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dmenu-extended

An extension to the original dmenu allowing super fast access to your files, folders, and programs. dmenu-extended has support for plugins, command aliasing, file filtering, and customisation. You can also use dmenu-extended with rofi!.

See it in action

Dmenu-extended demo

Feature Summary:

  • Indexes the files and folders you specify
  • Built in support for plugins (internet search, sudo, system package management)
  • Systemd integration for cache automatic rebuilding
  • Ability to swap the menu to Rofi
  • Support for scanning alias files (e.g. .bashrc)

Installation

Dependencies

  • Python - version 3.6 or higher
  • dmenu - version 4.5 or later

Quick dependency install:

  • Ubuntu - sudo apt-get install suckless-tools
  • Arch - sudo pacman -S dmenu
  • Fedora - sudo dnf install dmenu

Install Method 1: PIP (recommended)

sudo pip3 install --upgrade dmenu_extended

Alternatively, omit sudo from the above command to install dmenu-extended only for the current user.

To uninstall dmenu-extended, run sudo pip3 uninstall dmenu_extended. Note that if dmenu-extended was installed without sudo (or root), the uninstall command should also be run without sudo (or root).

Install Method 2: Install from Source

Dependencies:

  • python3-setuptools

Clone this repository using git, or download the zip file and extract its contents. From within the extracted folder, either execute setup.sh or, execute the following commands manually:

Build the package with:

python3 -m build --wheel

Then to install the package, choose one of the following two options:

sudo pip3 install --upgrade dist/dmenu_extended-*-py3-none-any.whl

Alternatively, omit sudo from the above command to install dmenu-extended only for the current user.

Method 3: Install via AUR

An AUR package is available here: dmenu-extended-git.

Usage

Create a keybinding

Test that the new menu has been installed by running dmenu_extended_run from your terminal. NOTE: The first run will be slow as it is set to scan you home folder recursively to build the cache.

The most productive way to use dmenu-extended is to bind the command dmenu_extended_run to an easy to reach key combo. The way in which you do this will be different depending on your desktop environment but here is a brief list.

Ubuntu (Unity), Debian (Gnome), Mint (Cinnamon)

  1. Open System settings -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts
  2. Click Custom shortcuts and then the + (add custom shortcut) to add a new command
  3. Enter "dmenu_extended" as the name
  4. Enter "dmenu_extended_run" as the command and click apply
  5. Click next disabled (unassigned)
  6. Press the desired combination of keys (e.g. Alt+Enter)

Tiling window managers

If you use a tiling window manager, you may already have a key-combination bound to launch dmenu (i.e. Ctrl+P). Edit your window managers configuration file to launch dmenu_extended_run instead.

Advanced keybindings

dmenu_extended_run supports automated menu item selection via argument passing. If, for example, you frequently use the 'Internet Search' plugin with a particular search provider, you may want a binding that takes you directly to that provider. To do this you might bind the following command to an alternate key combination:

dmenu_extended_run "-> Internet search: " "Wikipedia"

The arguments must be written exactly as they would appear in the menu. Any number of arguments can be passed and each will be executed in the order they are passed. Each item represents one item selection from a menu. Remember to quote each item so they are passed to the menu correctly.

Configuration

Menu configuration is contained in a JSON formatted file found at ~/.config/dmenu-extended/config/dmenuExtended_preferences.txt that controls the appearance and functionality of the menu. This file is also accessible from the -> Menu configuration submenu as * Edit menu preferences

Functions of the items are as follows.

  • "valid_extensions" list of file extensions of files to include in the cache
  • "watch_folders" list of base paths to recursively search through for items to include
  • "follow_symlinks" boolean option controlling whether to follow a link while scanning
  • "ignore_folders" list of paths to be excluded from the cache
  • "global_ignore_folders" names of folders to exclude from cache (regardless of location)
  • "scan_hidden_folders" boolean value controlling whether to enter hidden folders when scanning
  • "include_hidden_files" boolean value controlling whether to include hidden files in the cache
  • "include_hidden_folders" boolean value controlling whether to include hidden folders in the cache
  • "include_items" list of extra items to include in the cache
  • "exclude_items" list of items to be excluded from the cache
  • "include_binaries" add items found in the system path
  • "filter_binaries" boolean that causes binaries not associated with destkop applications (those having a .desktop file) to be omitted from the cache (e.g. cp, mv)
  • "include_applications" add items found under /usr/share/applications
  • "alias_applications" alias applications with their intended names
  • "path_aliasFile" path to a file containing aliases (e.g. ~/.bash_aliases)
  • "abbreviate_homedir" abbreviate $HOME as ~ for files & folders
  • "frequently_used" the number of your most frequently used commands to show at the top of the menu
  • "alias_display_format" how to format aliased commands (e.g. "{name} ({command})")
  • "path_shellCommand" path to use for creating terminal helper script (e.g. "~/.dmenuEextended_shellCommand.sh")
  • "menu" executable to open the menu (dmenu)
  • "menu_arguments" list of parameters to launch the menu with
  • "fileopener" application to handle opening files
  • "filebrowser" application to handle opening folders
  • "webbrowser" application to handle opening urls (web browser)
  • "terminal" terminal emulator application
  • "terminal_editor" application used to edit files directly in the terminal
  • "indicator_submenu" symbol to indicate a submenu item in the cache
  • "indicator_edit" symbol to indicate an item will launch an editor in the cache
  • "indicator_alias" symbol to indicate an aliased command in the cache

Adding the item "" to "valid_extensions" will cause files with no extension to be included in the cache. Adding the item "*" to "valid_extensions" will cause all files to be included in the cache.

Rebuild the cache from terminal

It is possible to rebuild the cache from the terminal by running:

dmenu_extended_cache_build

You could run this script directly to rebuild your cache or call it from cron. Dmenu has systemd integration so you can set it rebuild your cache every 20 mins from the settings menu within dmenu-extended.

Background cache rebuild with Systemd

After installing dmenu-extended, a background updater service can be enabled. This will periodically update the cache in the background every 20 minutes. To install the background service, run:

dmenu_extended_install_systemd_service

Alternative intervals can be specified by passing the --interval-interval-mins [MINS] argument and specifying the interval in minutes. The service can then be enabled and disabled in the -> Settings menu of dmenu-extended.

Background cache rebuild with Incron

You can also rebuild the cache everytime a file or folder is being created, deleted or moved from or to the monitored path. Have Incron up and running. Edit your incrontab incrontab -e and add following line:

<PATH_TO_MONITOR>  IN_CREATE,IN_DELETE,IN_MOVE     <PATH_DMENU_EXTENDED_CACHE_BUILD>

Enter the path of dmenu_extended_cache_build, you can find this by running which dmenu_extended_cache_build. All paths must be absolute! Check out incrontab(5) for more event symbols.

Rebuild cache via pacman hook

You can update your application cache after installing/uninstalling a package via a pacman hook for immediate access/removal. Create a file /usr/share/libalpm/hooks/dmenu-cache-rebuild.hook:

[Trigger]
Type = Package
Operation = Install
Operation = Remove
Target = *

[Action]
Description = Rebuilds Cache of dmenu-extended after package installation or removal
When = PostTransaction
Exec = /usr/bin/sudo -u <USER> /usr/bin/dmenu_extended_cache_build
Depends = dmenu-extended-git

You need to execute the rebuild command via sudo -u <USER>, because pacman runs as root and would therefore not update userfiles.

Running Dmenu-extended with Rofi

Ensure you have Rofi installed and edit the following two configuration options as so:

"menu": "rofi",
"menu_arguments": [
  "-dmenu",
  "-i"
],

You may also need to add

"prompt": "Open",

to remove the extra colon depending on your Rofi version.

Advanced usage

Dmenu-extended understands the following modifier characters when entering a special command:

  1. + (plus) - Manually add an entry to the cache
  2. - (minus) - Remove a manually added entry from the cache
  3. : (colon) - Open with
  4. @ (at) - Open in default terminal editor
  5. ; (semi-colon) - Execute in terminal

These modifiers are entered into the menu; examples follow.

+ (plus) - Manually add an entry to the cache

If there is something you wish to run that isn't in the menu then you can add it by prepending with a +.

  • +htop; adds htop to the cache.
  • +libreoffice adds libreoffice to the cache.
  • +http://youtube.com adds a link to Youtube to the cache.

Once added these commands are stored in the preferences file (see general configuration) and will persist upon a rebuild of the cache. These items can also be manually edited within this file.

Built-in support for aliases

In addidion to adding items manually, dmenu_extended allows the addition of a more descriptive label for a stored command. For instance:

  • +htop;#View running processes displays as # View system processes (htop)
  • +libreoffice --writer#Writer displays as # Writer (libreoffice --writer)
  • +http://youtube.com#Youtube displays as # Youtube (http://www.youtube.com)

- (minus) - Remove a manually added entry from the cache

This applies to items that have previously saved to the store. If the item is not found in the store you will be given the chance to add it.

: (colon) - Open with

There are a few different ways to use the colon operator, summarised by example below. In these examples gedit is the name of a text editing application.

  • gedit: - Use gEdit to open a file. A list of all files and folders will be returned to select from.
  • gedit:.txt - Use gEdit to open a text file. A filtered list containing only text files will be shown to select from.
  • /home/me/Documents/writing.txt: - Open this file using... Returns a list of applications to launch the given file
  • /home/me/Documents/writing.txt:gedit - Open this file with gedit.
  • gedit:/home/me/Documents/writing.txt - Open this file with gedit.

@ (at) - Open in terminal editor

Suffix to open the chosen file inside the preferred editor in a terminal window. Default editor is set to vim, but it can be changed in the preferences ("terminal_editor"). The terminal window is closed as soon as the application is exited. For instance:

  • /home/me/Documents/writing.txt@

; (semi-colon) - Execute in terminal

Dmenu-extended doesn't know when the application you enter needs to be executed in a terminal window. To tell dmenu-extended to launch the following in a terminal, append a semi-colon to the end. Once the terminal program has exited the terminal will close.

For example,

  • htop; - Launches htop in a terminal window. Without the semi-colon nothing would happen.
  • alsamixer; - Launches the ALSA sound volume manager in a terminal. Without the semicolon nothing would happen.

Holding the terminal open on exit

By using two semicolons (;;) at the end of a command the terminal window will remain open once the executed command has completed. This is useful for running programs like inxi that exit on completion. You'll want to use this if you see your program flash up and disappear before you get a chance to see the output.

Loading an alias file

If you have an aliases file (for example ~/.bash_aliases or ~/.zsh_aliases) that you would like loaded into dmenu-extended, set it's path in the "path_aliasFile" field in of the preferences. Aliased items found in that file will show up in the menu once the cache has been rebuilt.

Controlling aliased command formatting

By default, all aliased commands are displayed prefixed without a prefix and no indication of the command being launched is given (for example ff). If you would prefer to have the aliased command appear with a prefix and some indication of what the command will launch (e.g. # ff (firefox)) - make the following alterations to your preferences file and rebuild the cache.

  • "indicator_alias": "" -> "indicator_alias": "#"
  • "alias_display_format": "{name}" -> "alias_display_format": "{name} ({command})"

Using a password helper for sudo commands

Password helper programs, such as zenity, can be used to prompt the user for a password outside of a terminal process whenever a password is required. Getting one setup requires creating a small bash script and configuration file. The following instructions step you through using zenity as the password helper program.

  1. Check you have zenity installed by running whereis zenity. You should see something like /usr/bin/zenity amongst other paths.
  2. Fill the password helper script sudo nano /usr/local/bin/zenity_askpass with:
#!/bin/bash
zenity --password --title="Sudo password prompt"
  1. Make the askpass script executable by running sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/zenity_askpass
  2. Create/edit the sudo configuration file sudo nano /etc/sudo.conf and make sure it contains the line Path askpass /usr/local/bin/zenity_askpass

Test the configuration by running a sudo command via dmenu-extended (e.g., sudo gedit). You should be prompted grapically for the password before the program opens.

Password manager screenshot

Contributing

Any sort of contribution is welcome, for example:

  • Helping out people who have Issues
  • Writing tests
  • Improving code
  • Writing plugins
  • Updating documentation

For those looking to improve the code, the code uses Black formatting on default settings. Pull-requests should be created with the same formatting. Only Python3 is currently supported, support for Python2 is being dropped.

Acknowledgements