The Nautilus shell

The Nautilus file manager (more accurately called a graphical shell) comes with GNOME. Nautilus is intuitive to use; it's similar to the Windows Active Desktop. You can manage files and folders and also manage your system with Nautilus. When you double-click any object on the desktop, Nautilus opens an object window that shows that object's contents.

Viewing files and folders in object windows
When you double-click a file or a folder, Nautilus opens that object in what it calls an object window. If you then double-click an object inside that window, Nautilus opens another object window where that object's contents appear. You can use the Back button to return to the original folder. Alternatively, you can right-click a folder and choose to open it in a new window from the pop-up menu.

Burning data CDs/DVDs from Nautilus
If you have a CD or DVD recorder attached to your system (it can be a built-in recorder or an external one attached to the USB port), you can use Nautilus to burn data CDs and DVDs. From a Nautilus object window, you can access the CD Creator built into Nautilus. Just follow these simple steps:

1.  In any Nautilus object window, choose Go, and then CD/DVD Creator.
Nautilus opens a CD/DVD Creator object window. You can also select to open the Nautilus CD/DVD Creator from the menu that appears automatically when a blank disc is inserted. If you don't have any Nautilus object windows open, just double-click the Computer icon on the desktop.2.  From other Nautilus windows, drag and drop into the CD/DVD Creator window whatever files and folders you want to put on the media.
To get to files on your computer, double-click the Computer icon to open it in Nautilus and find the files you want. Then drag and drop those file or folder icons into the CD/DVD Creator window.
3.  From the CD/DVD Creator window, choose File, and then Write to Disc.
Nautilus displays a dialog box where you can select the CD or DVD recorder, the write speed, and several other options, such as whether to eject the media when done. You can also specify the title.
4.  Click the Write button.
Nautilus burns the CD/DVD.

Changing the View
If you prefer to view the contents of a folder in a tree view instead of as icons, you can change what you're seeing simply enough:

1.  Choose View from the Nautilus menu.
2.  Click to List (as opposed Icons).

Nautilus displays the contents of the selected directory by using smaller icons in a list format, along with detailed information, such as the size of each file or directory and the time when each was last modified.

If you click any of the column headings -- Name, Size, Type, or Date Modified -- along the top of the list view, Nautilus sorts the list according to that column. For example, go ahead and click the Date Modified column heading. Nautilus now displays the list of files and directories sorted according to the time of their last modification. Clicking the Name column heading sorts the files and folders alphabetically.

Not only can you move around different folders by using the Nautilus navigation window, you can also do things such as move a file from one folder to another or delete a file. The steps are intuitive and similar to what you do in any GUI, such as Windows or Mac. Here are some of the things you can do in Nautilus:

•  To move a file to a different folder, drag and drop the file's icon on the folder where you want the file.
•  To copy a file to a new location, select the file's icon and choose Edit, and then Copy from the Nautilus menu. (Or you can right-click the file's icon and choose Copy from the context menu.) Then move to the folder where you want to copy the file and choose Edit, and then Paste.
•  To delete a file or directory, right-click the icon and choose Move to Trash from the context menu. (You can do this only if you have permission to delete the file.) To permanently delete the file, right-click the Trash icon on the desktop and choose Empty Trash from the context menu. Of course, do this only if you really want to delete the file. After you Empty Trash, you're never going to see the file again. If you have to retrieve a file from the trash, double-click the Trash icon and then drag the file's icon back to the folder where you want to save it. You can retrieve a file from the trash until you empty it.
•  To rename a file or a directory, right-click the icon and choose Rename from the context menu. Then you can type the new name (or edit the name) in the text box that appears.
•  To create a new folder, right-click an empty area of the window on the right and choose Create Folder from the context menu. After the new folder icon appears, you can rename it by right-clicking the icon and choosing Rename from the context menu. If you don't have permission to create a folder, that menu item is grayed out.

Using Dolphin

Dophin is one of the most popular file managers that comes with KDE. It's intuitive to use and you can use it to manage files and folders with Dolphin (use F9 to toggle the Navigational Bar on the left side).

Viewing files and folders
When you double-click a folder icon on the KDE desktop, Dolphin starts automatically and opens that folder. Click the Home Folder icon on the vertical toolbar in the left side of the Dolphin window. Dolphin now displays the contents of your home directory (think of a directory as a folder that can contain other files and folders) in its main window. From here you can navigate to other directories, folders, and files.

If you've used Windows Explorer, you can use Dolphin in a similar manner.
The Dolphin window is vertically divided into three parts:

•  A narrow left pane shows icons for various places on your system (including Home, Trash and any removable hard drives).
•  The main middle pane uses icons to show the files and folders in the current folder.
•  The pane on the right displays additional information about the selected file or folder, as well as providing a thumbnail preview of image files.

Dolphin uses different types of icons for different files and shows a preview of each file's contents. Each directory appears as a folder, with the name of the directory shown underneath the folder icon. Ordinary files appear as a sheet of paper. For image files, the preview is a thumbnail version of the image.

The Dolphin window's title bar shows the name of the currently selected directory. The Location text box (along the top of the window) shows the full name of the directory. If you don't see the Location text box, choose View, and then Location Bar, followed by Editable Location to toggle its display on or off.

The Dolphin window has the usual menu bar and a toolbar. You can view the files and folders in other formats as well. For example, choose View, then View Mode and Details to see the folder's contents with smaller icons in a list format. To view more detailed information (such as the size of each file or directory, and at what time each was last modified), choose View, then Additional Information and select which information you would like to display.

If you click any of the column headings -- Name, Size, Type, or Date, to name a few -- along the top of the list view, Dolphin sorts the list according to that column. For example, if you click the Date column heading, Dolphin displays the list of files and folders sorted according to the time of last modification. Clicking the Name column heading sorts the files and directories alphabetically by name.

Not only can you move around different folders by using Dolphin, you can also do things such as move a file from one folder to another or delete a file. I don't outline each step because the steps are intuitive and similar to what you do in any GUI (such as Windows or the Mac interface). Here are some things you can do in Dolphin:

•  View a text file: Click the filename, and Dolphin runs the default word processor, displaying the file in a new window.
•  Copy or move a file to a different folder: Drag and drop the file's icon on the folder where you want the file to go. A menu pops up and asks you whether you want to copy, move, or simply link the file to that directory.
•  Delete a file or directory: Right-click the icon and choose Move to Trash from the context menu. To permanently delete the file, right-click the Trash icon on the desktop and choose Empty Trash from the context menu. Of course, do this only if you really want to delete the file. When you Empty Trash, the deleted files are really gone forever. If you want to recover a file from the trash, double-click the Trash icon on the desktop and from that window drag and drop the file icon into the folder where you want to save the file. On some distributions, you will be asked whether you want to copy or move, select Move. You can recover files from the trash until the moment you empty the trash.
•  Rename a file or a directory: Right-click the icon and choose Rename from the context menu. Then you can type the new name (or edit the old name) in the text box that appears.
•  Create a new folder: Choose View, then View Mode, and Icons. Then right-click an empty area of the middle pane and choose Create New then Folder from the context menu. Then type the name of the new directory and click OK. (If you don't have permission to create a directory, you get an error message.)

This month's column has offered an introduction to the GUI file managers that allow you to browse and manipulate individual files. Armed with that, next month we will look at some of the more popular applications available and the possibilities they offer.