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Prime is a GNU software, part of the GnuDOS package.
Prime is a file manager which works under the GNU/Linux console. It was
influenced by other file managers (like the well known XTree Gold which was
popular under MS-DOS). It provides a user friendly interface with menus,
shortcuts, and key navigation. It is distributed as part of the GnuDOS
package which was developed to help users coming from DOS-like environment
feel ease when dealing with the GNU system.
Prime provides multi-level experience, the level of complexity can be adjusted
by the user: you want to use DOS-keys with a few basic GNU ones? you want to
go with the full power of the GNU system? All are options that are provided by
the six levels of experience of Prime:
You start with level 1 by default.
To set your level, call prime with '--level X' or '-l X' options,
Where X is the level desired, for example:
$prime --level 2
Below is a table showing the DOS-like key combinations along with their
respective GNU key bindings. To the right is the level at which a certain
key is defined. Each key defined is recognized in higher levels (e.g. level 2
keys are recognized in levels 3-4-5-6). Note that in level 6 only GNU keys are
defined, no DOS keys will work at this level!.
Keybindings:
In the table below, C-something means pressing down CTRL and then pressing the
other key. Note that ’^’ is the same as ’C’, meaning CTRL-key, it is just
typed like this so DOS users can feel familiar with the text.
The same as M-something, which means META or ALT.
| Function | DOS-like key | GNU key | GnuDOS Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| All DOS bindings and no GNU bindings | Newbie | ||
| Next Line | Down | C-n | Novice |
| Prev. Line | Up | C-p | Novice |
| Backward | Left | C-b | Novice |
| Forward | Right | C-f | Novice |
| Back One Word | ^Left | M-b | Novice |
| Fwd One Word | ^Right | M-f | Novice |
| Cancel | ESC | C-g | Intermediate |
| Next Screen | PgDn | C-v | Intermediate |
| Prev. Screen | PgUp | M-v | Intermediate |
| Start of Line | Home | C-a | Intermediate |
| End of Line | End | C-e | Intermediate |
| Start of text | ^Home | C-< | Intermediate |
| End of text | ^End | C-> | Intermediate |
| Del prev char | BkSpc | DEL (is BkSpc) | Advanced |
| Del next char | Delete | C-d | Advanced |
| Del prev word | ^BkSpc | M-DEL (is M-BkSpc) | Advanced |
| Del next word | ^Delete | M-d | Advanced |
| Select text | SHIFT+Arrow | C-Space | Advanced |
| Cut (kill) | BkSpc/Del | C-w | Advanced |
| Quit | ^Q | C-x C-c | Expert |
| Paste (yanking) | ^V | C-y | Expert |
| Del Line | ^D | C-k | Expert |
| Undo | ^Z | C-/, C-_, C-x u | Expert |
| Open File | ^O | C-x C-f | Expert |
| Save File | ^S | C-x C-s | Expert |
| Find (Search) | ^F | C-s (forward search) | Expert |
| C-r (reverse search) | Expert | ||
| Help | F1 | C-h ? | Expert |
| All GNU bindings and no DOS bindings | Veteran |
If you like using the console (like most GNU/Linux vintage users do), and you came from DOS land, having a nice and easy way to run through your directory trees and moving files around will be an important asset in your toolset, plus you will easily dive into the GNU system key bindings.
The program can be invoked from the GNU/Linux console or under X from an xterm.
Simply invoke the ’prime’ executable from the bash shell. The components of the main window can be found under See Main Window. The description of the menus in See Menus. And the shortcut keys in See Shortcuts.
To help the developers (and yourself) in debugging the program, prime sends log
information by default to a file named ’prime.log’ in the user’s home
directory (e.g. /home/username).
If you wish log information to be sent to another file, invoke the program
with the file name on the command line, e.g.
$prime --log log-file-name $prime -g log-file-name
If you don’t want log information, invoke prime as
$prime --no-log $prime -n
If you want to reset the configuration file to it’s default values, invoke prime as
$prime --reset-config $prime -r
You can export the directory tree of a given directory to a given file without starting prime by typing:
$prime -e|--export dirname filename
Note you will only type '-e' or '--export', not both.
Prime starts with the directory tree of the current working directory. To open prime with the directory tree of another location, type:
$prime dirname
Where dirname is the path name which is to be loaded into prime on
program start.
Currently there is partial wildcard support. That means for example that you
can specify ’~’ to indicate your home directory, and you can use ’*’ inside
the program (in the ’Find’ dialog box) but no further wildcards (like ’?’)
are supported at that time. For example, entering:
~/projects
In the find dialog box will search the subdirectory ’projects’ of the home directory
The following are examples of accepted ways to enter wildcard strings in the
Find file dialog box:
file* *.c a*.c
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