Ulauncher: Opening files and folders

[kozak-taras]

Question

Hey,

is it possible to open files and folders using the shortcuts?
For example: MasterThesis folder I want to open with master shortcut.
The main pdf file /MasterThesis/main.pdf with main shortcut.

I will be appreciate for an answer.

[friday]

If I understand you correctly, this is possible. You can create custom static keywords that are hardlinked to trigger commands regardless of their arguments. They're designed to take arguments though (see #191). For static tasks it's better to create desktop entries (see comment in the same issue), where you could trigger a command such as xdg-open ~/MasterThesis or xdg-open ~/MasterThesis/main.pdf for example.

I would personally recommend the built-in directory browser, or an extension for quick-opening files in general.

From ulauncher.io:

Browse files and directories with ease. Type ~ or / to start. Press Alt+Enter to access an alt menu

[kozak-taras]

Hi friday,

thanks a lot for answer and your time! I am a new Linux user. Could you provide more instructions?

I got it in next way: I need to write a script and call it i.e. main.desktop. Inside of the script I have to write next (please correct my mistakes):

printf '[Desktop Entry]
Name=main
Comment=This script is opening a main pdf file of my master thesis
Exec=xdg-open ~/home/.../main.pdf
Icon=text-x-script
Terminal=false
# should I change the folder in the next line?
Type=Application' > ~/.local/share/applications/main.desktop

And than I have to set a shortkey in Ulauncher to main.desktop. (If yes, how exactly?)

Is that right?

Thanks a lot in advance for your help and time by the answering! :)

[friday]

Everything looks right apart from the path in Exec (which only you can know) and possibly the icon (switch to "application-pdf" and the other to "inode-directory" if you want them to use their right mimetype icons).

And then I have to set a shortkey in Ulauncher to main.desktop. (If yes, how exactly?)

No. After running that command you should have a new app in Ulauncher. It could take a second or so though.

[kozak-taras]

Hey friday,
I created the file main.desktop and put it to /home/Documents/Ulaunch_scripts/ with next content:

printf '[Desktop Entry]
Name=main
Comment=This script is opening a main pdf file of my master thesis
Exec=xdg-open /home/.../main.pdf
Icon=application-pdf
Terminal=false
Type=Application' > ~/.local/share/applications/main.desktop

then changed rights with chmod 755 and run it (also as root). After few times trying and rebooting it doesn't work.

(After running the script I see a new file main.desktop in /root/.local/share/applications/. So the script is working.)

Maybe I am missing some settings in Ulauncher?

[friday]

Open your terminal and type the code. Press enter to run it.

No script, no chmod. The code creates the file, Ulauncher picks it up after a second and you're done.

[friday]

Alternatively create a file containing the text within the single quotes and save it to the location after the ">". It's what the command does.

[kozak-taras]

Unfortunately it doesn't work. I run the script and a new file in root/.local/share/applications/main.desktop is created. But it is not going to Ulauncher. Maybe I have something wrong in my OS.

If you have some ideas, I will be very appreciated. Otherwise, friday, thank you for your time and good luck!

[friday]

That's because you're running as sudo it seems, unless your username is root?

[kozak-taras]

Friday, I very appreciated for your help! Good luck :)

With this code it works:

printf '[Desktop Entry]
Name=main
Comment=This script is opening a main pdf file of my master thesis
Exec=xdg-open /home/USERNAME/.../main.pdf
Icon=application-pdf
Terminal=false
Type=Application' > /home/USERNAME/.local/share/applications/main.desktop

[friday]

~ means the current user's home directory, so as long as you run as yourself it works. Running the terminal as sudo/root is dangerous, especially if you don't know what your command does. So for your sake, please avoid it. You should only do it when doing system maintenance like installing/removing packages.