Ranger (file manager)

Last updated
ranger
Developer(s) Toon Nolten, Wojciech Siewierski, Roman Zimbelmann [1]
Initial releaseJune 9, 2010;14 years ago (2010-06-09) [1]
Stable release
1.9.3 [2]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg / 31 December 2019
Repository
Written in Python
Operating system Linux
FreeBSD
OS X
Size 274 KB (tar.gz source) [3]
Available inEnglish only [4]
Type File manager
License GPL-3.0 [5]
Website ranger.github.io   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

ranger is a free and open-source file manager with text-based user interface for Unix-like systems. It is developed by Roman Zimbelmann and licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. The program can accomplish file management tasks with a few keystrokes, and mouse input is optional. In conjunction with extensions including the rifle file opener and scope.sh, ranger can be scripted to open files with pre-defined programs, and to display a preview of the selected file by calling external programs. [6]

Contents

Features

Design

ranger is written in Python and the text-based interface uses ncurses. [7] [8] The program makes use of the Miller columns visualization technique to display folder structures in three columns, whose default width ratios are 1:3:4. The currently active folder is always displayed in the central column, while folders higher up in the hierarchy are on the left. The rightmost column is used for displaying deeper folders and file previews. [5] [9]

Configuration

ranger borrows its keybindings from vi where possible, but also accepts mouse buttons and shares a few keybindings with GNU Readline and Midnight Commander. All configurable keybindings are defined in the ranger/config/rc.conf configuration file, which is located in $HOME/.config/ by default. [10]

Comparison with other file managers

Due to its use of the Miller columns layout, ranger has been compared to Finder, [11] [12] the default file manager used on the classic Mac OS and macOS operating systems. It has also been suggested as a viable alternative to users accustomed to Directory Opus. [13] [14] ranger shares similarities with other text-based file managers including Midnight Commander, from which it borrowed its function key keyboard shortcuts, and with vifm, which also borrows features from vi and Mutt. In addition, most core utilities related to file management (cd, ls, rm, mv, ln, touch, etc.) are available from within ranger's distinct command language layer. [15] File browser with a similar text user interface include rover [16] and nnn. [17]

Reception

A 2012 survey among Arch Linux users found that ranger was the most used text-based file manager among respondents, surpassing Midnight Commander, the second most widely used text-based file manager, by a factor of two and a half (20% to 8%). [18] ranger also received 0.9% of votes in the "Best File Manager" category in a 2013 survey by Linux Journal. [19] LinuxLinks named it one of the "10 Best Orthodox Free Linux File Managers", and one of its "5 Top Console Linux File Managers". [20] [21] It is often cited in magazine articles and software blogs for power users as an illustration of the power and versatility of the command line interface. [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

A file manager or file browser is a computer program that provides a user interface to manage files and folders. The most common operations performed on files or groups of files include creating, opening, renaming, copying, moving, deleting and searching for files, as well as modifying file attributes, properties and file permissions. Folders and files may be displayed in a hierarchical tree based on their directory structure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graphical user interface</span> User interface allowing interaction through graphical icons and visual indicators

A graphical user interface, or GUI, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and visual indicators such as secondary notation. In many applications, GUIs are used instead of text-based UIs, which are based on typed command labels or text navigation. GUIs were introduced in reaction to the perceived steep learning curve of command-line interfaces (CLIs), which require commands to be typed on a computer keyboard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GNOME Files</span> File manager

GNOME Files, formerly and internally known as Nautilus, is the official file manager for the GNOME desktop. GNOME Files, same as Nautilus, is a free and open-source software under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finder (software)</span> Macintosh file manager and GUI shell

The Finder is the default file manager and graphical user interface shell used on all Macintosh operating systems. Described in its "About" window as "The Macintosh Desktop Experience", it is responsible for the launching of other applications, and for the overall user management of files, disks, and network volumes. It was introduced with the Macintosh 128K—the first Macintosh computer—and also exists as part of GS/OS on the Apple IIGS. It was rewritten completely with the release of Mac OS X in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">File Explorer</span> File manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system

File Explorer, previously known as Windows Explorer, is a file manager application and default desktop environment that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface for accessing the file systems, as well as user interface elements such as the taskbar and desktop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norton Commander</span> Discontinued orthodox file manager software

Norton Commander (NC) is a discontinued prototypical orthodox file manager (OFM), written by John Socha and released by Peter Norton Computing. NC provides a text-based user interface for managing files on top of MS-DOS. It was officially produced between 1986 and 1998. The last MS-DOS version of Norton Commander, 5.51, was released on July 1, 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midnight Commander</span> Orthodox file manager

GNU Midnight Commander is a free cross-platform orthodox file manager. It was started by Miguel de Icaza in 1994 as a clone of the then-popular Norton Commander.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Far Manager</span> File and archive manager for Microsoft Windows

Far Manager is an orthodox file manager for Microsoft Windows and is a clone of Norton Commander. Far Manager uses the Win32 console and has a keyboard-oriented user interface.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Directory Opus</span>

Directory Opus is a file manager program, originally written for the Amiga computer system in the early to mid-1990s. Commercial development on the version for the Amiga ceased in 1997. Directory Opus is still being actively developed and sold for the Microsoft Windows operating system by GPSoftware and there are open source releases of Directory Opus 4 and 5 for Amiga.

The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of notable file managers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miller columns</span> Visualization of tree-type data structures

Miller columns are a browsing/visualization technique that can be applied to tree structures. The columns allow multiple levels of the hierarchy to be open at once, and provide a visual representation of the current location. It is closely related to techniques used earlier in the Smalltalk browser, but was independently invented by Mark S. Miller in 1980 at Yale University. The technique was then used at Project Xanadu, Datapoint, and NeXT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music on Console</span> Console audio player

Music On Console (MOC) is an ncurses-based console audio player for Linux/UNIX. It was originally written by Damian Pietras, and is currently maintained by John Fitzgerald. It is designed to be powerful and easy to use, with an interface inspired by the Midnight Commander console file manager. The default interface layout comprises a file list in the left pane with the playlist on the right. It is configurable with customizable key bindings, color schemes and interface layouts. MOC comes with several themes defined in text files, which can be modified to create new layouts. It supports ALSA, OSS or JACK outputs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GNOME Commander</span> Twin-panel file manager for the GNOME desktop

GNOME Commander is a 'two panel' graphical file manager for GNOME. It is built using the GTK+ toolkit and GVfs.

A console application or command-line program is a computer program designed to be used via a text-only user interface, such as a text terminal, the command-line interface of some operating systems or the text-based interface included with most graphical user interface (GUI) operating systems, such as the Windows Console in Microsoft Windows, the Terminal in macOS, and xterm in Unix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Directory (computing)</span> File system structure for locating files

In computing, a directory is a file system cataloging structure which contains references to other computer files, and possibly other directories. On many computers, directories are known as folders, or drawers, analogous to a workbench or the traditional office filing cabinet. The name derives from books like a telephone directory that lists the phone numbers of all the people living in a certain area.

cmus Console audio player

cmus is a console audio player for Unix-like operating systems. cmus is distributed under the terms of the GPL-2.0-or-later and is operated exclusively through a text-based user interface, built with ncurses.

Nikolai Bezroukov is a Senior Internet Security Analyst at BASF Corporation and was member of Computer Science at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Also Webmaster of Open Source Software University, a volunteer technical site for the United Nations Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP) that helps with Internet connectivity and distributes Linux to developing countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brasero (software)</span> Open-source disc-burning GUI front-end

Brasero is a free and open-source disc-burning program for Unix-like operating systems, it serves as a graphical front-end to cdrtools, cdrskin, growisofs, and (optionally) libburn. It is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">XYplorer</span>

XYplorer is a file manager for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10, and 11. XYplorer is a hybrid file manager that combines features found in navigational and orthodox file managers. In addition to dual folder panes it features a file tree and a tabbed interface supporting drag-and-drop between tabs and panes. The program used to be available as Pro and Free versions. The Free version is still available as a feature-limited freeware version. The "Pro" was then dropped and just known as "XYPlorer". The program is available in a fully featured trialware version.

nnn (file manager) Free and open-source terminal file manager

nnn is a free and open-source, text-based file manager for Unix-like systems. It is a fork of noice and provides several additional features, while using a minimal memory footprint It uses low-level functions to access the file system and keeps the number of reads to a minimum, allowing it to perform well on embedded devices. As the base program follows a minimal design philosophy, additional features and functionality are available via user plugins.

References

  1. 1 2 "Ranger home page". Ranger - console file manager with VI key bindings. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  2. ↑ "Release 1.9.3". 31 December 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  3. ↑ "Download". ranger - file manager. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  4. ↑ "Ranger: le file-manager en python" (PDF). arpinux.org (in French). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2014. [...] le seul défaut de ranger serait qu'il est anglophone…
  5. 1 2 "Download". ranger - file manager. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
  6. ↑ Kemp, Juliet (16 August 2010). "Ranger: Console-Based File Management". ServerWatch. IT Business. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  7. ↑ Bezroukov, Dr. Nikolai. "History of Scripting Language based OFMs". Softpanorama. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  8. ↑ 黑日白月 (4 October 2010). "Ranger: 控制台下的文件管理器". LinuxTOY (in Chinese). Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  9. ↑ Arora, Himanshu (5 September 2013). "Ranger – A Text Based File Manager For Command Line Users". MyLinuxBook. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  10. ↑ Vogelgesang, Matthias (17 October 2012). "Ranger File Manager". Bloerg. Retrieved 18 June 2014. the first thing you will notice is a window layout similar to MacOS' finder
  11. ↑ Mottram, Jack (30 April 2010). "Ranger". One Thing Well. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  12. ↑ Hartnell, Brian (March 2012). "Directory Opus" (PDF). Full Circle Magazine (in French) (59): 42. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  13. ↑ Beckers, Ludo (April 2012). "Directory Opus" (PDF). Full Circle Magazine (in French) (60): 43. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  14. ↑ Bezroukov, Dr. Nikolai (November 2012). "OFM2012 -- Cutting Edge Features of Orthodox File Managers". Softpanorama. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  15. ↑ "Rover -- simple file browser for the terminal".
  16. ↑ "Jarun/NNN". GitHub . 26 October 2021.
  17. ↑ "LnF Awards 2012 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2012". bbs.archlinux.org. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  18. ↑ Shawn Powers (December 2013). "Readers' Choice Awards 2013" . Linux Journal (236): 79. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  19. ↑ 陈皓 (11 July 2012). "28个Unix/Linux的命令行神器". Chinese Software Developer Network (CSDN) (in Chinese). Retrieved 18 June 2014.
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