#+TITLE: Instantlauncher - navigate to your files and programs quickly!

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- [[http://www2.svjatoslav.eu/gitweb/?p=instantlauncher.git;a=snapshot;h=HEAD;sf=tgz][download latest snapshot]]

- This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
  the terms of version 3 of the [[https://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html][GNU Lesser General Public License]] or later as
  published by the Free Software Foundation.

- Program author:
  - Svjatoslav Agejenko
  - Homepage: http://svjatoslav.eu
  - Email: mailto://svjatoslav@svjatoslav.eu

- [[http://www.svjatoslav.eu/programs.jsp][other applications hosted at svjatoslav.eu]]

* (document settings) :noexport:
** use dark style for TWBS-HTML exporter
#+HTML_HEAD: <link href="https://bootswatch.com/darkly/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
#+HTML_HEAD: <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.11.2/jquery.min.js"></script>
#+HTML_HEAD: <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/twitter-bootstrap/3.3.1/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>"
#+HTML_HEAD: <style type="text/css">
#+HTML_HEAD:   footer {background-color: #111 !important;}
#+HTML_HEAD:   pre {background-color: #111; color: #ccc;}
#+HTML_HEAD: </style>

* General description
Quick filesystem based document/application launcher. It starts by
showing content of [[id:5ced6bf5-165a-49a0-8de4-3755d810d987][predefined directory]]. Sub directories can be chosen
by simply moving mouse pointer over corresponding directory.

[[file:screenshot.png]]

Files types are color-coded.

* Usage
Simply hovering mouse pointer over directory expands its contents in
the next right column.


+ Executable file (red):
  + Left mouse click:
    + Run executable file.
  + Right mouse click:
    + Toggle executable state.

+ Non-executable file (green):
  + Left mouse click:
    + Open file using corresponding application.
  + Right mouse click:
    + Toggle executable state.

+ Directory/symlink (blue):
  + Left mouse click:
    + Open directory using configured filesystem browser.
  + Right mouse click:
    + Open directory using configured text based terminal emulator.

* Configuration
When instantlauncher starts, it looks for configuration file under
: ~/.instantlauncher

If file is not found, it creates new default configuration file in
YAML format:
#+BEGIN_SRC
!configuration
directoryOpenCommand: nautilus -w {file}
directoryTerminalOpenCommand: gnome-terminal --working-directory={file}
fileAssociations:
-  command: vlc {file}
   fileRegex: .*\.mkv$
-  command: emacs {file}
   fileRegex: .*\.txt$
-  command: eog {file}
   fileRegex: .*\.jpeg$
-  command: eog {file}
   fileRegex: .*\.png$
-  command: vlc {file}
   fileRegex: .*\.avi$
-  command: vlc {file}
   fileRegex: .*\.mp4$
-  command: eog {file}
   fileRegex: .*\.jpg$
-  command: emacs {file}
   fileRegex: .*\.org$
navigationRootPath: /home/svjatoslav/
#+END_SRC

** directoryOpenCommand
Command to use when opening directory.

By default instantlauncher assumes that Gnome desktop environment is
installed and uses Nautilus file manager:
: directoryOpenCommand: nautilus -w {file}
** directoryTerminalOpenCommand
Command to use when opening directory in text terminal based console.

By default instantlauncher assumes that Gnome desktop environment is
installed and uses Gnome Terminal:

: directoryTerminalOpenCommand: gnome-terminal --working-directory={file}
** fileAssociations
Allows to map file name/extension using regular expression pattern
matching to corresponding application.

Example:
#+BEGIN_SRC conf
-  command: vlc {file}
   fileRegex: .*\.mkv$
#+END_SRC

Where:
- command :: Command to execute to open given file. Special variable
             {file} will point to user chosen file using absolute file
             path.

- fileRegex :: Regular expression that must match the file.
** navigationRootPath
    :PROPERTIES:
    :ID:       5ced6bf5-165a-49a0-8de4-3755d810d987
    :END:
Root directory from where to start navigation.

This parameter is user specific! In my case instantlauncher by default
pointed this to my home directory. But it can be any directory user
chooses.

I think good use-case is to create special directory to be used for
instantlauncher root. This special root directory can in turn contain
symlinks to various places user wants to visit often. Instantlauncher
will follow symlinks as if they were directories.

: navigationRootPath: /home/svjatoslav/