  TkDesk User's Guide
  Originally written by Christian Bolik, now maintained by 
  J. Chris Coppick, jchris@znet.com
  Version 1.3, 14 September 1999

  TkDesk is a graphical, highly configurable and powerful desktop man-
  ager for UNIX and the X Window System.  This document is meant to be a
  comprehensive guide to the functions, services and configuration pos-
  sibilities offered by TkDesk.  Please also take a look at the CHANGES
  file for latest news.  A list of answers to frequently asked questions
  is also included.  The "official unofficial" TkDesk homepage on the
  Web is at <http://people.mainz.netsurf.de/~bolik/tkdesk/>.  There is
  also a mailing list dedicated to TkDesk available at major-
  domo@lists.stanford.edu.  To join this list simply send an email with
  an empty subject line and the body "subscribe tkdesk-list".
  ______________________________________________________________________

  Table of Contents
















































  1. Introduction

     1.1 Acknowledgments
     1.2 Using TkDesk's Help System
     1.3 Command Line Options

  2. The File Browser Window

     2.1 The Menu Bar
        2.1.1 TkDesk Menu
        2.1.2 File Menu
        2.1.3 Directory Menu
        2.1.4 Commands Menu
        2.1.5 Bookmarks Menu
        2.1.6 Options Menu
        2.1.7 Help Menu
     2.2 The Button Bar
     2.3 The Path Entry
     2.4 The File Listboxes
        2.4.1 Handling of the Listboxes (Bindings)
     2.5 The Status Bar

  3. The File List Window

  4. File Operations

     4.1 File Information
     4.2 Copying, Moving and Deleting Files
     4.3 Finding Files

  5. Cascading Directory Popup Menus

  6. The Application Bar

  7. The Built-in Editor

     7.1 Marks

  8. Using the TkDesk Server

  9. Configuration of TkDesk

     9.1 Configuration Files
        9.1.1 AppBar
        9.1.2 ButtonBar
        9.1.3 Commands
        9.1.4 Directories
        9.1.5 FileTags
        9.1.6 Local
        9.1.7 Popups
        9.1.8 Sounds
        9.1.9 System
     9.2 The TkDesk API
     9.3 Shortcuts
     9.4 Utilities

  10. Frequently Asked Questions

     10.1 How can I change the position of the application bar?
     10.2 Can I have transparent icons?
     10.3 How can I change the background colour of the icons and desk items?
     10.4 How can I have a different set of desk items on each virtual screen?
        10.4.1 FVWM and similar or derived window managers
        10.4.2 CDE window manager
     10.5 How do I configure FVWM mini-icons for TkDesk?
     10.6 Configuring the appbar or popup menus to execute (export foo=bar; program;) doesn't work.
     10.7 Composing characters doesn't work in TkDesk's editor.
     10.8 TkDesk's layout seems to be screwed.  I can't get the appbar displayed anymore.
     10.9 On my RedHat 5.x system the appbar clock shows the wrong time.
     10.10 TkDesk complains about "invalid command name wm" and won't start up
     10.11 I cannot launch other Tcl/Tk applications from within TkDesk
     10.12 I'd like TkDesk to do this and that. How can I achieve this?
     10.13 Is there a TkDesk mailing list?
     10.14 Where can I find out more about Tcl/Tk?

  11. Tips and Tricks

     11.1 TkDesk and XEmacs


  ______________________________________________________________________

  1.  Introduction


  TkDesk is a graphical desktop manager for UNIX (with a slight emphasis
  on Linux, but it also runs just as well on AIX, Solaris, HP-UX, SGI
  Irix and other UNIX flavors) and the X Window System.   It offers a
  very complete set of file operations and services, plus gives the user
  the ability to configure most aspects of TkDesk in a very powerful
  way.  The reason for this is the use of the Tcl scripting language as
  the configuration and (for the greatest part of TkDesk) implementation
  language.  This makes TkDesk not just configurable but truly
  programmable.  TkDesk has been influenced by various other systems and
  file managers: NeXT, for laying out the file browser windows, Apple
  Finder, for the idea of file annotations and, (shock horror), Windows
  95, for some other (of course minor and unimportant) inspirations.

  This is a brief overview of the most prominent features of TkDesk:


  o  Arbitrary number of automatically refreshed file browsers and file
     list windows,

  o  Configurable file-specific popup-menus,

  o  Drag and drop,

  o  Files and directories may also be dropped onto the root window,
     a.k.a. desktop,

  o  Configurable application bar, with several displays and cascaded
     popup menus for each button, files can also be dropped here,

  o  History of visited directories, opened files, executed commands,
     and others, which is automatically saved to disk,

  o  Find files through their annotation, name, contents, size, age, or
     other criteria,

  o  A trash can for safe deletion of files and directories,

  o  Calculation of disk usage for directory hierarchies,

  o  All file operations (find, copy, disk usage, etc.) are carried out
     in the background,

  o  Traversal of directory hierarchies through recursive cascaded
     menus,

  o  Bookmarks, create menu entries for often used files/directories,

  o  Comprehensive hypertextish online help,

  o  Built-in multi-buffer and undo-capable editor,

  o  Remote control of XEmacs,

  o  Close coupling with Netscape Navigator for displaying HTML files or
     selected URLs,

  o  Sound support,

  o  Powerful on-the-fly configuration of nearly all aspect of TkDesk
     using Tcl/Tk, this also allows the Tcl-literate to extend TkDesk in
     arbitrary ways,

  o  Free of charge! But see the file COPYING, or menu entry
     Help/License for information on usage and redistribution of TkDesk.



  1.1.  Acknowledgments


  TkDesk uses a number of other freely available packages without which
  TkDesk would not have been possible.  I'd like to say many thanks to
  the following people:


  o  Chris Sterritt for setting up and managing the TkDesk mailing list
     (at the old location majordomo@mrj.com, this one's disabled since a
     couple of weeks),

  o  Alan V. Shackelford for seamlessly taking over the list to his
     machine and responsibility (the list is now at
     majordomo@shaknet.clark.net),

  o  Ken Hornstein for his wonderful netscape-remote package,

  o  Ioi Kim Lan for making an XPM image reader for Tk available,

  o  George Howlett for his great BLT, of which parts are used by
     TkDesk,

  o  Michael McLennan for his massively useful [incr tcl],

  o  John Ousterhout for Tcl/Tk, which is definitely the best thing
     since sliced bread,

  o  Greg Hankins and Matt Welsh for putting together the most wonderful
     linuxdoc-sgml package,

  o  and of course, Linus Torvalds whose Linux kind of changed my life,
     really!

  And a very big thank you to the growing TkDesk user community, which
  provides me with a constant flow of bug reports (getting less now
  :-)), suggestions for enhancements of TkDesk, and lots of motivation
  and encouragement.

  Special thanks to Chuck Robey for revising a previous version of this
  guide.





  1.2.  Using TkDesk's Help System


  If you check menu entry Options/Use Netscape for Help, TkDesk will use
  that for displaying this User's Guide on-line.  Otherwise, to reduce
  overhead, TkDesk uses its own help system.  It features hypertext
  links, context sensitivity (which is not yet fully utilised by TkDesk)
  and full text search.

  The help window consists of four areas:


  1. A listbox listing all the section headings.  A section can be
     selected by pressing the left mouse button,

  2. the text display, which contains the actual help text,

  3. a text entry field in which a regular expression may be entered
     (such as [Ff]eatures).  After hitting Return, the whole help text
     is searched for this expression.  Pressing Return again continues
     the search,

  4. three buttons: "Print" prints the complete help volume, "Back"
     jumps back after a hypertext link has been followed (see next
     paragraph), and "Close" to close the help window.

  Text that is displayed blue in the help window is a hypertext link.
  When the left mouse button is clicked over such a link the display
  will automatically change to the referenced section.  You can jump
  back by pressing the "Back" button described above.

  The following keys are bound when the mouse pointer is inside the help
  window:


     Tab
        Moves to the next section.

     Shift-Tab
        Moves to the previous section.

     Control-Tab
        Moves to the first section.

     Control-Shift-Tab
        Moves to the last section.

     Up, Down
        Scrolls one line up/down.

     Page up, Page down
        Scrolls one page up/down.

     Control-Home
        Jumps to start of help text.

     Control-End
        Jumps to end of help text.

     Meta/Alt-b
        Equivalent to pressing the "Back" button.

     Meta/Alt-c, Escape
        Equivalent to pressing the "Close" button.


  1.3.  Command Line Options


  Usually TkDesk is started simply by executing the command "tkdesk"
  from the shell prompt or your X initialisation file.  However, you may
  specify the following options to this command:


     -configdir dir
        Reads the configuration from directory dir instead of ~/.tkdesk.

     -default
        Reads the default configuration of TkDesk instead of the user's
        one in ~/.tkdesk.

     -iconic
        Iconifies all file browser and file list windows created by
        TkDesk during start-up.

     -layout file
        Reads the window layout information from file file instead of
        the default ~/.tkdesk/_layout.

     -startdir dir
        If this option is given, the first file browser will open with
        directory dir.

     -twm
        Don't use icon windows when file browser or list windows are
        iconified.  Some window managers liek twm cannot handle these
        properly.

  For example, the command "tkdesk -twm -iconic" tells Tkdesk to not use
  icon windows and start with all windows iconified.




  2.  The File Browser Window


  The file browser window is the largest window when TkDesk is started
  for the first time.  It contains a menu bar, a configurable button bar
  (for fast access to the most often used file operations and other
  functions), an entry field (displaying the current path), a horizontal
  scrollbar, a certain number of file listboxes (three by default), and
  a status and information bar.




  2.1.  The Menu Bar


  The following sections describe the entries of the individual menus of
  the file browser windows.




  2.1.1.  TkDesk Menu


  The "TkDesk" menu contains the following entries:


     New Browser...
        Asks for a directory for which to open a new file browser
        window.  If the directory is the empty string, the operation is
        cancelled.  By default the checkbox "In Browser" is checked, but
        if you uncheck it a file list window will be opened instead.
        The button to the right of the text entry field gives access to
        a menu containing previously visited directories.


     Clone Window
        Creates a new file browser window with the same directory as the
        current one (that is, the directory of the file browser from
        which this menu entry was invoked).


     Display AppBar/Hide AppBar
        Opens the application bar if it had been closed before, or hides
        (closes) it otherwise.  This menu entry's label changes based on
        whether the AppBar is currently displayed or not.


     Configuration
        This is a submenu from which individual or all configuration
        files of TkDesk can be opened to modify them.


     Auto Save
        Here you can select which parts of TkDesk are automatically
        saved periodically and when TkDesk exits.


     Save All Now
        Saves all parts of TkDesk's configuration no matter what the
        settings in the previous submenu.


     Close Window
        Closes the file browser window.


     Quit
        Quits TkDesk.




  2.1.2.  File Menu


  This menu provides all the usual file operations plus entries for
  finding files.  The contained menu entries are:



     Information
        Opens a file information window for each currently selected
        file.  This window, which can also be used to add annotations to
        files, is described in section ``File Information''.


     New File...
        Asks for the name of a file which will be created in the current
        directory of the file browser or list.  If "Open in Editor" is
        checked the new file will automatically be opened in the
        configured editor.

     New Directory...
        Asks for the name of a directory which will be created in the
        current directory of the file browser or list.  If "Open after
        Creation" is checked the current window will switch to the new
        directory after it is created.


     Open
        Opens the selected files using their default action, which
        corresponds to the first action defined in their popup menus as
        configured in the "Popups" configuration file.


     Print...
        Asks for a command to print the currently selected files.  The
        names of the selected files will be appended to the command.
        The default command can be defined in the configuration file
        "System".


     Copy, Move, Link...
        Opens a dialog box for copying, moving, linking, symbolic
        linking etc. of files.  This dialog window is described in more
        detail in section ``Copying, Moving and Deleting Files''.


     Rename...
        For each selected file, TkDesk asks for a new name.  Before
        actually renaming TkDesk checks for an existing file with the
        same name.


     Delete...
        Opens a dialog to delete files.  The section ``Copying, Moving
        and Deleting Files'' gives more details.


     Find Files...
        Opens a dialog window which can be used to search for files,
        using a variety of characteristics.  This dialog is described in
        more detail in section ``Finding Files''.


     Find Annotation...
        Lets you search for files with a certain annotation.  More
        details in section ``Finding Files''.


     Copy To X Selection
        Copies the complete names of all currently selected files (i.e.
        including their paths) to the X clipboard.  They can then be
        pasted into any other X application using the middle mouse
        button.


     Copy Names Only
        Same as previous one, but copies only the files' names (i.e. not
        their paths.)


     History
        Displays a submenu containing recently opened files.


     Close Window
        Closes the window.
  2.1.3.  Directory Menu


  The main purpose of this menu is to select directories which are to be
  opened.  It also manages TkDesk's trash can.  The menu contains the
  following entries:



     Open...
        Asks for a directory.  A new file list or file browser window
        will be created, baesed on the setting of the "In Browser"
        checkbutton.


     New...
        Asks for the name of a directory which will be created in the
        current directory of the file browser or list.


     Home Directory
        Changes the directory of the window from which this entry is
        invoked to the user's home directory.


     A number of path entries
        These can be configured in the configuration file Directories.
        See section ``Configuration of TkDesk'' for details on how to do
        this.   If one of these menu entries is invoked, the path of the
        file browser will change to that directory.   If such an entry
        is invoked while at the same time pressing the "Control" key, a
        new file list window will be created (if the option "Always In
        Browser" is selected a file browser window will be created),
        displaying the contents of the selected directory.  This feature
        applies to all menus that contain directory names!


     Trees
        Contains two cascaded submenus: "Home" and "Root".  The contents
        of these submenus is dynamically generated and corresponds to
        the directory hierarchy rooted either at the user's home
        directory or at "/".  Selecting an entry from these submenus
        changes the directory of the window to the selected directory.
        Pressing Control at the same time opens a new window with this
        directory.


     Open Trash Can
        Opens a file list window displaying the contents of the trash
        can.  When this window is iconified and TkDesk uses icon windows
        the icon can be used as a Mac-like trash can.


     Empty Trash Can
        Empties the trash can after confirmation from the user.  This
        erases the files contained in the trash can for good!


     History
        Displays a submenu containing recently opened directories.






  2.1.4.  Commands Menu


  This menu provides entries to execute commands either once or
  periodically, edit files, and provides some very basic form of "job
  control".  Its entries are:



     Execute...
        Asks for a command to execute.  The button to the right of the
        command entry contains a history of previously executed
        commands.  Selecting one of these copies its name to the entry
        widget.  Checking the "View Output" button will open an editor
        window after the command completed displaying its output (stdout
        and stderr).


     Execute as root...
        The same as the previous entry but TkDesk will ask you for the
        root password before executing the command.  The command will
        then run under root permission.


     Periodic Execution...
        Opens a window which can be used to execute a command and watch
        its output periodically.  If the "Don't execute" checkbutton is
        selected, the execution is paused.


     Job Control
        Opens a window which allows to stop, terminate, kill etc.
        processes which have been started by TkDesk.


     Environment...
        Opens the "Edit Environment" dialog which can be used to display
        and modify TkDesk's environment variables.  Programs and
        commands started from TkDesk after any modification in this
        dialog has been made will pick up the modified environment.


     Edit File...
        Asks for the name of a file to edit, and opens it in the editor
        you selected in the "System" configuration file (defaults to the
        built-in editor).  The "Browse..." button opens a file selector
        from which a file may be selected.


     New File
        Opens a new blank editor window.


     Edit Selected
        Opens all currently selected files in one new editor window.


     Buffers
        Displays a submenu of all current editor buffers (both files and
        command output).


     A number of custom command entries
        These can be defined in the configuration file Commands.  See
        section ``Configuration of TkDesk'' for details on how to do
        this.  If one of these menu entries is invoked, the
        corresponding command will be executed.


     History
        Displays a submenu containing commands recently executed.





  2.1.5.  Bookmarks Menu


  This menu lets you create bookmarks for often used files and
  directories.  To do this, select at least one file/directory and
  invoke the "Add Bookmark" menu entry.  The name(s) of the selected
  files and directories will now appear alphabetically sorted in the
  "Bookmarks" menu.  You can remove any bookmark from the menu by
  selecting its corresponding entry from the "Remove Bookmark" submenu.

  The bookmarks you add will be automatically saved, if the "Bookmarks"
  entry of the "Auto Save" submenu contained in the "TkDesk" menu is
  selected (which is the default).



  2.1.6.  Options Menu


  The Options menu lets you configure many aspects of TkDesk "on the
  fly".  The entries are:



     Long Listing
        Select this to let the details of all files and directories be
        displayed in the file listboxes.  This slightly decreases
        performance and for that reason is switched off by default.


     Show All Files
        Whether to show files in the file lists whose name start with
        ".".


     Add Icons
        If selected, small icons will be displayed to the left of the
        file names in the file listboxes.  Turn this off for faster
        scrolling.


     Folders On Top
        If selected (default) folders will always appear on top of the
        file lists.


     Append Type Char
        Whether to append a file-type specific character to the file
        names.  This is mainly intended for monochrome displays and is
        then automatically selected.


     Single Click (Dirs)
        Lets you open directories with a single click of the left mouse
        button.  Individual directories can still be selected by
        pressing Control at the same time.
     Always In Browser
        If this option is selected, the "In Browser" checkbutton of the
        "Open Directory" dialog will always be selected. Control-
        Doubleclick on a directory will open a file browser instead of a
        file list window.


     Status in List Windows
        Whether the singly columned file list windows should have a
        status bar as well.


     Sort by ...
        Sort all file listboxes by one of these criteria: Name, Name
        (fold, meaning that upper and lower case characters will be
        "folded", i.e. disregard case when sorting), Size, Date,
        Extension, or Don't Sort to display directory entries as they
        are read from disk.


     Strip <your home directory>
        If this is selected, and the current path of the browser is
        somewhere under your home directory, the leftmost file listbox
        will contain your home directory rather than the root directory.
        This speeds up the display of directory hierarchies under your
        home directory.


     Overwrite Always
        If this option is selected, TkDesk won't ask if the destination
        file already exists when copying or moving files.


     Really Delete
        Relates to the deletion of files. If this option is selected,
        the "Delete Files" dialog box will always have the "Delete
        permanently" checkbutton selected by default.


     Quick Drag'n'Drop
        Normally when you drop files onto a file list, the copy dialog
        appears. If this option is selected, dropped files will be moved
        to the destination directory without further questions. If
        Control is pressed during dropping, the files will be copied. If
        the drop target is the trash can, TkDesk will ask if the files
        are to be deleted "really".


     Sort History
        This option determines whether the history menus are to be
        sorted alphabetically or not.


     TkDesk Server
        Start or stop the built-in server to remote execute TkDesk
        commands.  See also section ``Using the TkDesk Server''.


     Dialogs at Pointer
        If selected, TkDesk will always try to place new windows right
        under the mouse pointer.


     Autoraise AppBar
        Whether to raise the AppBar above any obscuring window when it
        is entered by the mouse pointer.
     Use Sound
        If you have sound working with TkDesk on your machine, you can
        temporarily disable sound by selecting this option. Handy when
        playing Audio CDROMs, for instance.


     Number Of Listboxes
        This relates to the number of listboxes in the file browser
        window. Between 1 and 6 can be displayed, though 18 would
        theoratically not be a problem.


     Balloon Help
        Whether to display a small window at the mouse pointer if it is
        placed over part of TkDesk, e.g. an AppBar button.


     Use Netscape for Help
        Whether to use Netscape rather than the built-in help viewer for
        displaying TkDesk online help.


  The settings of these options are by default automatically saved to
  ~/.tkdesk/_options.  This can be disabled by deselecting the "Options"
  entry of the "TkDesk/Auto Save" submenu.




  2.1.7.  Help Menu


  This menu tries to give you some help with using TkDesk.  It also
  contains entries for displaying the list of FAQs, recently made
  changes to TkDesk, and the license for using and distributing TkDesk:


     User's Guide
        Displays the TkDesk User's Guide either in the built-in help
        viewer or using Netscape (see previous section).


     Manual Page...
        Asks for a command for which to display the system's manual page
        in an editor window.


     Getting Started
        Displays the "Getting Started" guide.


     TkDesk FAQ
        Jumps directly to the FAQ section of the TkDesk help volume.


     Changes
        Displays recent changes to TkDesk.  Make sure you invoke this
        entry after upgrading to a newer version of TkDesk.


     License
        Restates that TkDesk is distributed under the GNU Public License
        (GPL).



     About TkDesk...
        Some info about TkDesk (version, author etc.), plus a link to
        the TkDesk web page.




  2.2.  The Button Bar


  The button bar that's located right underneath the menu bar allows for
  fast access to any of the commands of TkDesk.  It's also possible to
  configure each button individually to run customized Tcl scripts, that
  e.g. work on the currently selected files.  By default, the buttons in
  the button bar provide access to the more often used functions of
  TkDesk (copy, create, delete etc.).  When you place the mouse button
  over any of these buttons, a small help window will appear telling you
  what this button does (provided the "Balloon Help" option is
  activated).

  The contents of this button bar can be defined via the configuration
  file ButtonBar. See section ``Configuration of TkDesk'' and the
  configuration file itself for details on how to do this.  Note that by
  not defining the variable tkdesk(button_bar) in that file or by not
  defining tkdesk(small_button_bar) the button for file viewer or list
  windows may be surpressed respectively.




  2.3.  The Path Entry


  This entry field displays the current path of the file browser or file
  list. You can also type directly into this field to change the display
  to another directory.  There is a sort of "auto-completion" available;
  if you type only the first part of a directory's name and press
  Control-Tab, its name will be automatically completed as far as
  there's no ambiguity.

  If you click the right mouse button over this field a popup menu
  appears which lets you select any of the current directory's parent
  directories and their subdirectories.  You can also open files
  directly from this popup menu.

  The button to the right of the entry field contains a menu of the last
  30 (default value this may be changed in the "System" configuration
  file) directories you have visited. If you select one of these, the
  current path of the browser will change to it. The "Control-trick" to
  open the selected path in a new list window that's been described in
  section ``Directories'' works here as well!




  2.4.  The File Listboxes


  The main part of the file browser and list windows is taken up by the
  file listboxes.  Directories are by default displayed in blue with a
  bold font, executable files in red and bold, and regular files in
  black and a medium font.  These settings as well as the color, font
  and icons used for individual file types may be configured via the
  FileTags configuration file.  See section ``Configuration of TkDesk''
  for details on how to do this.

  Right above each listbox the name of the directory whose contents it
  shows is displayed, together with the current file mask settings.
  Clicking on this label reveals a menu with the following entries:


     Refresh
        Refreshes the listbox contents.  Although TkDesk refreshes all
        its file lists every 5 seconds (default), sometimes you may want
        to have a file listbox instantaneously updated.


     Set Mask...
        Sets a mask for this listbox's display.  For example, you can
        configure the listbox to only display or select files matching
        the pattern *.gif.  Multiple masks separated by spaces may be
        entered to display files matching any of these.  A history menu
        button for reusing masks previously entered is also provided, as
        well as a checkbutton for inverting the mask's effect (i.e. only
        files not matching the given mask will be displayed).


     No Mask
        Removes a previously activated file mask.


     Disk Usage
        Calculates the directory's disk usage, i.e. the number of
        kilobytes (default) occupied by that directory and all its
        subdirectories.  A window will appear when the calculation is
        complete, containing a sorted list of all subdirectories and
        their individual disk usages.  If you double-click on any of its
        entries, a new file list window will appear displaying the
        directory's contents.  Clicking the right mouse button over any
        of the directories displays its associated popup menu.


     Free Space
        Displays the space available in the file system of this
        listbox's directory, using TkDesk's "Periodic Execution" window.


     Execute here...
        Asks for a command to execute in the directory displayed by this
        listbox.  All the usual TkDesk %-sequences to work with the
        names of selected files may be used, e.g. %A to pass all
        currently selected files to the command.


     Execute as root...
        The same as the previous one, except the command will be run
        under root permission after asking you for the root password
        (and you entered the correct one...).



     Long Listing
        Instead of just the file names displays a "long listing" i.e. a
        listing containing all the details such as size, permission
        bits, date and time of last modification etc.


     Show All Files
        Whether to display files starting with a dot (".") or not.



     Inverse Order
        Whether to invert the current sorting order.


     Sort by...
        This is identical to the entry of the same name in the menu
        bar's "Options" menu, but affects this single listbox only.


     Open List Window
        If this listbox is part of a file browser window, open a new
        list window displaying this listbox's directory.


     Open Browser
        Else, open a browser with this directory.

  This menubutton can also be used to drag and drop files, as well as to
  drag the directory displayed in the associated listbox to another
  target, e.g.  the root window by pressing the middle mouse button over
  the listbox title menu button.




  2.4.1.  Handling of the Listboxes (Bindings)


  The handling of the file browser windows is very similar to that of
  the NeXT file manager: when you double click on a directory, the
  listbox to the right of the current one will display this directory's
  contents.  You can open a directory in this listbox, and the listbox
  to the right of this one will display its contents.  This way you can
  browse through complete directory hierarchies, while having instant
  access to the contents of the complete directory tree. When the number
  of opened directories exceeds the number of visible listboxes, you can
  scroll the listboxes with the horizontal scrollbar which is located
  right above the file listboxes.

  Files are selected in the file listboxes using the left mouse button.
  A single click selects a single file, deselecting all other files. If
  the Control key is pressed simultaneously, the old selection will be
  retained. By dragging the mouse pointer over a file list, while at the
  same time pressing the left mouse button, a set of files can be
  selected.  Shift-doubleclick selects all files in that file list.
  Holding down the shift button extends the current selection unto that
  file (a.k.a. "range-selection").

  Note that if the option "Single Click (Dirs)" is set in the "Options"
  menu a single click on a directory will suffice open it. In this case
  you need to use Control-Click to select a single directory.

  A double click on any listbox item performs its default action.  For
  directories this is to open it, for executables this is to execute it,
  and for files it invokes the first entry of the corresponding popup
  menu as defined in the "Popups" configuration file (see below). If the
  Control key is pressed while double-clicking a directory, a new file
  list or file browser window (depending on the setting of the "Always
  In Browser" option) is created displaying the contents of that
  directory.  For files, a dialog box will appear asking for a command
  to execute on that file.

  Files can be dragged by pressing the middle mouse button over any
  selected file. If no file is selected, the clicked-over file will be
  selected.  Files can be dropped by releasing the mouse button over any
  other file listbox and the menubutton above them, over windows of the
  built-in editor, over the application bar (if the corresponding button
  has been configured to handle dropped files), over iconified file
  browsers and file lists and in general over any other application
  supporting the file protocol of the BLT package's drag and drop
  implementation.  Valid drop targets can be identified by looking at
  the window that is displayed while files are dragged: the window's
  relief appears raised if over a valid target, flat if not.

  The right mouse button is used in the file listboxes to access the
  file-specific popup menu. Every popup menu contains a submenu, labeled
  with the file's name, which contains entries for the most common file
  operations. The remaining entries of the menu can be configured via
  the configuration file Popups. See section ``Configuration of TkDesk''
  for details on how to do this.

  Since version 1.1 the file listboxes may also be fully controlled
  using the keyboard:


     Up-/Down Arrow
        Move the selection one file up/down.

     Page Up/Down
        Move the selection one page up/down.

     Home/End
        Move the selection to first/last item in the listbox.

     A-Z
        Select the first file matching the character pressed, cycle
        through subsequent matches on repeated pressing of the same key.

     Return
        Open selected file.

     Menu (the key left to the right Control key on W95
        keyboards)" Display the currently selected file's popup menu,
        the menu itself may also be operated using Up/Down, Return, and
        Esc.

     Backspace
        Change directory to the parent directory.

     F11
        Open the current file listbox's menu.




  2.5.  The Status Bar


  The status bar is located at the bottom edge of file browser windows.
  If "Status in List Windows" is selected in the "Options" menu file
  list windows will contain a status bar as well.

  It displays either


  o  the current state of TkDesk,

  o  the amount of free space in the current file system,

  o  details about the currently selected file, or


  o  number and total size of currently selected files.




  3.  The File List Window


  The file list window is basically a more compact version of the file
  browser window.  It displays only one listbox, which results in the
  fact that the contents of opened directories are always displayed in
  the same listbox, and it doesn't have a status bar unless "Status in
  List Windows" is set in the "Options" menu.  Its advantage is that it
  is more quickly created than a file browser window and occupies less
  space on your screen.  My usual setup is that I have one file browser
  and lots of file lists opened.

  The menu bar of the file list windows is also more compact, but allows
  access to all menus of the file browser through submenus of the
  "Others" menu.  This menu contains one additional entry to open a file
  browser window displaying this file list's directory.




  4.  File Operations





  4.1.  File Information


  The "File Information" window displays detailed information about a
  file. It can also be used to change the owner or access-permissions of
  a file. In addition, an annotation to a file can be added here.

  The following information is displayed:


     Path
        The path of the file.

     Size
        The size of the file in bytes.

     Modified
        When the file was last modified. By clicking on the button
        displaying the date file can be "touched", ie. their
        modification timestamp will be set to the current time.

     Owner
        Displays the owner of the file. By clicking the button
        displaying the owner, the owner can be changed to another user.

     Group
        Displays the group ownership of the file. By clicking the button
        displaying the group's name, the group can be changed.


     Mode
        Here the access permissions are displayed in "ls -l" style. The
        first three button correspond to the rights of the owner (r: may
        read, w: may write, x: may execute or open the directory), the
        second three buttons to the rights of the group, and the last
        three buttons to every one else's rights. The "x" buttons are
        special in that they cycle through four settings: x for
        executable, s for set user/group id and executable, S for set id
        only, and - for not executable.  Note that using the right mouse
        button toggles between - and x only.  Clicking the middle mouse
        button over any of these buttons copies its current setting to
        the corresponding button in the other two groups.  If the
        settings of any of these buttons is changed, the "Change Mode"
        button at the bottom edge of the window must be clicked to
        actually change the file's permissions.


     Links
        Number of (hard) links to this file.

     Type
        Tries to give some information about the file's contents. TkDesk
        uses the shell command file for this.

  In the "Annotation" text field you can enter any remarks about the
  file. This annotation will be saved when the "Close" button is
  pressed.  Files having annotations attached to them will appear
  underlined in the file listboxes, and their popup menu will contain
  the first few words of that annotation as an "informative" menu entry.

  If the window displays information about a file an additional button
  labeled "Disk Usage" is provided, which calculates the disk usage of
  the hierarchy rooted at that directory. The entries of the "Disk
  Usage" window can be double-clicked to open new file list windows.




  4.2.  Copying, Moving and Deleting Files


  These functions can be accessed from the "File" menu, among others.
  There is one dialog for copying, moving and linking files (plus an
  arbitrary number of user-defined actions such as diff and patch, as
  configured in the "Popups" config file), one dialog for renaming files
  (which does nothing else than moving the file to its new name), and
  one dialog for deleting files.

  The "Rename" dialog is very straight-forward and probably does not
  need further explanation.  The "Copy etc." dialog contains the obvious
  source and destination entry fields, plus a checkbutton labeled "all
  selected files" if more that one file was selected when this dialog
  was opened.  If this checkbutton is selected (default) the operation
  will be applied on all selected files.  If it is not checked, each
  file will be handled individually.  The "Skip" button can then be used
  for skipping individual files.

  The "Delete" dialog also contains this checkbutton, plus a checkbutton
  labeled "Delete permanently".  If this checkbutton is selected, the
  files will not be moved to the trash can but will be really and
  ultimately deleted!!  The default setting of this checkbutton can be
  set from the "Options" menu.




  4.3.  Finding Files


  The "File" menu contains two entries for finding files: "Find
  Files..." and "Find Annotation...". Files can be annotated through
  their "Info" dialog (accessible from the "File" menu or from their
  popup menu), see section ``File Information''.

  "Find Annotation" enables you to look for an annotated file whose
  annotation matches a certain regular expression (which can be as
  simple as an ordinary string).

  "Find Files" lets you look for files (or rather: let's you instruct
  TkDesk to look for files) whose names match one or multiple patterns,
  which are of a certain type (such as directory), which contain a
  certain string, which are smaller or bigger than a certain number of
  kilobytes or which are younger/older than a certain date.  All fields
  which are not left blank in this dialog will be combined with a
  logical AND. This dialog is currently the only one utilizing the
  balloon help capability of TkDesk, so for now I would like to refer
  you to this.  For instance, if you want to know how to enter the file
  size you're looking for, place the mouse pointer over the "Size" entry
  field without moving it for a few seconds.

  Both "Find" dialogs display their results in the same file listboxes
  that are used by the file list and browser windows, so the same
  bindings described in section ``Handling of the Listboxes (Bindings)''
  apply here as well!




  5.  Cascading Directory Popup Menus


  Ugh, what a title...  However, one of the most powerful features of
  TkDesk are its "cascading directory popup menus."  These are menus
  that start from a given directory, contain submenus for each
  subdirectories (and possibly menu entries for files), and that
  dynamically add submenus as you traverse the menu.  Hm, kinda hard to
  explain, but pretty cool.  These menus are the ones that are
  accessible through menu entries "Directory/ Trees/ Home" and "Root",
  by clicking the right mouse button in the file browser and list
  window's path entry field, and through the popup menus of directories
  (submenu "Subdirectories" and "... and Files").  They may also appear
  in other places, depending on your configuration of TkDesk.

  There are two special bindings available in these menus:


     Control-Mousebutton-Release
        On a menu entry associated with a directory this opens a new
        file list window displaying this directory's contents.  On a
        file it asks for a command to run on this file by displaying the
        "Open or Execute" dialog.

     Left-and-Right-Mousebutton-Press
        If the left and right mousebuttons are pressed simultaneously
        over a menu entry, the menu disappear, the popup menu for the
        associated file or directory is displayed.

  Otherwise the directory or file that's selected from the menu is
  opened using its default command.



  6.  The Application Bar


  TkDesk provides you with an application bar for fast access to your
  favorite applications, commands, directories etc., plus displays for
  the current date and time, system load, and the status of your mailbox
  and dialup link.  It consists of an arbitrary number of buttons.  Each
  button (also the aforementioned displays) contains a popup menu which
  can be accessed by pressing the right mouse button over any of them.
  If you single-click the left mouse button over such a button, the
  first entry from the corresponding popup menu defining a command to
  execute will be invoked.

  The first button (displaying a comet) could be called TkDesk's "Start
  Button", although I would rather call it "Take-off Button" ;-).  Its
  popup menu contains entries for accessing TkDesk's most often used
  functions, such as executing a command or opening a file list or
  browser window, plus submenus for your bookmarks, the files you most
  recently opened, and the directories you've last visited. The next
  entry is a submenu labeled "Application Bar". Here you can configure
  all aspects of the application bar, especially its position and
  orientation.  See my answer to the MFAQ ``How can I change the
  position of the application bar?'' for more.  The last entry labeled
  "Configuration" contains another submenu which gives you fast access
  to TkDesk's configuration files.

  The second button gives you access to this User's Guide, and lets you
  view manual pages, also making use of a running TkMan (which is a
  hypertextified manual pager which is to be highly recommended). This
  button also allows you to drop executables on it to automatically
  display their manual page, if they have got one.  Note that the
  default value of the "Manual Page" dialog is the contents of the
  current X selection, so this can be used for some sort of "context
  sensitive" help.

  All the other buttons can be configured by you! See section
  ``Configuration of TkDesk'' for details on how to do this.




  7.  The Built-in Editor


  The built-in editor of TkDesk is meant to be a simple ASCII editor for
  editing files smaller than, say, 500kB. A single editor window can
  handle an arbitrary number of buffers each of which contains another
  file. Files can either be loaded through the "File" menu of the editor
  or by simply dropping one or more files on the text field of the
  editor window from one of the file listboxes.

  An editor window contains the following menus in its menu bar:


     File
        Contains entries to load, save, and print files, and to close
        the current buffer, current window, or all windows.

     Edit
        The first entry provides access to the editor's "Undo"
        functionality. Note that the undo buffer may contain a maximum
        of 500 events. This menu also contains entries for managing
        TkDesk's own text clipboard. Also provides entries to search for
        text (regular expressions), replace text, or find the next
        occurence of the currently selected text. The entry
        "HyperSearch" is a special form of search: all matching lines
        are displayed in a file listbox. If one of its entries is
        clicked on, the editor automatically displays that line at the
        top of the text field. This can be useful for jumping to
        headings, function definitions etc. Oh yes, and the regular
        expressions entered here are also saved with the other
        histories.

     Options
        The "Auto Indent" option determines whether the cursor is
        automatically indented after hitting Return. If the "Send to
        Netscape" option is set, the current file will be loaded by
        (maybe a running) Netscape each time it is saved. Useful when
        editing HTML files.

     Buffers
        Lists the buffers of the editor window. Buffers can be selected
        from this menu.

     Configuration
        This menu is only available when editing one of TkDesk's
        configuration files. It lets you save the file and reload it
        into TkDesk by selecting the corresponding menu entry or
        pressing F5, or exactly the same plus closing the buffer by
        invoking the next entry or pressing F6. This way configuration
        files can be edited and reloaded very quickly into TkDesk.

  The text area provides all the more common Motif- and Emacs-like key-
  bindings (including Control-Space for selecting an area of the text).
  Maybe it should be mentioned that Control-C/X/V do not work on the X
  selection but on TkDesk's own clipboard. Use the middle mouse button
  to paste from the X selection into TkDesk or from TkDesk into another
  application.




  7.1.  Marks

  Marks can be set with Control-[1-9], and be jumped to with
  Alt/Meta-[1-9]. You can always jump back with Control-0.  They work
  across buffer and editor window boundaries, and are currently only
  valid as long as the buffer in which the mark was set is open.




  8.  Using the TkDesk Server


  In order to allow remote control of TkDesk, i.e. to allow programs
  outside of TkDesk to have TkDesk perform certain tasks, TkDesk
  implements a TCP/IP server that can be used to send Tcl scripts to
  TkDesk.  Whether this server is "up" or not is determined by the
  option "TkDesk Server" that is to be found in the "Options" menu.
  Currently, only programs running on the same machine as TkDesk may
  connect to the server, but multiple TkDesk servers started from
  different users may be running at the same time.

  The server is a much faster way to send command to TkDesk then to use
  the Tcl/Tk send command, as that requires a second Tcl/Tk shell
  ("wish") to be started to do the send.  However, using a TCP/IP server
  that's basically system-wide accessible to perform arbitrary command
  under the accout of the user who started TkDesk and thus the server
  brings with quite a big security risk that TkDesk tries to reduce by
  keeping the port the TkDesk server uses secret.  The port to be used
  is calculated randomly at server start-up, and is saved into a file
  that can only be read by the user who started TkDesk.  To prevent
  "guessing" of the port number a generated key is also stored in this
  file that get passed to the server.


  The client performing the communication with the TkDesk server gets
  installed with TkDesk; its name is tkdeskclient.  This command expects
  exactly one argument which will be directly sent to the server and
  evaluated there as a Tcl script.  E.g. you could do a


               tkdeskclient "dsk_view id"




  to find out who you are :-).

  Along with TkDesk a number of front-end shell scripts for tkdeskclient
  are installed, which comprise of the following:


     cd-tkdesk ?path?
        Let's the currently active TkDesk file list or browser window
        (i.e. the one the mouse pointer was over last) change its
        directory to path if path is given, or returns the current
        directory of the active window.


     ed-tkdesk ?+linenum? ?file? ...
        Without argument opens a new editor window, or loads all files
        given as arguments into the editor (and into the same window if
        you're using a multi-buffer capable editor, such as the built-in
        one).  If a file is preceded by +linenum, i.e. something like
        +20, the built-in editor will position the cursor on the line
        when displaying the file that's given in the following argument.


     od-tkdesk ?dir?
        If no arguments are given opens a file list window for the
        current directory of the shell/program where the command was
        issued, or opens a window for the directory specied in dir.


     op-tkdesk ?file ...?
        For each file performs its default action (the one defined first
        in its corresponding popup menu as defined in "Popups"), or asks
        for a command to execute if no files are given.


     pop-tkdesk file
        Displays the popup menu for file, as defined in the "Popups"
        config file.  The popup menu may also be controlled by the
        keyboard: Up, Down, Return, and Esc keys do what you would
        expect.

  Note that all of these scripts are merely examples of possible usages
  of tkdeskclient.  Use your fantasy to find new and even more exciting
  applications! :-)




  9.  Configuration of TkDesk


  Currently, TkDesk can be configured only by editing ASCII files.  This
  is not necessarily a drawback, because this way you can add complex
  Tcl/Tk procedures to the configuration files.  GUI based configuration
  is planned for one of the next releases.

  If you don't know Tcl/Tk: Don't despair!  For the biggest part of
  TkDesk's configuration files it is absolutely not necessary for you to
  know how to program in Tcl/Tk, since you just have to modify values or
  extend the examples I and others have provided.  And to those who want
  to exploit all of the power available by using Tcl/Tk as TkDesk's
  configuration language, please have a look at the answer to FAQ
  ``Where can I find out more about Tcl/Tk?''.

  The configuration files can be accessed from the TkDesk menu via the
  Configuration submenu, or from the "Configuration" submenu of the
  popup menu of the application bar's first button.  The built-in editor
  will then appear with the selected configuration file(s) already
  loaded.  Each configuration file contains pretty detailed comments on
  what the individual settings are for, and how they can be modified.
  Well, at least they contain examples, which can guide your
  modification attempts.  Once you have modified the configuration file,
  you can save it and reload it into TkDesk by making use of the entries
  of the editor's "Configuration" menu described in section ``The Built-
  in Editor''. Use F5 to save the file and reload it into TkDesk, and F6
  to do the same but additionally close the configuration file.

  As already mentioned, each configuration file contains directions on
  how to modify its definitions.  The general advice is: Simply look at
  the example definitions, because these make things a great deal
  clearer than any explanation can.

  Tip: In case your looking for the definition of a specific part of
  TkDesk, e.g. for the popup menu of pdf files, use the "Find..." entry
  in the "Configuration" menu.  Just enter pdf in the "String:" field,
  hit enter, and double-click the found file.


  9.1.  Configuration Files


  All of these are "sourced" (i.e. processed) by TkDesk during start-up.
  This happens in the following order:


  1. System

  2. ButtonBar

  3. Preferences

  4. FileTags

  5. Commands

  6. Directories

  7. Popups

  8. AppBar

  9. Sounds

  10.
     Local (if existent)


  9.1.1.  AppBar


  This configuration file lets you define all aspects of the application
  bar (apart from its layout, use the entries of the submenu
  "Application Bar" of the comet-button's popup menu for this). This is
  what you can define here:


  o  If the application bar should be managed by the window manager just
     as an ordinary window. I don't like this, so this is disabled by
     default :-).

  o  The maximum number of buttons in a column (vertical layout) or row
     (horizontal layout). Yes, the application bar can contain several
     columns or rows!

  o  The fonts to use for the time and date display.

  o  Period in seconds after which to update the system load and mailbox
     displays, where to check for new mail, plus several additional mail
     related options.

  o  Icons and commands to use for the dial-up networking button.

  o  Icons and fonts to use for the trash button, and whether to display
     its current disk usage in the appbar.

  o  The actual button definitions, ie. which image to display, and the
     entries of the (possibly cascaded) popup menu. See below for the
     syntax used.



  9.1.2.  ButtonBar


  This file defines the contents and appearance of the Button Bar, which
  is displayed underneath the menu bar of TkDesk's file browser
  (tkdesk(button_bar)) or file list windows (tkdesk(small_button_bar).
  Both button bars are configured independently from one another.

  The third list defined here (tkdesk(dir_button_bar)) is for directory-
  specific button bars which will be dynamically displayed and hidden
  when the respective directory is entered or left.  These will be
  displayed in addition to the standard button bar.


  9.1.3.  Commands


  In this file you can define entries which will be added to TkDesk's
  "Command" menu, for example to uncompress all selected files, manage
  RPM package files, or do whatever you can possibly imagine.


  9.1.4.  Directories


  Here you can define entries and cascaded submenus of directories which
  will be added to TkDesk's "Directories" menu. More details are
  contained in the "Directories" file itself.

  You can also define a list of directories whose parent directories are
  not to be displayed in file browser windows, as is usually the case
  with your home directory. This can speed up display of directories
  underneath an AFS directory, for instance.

  Another list lets you define action that are to be performed when a
  specific directory is opened. This can be used for example to auto-
  mount floppies and CDROM's.
  9.1.5.  FileTags


  Contains definitions for color and font of specific file types (as
  distinguished by their extension) as well as standard values for
  regular files, executables, and directories, that will be used in
  TkDesk's file lists. Also the icons displayed when the "Add Icons"
  option is selected are configured here, as well as the icons used for
  the desk items, i.e. files and directories which have been dropped on
  the root window.


  9.1.6.  Local


  This file does not exist when TkDesk gets installed, but still appears
  in the "Configuration" menu.  This is because if it exists it will be
  sourced during start-up of TkDesk, so this is the ideal place to put
  local extensions of TkDesk.


  9.1.7.  Popups


  The popup menus that appear when the right mouse button is clicked
  over a file or directory are defined here. There are individual
  definitions for the popup menus of directories, executables, and of
  other files.  To find the correct popup menu for a file TkDesk checks
  the mask of each entry of a popup list one after the other from the
  beginning of the list to its end, so the masks should become more
  general towards the end of the list.

  An additional popup list (tkdesk(fileops,popup)) may be defined here
  for use in the "Copy, Move, etc." dialog.


  9.1.8.  Sounds


  Here the command to be used for playing sounds can be defined, as well
  as the sound files which are to be played at certain events.  TkDesk
  comes with a few AU sound files which are located in the sounds
  subdirectory of TkDesk's library directory. You can find out where
  this is by looking at the fifth line of the tkdesk script.


  9.1.9.  System


  All the more "basic" features of TkDesk can be configured here. These
  are:


  o  Colours and fonts to be used by TkDesk,

  o  Default size of file listboxes,

  o  Definitions of shell commands which are used by TkDesk to copy,
     move, delete, etc. files. These should be fine as they are in most
     cases, but you may want to tweak them for your system, so take a
     look at these definitions.

  o  The default command for printing,

  o  Which editor to use, plus settings for the built-in editor,

  o  Periods for automatic refreshing of the file lists and saving of
     TkDesk's configuration,

  o  Maximum number of entries in history menus,

  o  If TkDesk should ask for confirmation when the user wants to quit
     TkDesk,

  o  If TkDesk should allow the menus to be "tearoff-able",

  o  The paths in which TkDesk will look for images and sounds used in
     the configuration files,

  o  Icons to use for file list and browser windows, and for the help
     window,

  o  Whether to use "focus follows mouse" default or not,

  o  Settings for the desk items, e.g. whether to let them be managed by
     the window manager,

  o  Commands to execute after start-up and before shutdown (of TkDesk).



  9.2.  The TkDesk API


  Many of the values to be specified for TkDesk's configuration files
  are Tcl scripts.  Also, you can define your own Tcl proc's to use in
  these scripts.  To allow better control of TkDesk, TkDesk externalizes
  a couple of proc's which could be called the "TkDesk API" (although
  currently they aren't much more then a random set of more or less
  useful proc's, but anyway).

  The proc's I currently think are part of the API are the following:


     dsk_msg_alert msg
        Display msg in an alert dialog box.

     dsk_msg_error msg
        Display msg in an error dialog box.

     dsk_msg_info msg
        Display msg in an info dialog box.

     dsk_confirm msg script
        Display msg in a dialog box with "OK" and "Cancel" buttons.
        Evaluate script if user pressed "OK".

     dsk_debug msg
        If TkDesk runs in development mode (e.g. by setting the -devel
        command line option) print msg to stderr.


     dsk_ask_dir
        Ask for a directory to open.

     dsk_ask_exec
        Ask for a command to execute or file to open.


     dsk_exec command
        Execute command in the background.  When the command completes
        its exit code will be displayed in the status bar of all file
        browser windows.


     dsk_exec_as_root command
        Asks for the root password, and executes command in the
        backgroud under root permission if it was okay.

     dsk_view command
        Execute command in the background and displays its output
        (stdout and stderr) in a built-in editor window.

     dsk_view_as_root command
        Same as dsk_view but asks for the root password first.

     dsk_path_exec path command
        Executes command in path and in the background.

     dsk_path_view
        Executes command in path and in the background, and displays its
        output in an editor window.

     dsk_edit ?+linenum? ?file? ...
        Without arguments asks for a file to open, or opens all files in
        the same editor window, positioning the cursor at line linenum
        if given.  If file is "New File" a black editor window will be
        opened.


     dsk_busy
        Displays mouse as "busy" and locks all TkDesk window from
        receiving mouse events.

     dsk_lazy
        Displays mouse as "lazy", and makes all TkDesk windows
        responsive again.


     dsk_active what
        Returns information about the currently active file browser or
        list window: If what is "dir" it returns its directory; if it is
        "sel" it returns all selected items as a Tcl list; if it is
        "win" it returns the Tk name of the active window.

     dsk_select X ?names?
        If names is not given, copies the full path names of the files
        selected in the currently active file browser or list window to
        the X selection.  Otherwise just their names are copied.

     dsk_read_string msg ?script? ?dontpaste?
        Displays $msg in a dialog box where the user can enter an
        arbitrary string.  If script is not given, the string will be
        returned; if it is given the variable dsk_read_string will be
        set to the user's input and script will be evaluated.  If
        "dontpaste" is passed as a third argument to this command the
        current X selection will not be pasted into the entry field.


     dsk_filesel message path
        Opens TkDesk file selection dialog using message as the label,
        and presetting the entry field with path.  Path is also used as
        the filter for the full file selection box.

     dsk_refresh ?file ...?
        For each file all windows displaying the corresponding directory
        is refreshed.  File may also be a directory.

     dsk_sound sound
        Plays sound if a sound command has been defined and sound is
        switched on.  Sound is the second index in the tkdesk(sound,xxx)
        array as defined in the "Sounds" config file ("xxx" in this
        case).


     dsk_copy ?source ...? ?dest?
        Opens the "Copy, Move, etc." dialog box, filling in "Source" and
        "Destination" fields if provided.

     dsk_dialup phonenumber
        Without arguments asks for a phone number, and passes this to
        the command specified in tkdesk(appbar,dialup,cmd_up), else it
        does the same without asking.

     dsk_find_files ?options?
        Opens the "Find Files" dialog, presetting its fields from the
        options.  The following options are available: -path path, -mask
        mask, -string string, -regexp regexp, -extreg extreg, -type
        "all|file|dir|sym|socket|pipe", -owner owner, -group group,
        -modified mod, -accessed acc, -size size, -case, -samefs,
        -followsym.  If the option -doit is given the search will start
        as soon as the dialog is displayed, without having to press
        "Search".

     dsk_mail file ?string?
        Asks for an email address where to send file.  If file is the
        empty string, string will be sent instead.

     dsk_netscape what ?url? ?args?
        This proc is used to communicate with a running netscape.  If
        Netscape is not running yet it will be started first. What may
        be "file", "url", or "rcmd" (Communicator only); url may be a
        regular URL, a file name, or, if what is "rcmd", it may be
        "mail", "news" or "edit". Args may be "window", or "raise", or
        both.

     dsk_periodic command seconds
        Opens the "Periodic Execution" window and executes "command"
        every "seconds" seconds.


     dsk_open viewer file
        Opens file by performing its default action.  Viewer should be
        given as ""; I just didn't manage to get rid of this obsolete
        argument yet.

     dsk_open_browser dir
        Opens dir in a new file browser window.

     dsk_open_dir dir
        Opens dir in a new file list window (unless the option "Always
        in Browser" is set).

     dsk_openall ?files?
        Opens all files if given, or all currently selected files by
        performing their respective default action.



  9.3.  Shortcuts


  When specifying Tcl scripts in the popup and appbar configuration
  lists (tkdesk(popup,...) and tkdesk(appbar)), and in some other places
  as well (precide, hus?), you can use a number of shortcuts that will
  be expanded just before evaluation:


     %s Will be replaced with the full pathname of the first selected
        file.

     %f Will be replaced with its filename only.

     %b Will be replaced with its filename without extension
        ("basename").

     %d Will be replaced with its directory only.

     %A Will be replaced with a Tcl list of the full pathnames of all
        currently selected files, or of the files dropped on an appbar
        button.

     %a Same as %a, but replaces with a list of filenames only.

     %B Same as %A but doesn't complain if no files are selected.
        Instead it will be replaced with the empty string.

     %D Will be replaced with the directory of the currently active file
        list or browser window.

     %x Will be replaced with the contents of the X selection.

     %X Same as %x but doesn't complain if the selection is empty.

     %S For the "Copy, Move, etc." popup menu; will be replaced of
        what's been entered into the "Source" text entry field.

     %D For the same popup menu; will be replaced of what's been entered
        into the "Destination" text entry field.




  9.4.  Utilities


  To make life while configuring TkDesk a little easier as long as
  there's no GUI configuration available yet, TkDesk provides four
  little "helper" tools that help with selecting colors, fonts, icons,
  and sounds, by using graphical mouse-based dialog boxes.  These are
  accessed through the "Configuration" menu, and are basically all
  handled in the same way.

  Each of these dialogs contains three buttons:


     Insert
        Works only correctly if the dialog was invoked from the editor's
        "Configuration" menu.  Inserts the current value at the cursor
        position in that editor window.

     Select
        Copies the selected value to the X selection, so it can be
        pasted at arbitrary places using the middle mouse button.

     Close
        Closes the dialog.



  10.  Frequently Asked Questions



  10.1.  How can I change the position of the application bar?


  Since version 1.1 the appbar contains a "handle" at the upper or left
  edge that can be used to drag the appbar around the screen by just
  pressing the left mouse button over it.

  You can also drag the application bar around simply by holding down
  the Alt- or Meta-key and simultaneously pressing the left mouse button
  over the application bar. You can also invoke the "Move..." entry from
  the comet button's popup menu to do the same without having to press
  Alt/Meta.

  Since version 1.0b1 the configuration file "AppBar" sets also a
  variable named tkdesk(appbar,wm_managed) which can be used to have the
  apllication bar managed by the window manager, although this is
  usually not necessary.


  10.2.  Can I have transparent icons?


  No, but have a look at the answer to the next question.  As far as I
  know to have transparent icons in X you need to make use of X11's
  SHAPE extension.  Now as raw X programming is something only for the
  very brave, I didn't look into this any deeper yet.  Any takers?


  10.3.  How can I change the background colour of the icons and desk
  items?


  The background colour of icons used when the window manager iconifies
  a window can be set in the configuration file "System". The variable
  you are looking for is tkdesk(color,icon_background). By setting this
  variable to the same colour as your root window you can achieve the
  effect of transparent icons. You can define the colour either as a
  normal name (such as "grey", "blue") or in the form #rrggbb.


  10.4.  How can I have a different set of desk items on each virtual
  screen?



  10.4.1.  FVWM and similar or derived window managers


  First, you have to set the variable tkdesk(desk_items,wm_managed) in
  the System config file to 1.  Then you have to configure fvwm to not
  decorate windows of class dsk_DeskItem. For instance:


       Style "dsk_DeskItem"    NoTitle, NoHandles, WindowListSkip, BorderWidth 0








  10.4.2.  CDE window manager


  As for FVWM, you first have to set the variable
  tkdesk(desk_items,wm_managed) in the System config file to 1.  To tell
  the CDE window manager (dtwm) to not decorate desk items you have to
  add the following line to either the file Dtwm or .Xdefaults in your
  home directory, and then restart dtwm:


       Dtwm*dsk_DeskItem*clientDecoration:  none





  10.5.  How do I configure FVWM mini-icons for TkDesk?

  For fvwm95's Style command (like fvwm2 from which it comes) you can
  use a variety of things to identify a tkdesk window - you don't have
  to use the name only; you can also use the window's class name or
  resource string.  To find out what the window class and resource
  string are for a certain type of tkdesk window, use the FvwmIdent
  module (if you use Debian, this will be under the Window
  Managers->Modules menu; if you're using the default fvwm95rc that
  comes with the fvwm95 distribution, this will be under the
  Programs->Modules menu; I don't know about others).

  Anyway, FvwmIdent tells me that the window opened by tkDesk's "Open
  Browser..." menu has a class name of dsk_FileViewer, so I open the
  FvwmConsole (or FvwmTalk) module, and enter the commands:



       Style dsk_FileViewer TitleIcon mini-filemgr.xpm
       Recapture




  Then the browser window appears with the appropriate icon.  To get the
  window opened by the "Open Directory..." menu, use: Style dsk_FileList
  TitleIcon mini-filemgr.xpm

  (The "recapture" command is only necessary to apply the command to
  windows already open; it isn't necessary in your config. file)
  (Contributed by Daniel Martin, dtm12@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu)


  10.6.  Configuring the appbar or popup menus to execute (export
  foo=bar; program;) doesn't work.


  Yes, this is a bit tricky. What you need to do is the following:



       dsk_exec sh -c {export foo=bar; program}








  10.7.  Composing characters doesn't work in TkDesk's editor.


  Currently you have to edit the file cb_tools/bindings.tcl in TkDesk's
  library directory to make this work.  Locate the two lines containing
  the word "XKB"; all you need to do is to comment out the following
  lines by prepending a '#'.


  10.8.  TkDesk's layout seems to be screwed.  I can't get the appbar
  displayed anymore.


  TkDesk saves all layout information in the file  /.tkdesk/_layout, so
  this is the place to look for bad lines.  If in doubt you can safely
  delete this file and all should be back to normal.

  In case of the appbar not showing up you can try the following (sent
  by Jochem Huhmann, joh@unidui.uni-duisburg.de):


  1. Quit tkdesk

  2. Open the file ".tkdesk/_layout" within your home directory with
     your favorite editor

  3. Delete the line looking like "Toplevel dsk_appbar 1 66x740+956+0"

  4. Write the file back to disk

  5. Restart tkdesk. It will place the AppBar according to its defaults
     now.

  6. Place the AppBar as you like (it doesn't like horizontal layout too
     much)

  7. Do a "TkDesk/Save All Now"


  10.9.  On my RedHat 5.x system the appbar clock shows the wrong time.


  This is from Bryan Venable, spif@vousi.com:

  This may have to do with the location of the zoneinfo directory.  For
  libc5 I believe it's /usr/lib/zoneinfo, whereas for glibc it'd be
  /usr/share/zoneinfo.  Try making a symbolic link from whichever you
  have to whichever you don't.  There is a fix to Red Hat 5.0 which has
  to do with this, but in that situation the problem is with libc5
  programs running on a system "optimized" for glibc.

  And Raul Quiroga, quiroga@cartan.math.cinvestav.mx, also has got some
  advice for this:

  Concerning the problem described below I received several suggestions.
  Some allowed to get the date in the tkdesk right but an incorrect one
  with the date command. Finally what I did is set the time with
  timeconfig to Universal with "Hardware clock set to GMT" checked;
  after a reboot both the appbar and date reported the correct time.
  Thanks all for your help.


  10.10.  TkDesk complains about "invalid command name wm" and won't
  start up


  There seem to be two solutions to this problem: One is if you're
  running on a RedHad Linux 5.x system, the libc5 that's packaged and
  installed in /lib may be too old a version.  If ls /lib/libc.so.5.* on
  your system gives something like /lib/libc.so.5.3.xx you should
  upgrade to at least 5.4.20.  I think you can get a newer version of
  libc from sunsite.unc.edu in /pub/Linux/GCC.

  The other solution that should always work is to do the following
  (thanks to Ike Hishikawa, ike@hishikawa.f.uunet.de, for this one):



       Assuming that the tarball was unpacked under /usr/local,
       open /usr/local/bin/tkdesk with your favorite editor.
       At the very top of the file it should say:

         #!/bin/sh
         #-*- tcl -*- \
         PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH ;#\
         exec tkdesksh "$0" "$@"

       After the 3rd line, insert two lines pointing to the location of
       tcl/tk libs,  so that you get:

         #!/bin/sh
         #-*- tcl -*- \
         PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH ;#\
         export TCL_LIBRARY=/usr/local/lib/TkDesk/tcl_lib ;#\
         export TK_LIBRARY=/usr/local/lib/TkDesk/tk_lib ;#\
         exec tkdesksh "$0" "$@"

       This did the trick for me :)
       Hope this helps,





  10.11.  I cannot launch other Tcl/Tk applications from within TkDesk

  Probably your version of TkDesk sets the environment variables
  TK_LIBRARY and TCL_LIBRARY, which confuses other Tcl/Tk apps.  Unset
  these variables in the config files before the invocation of the
  problematic commands, eg. replace xterm with



               sh -c {unset TK_LIBRARY TCL_LIBRARY; xterm}




  (contributed by Christoph Dalitz, dalitz@infotech.de)


  10.12.  I'd like TkDesk to do this and that. How can I achieve this?


  The first place to start are the various configuration files of
  TkDesk.  These can be accessed either by the "TkDesk/Configuration"
  menu of the file browser windows, or by the "Configuration" submenu of
  the popup menu of the very first button of the application bar of
  TkDesk.

  Since TkDesk uses Tcl as the language for its configuration, and these
  configuration files are simply "source"ed, you could add any sort of
  Tcl proc for instance to the configuration file "System". This proc
  would then be available in every other configuration file as well.
  With the set of commands provided by TkDesk, which are listed e.g.  in
  the configuration file "Popups", TkDesk provides a very powerful
  platform for the user who knows Tcl.


  10.13.  Is there a TkDesk mailing list?


  Yes! Thanks to Chris Sterritt and Alan V. Shackelford, there is a
  mailing list dedicated to TkDesk at shaknet.clark.net.  Just send a
  mail to majordomo@shaknet.clark.net with an empty subject line and
  "subscribe tkdesk" as the message body. Please join, it's worth it!
  The list's address is tkdesk@shaknet.clark.net, by the way.

  There is also a searchable archive of the TkDesk mailing list on the
  web at http://www.findmail.com/list/tkdesk.  This is probably the best
  place to start looking when you run into problems with TkDesk.


  10.14.  Where can I find out more about Tcl/Tk?


  The official Tcl/Tk homepage is at
   <http://www.scriptics.com/>.  The Tcl/Tk FAQs and lots of user-
  contributed software can be obtained from
  <ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/tcl>.  There is also a newsgroup dedicated
  to Tcl/Tk: comp.lang.tcl.


  11.  Tips and Tricks


  This section currently contains just one tip on how to combine TkDesk
  and XEmacs. If you have any procs or other stuff in your configuration
  file which you consider could be useful for others as well, or just
  think it's generally cool, please send me an email, so that I can add
  it to this section! Thanks!


  11.1.  TkDesk and XEmacs


  If you are using XEmacs 19.12 or later you can couple TkDesk and
  XEmacs quite closely together by adding the following proc into any of
  your configuration files (I have it in "Popups"):



















  ______________________________________________________________________
  proc xemacs_load {what {where same}} {
      switch $where {
          "same" {
              exec gnudoit -q (find-file \"$what\")
          }
          "other" {
              exec gnudoit -q (find-file-other-window \"$what\")
          }
          "frame" {
              exec gnudoit -q (find-file-other-frame \"$what\")
          }
          "scratch" {
              exec gnudoit -q (switch-to-buffer-other-frame \"*scratch*\")
          }
      }
  }
  ______________________________________________________________________




  And now my generic popup menu for files matching * reads:



       ______________________________________________________________________
           {{*} {
               {{Edit} {dsk_edit %s}}
               {{XEmacs} {xemacs_load %s}}
               {{Other Window} {xemacs_load %s other}}
               {{Other Frame} {xemacs_load %s frame}}
               -
               {{Print} {dsk_print %s}}
           }}
       ______________________________________________________________________




  This way you can load files from TkDesk into a running XEmacs! This
  assumes that you have the command gnudoit somewhere in your path, and
  have started the XEmacs server. This can be done by adding the
  following line to your ~/.emacs:



       (gnuserv-start)


















