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts/Hide\ Dot\ Files ~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts/Show\ Dot\ Files
fi
gconftool-2 --set "/desktop/gnome/file_views/show_hidden_files" --type boolean $NEWSTATENote: You can do the same without a script by pressing CTRL+H under Nautilus
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Links
[wiki:Nautilus_Scripts Nautilus_Scripts]