GNOME 2.14 Desktop User Guide - Managing Your Files and Folders

Managing Your Files and Folders

This section describes how to work with your files and folders.

Using Views to Display Your Files and Folders

The file manager includes views that enable you to show the contents of your folders in different ways, icon view, and list view.

Icon view

Figure 6.13, “The Home Folder displayed in a icon view.” Shows the items in the folder as icons.

Figure 6.13. The Home Folder displayed in a icon view.
List view

Figure 6.14, “The Home Folder displayed in a list view.” Shows the items in the folder as a list.

Figure 6.14. The Home Folder displayed in a list view.

You may use the View menu, or the View as drop-down list to choose between icon or list view. You can specify how you want to arrange or sort items in the folder and modify the size of the items in the view pane. The following sections describe how to work with icon view and list view.

To Arrange Your Files in Icon View

When you display the contents of a folder in icon view, you can specify how to arrange the items in the folder. To specify how to arrange items in icon view, choose View->Arrange Items. The Arrange Items submenu contains the following sections:

At the top is an option that enables you to arrange your files manually.
The middle section contains options that enable you to sort your files automatically.
The bottom section contains options that enable you to modify how your files are arranged.

Choose the appropriate options from the submenu, as described in the following table:

Option	Description
Manually	Select this option to arrange the items manually. To arrange the items manually, drag the items to the location you require within the view pane.
By Name	Select this option to sort the items alphabetically by name. The order of the items is not case sensitive. If the file manager is set to display hidden files, the hidden files are shown last.
By Size	Select this option to sort the items by size, with the largest item first. When you sort items by size, the folders are sorted by the number of items in the folder. The folders are not sorted by the total size of the items in the folder.
By Type	Select this option to sort the items alphabetically by object type. The items are sorted alphabetically by the description of their MIME type. The MIME type identifies the format of a file, and enables applications to read the file. For example, an email application can use the `image/png` MIME type to detect that a PNG file is attached to an email.
By Modification Date	Select this option to sort the items by the date the items were last modified. The most recently modified item is first.
By Emblems	Select this option to sort the items by any emblems that are added to the items. The items are sorted alphabetically by emblem name. Items that do not have emblems are last.
Compact Layout	Select this option to arrange the items so that the items are closer to each other.
Reversed Order	Select this option to reverse the order of the option by which you sort the items. For example, if you sort the items by name, select the Reversed Order option to sort the items in reverse alphabetical order.

To Arrange Your Files in List View

When you display the contents of a folder in list view, you can specify how to arrange the items in the folder. To specify how to arrange items in list view, click on the header of the column specifying the property by which you wish to arrange the items. To inverse the sorting order click on the same column header again.

To add or remove columns from the list view choose View->Visible Columns

The file manager remembers how you arrange the items in a particular folder. The next time that you display the folder, the items are arranged in the way that you selected. In other words, when you specify how to arrange the items in a folder, you customize the folder to display the items in that way. To return the arrangement settings of the folder to the default arrangement settings specified in your preferences, choose View->Reset View to Defaults.

To Change the Size of Items in a View

You can change the size of items in a view. You can change the size if the view displays a file or a folder. You can change the size of items in a view in the following ways:

To enlarge the size of items in a view, choose View->Zoom In.
To reduce the size of items in a view, choose View->Zoom Out.
To return items in a view to the normal size, choose View->Normal Size.

You can also use the zoom buttons on the location bar in a browser window to change the size of items in a view. Table 6.4, “Zoom Buttons” describes how to use the zoom buttons.

Table 6.4. Zoom Buttons

Button	Button Name	Description
	Zoom Out button	Click on this button to reduce the size of items in a view.
	Normal Size button	Click on this button to return items in a view to normal size.
	Zoom In button	Click on this button to enlarge the size of items in a view.

The file manager remembers the size of items in a particular folder. The next time that you display the folder, the items are displayed in the size that you selected. In other words, when you change the size of items in a folder, you customize the folder to display the items at that size. To return the size of the items to the default size specified in your preferences, choose View->Reset View to Defaults.

Selecting Files and Folders

You can select files and folders in several ways in the file manager. Typically this is achieved by clicking on the files using the mouse, as explained in Table 6.5, “Selecting Items in the File Manager”. In addition the section called “Selecting Files Matching a Specific Pattern” describes how to select a group of files matching a specific pattern.

Table 6.5. Selecting Items in the File Manager

Task	Action
Select an item	Click on the item.
Select a group of contiguous items	In icon view, drag around the files that you want to select. In list view, click on the first item in the group. Press-and-hold Shift, then click on the last item in the group.
Select multiple items	Press-and-hold Ctrl. Click on the items that you want to select. Alternatively, press-and-hold Ctrl, then drag around the files that you want to select.
Select all items in a folder	Choose Edit->Select All Files.

To perform the default action on an item, double-click on the item. You can set your file manager preferences so that you click once on a file to execute the default action. For more information, see the section called “Behavior Preferences”.

Selecting Files Matching a Specific Pattern

Nautilus allows you to select all files matching a pattern based upon their filename and an optional number of wildcards. This can be useful if, for example, you wish to select all files which contain the phrase "memo" in their filename. Table 6.6, “Selecting Items in the File Manager” gives some examples of possible patterns and the resulting files they would match.

Table 6.6. Selecting Items in the File Manager

Pattern	Files Matched
note.*	This pattern would match files called note, with any extension.
*.ogg	This pattern would match all files with the .ogg extension
memo	This pattern would match all files or folders whose name contains the word memo.

To perform the Select Pattern command Choose Edit->Select Patterns from the menu. After entering the desired pattern you are left with those files or folders which matched the pattern selected. You may then do with the selected files or folders what you choose.

Drag-and-Drop in the File Manager

You can use drag-and-drop to perform several tasks in the file manager. When you drag-and-drop, the mouse pointer provides feedback about the task that you perform. Table 6.7, “Drag-and-Drop in the File Manager” describes the tasks that you can perform with drag-and-drop. The table also shows the mouse pointers that appear when you drag-and-drop.

Table 6.7. Drag-and-Drop in the File Manager

Task	Action	Mouse Pointer
Move an item	Drag the item to the new location.
Copy an item	Grab the item, then press-and-hold Ctrl. Drag the item to the location where you want the copy to reside.
Create a symbolic link to an item	Grab the item, then press-and-hold Ctrl+Shift. Drag the item to the location where you want the symbolic link to reside.
Ask what to do with the item you drag	Grab the item, then press-and-hold Alt. You may also use the middle mouse button to perform the same operation. Drag the item to the location where you want the item to reside. Release the mouse button. A popup menu appears. Choose one of the following items from the popup menu: Move here Moves the item to the location. Copy here Copies the item to the location. Link here Creates a symbolic link to the item at the location. Set as Background If the item is an image, sets the image to be the background. You can use this command to set the background of the desktop, the side pane or the view pane. Cancel Cancels the drag-and-drop operation.

Moving a File or Folder

You can move a file or folder by dragging it with the mouse, or with the cut and paste commands. The following sections describe these two methods.

Drag to the New Location

To drag a file or folder to a new location, perform the following steps:

Open two file manager windows:
- The window containing the item you want to move.
- The window you want to move it to, or the window containing the folder you want to move it to.
Drag the file or folder that you want to move to the new location. If the new location is a window, drop it anywhere in the window. If the new location is a folder icon, drop the item you are dragging on the folder.

To move the file or folder to a folder that is one level below the current location, do not open a new window. Instead, drag the file or folder to the new location in the same window.

	Tip
	For more on dragging items, see the section called “Drag-and-Drop in the File Manager”.

Cut and Paste to the New Location

You can cut a file or folder and paste the file or folder into another folder, as follows:

Select the file or folder that you want to move, then choose Edit->Cut File.
Open the folder to which you want to move the file or folder, then choose Edit->Paste Files.

Copying a File or Folder

You can copy a file or folder by dragging it with the mouse, or with the copy and paste commands. The following sections describe these two methods.

Drag to the New Location

To copy a file or folder, perform the following steps:

Open two file manager windows:
- The window containing the item you want to move.
- The window you want to move it to, or the window containing the folder you want to move it to.
Drag the file or folder that you want to move to the new location. Press-and-hold Ctrl either before or during the drag. If the new location is a window, drop it anywhere in the window. If the new location is a folder icon, drop the item you are dragging on the folder.

To copy the file or folder to a folder that is one level below the current location, do not open a new window. Instead, grab the file or folder, then press-and-hold Ctrl. Drag the file or folder to the new location in the same window.

	Tip
	For more on dragging items, see the section called “Drag-and-Drop in the File Manager”.

Copy and Paste to the New Location

You can copy a file or folder and paste the file or folder into another folder, as follows:

Select the file or folder that you want to copy, then choose Edit->Copy File.
Open the folder to which you want to copy the file or folder, then choose Edit->Paste Files.

Duplicating a File or Folder

To create a copy of a file or folder in the current folder, perform the following steps:

Select the file or folder that you want to duplicate.
Choose Edit->Duplicate. Alternatively, right-click on the file or folder, then choose Duplicate.

A copy of the file or folder appears in the current folder.

Creating a Folder

To create a folder, perform the following steps:

Select the folder where you want to create the new folder.
Choose File->Create Folder. Alternatively, right-click on the background of the window, then choose Create Folder.

An untitled folder is added to the location. The name of the folder is selected.
Type a name for the folder, then press Return.

Templates and Documents

You can create templates from documents that you frequently create. For example, if you often create invoices, you can create an empty invoice document and save the document as invoice.doc in the $HOME/Templates folder.

You can also access the templates folder from a file browser window. Choose Go->Templates.

The template name is displayed as a submenu item in the Create Document menu.

You can also create subfolders in the template folder. Subfolders display as submenus in the menu.

You can also share templates. Create a symbolic link from the template folder to the folder containing the shared templates.

To Create a Document

If you have document templates, you can choose to create a document from one of the installed templates.

To create a document perform the following steps:

Select the folder where you want to create the new document.
Choose File->Create Document. Alternatively, right-click on the background of the view pane, then choose Create Document.

The names of any available templates are displayed as submenu items from the Create Document menu.
Double-click on the template name for the document that you want to create.
Rename the document before saving to the appropriate folder.

Renaming a File or Folder

To rename a file or folder perform the following steps:

Select the file or folder that you want to rename.
Choose Edit->Rename. Alternatively, right-click on the file or folder, then choose Rename.

The name of the file or folder is selected.
Type a new name for the file or folder, then press Return.

Moving a File or Folder to Trash

To move a file or folder to Trash perform the following steps:

Select the file or folder that you want to move to Trash.
Choose Edit->Move to Trash. Alternatively, right-click on the file or folder, then choose Move to Trash.

Alternatively, you can drag the file or folder to the Trash object on the desktop.

	Note
	When you move a file or folder from a removable media to Trash, the file or folder is stored in a Trash location on the removable media. To remove the file or folder permanently from the removable media, you must empty Trash.

Deleting a File or Folder

When you delete a file or folder, the file or folder is not moved to Trash, but is deleted from your file system immediately. The Delete menu item is only available if you select the Include a Delete command that bypasses Trash option in the File Management Preferences dialog.

To delete a file or folder perform the following steps:

Select the file or folder that you want to delete.
Choose Edit->Delete. Alternatively, right-click on the file or folder, then choose Delete.

Creating a Symbolic Link to a File or Folder

A symbolic link is a special type of file that points to another file or folder. When you perform an action on a symbolic link, the action is performed on the file or folder to which the symbolic link points. However, when you delete a symbolic link, you delete the link file, not the file to which the symbolic link points.

To create a symbolic link to a file or folder, select the file or folder to which you want to create a link. Choose Edit->Make Link. A link to the file or folder is added to the current folder.

Alternatively, grab the item to which you want to create a link, then press-and-hold Ctrl+Shift. Drag the item to the location where you want to place the link.

By default, the file manager adds an emblem to symbolic links.

	Note
	The permissions of a symbolic link are determined by the file or folder to which a symbolic link points.

	Tip
	For more on dragging items, see the section called “Drag-and-Drop in the File Manager”.

Viewing the Properties of a File or Folder

To view the properties of a file or folder, perform the following steps:

Select the file or folder whose properties you want to view.
Choose File->Properties. A properties dialog is displayed.
Use the properties dialog to view the properties of the file or folder.
Click Close to close the properties dialog.

The following table lists the properties that you can view or set for files and folders, the exact information shown depends on the object type:

Property	Description
Name	The name of the file or folder. You can change the name here and the file or folder will be renamed when you click on Close.
Type	The type of object, file or folder for example.
Location	The system path for the object. This represents where the object is situated on your computer, relative to the system root.
Volume	The volume on which a folder resides. This is the physical location of the folder, on which media it resides, for example which hard disk or CDROM drive.
Free space	The amount of free space on the media upon which a folder resides. This represents the maximum amount of data you can copy to this folder.
MIME Type	The official naming of the type of file.
Modified	The date and time at which the object was last changed.
Accessed	The date and time at which the object was last viewed.

Changing Permissions

Permissions are settings assigned to each file and folder that determine what type of access users can have to the file or folder. The following table lists the permissions that you can set for files and folders, and the effect of the permission on files and folders:

Permission	File	Folder
Read	Permission to read the file.	Permission to list the contents of the folder.
Write	Permission to make changes to the file.	Permission to create and delete files in the folder.
Execute	Permission to run the file as a program. This is only relevant if the file is a program or script.	Permission to access files in the directory.

You can set permissions for different types of user. The following table lists the types of user for which you can set permissions:

User Category	Description
Owner	The user that created the file or folder.
Group	The group to which the owner belongs.
Others	All other users who are not in the group to which the owner belongs.

To change the permissions on a file or folder perform the following steps:

Select the file or folder that you want to change.
Choose File->Properties. The properties window for the item is displayed.

Click on the Permissions tab. In the Permissions tabbed section, use the drop-down lists and check boxes to change the permissions for the file or folder. The following table describes the dialog elements on the Permissions tabbed section:

Element	Description
File owner	To change the owner of the file or folder, select the owner from the drop-down list.
File group	To change the group to which a file or folder belongs, select the group from the drop-down list.
Owner	Select the permissions that you want to apply to the owner of the file or folder.
Group	Select the permissions that you want to apply to the group to which the owner of the file or folder belongs.
Others	Select the permissions that you want to apply to all other users who are not in the group to which the owner belongs.
Text view	Displays the permissions that you select from the Read, Write, and Execute options, in text format.
Number view	Displays the permissions that you select from the Read, Write, and Execute options, in text format.
Last changed	Displays the date and time that the file or folder was last modified.

Click Close to close the properties dialog.

Adding Notes to Files and Folders

You can add notes to files or folders. You can add notes to files or folders in the following ways:

From the properties dialog
From Notes in the side pane

To Add a Note Using the Properties Dialog

To add a note to a file or folder, perform the following steps:

Select the file or folder to which you want to add a note.
Choose File->Properties. The properties window for the item is displayed.
Click on the Notes tab. In the Notes tabbed section, type the note.
Click Close to close the properties dialog. A note emblem is added to the file or folder.

To delete a note, delete the note text from the Notes tabbed section.

To Add a Note Using Notes in the Side Pane

To add a note to a file or folder, perform the following steps:

Open the file or folder to which you want to add a note in the view pane.
Choose Notes from the drop-down list at the top of the side pane. To display the side pane, choose View->Side Pane.
Type the note in the side pane. A note emblem is added to the file or folder in the view pane, and a note icon is added to the side pane. You can click on this icon to display the note.

To delete a note, delete the note text from Notes in the side pane.

Using Bookmarks For Your Favorite Locations

You can keep a list of bookmarks in Nautilus: folders and other locations that you frequently need to open.

Your bookmarks are listed in the following places:

The Places menu on the top panel.
The Places menu in a folder window.
The Bookmarks menu in a Nautilus browser window.
The side pane in the Open File dialog. This allows you to quickly open a file that is in one of your bookmarked locations.
The list of commonly used locations in the Save File dialog. This allows you to quickly save a file to a location you have in your bookmarks.

To open an item that is in your bookmarks, choose the item from a menu.

Adding a Bookmark

To add a bookmark, open the folder or location that you want to bookmark, then choose Places->Add Bookmark.

If you are using a Nautilus browser window, choose Bookmarks->Add Bookmark.

To Edit a Bookmark

To edit your bookmarks perform the following steps:

Choose Places->Edit Bookmarks, or in a browser window, Bookmarks->Edit Bookmarks. An Edit Bookmarks dialog is displayed.

Select the bookmark on the left side of the Edit Bookmarks dialog. Edit the details for the bookmark on the right side of the Edit Bookmarks dialog, as follows:

Dialog Element

Description

Name

Use this text box to specify the name that identifies the bookmark in the menus.

Location

Use this field to specify the location of the bookmark.

Folders on your system use the file:/// URI.

To delete a bookmark, select the bookmark on the left side of the dialog. Click Delete.

Using Trash

Trash is a special folder that holds files that you no longer want to keep. Files in the Trash are not deleted permanently until you empty the trash. This two-stage process is in case you change your mind, or accidentally remove the wrong file.

You can move the following items to Trash:

Files
Folders
Desktop objects

If you need to retrieve a file from Trash, you can display Trash and move the file out of Trash. When you empty Trash, you delete the contents of Trash permanently.

To Display Trash

You can display the contents of Trash in the following ways:

From a file browser window

Choose Go->Trash. The contents of Trash are displayed in the window.
From a spatial window

Choose Places->Trash. The contents of Trash are displayed in the window.
From the desktop

Double-click on the Trash object on the desktop.

To Empty Trash

You can empty the contents of Trash in the following ways:

From a file browser window

Choose File->Empty Trash.
From the desktop

Right-click on the Trash object, then choose Empty Trash.

	Caution
	When you empty trash, you destroy all files in the trash. Be sure that the trash only contains files you no longer need.

Hidden Files

By default, Nautilus does not display certain system and backup files in folders. This prevents accidental modification or deletion of them, which can impair the operation of your computer, and also reduces clutter in locations such as your Home Folder. Nautilus does not display:

Hidden files, whose filename begins with a period (.),
Backup files, whose filename ends with a tilde (~)
Files that are listed in a particular folder's .hidden file.

You may hide or show hidden files in a particular folder by selecting View->Show Hidden Files.

To set Nautilus to always show hidden files, see the section called “Nautilus Preferences”.

Hiding a File or Folder

To hide a file or folder in Nautilus, either rename the file so its name begins with the period (.) character, or create a text file named .hidden in the same folder, and add its name to it, as in the example below:

filename
foldername

You may need to refresh the relevant Nautilus window to see the change: press Ctrl+R.

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