
                           viewglob 1.0.2 README
                             November 19, 2004

                Stephen Bach <sjbach@users.sourceforge.net>


INTRODUCTION
------------

viewglob  is a utility designed to extend bash and zsh when used in window
ing environments. It has two parts:

     1.   A tool that sits as a layer between the  shell  and  X  terminal,
          keeping track of the user's current directory and command line.

     2.   A  GTK+ display which shows the layouts of directories referenced
          on the command line (including pwd).

The display reveals the results of file globs and expansions  as  they  are
typed (hence the name), highlighting selected files and potential name com
pletions.

It can also be used as a surrogate terminal, where keystrokes typed in  the
display  are  passed  to  the  shell.  Files and directories can be double-
clicked to insert their names and/or paths into the terminal.

The website is here:

     http://viewglob.sourceforge.net

The sourceforge listing is here:

     http://sourceforge.net/projects/viewglob/

New releases are announced through Freshmeat, so if you'd like to stay  up-
to-date you may subscribe to the viewglob project there:

     http://freshmeat.net/projects/viewglob/

Feedback is welcome!


NEW IN THIS RELEASE
-------------------

If  you  find the default font sizes in the display are too big / too small
in your window manager, you can change them with  the  --font-size-modifier
flag.  Passing  +2 will increase all fonts by two, passing -2 will decrease
all by two (duh). Hardcores can now keep the font size so small  that  they
can fit all of /usr/bin in the display at once, if they so choose.

Also,  the  code managing pseudo terminals has been replaced with code from
rxvt, which has been shown to improve  compatibility.  BSD  users  may  now
Ctrl-C to their heart's content.

INSTALLATION
------------

See  the  file  INSTALL  for generic instructions. This program follows the
./configure && make && make install convention.

PORTABILITY
-----------

Tested on:

     FreeBSD 4.10 with GTK+ 2.4.3
     GNU/Linux (various) with GTK+ 2.4+
     Mac OS X 10.3.5 with fink unstable providing GTK+ 2.4.9 (viewglob 0.9)

I don't have access to Solaris, so I can only hope for the best -- it would
be awesome if someone could try it for me.

REQUIREMENTS
------------

viewglob requires a version of bash (any, as far as I know) and GTK+ 2.4. A
version of zsh is also obviously required if you  wish  to  use  zsh  under
viewglob.


NEW IN PREVIOUS RELEASE 1.0.1
-----------------------------

It  was  sometimes  inconvenient  to  be  in directories with long listings
because you wouldn't be able to see the listings of other directories with
out scrolling. There is now an option to list directories in reverse order,
i.e. the directory you reference last appears at the top  of  the  display.
Actually,  there  are  now  three ordering modes (used with the flag --dir-
order):

     ascending
          Directories appear in reverse order.

     ascending-pwd-first
          Directories appear in reverse order, but the current directory is
          always at the top.

     descending
          Classic  ordering and the default mode: directories appear in the
          order you reference them (and with the current directory  at  the
          top).

NEW IN PREVIOUS RELEASE 1.0
---------------------------

The  biggest  change  is the addition of file name insert functionality. If
you double click a file in the display (or the directory header), its  name
will  be  passed  as text to the terminal. Holding shift will send the full
path to the file.

By default viewglob is in "smart insert" mode. There's more info about that
in the man page.

This  release  also  allows  you to type into the display and have the key
strokes passed to the terminal. This works well in my testing, but  let  me
know  if  you're finding that the display doesn't pass something along cor
rectly. Note that navigation keys are captured by the  display  instead  of
being passed on.

Two  large  issues  with FreeBSD (and assumedly the other BSDs as well) are
also fixed. I've been unable to track down the problem with Ctrl-C and SIG
INT,  though;  if  you  are  a terminal I/O savvy BSD user willing to help,
please get in touch with me.

NEW IN PREVIOUS RELEASE 0.9.1
-----------------------------

First of all, if you've got a previous installation of viewglob that's  not
from a package manager (i.e. you just ran make && make install), you should
remove it before installing this version. I was incorrectly installing some
binaries  to  .../share/viewglob  instead  of  .../lib/viewglob, which goes
against the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard. If you've still got the  sources
to  the old install, a make uninstall should do the job. If not, the direc
tory which you want to remove is, by default, /usr/local/share/viewglob.

The display can now be toggled on and off with the sequence Ctrl-G  <SPACE>
(or  Ctrl-G  Ctrl-<SPACE>). If the display is closed manually, viewglob now
interprets it as toggling off, and doesn't disable  itself.  A  toggled-off
display  still  follows  the  state of the shell (i.e. when it's toggled on
it'll be at the right place).

To disable viewglob (which you used to be able to do by  closing  the  dis
play),  you  can  use the sequence Ctrl-G Q (but not Ctrl-G Ctrl-Q, because
that's too easy to type accidentally). Disabling a viewglob shell  is  non-
recoverable.

When you might want to toggle off the display (C-g <SPACE>):

     -  You're  dealing  with  a  directory or a series of directories that
        have a lot of files, and the display's refresh time is slowing  you
        down.

     -  You  need the extra memory (the display's memory footprint is some
        times not as small as it probably should be); when the  display  is
        "toggled off", all of its memory is freed.

     -  It's just in the way.

When you might want to disable viewglob (C-g q):

     -  You  just  want  a  regular shell, but you want to keep the current
        environment.

     -  Maybe you're compiling in the background, and your  viewglob  shell
        has begun to stutter.

NEW IN PREVIOUS RELEASE 0.9
---------------------------

Preliminary  support for zsh has been added. From my testing viewglob works
well with the advanced completion features of zsh, but there is  a  lot  of
ground  to  cover. If you use zsh and find that viewglob isn't working well
at all, please let me know - I'd be mostly interested in seeing your .zshrc
file.

This release also adds the capability to navigate the display from the ter
minal. This is done in a way similar to GNU screen's Ctrl-A commands -  you
type the control key followed by a direction character.

I've  chosen  Ctrl-G as viewglob's control key, because a. the letter makes
sense, and b. Ctrl-G is by default just a beeping (i.e. more annoying) ver
sion  of  Ctrl-C in most shell configurations, and I don't think people use
it. But I could be wrong.

If you think this is a bad move, let me know. Making the control  key  con
figurable would complicate things, but I'd be willing to go the distance if
there's a reason to do so.

I've tried to accomodate both emacs and vi users for key bindings:

     Down:       j, n, <Down Arrow>

     Up:         k, p, <Up Arrow>

     Page Down:  f, d, <PgDown>

     Page Up:    b, u, <PgUp>

The Ctrl counterparts also work.

