MX Linux Forum

Hello,
I am new to the forum.
I am using MX Linux 18 and I find it very interesting.
I like the behaviour of Thunar when it shows files with a sort of web link. I think it should open the file clicking the link but it should just select it when clicking on the remaining part.
Furthermore I see a strange behaviour because in various situations a single click is enough to open the file when it is in the first position of the list, while double click is necessary when it is not in the first position.
Various applications have other behaviours, if I am not wrong, when it comes to selecting files.
Will the behaviour be normalized everywhere?

Welcome to the Forum.

Will the behaviour be normalized everywhere?

I'm not quite sure what you mean with this question, sorry. We have little control over Thunar in general, since it is an integral part of Xfce4 itself. You can switch to a double click if you want: Thunar > Edit > Preferences, uncheck Single click.

You can also set the click behavior in MX Tweak.

Example:
when I want to upload files in Firefox or Chrome and I have to explore folders, I see that when I click once the first file or folder in the list it is opened while if it is not on top of the list I have to click two times.
Similar behaviour when saving files and so on. It is very confusive.
It is the first time I see such a thing.

I don't follow that, but you can change the behavior as we have indicated.

It is the first time I see such a thing.

Have you used an Xfce-based distro before?

I have used XFCE distros but for short time. So I cannot say the bug is not present nowadays on other distros.
I think that (when uploading files in browser):
-click if file/folder is on top of the list -> open
-click if file/folder is not on top of the list ->select
is not good, it is a bug, if it stays I cannot use MX Linux. Is it not possible to fix?

The file select dialog for Firefox or Chrome is not the same as Thunar. But I don't think I've ever seen different behaviour depending on where the file is located on the list. Weird.

P5music wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 3:56 pm Example:
when I want to upload files in Firefox or Chrome and I have to explore folders, I see that when I click once the first file or folder in the list it is opened while if it is not on top of the list I have to click two times.
Similar behaviour when saving files and so on. It is very confusive.
It is the first time I see such a thing.

In the file-chooser dialog the browser is using, if the first file in the list is already
marked/preselected - clearly visble as marked/selected - hence you need only click once
to open/choose this file. All others you need to selected first and either click again to open
or click on the field "Open".
As Sunrat already mentioned, the file-chooser dialog has nothing todo with Thunar file-manager.

Ok, I said about thunar too but now I am talking about browser file selection. I have changed Thunar settings and now only double click is for opening files on my system. Thunar has other strangeness because of this but it's not for this thread (try to select multiple files and drag and drop with CTRL key pressed so to copy files, the file you click on to start drag and drop is not dragged).
Now, about file selection in browsers, I see what you say is normal, that is, selection is active on the first element of the list so a single click is enough to select, so I have to think about this every time a swiftly have to go deep in a folder hierarchy.
Is it normal in XFCE? Ok, I see. It's not for me.
Thank

I'm not clear quite what the problem is here. Perhaps some screenshots or a short video would illustrate P5music's problem?
Certainly once 'single click' file opening has been disabled in thunar and on the desktop I see no difference at all selecting and opening files in MX when compared to any other desktop environment or operating system.

I edited my last post so now the two problems do not appear merged together.

There are other file managers available via synaptic that might fit your preferences better.
I currently prefer doublecmd & thunar:
caja from Mate
dolphin (from Kde Plasma)
doublecmd (twin-pane)
fdclone (console)
gentoo (2 pane)
krusader (2 pane from Kde)
mc (terminal, like old Norton Cmdr)
nautilus (from gnome)
nemo (from Cinnamon)
pcmanfm (Gtk2 based)
ranger (ncurses in console)
rox-filer
spacefm (multi-panel)
sunflower (twin panel)
tuxcmd (Gtk2 based)
worker (configurable two panel fm)
xfe (X11)
xmonad (lightweight fm)

@Richard
Would installing a new file manager change also the broswer file-upload selection behaviour?

One way to find out ... try pcmanfm, which many people seem to like.

FWIW: I am currently testing Polo (in our Test Repo) which I like very much so far.

P5music wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 6:51 amWould installing a new file manager change also the broswer file-upload selection behaviour?

No, you would need to change that in the system preferences, as follows:
Start Menu > Settings > Preferred Applications > Utilities

which will change the default file manager for the system.

@Richard
About file-upload It's the same with pcmanfm as default file manager too: click on first position -> open, click on other positions -> select.
Maybe I have to logout.

To select a group, put the cursor/highlight on the first file,
hold the Ctrl key and click on each additional file to be copied, Ctrl-c to copy all selected,
then move to where you which to copy and Ctrl-v.

Ctrl and drag will move the file(s)

@Richard
I had the same discussion for another distro. I do not know the reason someone always says that it's not a bug the drag&drop issue.
It is very easy for you to check, when you select some files and then perform ctrl+click drag&drop, some are copied (and not just moved) but not the one on which the click is performed. If ctrl key is not pressed the files are all moved, also the one on which the click happened to be.

It sounds to me that what the OP is asking about is the Single Click option that is activated, instead of the standard Double Click.
Yes, it can be changed, in settings in Thunar, AFAIR.

P5music wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 6:51 am Would installing a new file manager change also the broswer file-upload selection behaviour?

The file-upload dialog used by most browser is not diretly related to the default file-manager
or whether other file managers are installed within the system.
Gtk-based browser do use a file-chooser gtk-library, Qt-based browser use their own Qt-file-chooser lib's.
They might look similar, or the file-manger might also use internaly the file-chooser lib,
but setting the default file manager within the desktop preferences will not change the file-chooser lib used
within (most) browsers.

HTH