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wim
Asked: 2011-08-04 06:28:20 +0800 CST

Open Nautilus as a new tab in an existing window

  • 772

Currently, if I click a launcher, shortcut icon, etc., I will get a new Nautilus window. If there is already a Nautilus window open, I would rather it open up in a new tab in the existing window (as if I had done Ctrl + T and browsed to the new location). How can I make this happen?

gnome

5 Answers

  1. I wrote a bash script and a launcher for that.

    1. First, create the file:

      mkdir ~/bin && gedit ~/bin/nautilus-ctrl-t.sh

    2. Then paste the following, and save:

      if [ "$(wmctrl -xl | grep "nautilus\.Nautilus")" == "" ]; then
    nautilus "$1" &
else  
    #Save old clipboard value
    oldclip="$(xclip -o -sel clip)"

    echo -n "$1" | xclip -i -sel clip
    #wmctrl -xF -R nautilus.Nautilus && xdotool key "ctrl+t" "ctrl+l" && xdotool type "${1}" && xdotool key Return
    wmctrl -xF -R nautilus.Nautilus && xdotool key ctrl+t ctrl+l ctrl+v Return

    #Restore old clipboard value
    echo -n "$oldclip" | xclip -i -sel clip
fi

    3. Then run the command:

      sudo chmod u+x ~/bin/nautilus-ctrl-t.sh

    4. Now, to create the launcher file, run this command:

      gedit ~/.local/share/applications/Nautilus-Ctrl-t.desktop

    5. Paste the following, and save:

      [Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Nautilus-Ctrl-t
Comment=Launches Nautilus if not yet, otherwise opens a new tab in it
Categories=FileManager;GNOME;
Icon=/usr/share/icons/gnome/48x48/apps/system-file-manager.png
Exec=/bin/bash -c ~/bin/nautilus-ctrl-t.sh
Terminal=false

    6. Log out, or restart to update the application list and you're done.

    Try that. Hope it helps.

    UPDATE

    Added a location as a script parameter

    UPDATE 2

    Replaced xdotool type with xclip

    UPDATE 3

    Cleaned up the process by adding numbers. Added mkdir command. Updated the first "if statement" because if nautilus is managing the desktop, it will have a pid, but no active window, so better to use wmctrl. Added quotes around the first argument in case there are spaces. Changed the icon for nautilus to be system default in the .desktop file.

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  2. I believe it is not possible as
    1) It is a suggested idea at Ubuntu Brainstorm that wasn't implemented yet,
    2) And supposedly after analyzing the source code Shiki didn't find a way to pass this call to nautilus.

    • 4

  3. This is fixable very easily in CentOS 6.2 by going into the Nautilus preferences, on the "Behavior" tab and clicking the box called "Always open in browser windows".

    You will know it worked because from that point on, in your folder browsing window, you will see a left hand nav on the window which is the method that Nautilus uses to "re-use" the explorer window.

    So, basically, all you need to figure out is "how to enable the left-hand navigation menu in a Nautilus browser window".

    • 2

  4. Whatever desgua said is somewhat right.

    One option you have is to press Ctrl + T to open a new tab in the same window.

    Or press F3 in Nautilus for split view.

    • 1

  5. Using the bash script above as a starting (thank you!), I created a one-window per workspace script, ThunarTab, specifically for Thunar in XFCE. The script also allows opening multiple directories at once using the "Open All" context menu on the Desktop. I give a detailed description and a downloadable file of it at https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=244076 "[Tutorial] Improving Thunar in XFCE by opening new tabs instead of windows with Bash."

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