Ubuntu Manpage: ranger - visual file manager

NAME

       ranger - visual file manager

SYNOPSIS

       ranger [--version] [--help] [--debug] [--clean] [--confdir=directory] [--copy-config=which]
       [--choosefile=target] [--choosefiles=target] [--choosedir=target] [--selectfile=filepath]
       [--list-unused-keys] [--list-tagged-files=tag] [--profile] [--cmd=command] [path]

DESCRIPTION

       ranger is a console file manager with VI key bindings.  It provides a minimalistic and nice curses
       interface with a view on the directory hierarchy.  The secondary task of ranger is to figure out which
       program you want to use to open your files with.

       This manual mainly contains information on the usage of ranger.  Refer to the README for install
       instructions and to doc/HACKING for development specific information.  For configuration, see the files
       in ranger/config.  They are usually installed to /etc/ranger/config and can be obtained with ranger's
       --copy-config option.

       Inside ranger, you can press 1? for a list of key bindings, 2? for a list of commands and 3? for a list
       of settings.

OPTIONS

-d, --debug Activate the debug mode: Whenever an error occurs, ranger will exit and print a full
traceback. The default behavior is to merely print the name of the exception in the
statusbar/log and try to keep running.

-c, --clean Activate the clean mode: ranger will not access or create any configuration files nor will
it leave any traces on your system. This is useful when your configuration is broken, when
you want to avoid clutter, etc.

-r dir, --confdir=dir
Change the configuration directory of ranger from ~/.config/ranger to "dir".

--copy-config=file
Create copies of the default configuration files in your local configuration directory.
Existing ones will not be overwritten. Possible values: all, rc, commands, scope.

--choosefile=targetfile
Allows you to pick a file with ranger. This changes the behavior so that when you open a
file, ranger will exit and write the absolute path of that file into targetfile.

--choosefiles=targetfile
Allows you to pick multiple files with ranger. This changes the behavior so that when you
open a file, ranger will exit and write the absolute paths of all selected files into
targetfile, adding one newline after each filename.

--choosedir=targetfile
Allows you to pick a directory with ranger. When you exit ranger, it will write the last
visited directory into targetfile.

--selectfile=targetfile
Open ranger with targetfile selected.

--list-unused-keys
List common keys which are not bound to any action in the "browser" context. This list is
not complete, you can bind any key that is supported by curses: use the key code returned
by "getch()".

--list-tagged-files=tag
List all files which are tagged with the given tag. Note: Tags are single characters. The
default tag is "*"

--profile Print statistics of CPU usage on exit.

--cmd=command Execute the command after the configuration has been read. Use this option multiple times
to run multiple commands.

--version Print the version and exit.

-h, --help Print a list of options and exit.

CONCEPTS

This part explains how certain parts of ranger work and how they can be used efficiently.

TAGS
Tags are single characters which are displayed left of a filename. You can use tags however you want.
Press "t" to toggle tags and "T" to remove any tags of the selection. The default tag is an Asterisk
("*"), but you can use any tag by typing "<tagname>.

PREVIEWS
By default, only text files are previewed, but you can enable external preview scripts by setting the
option "use_preview_script" and "preview_files" to true.

This default script is ~/.config/ranger/scope.sh. It contains more documentation and calls to the
programs lynx and elinks for html, highlight for text/code, img2txt for images, atool for archives,
pdftotext for PDFs and mediainfo for video and audio files.

Install these programs (just the ones you need) and scope.sh will automatically use them.

Independently of the preview script, there is a feature to preview images by drawing them directly into
the terminal. This does not work over ssh, requires certain terminals (tested on "xterm" and "urxvt")
and is incompatible with tmux, although it works with screen.

To enable this feature, install the program "w3m" and set the option "preview_images" to true.

SELECTION
The selection is defined as "All marked files IF THERE ARE ANY, otherwise the current file." Be aware of
this when using the :delete command, which deletes all files in the selection.

You can mark files by pressing <Space>, v, etc. A yellow Mrk symbol at the bottom right indicates that
there are marked files in this directory.

MACROS
Macros can be used in commands to abbreviate things.

%f the highlighted file
%d the path of the current directory
%s the selected files in the current directory.
%t all tagged files in the current directory
%c the full paths of the currently copied/cut files

The macros %f, %d and %s also have upper case variants, %F, %D and %S, which refer to the next tab. To
refer to specific tabs, add a number in between. (%7s = selection of the seventh tab.)

%c is the only macro which ranges out of the current directory. So you may "abuse" the copying function
for other purposes, like diffing two files which are in different directories:

Yank the file A (type yy), move to the file B, then type
@diff %c %f

Macros for file paths are generally shell-escaped so they can be used in the "shell" command.

Additionally, if you create a key binding that uses <any>, a special statement which accepts any key,
then the macro %any (or %any0, %any1, %any2, ...) can be used in the command to get the key that was
pressed.

BOOKMARKS
Type m<key> to bookmark the current directory. You can re-enter this directory by typing `<key>. <key>
can be any letter or digit. Unlike vim, both lowercase and uppercase bookmarks are persistent.

Each time you jump to a bookmark, the special bookmark at key ` will be set to the last directory. So
typing "``" gets you back to where you were before.

Bookmarks are selectable when tabbing in the :cd command.

Note: The bookmarks ' (Apostrophe) and ` (Backtick) are the same.

RIFLE
Rifle is the file opener of ranger. It can be used as a standalone program or a python module. It is
located at ranger/ext/rifle.py. In contrast to other, more simple file openers, rifle can automatically
find installed programs so it can be used effectively out of the box on a variety of systems.

It's configured in rifle.conf through a list of conditions and commands. For each line the conditions
are checked and if they are met, the respective command is taken into consideration. By default, simply
the first matching rule is used. In ranger, you can list and choose rules by typing "r" or simply by
typing "<rulenumber><enter>". If you use rifle standalone, you can list all rules with the "-l" option
and pick a rule with "-p <number>".

The rules, along with further documentation, are contained in ranger/config/rifle.conf.

FLAGS
Flags give you a way to modify the behavior of the spawned process. They are used in the commands
":open_with" (key "r") and ":shell" (key "!").

f Fork the process. (Run in background)
c Run the current file only, instead of the selection
r Run application with root privilege (requires sudo)
t Run application in a new terminal window

There are some additional flags that can currently be used only in the "shell" command: (for example
":shell -w df")

p Redirect output to the pager
s Silent mode. Output will be discarded.
w Wait for an Enter-press when the process is done

By default, all the flags are off unless specified otherwise in the rifle.conf configuration file. You
can specify as many flags as you want. An uppercase flag negates the effect: "ffcccFsf" is equivalent to
"cs".

The terminal program name for the "t" flag is taken from the environment variable $TERMCMD. If it
doesn't exist, it tries to extract it from $TERM and uses "xterm" as a fallback if that fails.

Examples: ":open_with c" will open the file that you currently point at, even if you have selected other
files. ":shell -w df" will run "df" and wait for you to press Enter before switching back to ranger.

PLUGINS
ranger's plugin system consists of python files which are located in ~/.config/ranger/plugins/ and are
imported in alphabetical order when starting ranger. A plugin changes rangers behavior by overwriting or
extending a function that ranger uses. This allows you to change pretty much every part of ranger, but
there is no guarantee that things will continue to work in future versions as the source code evolves.

There are some hooks that are specifically made for the use in plugins. They are functions that start
with hook_ and can be found throughout the code.

grep 'def hook_' -r /path/to/rangers/source

Also try:

pydoc ranger.api

Note that you should NOT simply overwrite a function unless you know what you're doing. Instead, save
the existing function and call it from your new one. This way, multiple plugins can use the same hook.
There are several sample plugins in the examples/ directory, including a hello-world plugin that
describes this procedure.

KEY BINDINGS

Key bindings are defined in the file ranger/config/rc.conf. Check this file for a list of all key
bindings. You can copy it to your local configuration directory with the --copy-config=rc option.

Many key bindings take an additional numeric argument. Type 5j to move down 5 lines, 2l to open a file
in mode 2, 10<Space> to mark 10 files.

This list contains the most useful bindings:

MAIN BINDINGS
h, j, k, l Move left, down, up or right

^D or J, ^U or K
Move a half page down, up

H, L Move back and forward in the history

gg Move to the top

G Move to the bottom

^R Reload everything

^L Redraw the screen

i Display the current file in a bigger window.

E Edit the current file in $EDITOR ("nano" by default)

S Open a shell in the current directory

? Opens this man page

<octal>=, +<who><what>, -<who><what>
Change the permissions of the selection. For example, "777=" is equivalent to "chmod 777
%s", "+ar" does "chmod a+r %s", "-ow" does "chmod o-w %s" etc.

yy Copy (yank) the selection, like pressing Ctrl+C in modern GUI programs.

dd Cut the selection, like pressing Ctrl+X in modern GUI programs.

pp Paste the files which were previously copied or cut, like pressing Ctrl+V in modern GUI
programs.

po Paste the copied/cut files, overwriting existing files.

mX Create a bookmark with the name X

`X Move to the bookmark with the name X

n Find the next file. By default, this gets you to the newest file in the directory, but if
you search something using the keys /, cm, ct, ..., it will get you to the next found
entry.

N Find the previous file.

oX Change the sort method (like in mutt)

zX Change settings. See the settings section for a list of settings and their hotkey.

u? Universal undo-key. Depending on the key that you press after "u", it either restores
closed tabs (uq), removes tags (ut), clears the copy/cut buffer (ud), starts the reversed
visual mode (uV) or clears the selection (uv).

f Quickly navigate by entering a part of the filename.

Space Mark a file.

v Toggle the mark-status of all files

V Starts the visual mode, which selects all files between the starting point and the cursor
until you press ESC. To unselect files in the same way, use "uV".

/ Search for files in the current directory.

: Open the console.

Alt-N Open a tab. N has to be a number from 0 to 9. If the tab doesn't exist yet, it will be
created.

gn, ^N Create a new tab.

gt, gT Go to the next or previous tab. You can also use TAB and SHIFT+TAB instead.

gc, ^W Close the current tab. The last tab cannot be closed this way.

READLINE-LIKE BINDINGS IN THE CONSOLE
^B, ^F Move left and right (B for back, F for forward)

^P, ^N Move up and down (P for previous, N for Next)

^A, ^E Move to the start or to the end

^D Delete the current character.

^H Backspace.

MOUSE BUTTONS

       Left Mouse Button
           Click on something and you'll move there.  To run a file, "enter" it, like a directory, by clicking
           on the preview.

       Right Mouse Button
           Enter a directory or run a file.

       Scroll Wheel
           Scrolls up or down.  You can point at the column of the parent directory while scrolling to switch
           directories.

SETTINGS

       This section lists all built-in settings of ranger.  The valid types for the value are in [brackets].
       The hotkey to toggle the setting is in <brokets>, if a hotkey exists.

       Settings can be changed in the file ~/.config/ranger/rc.conf or on the fly with the command :set option
       value.  Examples:

        set column_ratios 1,2,3
        set show_hidden true

       The different types of settings and an example for each type:

        setting type   | example values
        ---------------+----------------------------
        bool           | true, false
        integer        | 1, 23, 1337
        string         | foo, hello world
        list           | 1,2,3,4
        none           | none

       You can view a list of all settings and their current values by pressing "3?"  in ranger.

       autosave_bookmarks [bool]
           Save bookmarks (used with mX and `X) instantly?  This helps to synchronize bookmarks between multiple
           ranger instances but leads to *slight* performance loss.  When false, bookmarks are saved when ranger
           is exited.

       autoupdate_cumulative_size [bool]
           You can display the "real" cumulative size of directories by using the command :get_cumulative_size
           or typing "dc".  The size is expensive to calculate and will not be updated automatically.  You can
           choose to update it automatically though by turning on this option.

       collapse_preview [bool] <zc>
           When no preview is visible, should the last column be squeezed to make use of the whitespace?

       colorscheme [string]
           Which colorscheme to use?  These colorschemes are available by default: default, jungle, snow.  Snow
           is a monochrome scheme, jungle replaces blue directories with green ones for better visibility on
           certain terminals.

       column_ratios [list]
           How many columns are there, and what are their relative widths?  For example, a value of 1,1,1 would
           mean 3 evenly sized columns. 1,1,1,1,4 means 5 columns with the preview column being as large as the
           other columns combined.

       confirm_on_delete [string]
           Ask for a confirmation when running the "delete" command?  Valid values are "always" (default),
           "never", "multiple". With "multiple", ranger will ask only if you delete multiple files at once.

       dirname_in_tabs [bool]
           Display the directory name in tabs?

       display_size_in_main_column [bool]
           Display the file size in the main column?

       display_size_in_status_bar [bool]
           Display the file size in the status bar?

       display_tags_in_all_columns [bool]
           Display tags in all columns?

       draw_borders [bool]
           Draw borders around columns?

       draw_progress_bar_in_statusbar [bool]
           Draw a progress bar in the status bar which displays the average state of all currently running tasks
           which support progress bars?

       flushinput [bool] <zi>
           Flush the input after each key hit?  One advantage is that when scrolling down with "j", ranger stops
           scrolling instantly when you release the key.  One disadvantage is that when you type commands
           blindly, some keys might get lost.

       hidden_filter [string]
           A regular expression pattern for files which should be hidden.  For example, this pattern will hide
           all files that start with a dot or end with a tilde.

            set hidden_filter ^\.|~$

       max_console_history_size [integer, none]
           How many console commands should be kept in history?  "none" will disable the limit.

       max_history_size [integer, none]
           How many directory changes should be kept in history?

       mouse_enabled [bool] <zm>
           Enable mouse input?

       padding_right [bool]
           When collapse_preview is on and there is no preview, should there remain a little padding on the
           right?  This allows you to click into that space to run the file.

       preview_directories [bool] <zP>
           Preview directories in the preview column?

       preview_files [bool] <zp>
           Preview files in the preview column?

       preview_images [bool]
           Draw images inside the console with the external program w3mimgpreview?

       preview_script [string, none]
           Which script should handle generating previews?  If the file doesn't exist, or use_preview_script is
           off, ranger will handle previews itself by just printing the content.

       save_console_history [bool]
           Should the console history be saved on exit?  If disabled, the console history is reset when you
           restart ranger.

       scroll_offset [integer]
           Try to keep this much space between the top/bottom border when scrolling.

       shorten_title [integer, bool]
           Trim the title of the window if it gets long?  The number defines how many directories are displayed
           at once, False turns off this feature.

       show_cursor [bool]
           Always show the terminal cursor?

       show_hidden_bookmarks [bool]
           Show dotfiles in the bookmark preview window? (Type ')

       show_hidden [bool] <zh>, <^H>
           Show hidden files?

       sort_case_insensitive [bool] <zc>
           Sort case-insensitively?  If true, "a" will be listed before "B" even though its ASCII value is
           higher.

       sort_directories_first [bool] <zd>
           Sort directories first?

       sort_reverse [bool] <or>
           Reverse the order of files?

       sort [string] <oa>, <ob>, <oc>, <om>, <on>, <ot>, <os>
           Which sorting mechanism should be used?  Choose one of atime, basename, ctime, mtime, natural, type,
           size

           Note: You can reverse the order by typing an uppercase second letter in the key combination, e.g.
           "oN" to sort from Z to A.

       status_bar_on_top [bool]
           Put the status bar at the top of the window?

       tilde_in_titlebar [bool]
           Abbreviate $HOME with ~ in the title bar (first line) of ranger?

       unicode_ellipsis [bool]
           Use a unicode "..." character instead of "~" to mark cut-off filenames?

       update_title [bool]
           Set a window title?

       update_tmux_title [bool]
           Set the title to "ranger" in the tmux program?

       use_preview_script [bool] <zv>
           Use the preview script defined in the setting preview_script?

       xterm_alt_key [bool]
           Enable this if key combinations with the Alt Key don't work for you.  (Especially on xterm)

COMMANDS

You can enter the commands in the console which is opened by pressing ":".

You can always get a list of the currently existing commands by typing "2?" in ranger. For your
convenience, this is a list of the "public" commands including their parameters, excluding descriptions:

alias [newcommand] [oldcommand]
bulkrename
cd [directory]
chain command1[; command2[; command3...]]
chmod octal_number
cmap key command
console [-pSTARTPOSITION] command
copycmap key newkey [newkey2...]
copymap key newkey [newkey2...]
copypmap key newkey [newkey2...]
copytmap key newkey [newkey2...]
cunmap keys...
delete
edit [filename]
eval [-q] python_code
filter [string]
find pattern
grep pattern
load_copy_buffer
map key command
mark pattern
mark_tag [tags]
mkdir dirname
open_with [application] [flags] [mode]
pmap key command
punmap keys...
quit
quit!
relink newpath
rename newname
save_copy_buffer
search pattern
search_inc pattern
set option value
setlocal [path=<path>] option value
shell [-FLAGS] command
terminal
tmap key command
touch filename
travel pattern
tunmap keys...
unmap keys...
unmark pattern
unmark_tag [tags]

There are additional commands which are directly translated to python functions, one for every method in
the ranger.core.actions.Actions class. They are not documented here, since they are mostly for key
bindings, not to be typed in by a user. Read the source if you are interested in them.

These are the public commands including their descriptions:

alias [newcommand] [oldcommand]
Copies the oldcommand as newcommand.

bulkrename
This command opens a list of selected files in an external editor. After you edit and save the file,
it will generate a shell script which does bulk renaming according to the changes you did in the file.

This shell script is opened in an editor for you to review. After you close it, it will be executed.

cd [directory]
The cd command changes the directory. The command ":cd -" is equivalent to typing ``.

chain command1[; command2[; command3...]]
Combines multiple commands into one, separated by semicolons.

chmod octal_number
Sets the permissions of the selection to the octal number.

The octal number is between 000 and 777. The digits specify the permissions for the user, the group and
others. A 1 permits execution, a 2 permits writing, a 4 permits reading. Add those numbers to combine
them. So a 7 permits everything.

Key bindings in the form of [-+]<who><what> and <octal>= also exist. For example, +ar allows reading
for everyone, -ow forbids others to write and 777= allows everything.

FILES

ranger reads several configuration files which are located in $HOME/.config/ranger or
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ranger if $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is defined. You can use the --copy-config option to obtain
the default configuration files. Each of the files contains further documentation.

You don't need to copy the whole file though, most configuration files are overlaid on top of the
defaults (commands.py, rc.conf) or can be sub-classed (colorschemes).

When starting ranger with the --clean option, it will not access or create any of these files.

CONFIGURATION
rc.conf Contains a list of commands which are executed on startup. Mostly key bindings and settings
are defined here.

commands.py
A python module that defines commands which can be used in ranger's console by typing ":" or in
the rc.conf file.

rifle.conf
This is the configuration file for the built-in file launcher called "rifle".

scope.sh This is a script that handles file previews. When the options use_preview_script and
preview_files are set, the program specified in the option preview_script is run and its output
and/or exit code determines rangers reaction.

colorschemes/
Colorschemes can be placed here.

plugins/ Plugins can be placed here.

STORAGE
bookmarks This file contains a list of bookmarks. The syntax is /^(.):(.*)$/. The first character is the
bookmark key and the rest after the colon is the path to the file. In ranger, bookmarks can be
set by typing m<key>, accessed by typing '<key> and deleted by typing um<key>.

copy_buffer
When running the command :save_copy_buffer, the paths of all currently copied files are saved
in this file. You can later run :load_copy_buffer to copy the same files again, pass them to
another ranger instance or process them in a script.

history Contains a list of commands that have been previously typed in.

tagged Contains a list of tagged files. The syntax is /^(.:)?(.*)$/ where the first letter is the
optional name of the tag and the rest after the optional colon is the path to the file. In
ranger, tags can be set by pressing t and removed with T. To assign a named tag, type
"<tagname>.

ENVIRONMENT

       These environment variables have an effect on ranger:

       RANGER_LEVEL
               ranger sets this environment variable to "1" or increments it if it already exists.  External
               programs can determine whether they were spawned from ranger by checking for this variable.

       RANGER_LOAD_DEFAULT_RC
               If this variable is set to FALSE, ranger will not load the default rc.conf.  This can save time
               if you copied the whole rc.conf to ~/.config/ranger/ and don't need the default one at all.

       EDITOR  Defines the editor to be used for the "E" key.  Defaults to "nano".

       SHELL   Defines the shell that ranger is going to use with the :shell command and the "S" key.  Defaults
               to "/bin/sh".

       TERMCMD Defines the terminal emulator command that ranger is going to use with the :terminal command and
               the "t" run flag.  Defaults to "xterm".

       XDG_CONFIG_HOME
               Specifies the directory for configuration files. Defaults to $HOME/.config.

       PYTHONOPTIMIZE
               This variable determines the optimize level of python.

               Using PYTHONOPTIMIZE=1 (like python -O) will make python discard assertion statements.  You will
               gain efficiency at the cost of losing some debug info.

               Using PYTHONOPTIMIZE=2 (like python -OO) will additionally discard any docstrings.  Using this
               will disable the <F1> key on commands.

EXAMPLES

       There are various examples on how to extend ranger with plugins or combine ranger with other programs.
       These can be found in the examples/ directory that is provided along with the source code.

LICENSE

       GNU General Public License 3 or (at your option) any later version.

LINKS

       Download: http://ranger.nongnu.org/ranger-stable.tar.gz <http://ranger.nongnu.org/ranger-stable.tar.gz>
       The project page: <http://ranger.nongnu.org/>
       The mailing list: <http://savannah.nongnu.org/mail/?group=ranger>

       ranger is maintained with the git version control system.  To fetch a fresh copy, run:

        git clone git://git.savannah.nongnu.org/ranger.git

BUGS

       Report bugs here: <http://savannah.nongnu.org/bugs/?group=ranger>

       Please include as much relevant information as possible.  For the most diagnostic output, run ranger like
       this: "PYTHONOPTIMIZE= ranger --debug"