fmprefs(1X)

NAME
     fmprefs - customization panel for directory view preferences


SYNOPSIS
     /usr/sbin/fmprefs


DESCRIPTION
     The fmprefs customization panel allows the user to define a default
     layout for their directory views (dirviews).  The file manager fm applies
     these settings when displaying a directory view for the first time.
     Three of the settings apply to all dirviews -- new and old, open and
     closed -- and are called Global Settings.


     The fmprefs panel can be launched from the toolchest (Desktop > Customize
     > Icon Views) or from a Unix shell command line.  Like most other
     customization panels, the desktop panel has the ``runonce'' feature,
     meaning only one instance of the application will run at one time.
     Attempting to launch the application a second time will have the effect
     of deiconifying the application window or popping it to the top on the
     current desk.


     The following resources are configurable via the fmprefs customization
     panel:

         Default Panes:
         -------------
         Shelf                (on/off)
         Content Viewer       (on/off)
         Search/Filter Files  (on/off)

         Global Settings:
         ----------------
         Dynamic Help         (on/off)
         Pathfinder           (on/off)
         Open in Place        (on/off)

         Default Behavior:
         -----------------
         Preserve Layout When Opening in Place   (on/off)

         Defaults for Icons and Their Labels:
         ------------------------------------
         Sort by              (Name/Date/Size/Type)
         View as              (Icons/List/Columns)
         Truncated Names      (on/off)
         Thumbnail Images     (on/off)
         Align to Grid        (on/off)
         Hidden Files         (on/off)
         Default Icon Size


     Each on/off toggle allows the user to choose whether each of the
     corresponding dirview elements should appear or not by default.  For
     example, turning on the Content Viewer causes the dirview media viewer or
     content viewer to appear by default.

     The Global Settings are unique in that they are not only defaults, but
     also take effect immediately in all opened dirviews.  Thus clicking in
     the Pathfinder toggle causes all dirviews to hide the upper area showing
     the drop pocket and full pathname, freeing more window area for viewing
     files and folders.  The Dynamic Help toggles comments at the bottom of
     dirview windows.

     The Sort and View menus control the default sorting and presentation of
     icons in a dirview.  The Dirview Icon Size controls how large the icons
     should appear in a dirview; scaling the icon affects the icon size in all
     viewing modes (Icon, Column, and List).

     New in IRIX 6.5 are the Preserve Layout When Opening in Place,
     Pathfinder, and Truncated Names settings:

     *    Checking the Preserve Layout When Opening in Place toggle can be
          useful when you need to search for a file somewhere in an FTP, Web,
          or directory hierarchy and you prefer that the dirview window not
          change to different layouts as you traverse into different folders.

     *    The Pathfinder setting is described in a previous paragraph.

     *    Checking the Truncated Names toggle will make the file manager hide
          the middle sections of long filenames, showing an ellipsis (...) for
          the temporarily hidden text.  This can be useful when viewing Web
          sites or FTP sites in a dirview, as the long URL filenames can be
          cumbersome.  (To view a Web site or FTP site in a dirview, simply
          type the URL into the pathfinder.)

     For more information about the entire IRIX Interactive Desktop
     environment, see the IID(1) man page.

FILES
     $HOME/.desktop-<hostname>/FmState
     $HOME/.desktop-<hostname>/Fmprefs
     $HOME/.desktop-<hostname>/layouts/Default

     The fmprefs panel records the user's preferences in a small file (about
     100 bytes in size) called Default in the special layouts directory.  In
     this directory, the file manager records and reads the layouts for each
     folder the user has (ever) opened.  Each desktop user has one layouts
     directory, and it resides in their $HOME/.desktop-<hostname> folder
     (where $HOME is the user's home directory, and <hostname> is the name of
     the host as returned by the hostname(1) command).
     The fmprefs panel also records resources needed to present itself
     appropriately to the user.  These resources are written to the file
     Fmprefs in the user's $HOME/.desktop-<hostname> folder.


     In IRIX 6.5, the fmprefs panel sends messages to the file manager by
     saving settings to the special FmState file in the $HOME/.desktop-
     <hostname> folder.  The file manager detects when this file changes and
     applies the settings in the desktop environment.  The FmState file is not
     meant to be altered by end users directly.


SEE ALSO
     fm(1), IID(1)


AUTHOR
     Rebecca Underwood