- This topic has 159 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated Nov 30-1:19 pm by Brian Masinick.
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PPC
My week end project was creating something similar to what Windows provides- an easy to use, simple, fast Global Search GUI, that allows users to search for files, for applications or even on-line.
A while ago, I created a small GUI for the dggr command (available in the repository as the package with the same name), that allowed to search the web using duckduckgo, and getting results without requiring a web browser (so, very little resources are needed)
I created a tiny search GUI that searches by files by name or part of the name (not by it’s contents)
I created a tiny search GUI that searches for apps, by looking inside their .desktop files.
Then I created a small GUI to let users select what they way to search for (Files, Apps, or in the Web). It’s a very simple GUI, called “Finder” (provisional name).
This script was originally created as a tool to be included in a future FT10 release, but I liked it so much that I thought it would be a nice addition to the default antiX set of tools (making it even more on par with the features Windows 10 and 11 provide, out of the box, without sacrificing data privacy or requiring huge system resources).
This initial first release should work perfectly fine, but probably requires a bit of polish, sometime in the future… even so, I think it’s production ready. If you want, download the package, extract the script inside it and run it. If you want the web search feature, first install the package “ddgr” (my script does not check for it).
It’s as simple as it gets: launch the script: a small window, asking what you want to search for will pop up where your mouse pointer is (if you just press enter, the default selection is to search for files)… enter your query in the search box and press enter. Wait for a bit (you get a pulsating “please wait” kind of window) and then you get your results on a new window. Double click the option you want (or click the web link, in case you searched the web, to open it in the default browser).EDIT: if you want to make this script available in IceWM’s toolbar:
1- place the script that is inside the tar file inside your user’s home folder
2- antiX menu > Control Centre > “Desktop” Tab > … IceWM … > “Toolbar” > and add a new line with this contents, anywhere you like:
prog "Finder" /usr/share/icons/numix-square-antix/48x48/apps/search.png ~/finder
3- Save the changes and then restart IceWM… There you have, a “search icon”, powerful, easy to use, and fast (it was created and tested on a 32bits laptop)EDIT:
The script is very well commented, allowing anyone to add more features, (ex: like using the “search box” to do calculations and show the result on a yad window; ask something to a AI and get the result in a yad window -using tgpt, mentioned on another forum thread-, searching the repository for instalable packages and then install them – there was a recent yad script that did that-, etc)
For this reason, one of the possible names that I came with was “Omnisearch” – but that would be a mouthful to say, for non English speaking users.
P.- This topic was modified 1 month ago by PPC.
- This topic was modified 1 month ago by PPC.
Finally I tweaked the script to look just the way I wanted it: one single window, with a search box and several buttons, to select where to perform the search. If no button is pressed, a simple file search is performed.
The script inside the tar file has the same name as the previous one, so it can replace it. Same as before, new buttons can be added to it. I’m tempted to add the “AI” one, for my personal use.As always, any input is welcomed – should this kind of search app be restricted to FT10 only? Or should it be proposed to be included in the default antiX “yad-goodies” package?
P.
Brian MasinickI tried a few quick searches – I looked for LibreWolf on the Web and found it; I then tried finding the package and it found my package instance, so finally I thought, let’s see how smart it is, and it also found instances of librewolf in my home directory cache and configurations, so that was a quick test to validate it three ways and all three worked.
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Brian Masinick
fatmacshould it be proposed to be included in the default antiX
If it is, I suggest only in the full version, more newbies will be using that. 😉
- This reply was modified 1 month ago by fatmac.
Linux (& BSD) since 1999
Ultra Small Form Factor & thin client computers
capreaFound minor bug. If using “Find file”, the X button does not close the window.
Brian MasinickFound minor bug. If using “Find file”, the X button does not close the window.
Good catch; I missed that in my testing, was focused on testing all three types of filters and files.
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Brian MasinickThanks for the input. I cought that bug too, and fixed the script a bit more – it now offers to install ddgr, if users want to search on-line, etc…
I marked all the strings that should be localized too, just in case anticapitalista wants to include a more mature version of this script in yad-goodies, for example (that package is only included in antiX full, I think).
I streamlined a bit the main window, making it look better and requiring less localization than before.
I also adapted the script in a way that only one instance can be run at a time, and restarting the script just kills it, if it’s already running (so the search window can be toggled on/off from a quick launcher icon, on a toolbar, for example).
I want to improve a bit the app finder part of the script, based on my old IceWM Toolbar Icon Manager script, and maybe change a few details (there’s a To do list on the comments on the start of the script…Like I said before, it is still not “perfect” but can be used “for production”. I had only 1 negative feedback, that reported that file search and web search failed… Since the script’s file search is just a GUI for a terminal command, I have no idea how that can fail… I’m thinking user error…
Note: the script only searches for files, by part of the file name, in the users home folder and nowhere else (it does not check removable devices, etc)- my idea is not creating a full blown file searcher (we have that already: zzzfm and searchmonkey, that can even search inside documents). It’s not supposed to compete with app-select, as a file launcher, I can’t do it, it’s not meant to compete with a web search from a browser – it can’t…
It’s just supposed to help users perform, in a super easy way, simple searches, no matter how slow their computer is…P.
P.
- This reply was modified 1 month ago by PPC.
Brian MasinickYeah, clicking the little exit button works now; so does clicking the window’s minimize, maximize, or X (exit) buttons; that’s why I missed the fact that the little x could exit too; used the BIG window manager’s X previously; BOTH now work; good job on the problem detection, quick fix and resolution; unless someone can find some other quirk, I’d say it works.
This time I tested for the finder tool itself and it found it, the pinxi tool; it found both the script and some hidden configuration file it uses, and I checked for Ungoogled Chromium, which it also found correctly.
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Brian MasinickThanks for testing… Bugs keep creeping in- I use what I write- when I tried to launch LibreOffice Writer from Finder, it failed because of the %U string in the exec field, so I had to make the script ignore “%U” and “%u” in the exec fields, to always run the selected apps…
Also, now the “app” window results look much better… To do: improve search, to remove false positives (because the script searches in all Names, all descriptions, inside the .desktop files and sometimes strings do get a match in other languages)Edit: sorry, by mistake I uploaded my own version of the script, that does web searches in Portuguese. I uploaded a new version of the script, that does web searches in English.
I think the only thing the web search is missing is a button to change it’s settings to perform the search in other languages/places.
If you want to do that manually, for now, you’ll have to edit the script, read the comment in line 196 and edit the “-r” value in line 197…P.
- This reply was modified 1 month ago by PPC.
Brian MasinickOK, I’ll test this latest version and try a few different programs in the Finder to make sure your use case AND my use cases work; still, good job; hopefully this next iteration gets it. I hope a few other people try it out so that other oddball use cases can also be “weeded out” and verified to work, but I’m optimistic that you’re now thinking about some of those other scenarios…
Give me a few and I’ll be back with some more tests myself.
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Brian MasinickBrian MasinickSorry, I don’t know what you did, but now it’s not working; I think the previous couple did a better job than the most current one!
What changed?
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Brian Masinick@Mr Masinick – version 1.4 failed to work how exactly?
Anyway, during my coffee break, I added “region selection” to the web search. When you run the web search, in the results window, you have a new button, that allows to select in which region you want to get results.
I tested this version in searching and opening files, searching and opening apps and searching and opening web links… Please test this new one- unless a bug is found, the final version will be very, very close to this one – I’m pretty happy with this current version- file search is working just like I want, web search too, I improved a bit searching for apps, at least it looks better- the major change is that I use a symbol to divide the name of the app and it’s exec field, in the application search results- can that be the cause of the problem? If so, I’ll have to replace the symbol with a “uglier” option (it should look like an arrow pointing to the right). I’m a bit worried about that detail now, but real life calls…P.
- This reply was modified 1 month ago by PPC.
Brian Masinick@PPC I have no idea what happened; the earlier versions were working GREAT!
Let me try out this latest one and see if it does better; I’ll let you know ASAP.
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Brian MasinickBrian MasinickcapreaYep, I’m starting to like it.
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