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KDE FOR GRAPHICAL USER

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TAVIS HAMPTON

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KDE for Graphical User! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Tavis Hampton

Chapter 3
In Chapter 2, we learned about Plasma as a whole –
how it works, how it functions, and how it integrates
with the rest of KDE. Certain aspects of Plasma de-
serve a little more in-depth attention, and the most
revolutionary widget of all is Folder View.
Put simply, Folder View is a widget that does just what
it says. It allows you to view the contents of folders.
When you drag the Folder View widget to the desktop,
it displays the "Desktop" or “Home” folder as if it were
a virtual instance of Dolphin or a file manager with eye
candy (See Figure 3.1).

In this chapter you’ll learn: •How to customize the look and feel of Folder View
•How to view and filter anything you want with it
•How to use it as more than just a file manager widget

3.1 Adding a Folder View to the Desktop

The first step to unlocking the power of Folder View is to place one on your desktop. There are two primary methods
to accomplish this. The first will create a generic Folder View with the "Desktop" folder as its default location (which
you can then change), and the second will create a specific Folder View based on the folder of your choice.

3.1 Folder View - Default

Method ONE

1. Create a new Folder View widget by right clicking on the desktop and unlocking your widgets (if necessary).
Then, click "Add widgets".

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Tip: Another easy way to create a Folder View is to simply drag an existing folder from Dolphin file manager
onto the desktop.

2. Find the Folder View widget and drag it onto the desktop wherever you want it to be. You can also resize it how-
ever you like. Even if you want it very small, a scroll bar will appear if there is more than one icon, allow you to
navigate through the list.

3. It will have most likely displayed your desktop files by default. So, you will need to change the location. Right
click on the Folder View title bar and click "Folder View settings".

4. From this dialog, select "Show a place" if the folder you want is present in "Places" or "Specify a folder" to choose
any other folder on your system.

Method TWO

1. Start Dolphin file manager.

2. Navigate to the folder containing the folder you want to use.

3. Click on the folder you want to use and drag it to the desktop.

4. It will pop up a menu asking you what you want to create. Click "Folder View". It will automatically create a
Folder View of the folder you selected.

3.2 Folder View Settings

To configure a Folder View, right click on the widget and click "Folder View Settings". You can also access the settings
using the widget wrench icon.

3.2 Folder View - Settings

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Location

Folder View allows the user to select which folder it will represent. There are three options:

• "Show the Desktop folder" (Most Linux distributions have this folder by default under the user's home folder
path.

• "Show a place" will show one of the folders identified in Dolphin's "Places" sidebar, which you can specify.

• "Specify a folder" gives you the option to choose any folder on your system, even a system folder with read-only
access. This includes KIO slaves, which include FTP, Nepomuk, and many other features. We will discuss KIO
slaves in the file management chapters.

Display

This pane controls how Folder View displays the information found inside the folder it represents. For the most part,
these settings are similar to the view settings previously available on the KDE 3 desktop.

• Header / Custom Title - Enter any name you wish here to describe your Folder View.

• Icons – There are several options for icons:

• Sorting - Options include: unsorted, by name, by size, by type, and by date.

• Size - Drag the slider to the left to make the icons smaller or the right to make them larger.

• Previews - KDE has the ability to show previews (thumbnail icons) of several file types. Check the “Pre-
views” box to enable this and then click "More Preview Options" to select which file types will show previews,
such as images, videos, documents, etc.

• Lock in place prevents icons from being moved.

• Align to grid sets up an imaginary grid that keeps icons in line.

• Icon Text

• Lines tells KDE how many lines of text an icon can have in its title.

• Color determines the text color.

Tip: Keep in mind that, depending on the widget theme you choose, text color will need to contrast with the
background of the widget or the desktop wallpaper, if the widget is transparent.

• Shadows allow you to somewhat offset the above issue by placing a shadow underneath the icon title's text.

• Filter - In this pane, the user determines which file types or names, that match a pattern, Folder View will show or
hide. This feature makes Folder View highly customizable, because even if a folder contains many different types
of files, the Folder View representing it can be streamlined and organized. Folder View allows you to appear or-
ganized even if you are not.

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• Imagine, for example, you have a documents folder filled with all sorts of documents. With the filter, you can
set Folder View to only show PDF files. On the other hand, you might need it to only show files that contain
the word "501", designating a particular class you are taking at a university. The possibilities are only limited
by imagination.

• Select “Show Files Matching” to display files that coincide with the patterns you enter and/or the file types
you select. “Hide Files Matching” will do the opposite, making the files matching your patterns and/or selec-
tions hidden.

• File name pattern - There are several types of file patterns that you can use. For example:

• To show files that contain certain sequential letters, simply enter those letters with nothing else. Entering "ee"
will show all files and folders with those two letters, such as "Freelance" or "Feeds".

• Now suppose you want all folders and files with the word “free” and also those with the word “test”. In the
pattern box, enter both words separated by spaces: "free test". Now all files and folders matching one or the
other will appear.

• You can also specify specific extensions if, for some reason, you cannot use the file type selections below. In
such a case, you can specify an entire extension or part of one. For example: "*.doc" or "*.od*". The latter will
match odt, ods, odp, and any other OpenDocument files.

• The file type selection box is an easy way to check off the file types you want Folder View to display (or not dis-
play as the case may be).

• Alternatively, if you have selected to hide matching files, you could tell Folder View to show documents but hide
all images. To do this, click "deselect all" and then select only the image file types. You can also enter specific im-
age types in the File name pattern box: *.jpg *.png *.tiff *.gif.

3.3 Other Uses

So far you have learned how to customize Folder View and how to filter anything you want in or out of it. Now, you
will learn how to use Folder View for tasks other than file management.

3.3.1 File Transfer

Although this might be impractical as a long-term solution for most, there are some instances where you might want
to keep a persistent remote connection open. This might be particularly useful if you have an OpenBox or Ubuntu
One account. Folder View will display it just as it displays normal folders. But with KIO slaves, you can also specify
specific FTP or SSH sites.

For example:

• Add a Folder View widget and enter Folder View Settings / Location.
• Click "Specify a folder"
• Enter the full URL of the remote location (i.e. sftp:/192.168.254.22).
• When you click OK, it will ask you to specify a username and password and give you the option to remem-
ber the password. Enter the correct information and then click OK.

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3.3 Folder View - Location Settings

3.3.2 Application Launcher

There are two methods to consider here. The first method will give you a full application launcher with access to
every application present in the Kickoff menu. The second method will select only specific applications to make a
"mini" launcher or quick launch bar.

Method 1

1. Add a folder view widget through the "Add widgets" dialog

2. Once the widget is placed, sized, and positioned, click the configuration icon shaped like a wrench in the side bar

3. Under the "Location" tab, select "Specify a folder"

4. In the space where it says "Type a path or a URL here" type the following:
programs:/

5. Click "OK".

You should now see several icons listing the categories of applications found in your applications menu.

Tip: Rather than clicking on a category or folder to open Dolphin file manager, Folder View also provides a
mouse-over view of what is inside of the folder. Simply move your mouse over any of the icons, and a sub-
window will appear showing its contents. Move your mouse over one of the sub-window's icons, and another
one will open above it. These Plasma sub-windows are full scrollable just like normal Folder View widgets.

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Method 2

This method is a little more involved because it requires you to use the file manager.

1. Create a new Folderview widget by right clicking on the desktop and unlocking your widgets (if necessary).
Then, click "Add widgets". Another easy way to create a Folderview is to simply drag an existing folder to the
desktop.

2. Find the Folderview widget and drag it onto the desktop wherever you want it to be. You can also resize it how-
ever you like. Even if you want it very small, a scroll bar will appear if there is more than one icon.

3. It will have most likely displayed your desktop files by default. So, you will need to change the location. Right
click on the Folderview titlebar and click "Folderview settings".

4. From the settings, you can "specify a folder". Instead of choosing a folder you already have, create a new one
called "Apps" or "Applications". Click "OK".

5. Now, to get application icons into your Folderview, all you have to do is drag icons from your K-menu. It will ask
you to copy or link. Click "copy". You can also open Dolphin and go to "programs:/". This will list all of the pro-
grams in your menu. You can then drag them to Folderview.

The names of the application icons will have the ".desktop" extension. If you find this unsightly, as I did, simply re-
name the files, deleting the ".desktop". You are then left with a nice, neat, desktop application launcher.

3.3 Folder View - AppBar

3.3.3 Folder View in the Panel

Like all widgets, you can use Folder View on both the desktop and the Panel. You can do this by dragging a current
desktop Folder View to the Panel, by using the traditional "Add Widgets" dialog, or by dragging a folder directly
from Dolphin file manager.

Instead of displaying the folders in a box, it will appear as a folder icon on the panel. Click on it, and it will display
the contents of the folders in a normal menu. Since you are able to do this with any folder, filter, remote site, or appli-
cations, you can have quick and easy access to any part of your file system you desire.

The next logical step beyond Plasma's basic file management capabilities is to explore the vast possibilities of KDE's
fully functional file manager: Dolphin. In the next chapter, we will take what we have learned in Plasma and Folder
View and build upon that foundation in Dolphin.

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