Hi!
Is there a solution to start CAJA automatic with extra pane?
When I close CAJA, it forgets that I pressed F3 key.
Restart CAJA, extra pane is gone.
Caja does not have feature unfortunately. I had a quick look in dconf-editor too, but there's nothing for extra pane.
Seems there is already a feature request created for it:
In the meantime, you can add an extra set of commands in place so Caja will launch and press F3 for you. This creates a script in place of where Caja is normally launched, so it works anywhere (like the Places menu).
Note that this only works:
- until Caja is updated/reinstalled.
- if the Caja window opens within half a second.
First move the original aside - we will create a script in its place:
sudo mv /usr/bin/caja /usr/bin/caja2
sudo nano /usr/bin/caja
Paste this:
#!/bin/bash
/usr/bin/caja2 $*
sleep 0.5
xdotool key --clearmodifiers F3
Save and make this script executable:
sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/caja
You'll need to install xdotool:
sudo apt install xdotool
Normally a script like this should go in /usr/local/bin/ but it wasn't used when opening Caja via the MATE desktop.
I did:
sudo apt install xdotool
sudo mv /usr/bin/caja /usr/bin/caja2
sudo nano /usr/bin/caja
Pasted this into the file:
#!/bin/bash
/usr/bin/caja2 $*
sleep 0.5
xdotool key --clearmodifiers F3
Saved the file.
sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/caja
Run CAJA, extra pane is not there. 
Try increasing the sleep to 0.75 or 1.
This script is a bit of a hack, but it's the only way for now. I can confirm it works on 18.04 LTS.
I give it up, did not work, so I removed it.
There was a script on a mint forms for thunar, it can be adapted for caja to open extra pane. And needed one more script to call it twice and close all the open caja windows.
Here it is:
cajatab
/usr/local/bin/cajatab
#!/bin/bash
# Script to open new file manager tab instead of window (e.g., Thunar) in XFCE.
# Version 1. 2017-04-18
# Lock script to process multiple instances consecutively when "Open All" on Desktop.
if [[ -d "${1}" ]]; then
ME=`basename "$0"`;
LCK="/tmp/${ME}.LCK";
exec 8>$LCK;
flock -x 8; # lock $LCK
trap 'rm -f $LCK' exit # remove $LCK regardless of exit status
sleep .1 # hack to give time for each script to execute properly--weird!
fi
# Convert desktop file urls to thunar-friendly local paths.
# Accommodates special characters in directory names (!@#$, etc).
fileurl="${1}"
filepath="$(urlencode -d ${fileurl%/})/"
# Check for running instances of $app on current desktop/workspace.
app=caja
wid=( $(xdotool search --desktop $(xdotool get_desktop) --class $app) )
lastwid=${wid[*]: -1} # Get PID of newest active thunar window.
# If $wid is null launch app with filepath.
if [ -z $wid ]; then
$app "$filepath"
# If app is already running, activate it and use shortcuts to paste filepath into path bar.
else
xdotool windowactivate --sync $lastwid key F3 # Activate pane in caja
xdotool type -delay 0 "$filepath" # "--delay 0" removes default 12ms between each keystroke
xdotool key Return
fi
exit 0
# Notice: These are instructions for thunartab, this is cajatab now :)
# Easy Installation:
# cd ~/Downloads && tar -zxvf thunartab.tar.gz && sudo chmod 755 thunartab && sudo cp thunartab /usr/local/bin/
# Install dependencies: sudo apt install gridsite-clients xdotool # gridsite-clients contains urlencode
# Reboot # if you want to run "thunartab" as a command in terminal
# Select script in the XFCE's GUI "Preferred Applications"
#
# For alternatives for script location run "echo $PATH" (without quotes) in terminal
# Troubleshooting: If more than one thunar window opens with "Open All", try increasing sleep value on line 12
#
# For other file-managers (e.g., Nemo, Caja, Nautilus), change app name on line 21
# You may also have to modified the xdotool shortcuts on line 31.
# For example for Nemo, change line 31 to something like
# xdotool windowactivate --sync $lastwid key ctrl+t ctrl+l ctrl+v Return ctrl+l Escape
# Manually test shortcuts in file manager first.
#
# Main sources for learning bash for this script include:
# http://ryanstutorials.net/bash-scripting-tutorial/ "Bash Scripting Tutorial" (Very good for beginners like myself"
# http://jdimpson.livejournal.com/5685.html "Using flock to protect critical sections in shell scripts"
# https://askubuntu.com/questions/55656/open-nautilus-as-new-tab-in-existing-window (the starting idea for this script)
#
# Bug reports or suggestions, please email me, Sam, at [email protected]
now it needs a wrapper which is goung to call the cajatab twice
cajatabwrapper change the path to whereever you put cajatab here
Had to change this script to close the caja open windows because it messes with all the open caja windows.
#!/bin/bash
# This script acts as a launcher for apps that observes the following rules:
# 1. If the app is not running, then start it up
# 2. If the app is running, don't start a second instance, instead:
# 2a. close it
# 2b. start the app
# Original script link: http://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=6168&p=1
# there has to be at least one parameter, the name of the file to execute
if [ $# -lt 1 ]
then
echo "Usage: `basename $0` {executable_name parameters}"
exit 1
fi
BNAME='caja'
# test to see if program is already running
if [ "`wmctrl -lx | tr -s ' ' | cut -d' ' -f1-3 | grep -i $BNAME`" ]; then
# means it must already be running
ACTIV_WIN=$(xdotool getactivewindow getwindowpid)
LAUNCH_WIN=$(ps -ef | grep "$BNAME" | grep -v grep | tr -s ' ' | cut -d' ' -f2 | head -n 1)
# close all the open caja windows
for win in `wmctrl -lx | tr -s ' ' | cut -d' ' -f1-3 | grep -i $BNAME | cut -d' ' -f1`
do
wmctrl -i -c $win
done
fi
# start it up
for dir in "${@}"; do
# Path to cajatab
/usr/local/bin/cajatab "$dir"
done
exit 0
Wrapper closes all the open caja windows and calls the cajatab script.
cajatab starts caja and opens extra pane if two paths are passed to the wrapper script.
This command opens /home/user/Documents in caja:
cajatabwrapper $HOME/Documents
And next one opens $HOME/Downloads in extra pane and $HOME/Documents in first pane:
cajatabwrapper $HOME/Downloads $HOME/Documents
Required to have installed gridsite-clients, wmctrl and xdotool.
If you can improve this please share.
thanks @ Misko_2083! 