FILERUNNER ========== Version 2.5 (C) 1996-1998 Henrik Harmsen FileRunner is an X11 file manager for Unix. It is simple and efficient and has a built-in FTP client. FEATURES ======== * Simple and powerful interface. * History and Hotlist (bookmarks). * Recursive directory menu of entire file system tree. * Browse FTP directories as easy as normal directories. * FTP capabilities: - Copy: FTP files/directories upload/download (recursive). - FTP Delete (recursive), FTP Makedir, FTP Rename. - Supports FTP through proxy. - FTP resume download function. - Rule based configuration of FTP site logins (password/user/proxy). - Asynchronous file transfer. - Cached directory listings. * Asynchronous file operations. * Built-in command shell windows. Synchronized with file panels. These have history, aliases and file name completion. * Extendable by adding your own command buttons. * Very configurable. * User defined file pattern / actions. (*.jpg -> launch image viewer etc.) * Distributed under the GNU General Public License. REQUIREMENTS ============ * A standard Unix platform. * Tcl/Tk 8.0 or later. * An ANSI C compiler if you can not use the precompiled binaries. FileRunner does not need rebuilding the wish binary. It uses the binary extension mechanism in Tcl to add commands written in C. COMPATIBLE PLATFORMS ==================== FileRunner has been verified to work on: - Linux - SunOS 4.x - Solaris 2.x - Irix 5.x - UnixWare 2.x - HP-UX - Dec Alpha OSF (Digital Unix) - FreeBSD - SCO OpenServer - AIX - NetBSD INSTALLATION ============ Installation is fairly simple. The main thing to note here is that you unpack directly to where the stuff is to be installed. You never do a "make install". 0. If you have installed through a RedHat rpm package. ------------------------------------------------------ If you have obtained FileRunner in a RedHat rpm, then all of this is done. The program should be possible to start by running: $ fr & Possibly you need to run "rehash" in your shell first. Then you can skip the rest of this chapter. Otherwise, there are a few simple steps to follow: 1. Unpack --------- The first step is to get the archive unpacked. Example: $ cd /usr/local/lib $ gzip -cd FileRunner-2.5.tar.gz | tar xf - $ cd FileRunner-2.5 You don't have to install in /usr/local/lib, you can install anywhere, just make sure the link in step 3 is correct. 2. Fixing an ext.so file ------------------------ FileRunner needs a library of functions that have been written in C. The necessary library has been precompiled on a few platforms. - If you are running Linux on an Intel machine, this is done. Go to step 3. - If you are running SunOS 4.1.x on a Sparc machine, copy ext.so.sunos4_sparc to ext.so, then go to step 3. - If you are running Solaris 2.5 or later on a Sparc machine, copy ext.so.sunos5_sparc to ext.so, then go to step 3. Otherwise: If you don't have any of the above, you should try to build it yourself. There are a bunch of Makefiles in the "Makefiles" directory to try. Pick one of the Makefiles you think might work and edit it to reflect the platform you are using. It's a tiny Makefile, so it shouldn't be too difficult. When choosing a makefile to edit, the first choice should be a pre-existing makefile with the same OS, not the same compiler. When you have edited the makefile run: $ make -f Makefiles/Makefile.xxx When you have an ext.so file you can try it out by running the "fr" script: "./fr &" If you have previously installed and built an earlier version of FileRunner, then you can avoid rebuilding the ext.so file by copying that from the older build. Just check that ext.c hasn't changed between the old installation and the new (if it has, you need to rebuild). One day when I have loads of time on my hands I might consider using the GNU autoconf utility to avoid this mess of Makefiles... :-) 3. Making a soft link --------------------- The final stage of installation is to soft-link the fr script to where you want installed in your path. If you want it in /usr/local/bin, and you unpacked the FileRunner archive under /usr/local/lib, you do the following: $ ln -s /usr/local/lib/FileRunner-2.5/fr /usr/local/bin/fr It's important you make this a soft link and not just copy it. If you don't, FileRunner will not find the rest of itself and will not start up. It uses the link to find the necessary stuff it needs. Last note: There is an icon GIF file "fr.gif" you can use if you need an icon for FileRunner. I've tried to make a color icon default for FileRunner but I can not figure out how to do this in Tcl/Tk... 4. If you installed as root --------------------------- If you have installed FileRunner as root you probably have erroneous owner/group id's of the installed files. Do the following (as root): # chown -R root FileRunner-2.5 # chgrp -R root FileRunner-2.5 # chmod -R go-w FileRunner-2.5 To fix permissions and ownership of the files. WHERE TO GET FILERUNNER ======================= Use one of these sites: http://www.cd.chalmers.se/~hch/filerunner.html ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/X11/desktop/FileRunner-2.5.tar.gz WHERE TO GET TCL/TK =================== Please see the web page at http://www.cd.chalmers.se/~hch/filerunner.html COMMON PROBLEMS =============== See the FAQ-file in the installation. Please also see chapter 13 in the online guide. KNOWN BUGS ========== Please see the file KnownBugs.txt. E-MAIL LIST WITH ANNOUNCEMENTS ============================== Mail me if you are interested to be on the FileRunner announcement mailing list. I won't send announcements of every release to the newsgroups so if you want to know if a new release is out you should either check the web page regularly or join the list. FILERUNNER IS OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE ================================== FileRunner is Open Source software and is distributed under the GNU General Public License. If you like it, send me a cool postcard so I can fill the front of my fridge :-) See the end of the User's Guide for my address. FileRunner is Copyright (C) 1996-1998 Henrik Harmsen. Henrik Harmsen Email: hch@cd.chalmers.se Henrik.Harmsen@erv.ericsson.se For more contact info see online guide. ADDENDUM ======== Note 1, The Debian distribution ------------------------------- This note is to the manager of the Debian distribution. To have the documentation for FileRunner somewhere other than in the distribution directory (where all the other FileRunner stuff is): Create a file in the distribution directory called "config" and put the following line into this: set glob(doclib_fr) /usr/local/doc/FileRunner (Adjust it to the correct location). Then copy over the documentation to this directory. See the online guide, chapter 6, about the system-wide config file.