Some proposed Enhancements for Catfish
I use Xubuntu, currently still version 18.04 and in this context Thunar version 1.6.15. On my computer are also Catfish 1.4.4 and mlocate 0.26.
From the Windows world I'm used to the fact that in the file browser (and there you can search with name:.. only on file names) you can do everything in the findings of a search that you can do in the normal file browser:
- rename a find (I need this more often to correct typos in file names when I come across them),
- copy the path to a file to the clipboard (one of the most common actions in connection with the file browser at all: If I know in which context something belongs, I look for the place where there are finds to it. Then I look in the hit list for the ones that are closest to the content I just have in mind. Since file names usually begin with YYYY-MM-DD_ (date to which the content refers - not the creation or editing date of the file) and then several sections separated by _, I add the path to a similar object in a save dialog, changing the date first and then the other categories, the file just to be saved according to its content.
As you can see, searching in directories often occurs in my way of working acquired with Windows. Things always sort themselves by date in the file browser. I find similar objects to a keyword quickly with search on the keyword or keywords and so on.
Unfortunately the combination Thunar+Catfish lacks some things for this:
- First and foremost, I lack the ability to right-click to get the path to a found item on the clipboard after a search.
- Then I miss the possibility to fix a typo in a filename ("rename dialog") and the possibility to cut a wrongly filed file at its wrong place and paste it to the right place.
I don't know whether this additional issue is due to Catfish or to Thunar: In order to call the search dialog, I always have to go up one level first, such that the directory I want to search from is highlighted: If the mouse pointer is on a file in a directory, a right-click should additionally offer: "search in surrounding directory".
I would also like to change the order of the columns in the result list: The date first (and always in ISO notation!), then the filename, then the size (the column is narrow, it always fits), then the file path (which should not stay so far to the right that the longest filename fits: It is often more important to be able to see the path (at least its beginning). Generally you should be able to configure the columns like in Thunar. It would be best to automatically use Thunar's settings.