path: root/README

== Ranger v.1.0.2

Ranger

   A keeper, guardian, or soldier who ranges over a region
	to protect the area or enforce the law.

This file browser gives you the ability to swiftly move around
and get a broad overview of your forest of directory trees.

Rangers default hotkeys make it intuitive for users of the popular
text-editor VIM, but it is fully customizable.

The program is written in Python since version 1.0.0 and uses
ncurses for the (completely text based) user interface.

== About

* Author:          hut
* Email:           hut@lavabit.com
* Git repo:        http://repo.or.cz/w/ranger.git
* Version:         1.0.2


== Features

* Multi-column display
* Preview of the selected file/directory
* Common file operations (create/chmod/copy/delete/...)
* Quickly find files or text inside files
* VIM-like console and hotkeys
* Open files in external programs
* Mouse support
* Change the directory of your shell after exiting ranger
* Bookmarks


== Dependencies

* A Unix-like OS        (ranger is not tested on others)
* Python 2.6 or 3.1
* Python curses module


== Getting Started

At first, it's a good idea to create a symlink in your bin dir:
    sudo ln -s /path/to/ranger.py /usr/bin/ranger

Now type in ranger to start it.

You should see 4 columns. The third is the directory where you are at
the moment. To the left, there are the the directories above the current
working dir, and the column on the right is a preview of the selected
file/directory.

Now use the arrow keys to navigate, press enter to open a file.

A list of commands with short descriptions can be viewed by
pressing ? inside the program and following the instructions.
The file code/keys.rb contains all keycombinations, so that's another
place you may want to check out.
More extensive documentation will be written when enough users ask me to :)


== Opening files with Ranger

If you use the same applications like me, you'll be able to open
files by pressing the right arrow key. If not, you will have to
specify them in ranger/defaults/apps.py. It's explained
in the docstrings how exactly to do that.

Once you've set up your applications, you can also use ranger to
open files from the shell:
    ranger blabla.pdf


== Customizing Ranger

The file ranger/defaults/options.py contains most of the options.
apps.py defines how files are run, keys.py defines keybindings.

The files in ranger/defaults/ can be copied into ~/.ranger/ for per-user
modifications.  Colorschemes can be placed in ~/.ranger/colorschemes.

The options.py defines the import path of "apps", "keys" and the
colorscheme.  To use the files you placed in ~/.ranger/, you may need
to make this changes in the options.py:

"from ranger.defaults import apps, keys" => "import apps, keys"
"from ranger import colorschemes" => "import colorschemes"


== Guidelines for developers:

Tabs for indentation, spaces for tables and such

Use docstrings with pydoc in mind

Use syntax compatible to both python 2.6 and 3.1.

Version Numbering: X.Y.Z
* X: milestones
* Y: stable versions
* Z: experimental versions