Contents->FAQ

This page has an online version which may contain updated information:
  1. How do I set up MIME Types, object icons, and the Open With list?
  2. Why does Drag & Drop not work with some applications?
  3. Why are keyboard keys difficult to use in navigating the lists?
  4. Are French and other languages supported?
  5. Why do progress dialogs stay visible after the operation has been completed?
  6. How do I drag an object across a long (obscured) list?
  7. How do I obtain multiple (file browser) panes?
  8. Is there a way to print files using Endeavour?
  9. How do I change the list colors & fonts?
  10. Why does running a second (or third, fourth...) Endeavour from the command line still only produces one single process?
  11. How do I uninstall Endeavour?
  12. Will Endeavour be ported to GTK2?
  13. How do I get Endeavour to work with my system's global MIME Types?
  14. How do I get Endeavour's Archiver to open an Archive on double-click?
  15. How do I get Endeavour to accurately detect a device's mount/unmount state?
  16. How come when I open an object the program is runned but does not open the object?

See also; Common Operations and HOWTOs & Tips


Q: How do I set up MIME Types, object icons, and the Open With list?

A: See MIME Types - Setting up MIME Types.


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Q: Why does Drag & Drop not work with some applications?

A: There are two probable causes;

  1. The application does not support the text/plain, text/uri-list, or STRING target types.
  2. The application is not parsing the URL string properly.

If you believe that the problem is the second case, then the cause is most likely that the address portion of the URL string is assumed to be an empty string (which it is not always the case) and some applications (unfortunately) assume that. To properly parse URL strings, programs should derive from the following sample code:


/* Returns a pointer to the start of the path found in the
 * given url_string or NULL on error.
 */
char *get_path_from_url_string(char *url_string)
{
        char *strptr;

        if(url_string == NULL)
                return(NULL);

        /* Incorrect protocol? */
        if(strncmp(url_string, "file://", 7))
                return(NULL);

        /* Seek to first '/' character after the protocol
         * portion of url_string.
         */
        return((char *)strchr(url_string + 7, '/'));
}

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Q: Why are keyboard keys difficult to use in navigating the lists?

A: Most of the keyboard keys used to control list item selecting and scrolling are based upon the default behavior of GTK's GtkCList widget. Any key operations that are above the GTK level of behavior are listed in Keys List.


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Q: Are French and other languages supported?

A: Yes, however support for certain languages are incomplete (and thus not supported).

2003 Oct 13 - As of version 2.3.4, the status of language support is as follows:

To compile the application for languages other than English (the default) see HOWTO - Other Languages.


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Q: Why do progress dialogs stay visible after the operation has been completed?

A: This is a bug that has been extensively researched and traced to the Window Manager level. The Window Managers Sawfish and Enlightenment have been demostrated to exhibit this behavior.

Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done at the Endeavour or GTK level, bug reports have already been filed with the Window Manager projects in question (July 2002).


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Q: How do I drag an object across a long (obscured) list?

A: Use the pointer in the following procedure:

  1. First select the object as you normally do by clicking on it (press and release with Button1)
  2. Then scroll up or down until the object (usually a directory object) becomes visible.
  3. Now press and hold Button1 anywhere on the list, then drag and move it over the target object (usually a directory object) and release Button1.

This behavior has been known to work with GTK 1.2.10. You can also select multiple objects in step 1, subsequent steps work in the same way.


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Q: How do I obtain multiple (file browser) panes?

A: Although each file browser window only contains one directory tree list and one contents list, you can still obtain multiple file browser windows by going to Window->New File Browser to create additional windows and use the Window Manager to tile them next to each other.

You may also want to hide some of the bars (ie find bar, mount bar) to simplify the arrangement (look under the View menu).


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Q: Is there a way to print files using Endeavour?

A: There is an informal way:

  1. Create a MIME Type.
  2. Set its Class to Application.
  3. Set its Type to application/print-text.
  4. Set its Location to your print spooler (we use /usr/bin/lpr for this example).
  5. Set its default command to:

To print using this method:

  1. Select the text file that you want to print.
  2. Right-click to map the right-click menu.
  3. Select Open With... on the right-click menu.
  4. Select the print spooler from the Open With list to print.

This method works for text files only, image files and other types of files will require a different print program.


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Q: How do I change the list colors & fonts?

A: As of version 2.3.4 you can change the colors and fonts by going to Settings->Customize->General.

As of version 2.1.19 you can change the colors and fonts from the command line, the arguments are as follows:

Where <color> is a standard X color spec such as #ff0000 (which is red) and <font> is a standard X font name such as -adobe-courier-medium-r-*-*-12-*-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1. For example, if you want a green foreground and dark blue background, run:

For additional command line arguments run:


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Q: Why does running a second (or third, fourth...) Endeavour from the command line still only produces one single process?

A: Endeavour 2 uses a system called Interprocess (or InterPS). This system maintains only one process of Endeavour 2 at any given time.

It works by allowing the first execution of Endeavour 2 to create a lock (in $HOME/.endeavour2/lock) which records that process' process ID (PID). Subsequent executions of Endeavour 2 will see that this lock exists and will (instead of running normally) send an Interprocess Command to the very first execution of Endeavour 2 (via the command file $HOME/.endeavour2/cmd and sending the signal SIGUSR1) to perform an operation such as opening a new File Browser or Properties Dialog.

Therefore this has the affect of allowing you to execute Endeavour 2 from the command line multiple times but only have one process of Endeavour 2 running per user.

If you need to restart Endeavour 2 (i.e. because you have made some changes to the configuration outside of the program and need them to take affect) then you need to close all of Endeavour 2's windows to ensure that the process has exited.


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Q: How do I uninstall Endeavour?

A: To uninstall Endeavour see HOWTO: Uninstall.


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Q: Will Endeavour be ported to GTK2?

A: 2004 Nov 1 - After a few attempts to port Endeavour Mark II to GTK2, it was determined that GTK2 is not compatable with GTK, and therefore it would involve a complete rewrite of Endeavour Mark II which is currently no available in our resources.

2003 Nov 13 - We are currently waiting for the portability of GTK2 to be as compatable as GTK1. Currently GTK2 is not useable on some systems due to library compatability requirements that GTK2 requires while GTK1 does not require.

We have high standards for minimal requirements we need to ensure that Endeavour does not take on an additional dependency that would render Endeavour unuseable to some users.


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Q: How do I get Endeavour to work with my system's global MIME Types?

A: See Syncronizing with the System's Global MIME Types


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Q: How do I get Endeavour's Archiver to open an Archive on double-click?

A:

  1. Create a MIME Type of the class File Format.
  2. Set its extensions to match the archive's extension (ie .tar.gz, .tar.bz2, .zip, etc).
  3. Set the handler to Endeavour Archiver.

For more information, see MIME Types.


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Q: How do I get Endeavour to accurately detect a device's mount/unmount state?

A: This usually suggests that the device was not properly set up (or was never set up in the first place).

When you run Endeavour for the first time, it coppies all of the devices from your global devices listing (usually from the file /etc/fstab) into its own listing of device references with default values. The default values are often not sufficient to properly detect, mount, unmount, eject, the device.

To set up Endeavour's device references, see Devices: Setting Up Device References.


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Q: How come when I open an object the program is runned but does not open the object?

A: There are two possibilities:

  1. There is no token specified in the MIME Type's command that was associated with the object.
  2. The program that was runned has a bug or was designed such that it does not open objects from the command line arguments.

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Endeavour Mark II is Copyright © 1997-2005 WolfPack Entertainment