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Fern Moss
Asked: 2013-04-26 10:04:40 +0800 CST

How to show full date and time in Nautilus/Files 3.6+ list view?

  • 772

The list view of Nautilus 3.6 shows the dates files were modified in a variety of ways: the hour and minute if modified on the current day, and the month and day if modified during the current year, and the year tacked on if modified during a previous year. I would like to see the entire date and time consistently on all the files (e.g.: Sat 20 Apr 2012 01:28:34 PM EDT).

I had this set up before, but I can't figure out how to do so with version 3.6. I did find this question, but the answers no longer apply to Nautilus 3.6: How to change the date format in Nautilus list columns?

How can I do so in Nautilus 3.6+?

nautilus

4 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    You can get back the full date by recompiling nautilus:

    sudo apt-get build-dep nautilus
sudo apt-get install quilt
export QUILT_PATCHES=debian/patches
apt-get source nautilus
cd nautilus*
quilt new 999_full_dates.patch
quilt edit libnautilus-private/nautilus-column-utilities.c

    Change line 77 from

    "attribute", "date_modified",

    to

    "attribute", "date_modified_full",

    Rebuild and install modified package:

    quilt refresh
fakeroot dpkg-buildpackage
cd ..
killall nautilus
sudo dpkg -i nautilus_*.deb
nautilus &

    As always, you have to perform these steps every time there is an update for nautilus in Ubuntu.

    Now, a full analysis of the problem:

    The actual patch which caused this change is this one.

    The function nautilus_file_get_date_as_string gains an extra gboolean parameter "compact" - when true the abbreviated date is returned.

    This function is never called directly - it is accessed through the wrapper function nautilus_file_get_string_attribute_q. This function takes attribute parameters like "date_modified". To accommodate the new signature of nautilus_file_get_date_as_string a new attribute is added "date_modified_full". After this change, any code in nautilus which uses the file date string will get the abbreviated date.

    Finally, the file properties dialog is updated to use "date_modified_full" attribute.

    So in order to have nautilus display the full date in list view, it is only necessary to change one line of code: in libnautilus-private/nautilus-column-utilities.c, line 77 from "date_modified" to "date_modified_full".

    A slightly more useful patch could add a new column type which would show the full date, making this an optional feature, and only add 10 lines of code.

    • 26

  2. This blog post shows a much easier solution. It is based on creating an extension which can be selected as an alternative "modified column". Tested under 16.04.

    1. gedit ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/longdate.py

    2. Use this code (always copy code you trust):

      #!/usr/bin/env python

import os
import urllib
import datetime
from gi.repository import Nautilus, GObject

class ColumnExtension(GObject.GObject, Nautilus.ColumnProvider, Nautilus.InfoProvider):
    def __init__(self):
        pass

    def get_columns(self):
        return (Nautilus.Column(
            name="NautilusPython::Longdate", 
            attribute="longdate", 
            label="Longdate", 
            description="Get long date"),)

    def update_file_info(self, file):
        if file.get_uri_scheme() != 'file':
            return

        filename = urllib.unquote(file.get_uri()[7:])
        statbuf = os.stat(filename)
        formatteddate = datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(statbuf.st_mtime).strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
        file.add_string_attribute('longdate', str(formatteddate))

    3. chmod +x ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/longdate.py

    4. sudo apt install python-nautilus

    5. nautilus -q and nautilus . to restart Nautilus and see if it properly loads the extension.

    6. Select the new "Longdate" column in the list column preferences.

    The result will look like this:

    example

    • 17

  3. For those using trusty & not wishing to compile I've set up a test ppa for a patched nautilus. (using Alistair Buxton's patch

    The build currently also includes 2 bug fix patches, 1 from trusty-proposed, 1 from utopic.

    Additionally there are 3 minor patches that have been tested by me over quite some time & pose no issues.

    1. open with on folders

    2. real file owner name displayed instead of "Me"

    3. File Manager as name of launcher

    The 'date-time' patch I've tested a bit, seen no issues. For those inclined to try - if any issue found contact me thru launchpad email.

    The "Modified (full)" column can be added thru nautilus in listview > View > Visible Columns.. or thru nautilus > Edit > Preferences > List Columns

    https://launchpad.net/~mc3man/+archive/nauty-mods

    Read ppa page for info & how to easily revert if need be.

    • 6

  4. Nemo is a fork of Nautilus that includes Creation date and a button for Ctrl+L.

    sudo apt install nemo

    To replace Nautilus for Documents links etc.:

    xdg-mime default nemo.desktop inode/directory application/x-gnome-saved-search

    That updates your mime settings:

    $ cat ~/.config/mimeapps.list |grep inode
inode/directory=nemo.desktop
inode/directory=exo-file-manager.desktop;
$ cat /etc/gnome/defaults.list |grep inode
inode/directory=org.gnome.Nautilus.desktop
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