1. rofi-file-browser-extended(1)
3. rofi-file-browser-extended(1)

NAME

rofi-file-browser-extended - use rofi to quickly open files

SYNOPSIS

rofi -show file-browser-extended [ -file-browser-dir <dir> ] [ -file-browser-cmd <cmd> ]
rofi -show file-browser-extended [ -file-browser-depth <depth> ] [ -file-browser-follow-symlinks ]
rofi -show file-browser-extended [ -file-browser-oc-cmd <cmd> ] [ -file-browser-oc-search-path ]
fd | rofi -show file-browser-extended -file-browser-stdin

DESCRIPTION

rofi-file-browser-extended is a configurable file browser plugin for rofi. It's main use case is to quickly open files without having to open a window to navigate to the file.

USAGE

Resuming from the last opened directory

Use -file-browser-resume to enable this behaviour. The plugin will write the current directory to the "resume file" before exiting, and read it on startup. The default resume file location is $XDG_USER_CONFIG_DIR/rofi/file-browser-resume (usually $HOME/config/rofi/file-browser-resume). A different resume file can be chosen via -file-browser-resume-file.

Listing files recursively

-file-browser-depth can be used to list files recursively up to a certain depth. A depth of 0 means files are listed without a depth limit.

Symlinks are not followed by default. -file-browser-follow-symlinks can be used to follow symlinks. When symlinks are followed, every file is still only reported once.

Opening files with custom commands

Press the open custom key (see Key bindings) to enter open custom mode on the selected file. The plugin will then display a list of commands to open the selected file with.

• All executables in $PATH can be added to this list with -file-browser-oc-search-path.
• User-defined commands can be added with -file-browser-oc-cmd (multiple by passing the option multiple times).
• If no commands are specified, the file to be opened will be shown instead of a list of commands.

User-defined commands can optionally specify an icon and a display name (with pango markup).

Format:

<command>;icon:<icon-name>;name:<name-to-displayed>

icon and name are optional. The order of icon and name does not matter as long as the command comes first.

Example:

-file-browser-oc-cmd "gimp"
-file-browser-oc-cmd "pcmanfm-qt;name:pcmanfm;icon:system-file-manager"
-file-browser-oc-cmd "deadbeef --queue;icon:deadbeef;name:deadbeef <i>(queue)</i>"

Reading paths from stdin

-file-browser-stdin can be used to read displayed paths from stdin. Paths must either be relative to the starting directory (-file-browser-dir) or absolute. It is not checked if the paths actually exist. The paths are not sorted or matched to any exclude patters.

After reading the paths, the plugin behaves no different than usual. You may want to use this option with -file-browser-no-descend and / or -file-browser-stdout to make it more dmenu-like.

Example:

fd | rofi -show file-browser-extended -file-browser-stdin
fd -a | rofi -show file-browser-extended -file-browser-stdin
ls somedir | rofi -show file-browser-extended -file-browser-stdin -file-browser-dir somedir

CONFIGURATION

The default config file location is $XDG_USER_CONFIG_DIR/rofi/file-browser (usually to $HOME/config/rofi/file-browser). The config file consists of newline-separated command line options without the "-file-browser-" prefix.

Example:

cmd        "exo-open"
oc-cmd     "evince;icon:evince"
oc-cmd     "gimp;icon:gimp"
depth      2

open-parent-as-self

Comments start with #. Quotes inside string arguments must not be escaped. Escape sequences are currently not supported.

Command line options will override the config file (or add to the config file arguments if the option can be specified multiple times). A different config file can be specified with -file-browser-config (multiple by passing the option multiple times). All command line options but -file-browser-config itself can be used in the config file.

KEY BINDINGS

• kb-accept-alt, (default: Shift+Return)

  open custom: Open the selected file with a custom command.

• kb-custom-1, (default: Alt+1)

  open multi: Open the selected file without closing rofi. Can be used in the prompt of open custom.

• kb-custom-2, (default: Alt+2)

  Toggle hidden files.

Key bindings can be changed via command line options (see Command line options/Key bindings).

OPTIONS

Behaviour

-file-browser-cmd cmd

Set the command to open selected files with. (default: xdg-open)

-file-browser-dir path

Set the starting directory. (default: current working directory)

-file-browser-resume

Resume from the last opened directory. (default: disabled)

-file-browser-resume-file path

Set the resume file. When resuming is enabled, the path of the last opened directory is saved to this file. (default: $XDG_USER_CONFIG_DIR/rofi/file-browser-resume)

-file-browser-depth depth

List files recursively until a depth is reached. A value of 0 means no depth limit. (default: 1)

-file-browser-follow-symlinks

Follow symlinks when listing files recursively. (default: don't follow symlinks)

When symlinks are followed, every file is still only reported once.

-file-browser-show-hidden

Show hidden files. (default: hidden)

-file-browser-only-dirs

Only show directories. (default: disabled)

-file-browser-only-files

Only show files. (default: disabled)

-file-browser-no-descend

Open directories instead of descending into them. (default: disabled)

-file-browser-open-parent-as-self

Treat the parent directory (..) as the current directory when opened. (default: disabled)

-file-browser-exclude

Exclude paths by matching the basename to glob patterns. (default: none)

Supports * and ?.

-file-browser-stdin

Read paths from stdin. (default: disabled)

Paths must either be relative to the starting directory (-file-browser-dir) or absolute. It is not checked if the files actually exist. The paths are not sorted or matched to any exclude patters.

-file-browser-stdout

Instead of opening files, print absolute paths of selected files to stdout. (default: disabled)

-file-browser-oc-search-path

Search $PATH for executables and display them in open custom mode (after user-defined commands). (default: disabled)

-file-browser-oc-cmd cmd

Specify user-defined commands to be displayed in open custom mode. (default: none)

Format: <command>;icon:<icon-name>;name:<name-to-displayed>

icon and name are optional. The order of icon and name does not matter as long as the command comes first. name may use pango markup.

-file-browser-sort-by-type, -file-browser-no-sort-by-type

Enable / disable sort-by-type (directories first, files second, inaccessible directories last). (default: enabled)

-file-browser-sort-by-depth, -file-browser-no-sort-by-depth

Enable / disable sort-by-depth when listing files recursively. Sort-by-type is secondary to sort-by-depth if both are enabled. (default: disabled)

-file-browser-hide-parent

Hide the parent directory (..). (default: shown)

-file-browser-config path

Load options from the specified config file. (default: $XDG_USER_CONFIG_DIR/rofi/file-browser)

Can be used multiple times to load options from multiple config files. When this option is specified, the default config file will not be loaded.

Key bindings

Supported key bindings are kb-accept-alt, kb-custom-[0-19] and none (disables the key binding). You can change the actual key bindings that correspond to kb-accept-alt and kb-custom-* in rofi's options. Run rofi -show keys to display rofi's key bindings and what they are bound to. Run rofi -dump-config or rofi -dump-xresources to get a list of available options.

-file-browser-open-custom-key rofi-key

Set the key binding for open custom. (default: kb-accept-alt)

-file-browser-open-multi-key rofi-key

Set the key binding for open multi. (default: kb-custom-1)

-file-browser-open-toggle-hidden rofi-key

Set the key binding for toggling hidden files. (default: kb-custom-2)

Appearance

-file-browser-disable-icons

Disable icons. (default: enabled)

-file-browser-disable-thumbnails

Disable thumbnails for image files. (default: enabled)

-file-browser-disable-status

Disable the status line that shows the current path. (default: enabled)

-file-browser-path-sep string

Set the path separator for the status line. (default: " / ")

-file-browser-hide-hidden-symbol string

Set the indicator that hidden files are hidden. (default: "[-]")

-file-browser-show-hidden-symbol string

Set the indicator that hidden files are shown. (default: "[+]")

-file-browser-up-text string

Set the text for the parent directory. (default: "..").

-file-browser-up-icon icon-name

Set the icon for the parent directory. (default: "go-up")

-file-browser-fallback-icon icon-name

Set the fallback icon used for files without icons (e.g. block devices). (default: "text-x-generic")

-file-browser-inaccessible-icon icon-name

Set the icon for inaccessible directories. (default: "error")

TROUBLESHOOTING

If you encounter a problem, try running rofi from the command line. The plugin prints error messages if things go wrong. If that doesn't help, feel free to create a new issue on GitHub.

SEE ALSO

rofi(1), nftw(3)

2. January 2022
3. rofi-file-browser-extended(1)