• File Roller Manual V2.5

File Roller Manual V2.5

1. Introduction

You can use the File Roller application to create, view, modify, or unpack an archive. An archive is a file that acts as a container for other files. An archive can contain many files, folders, and subfolders, usually in compressed form.

File Roller provides only a graphical interface, and relies on command-line utilities such as tar, gzip, and bzip2 for archive operations.

If you have the appropriate command-line tools installed on your system, File Roller supports RPM and Stuff files, as well as the archive formats listed in the following table.

Format Filename Extension
ARJ archive.arj
Enterprise archive.ear
Java archive.jar
LHA archive.lzh
Resource Adapter archive.rar
Uncompressed tar archive.tar
Tar archive compressed with bzip.tar.bz or .tbz
Tar archive compressed with bzip2.tar.bz2 or .tbz2
Tar archive compressed with gzip.tar.gz or .tgz
Tar archive compressed with lzop.tar.lzo or .tzo
Tar archive compressed with compress.tar.Z or .taz
Web archive.war
PKZIP or WinZip archive.zip
Zoo archive.zoo

The most common archive format on UNIX and Linux systems is the tar archive compressed with gzip.

The most common archive format on Microsoft Windows systems is the archive created with PKZIP or WinZip.

1.1. Compressed Non-Archive Files

A compressed non-archive file is a file that is created when you use bzip, bzip2, gzip, lzop, or compress to compress a non-archive file. For example, file.txt.gz is created when you use gzip to compress file.txt.

You can use File Roller to open and extract a compressed non-archive file.

You cannot use File Roller to create or modify a compressed non-archive file.

2. Getting Started

This section provides information on how to start File Roller, and describes the File Roller user interface.

2.1. To Start File Roller

You can start File Roller in the following ways:

Applications menu

Choose System Tools ▸ Archive Manager.

Command line

Execute the following command: file-roller

2.2. When You Start File Roller

When you start File Roller, the following window is displayed:

Figure 1 File Roller Window

The File Roller window contains the following elements:

Menubar

The menus on the menubar contain all of the commands that you need to work with archives in File Roller.

Toolbar

The toolbar contains a subset of the commands that you can access from the menubar. File Roller displays the toolbar by default. To hide the toolbar, choose View ▸ Toolbar. To show the toolbar, choose View ▸ Toolbar again.

Folderbar

The folderbar enables you to navigate among folders within an archive. File Roller displays the folderbar only in folder view. See Section 8.1.1 ― Folder View for more information.

Display area

The display area displays the contents of the archive.

Statusbar

The statusbar displays information about current File Roller activity and contextual information about the archive contents. File Roller displays the statusbar by default. To hide the statusbar, choose View ▸ Statusbar. To show the statusbar, choose View ▸ Statusbar again.

When you right-click in the File Roller window, the application displays a popup menu. The popup menu contains the most common contextual archive commands.

2.2.1. Bookmarks

Several File Roller dialogs contain the following components, which enable you to bookmark frequently accessed folders:

Bookmarks

Use this list box to open a bookmarked folder.

File Roller provides the following default bookmarks:

Bookmark Location
Home$HOME
Desktop$HOME/Desktop
Filesystem/

$HOME is the home directory specified in the /etc/passwd file. File Roller always uses this value, even if the user resets the value of $HOME after login.

Files and folders

Use this list box to open a subfolder within the bookmarked folder, or to select a file or folder.

Add

Click on this button to add a new bookmark to the bookmarks list box.

Remove

Click on this button to remove the selected bookmark from the bookmarks list box.

Up

Click on this button to navigate up one level in the folder tree.

3. Working With Archives

When you use File Roller to work with an archive, all changes are saved to disk immediately. For example, if you delete a file from an archive, File Roller deletes the file as soon as you click OK. This behavior is different to that of most applications, which save the changes to disk only when you quit the application or select Save in the menu.

If an archive is very large, or you have a slow system, some archive actions can take significant time. To abort the current action, press Esc. Alternatively, choose View ▸ Stop, or click Stop in the toolbar.

In File Roller, you can perform the same action in several ways. For example, you can open an archive in the following ways:

UI Component Action
WindowDrag an archive into the File Roller window from another application such as a file manager.
Menubar

Choose Archive ▸ Open.

If you have recently opened the archive, choose Archive ▸ Open Recent.

ToolbarClick on the Open toolbar button.
Right-click popup menuRight-click on the archive, then choose Open from the popup menu.
Shortcut keysPress Ctrl+O.

This manual documents functionality from the menubar.

3.1. Filename Patterns

File Roller enables you to add, extract, or delete several files at once. To apply an action to all files that match a certain pattern, enter the pattern in the text box. The pattern can include standard wildcard symbols such as * to match any string, and ? to match any single symbol. You can enter several patterns separated by semicolons. File Roller applies the action to all files that match at least one of the patterns. The examples in the following table show how to use filename patterns to select files.

Pattern Files Matched
*All files
*.tar*All files with extension tar, including those in which the tar extension is followed by any sequence of symbols, such as filename.tar.gz
*.jpg; *.jpegAll files with extension jpg and all files with extension jpeg

3.2. To Open an Archive

To open an archive, perform the following steps:

  1. Choose Archive ▸ Open to display the Open dialog.
  2. Select the archive that you want to open.
  3. Click Open.

File Roller automatically determines the archive type, and displays:

  • The archive name in the window titlebar
  • The archive contents in the display area
  • The total number of files in the archive, and the size of the archive when uncompressed, in the statusbar

To open another archive, choose Archive ▸ Open again. File Roller opens each archive in a new window. To open another archive in the same window, you must first choose Archive ▸ Close to close the current archive, then choose Archive ▸ Open.

If you try to open an archive that was created in a format that File Roller does not recognize, the application displays an error message. See Section 1 ― Introduction for a list of supported formats.

3.3. To Select Files in an Archive

To select all files in an archive, choose Edit ▸ Select All.

To deselect all files in an archive, choose Edit ▸ Deselect All.

3.4. To Extract Files From an Archive

To extract files from an open archive, perform the following steps:

  1. Select the files that you want to extract.

  2. Choose Edit ▸ Extract to display the Extract dialog.

  3. Specify the path where File Roller extracts the files. Double-click on an entry in the list box to navigate to that path. Alternatively, enter the path in the Filename text box, then press Return.

  4. Select the required extract options. For more information about the extract options, see Section 10 ― Extract Options.

  5. Click Extract.

    If all of the files in the archive are protected by a password, and you have not specified the password, File Roller displays an error dialog.

    If some but not all of the files in the archive are protected by a password, and you have not specified the password, File Roller does not display an error dialog. However, File Roller extracts only the unprotected files to the new archive.

    For more information about passwords, see Section 6.1 ― To Encrypt Files in an Archive.

File Roller also provides ways of extracting files from an archive in a file manager window, without opening a File Roller window. See Section 9 ― Using the File Manager to Work with an Archive for more information.

The Extract operation extracts a copy of the specified files from the archive. The extracted files have the same permissions and modification date as the original files that were added to the archive.

The Extract operation does not change the contents of the archive. For information on how to delete files from an archive, see Section 6.5 ― To Delete Files From an Archive. For information on how to delete an archive, see Section 5.5 ― To Delete an Archive.

3.5. To Close an Archive

To close the current archive but not the File Roller window, choose Archive ▸ Close.

To close the current archive and the current File Roller window, choose Archive ▸ Quit.

4. Creating Archives

In addition to opening existing archives, you can also create new archives with File Roller.

4.1. To Create an Archive

To create an archive, perform the following steps:

  1. Choose Archive ▸ New to display the New dialog.
  2. Specify the path where File Roller places the new archive. Double-click on an entry in the list box to navigate to that path. Alternatively, enter the path in the Filename text box.
  3. Enter the name of the new archive, including the file extension, in the Filename text box.
  4. Click New. File Roller creates an empty archive, but does not yet write the archive to disk.
  5. Add files to the new archive as described in Section 4.2 ― To Add Files to an Archive.

    File Roller writes a new archive to disk only when the archive contains at least one file. If you create a new archive and quit File Roller before you add any files to the archive, File Roller deletes the archive.

4.2. To Add Files to an Archive

To add files to an archive, perform the following steps:

  1. Decide where you want to add the files, then open that folder in the archive.
  2. Choose Edit ▸ Add to display the Add dialog.
  3. Select the files and folders that you want to add.
  4. Click Add. File Roller adds the files and folders to the current folder in the archive.

The Add dialog provides several advanced options. See Section 4.2.1 ― Advanced Add Options for more information.

You can also add files to an archive in a file manager window, without opening a File Roller window. See Section 9 ― Using the File Manager to Work with an Archive for more information.

The Add operation adds a copy of the specified files or folders to the archive. File Roller does not remove the original files, which remain unchanged in the file system. The copies that are added to the archive have the same permissions and modification date as the original files.

4.2.1. Advanced Add Options

You can use the following advanced options in the Add dialog to automatically select and add all files that satisfy certain criteria:

Add only if newer

Select this option to add the specified file to the archive only if the archive does not contain the specified file, or if the archive contains an older version of the specified file. File Roller uses the modification date to determine which file is the most recent. If the version of the file in the archive is the most recent, File Roller does not add the specified file to the archive.

If you do not select this option, File Roller adds the file to the archive and overwrites the previous archive contents.

Tip

If you use File Roller to create backups, the Add only if newer option is very useful. For example, the archive backup.tar.gz contains a week-old backup of your home folder. To update the archive to contain a current backup of your home folder, perform the following steps:

  1. Open the backup.tar.gz archive in File Roller.
  2. Choose Edit ▸ Add to display the Add dialog.
  3. Select your home folder in the list box.
  4. Select the Add only if newer option.
  5. Click Add.
File Roller automatically adds to the archive all files that you created during the last week, and updates all files that you modified during the last week. However, File Roller does not remove from the archive the files that you deleted during the last week. The archive update operation is much faster than doing a full backup of your home folder.

Include files

Type a filename pattern in this text box to include files with names that match the specified pattern. See Section 3.1 ― Filename Patterns for more information about filename patterns.

Exclude files

Type a filename pattern in this text box to exclude files with names that match the specified pattern. See Section 3.1 ― Filename Patterns for more information about filename patterns.

Include subfolders

Select this option to add all files that match the specified pattern, from the current folder and from subfolders.

The filename, not the subfolder name, must match the specified pattern.

If you do not select this option, File Roller adds the matching files from the current folder only.

Exclude folders that are symbolic links

Select this option to omit files from folders that are symbolic links. Symbolic links are pointers or shortcuts to other folders.

If you do not select this option, File Roller adds the matching files from folders that are symbolic links.

Save Options

Click on this button to save the current selection of advanced add options to a file. The Save Options dialog is displayed. Enter a descriptive filename in the Options Name text box, then click Save.

Load Options

Click on this button to load or delete a previously saved selection of advanced add options. The Load Options dialog is displayed.

  • To load a set of options, select the options file in the list box, then click Apply.
  • To delete a set of options, select the options file in the list box, then click Remove. Click Close to close the Load Options dialog.

5. Modifying Archives

You can modify the whole archive in several ways.

5.1. To Rename an Archive

To rename an archive, perform the following steps:

  1. Open the archive that you want to rename.

  2. Choose Archive ▸ Rename to display the Rename dialog.

  3. Enter the new archive name, without a file extension.

  4. Click Rename. File Roller renames the archive to the new filename, with the same file extension as the original file.

    You cannot use Rename to change the archive format. To change the archive format, you must choose Archive ▸ Save As, as described in Section 5.2 ― To Convert an Archive to Another Format.

5.2. To Convert an Archive to Another Format

To convert an archive to another format and save as a new file, perform the following steps:

  1. Open the archive that you want to convert.

  2. Choose Archive ▸ Save As to display the Save dialog.

  3. Enter the new archive name in the Filename text box.

  4. Select the new format from the Archive type drop-down list. Alternatively, enter the filename extension in the Filename text box, and select Automatic from the Archive type drop-down list.

  5. Click Save.

    If all of the files in the archive are protected by a password, and you have not specified the password, File Roller displays an error dialog.

    If some but not all of the files in the archive are protected by a password, and you have not specified the password, File Roller does not display an error dialog. However, File Roller copies only the unprotected files to the new archive.

    For more information about passwords, see Section 6.1 ― To Encrypt Files in an Archive.

5.3. To Copy an Archive

To copy an archive, perform the following steps:

  1. Open the archive that you want to copy.
  2. Choose Archive ▸ Copy to display the Copy dialog.
  3. Specify the path where File Roller places the copied file. Double-click on an entry in the list box to navigate to that path. Alternatively, enter the path in the Filename text box, then press Return.
  4. Click Copy. File Roller copies the archive to the specified position.

5.4. To Move an Archive

To move an archive, perform the following steps:

  1. Open the archive that you want to move.
  2. Choose Archive ▸ Move to display the Move dialog.
  3. Specify the new path for the archive. Double-click on an entry in the list box to navigate to that path. Alternatively, enter the path in the Filename text box.
  4. Click Move. File Roller moves the archive to the specified position.

5.5. To Delete an Archive

To delete an archive, perform the following steps:

  1. Open the archive that you want to delete.

  2. Choose Archive ▸ Move to Trash to move the archive to Trash.

    You can restore an archive from Trash, as described in Section 5.6 ― To Restore an Archive.

5.6. To Restore an Archive

If a deleted archive is still in Trash, you can restore the archive. To restore an archive, perform the following steps:

  1. Open a file manager window.
  2. Choose Places ▸ Trash to view the Trash contents.
  3. Select the archive that you want to restore.
  4. Choose Edit ▸ Cut File to remove the archive from Trash.
  5. Open the folder where you want to restore the archive.
  6. Choose Edit ▸ Paste Files to restore the archive.
  7. Close the file manager window.

6. Modifying the Contents of an Archive

You can modify the contents of an archive in several ways.

6.1. To Encrypt Files in an Archive

For security, you might want to encrypt the files that you add to an archive.

If the archive format supports encryption, you can specify a password to encrypt the files that you add to the archive. Currently, only .zip and .arj archives support encryption.

To specify a password for file encryption, perform the following steps:

  1. Choose Edit ▸ Password to display the Password dialog.
  2. Enter the password in the Password text box.
  3. Click OK.

File Roller uses the password to encrypt the files that you add to the current archive, and to decrypt the files that you extract from the current archive. File Roller deletes the password when you close the archive.

For information on how to check whether an archive contains encrypted files, see Section 8.3 ― To Display Additional Details.

The encryption provided by archive utilities is weak and insecure. If security is important, use a strong encryption tool such as GNU Privacy Guard.

6.2. To Rename a File in an Archive

To rename a file in an archive, perform the following steps:

  1. Select the file that you want to rename.
  2. Choose Edit ▸ Rename to display the Rename dialog.
  3. Enter the new filename in the New file name text box.
  4. Click Rename.

6.3. To Copy Files in an Archive

To copy files in an archive, perform the following steps:

  1. Select the files that you want to copy.
  2. Choose Edit ▸ Copy.
  3. Open the location where you want to put the copied files.
  4. Choose Edit ▸ Paste.

6.4. To Move Files in an Archive

To move files in an archive, perform the following steps:

  1. Select the files that you want to move.
  2. Choose Edit ▸ Cut.
  3. Open the location where you want to put the moved files.
  4. Choose Edit ▸ Paste.

6.5. To Delete Files From an Archive

To delete files from an archive, perform the following steps:

  1. Select the files that you want to delete.

  2. Choose Edit ▸ Delete to display the Delete dialog.

  3. Select one of the following delete options:

    All files

    Delete all files from the archive.

    Selected files

    Delete the selected files from the archive.

    Files

    Delete from the archive all files that match the specified pattern. See Section 3.1 ― Filename Patterns for more information about filename patterns.

  4. Click OK.

7. Viewing Archives

File Roller enables you to view several aspects of an archive.

7.1. To View the Properties of an Archive

To view the properties of an archive, choose Archive ▸ Properties to display the Properties dialog. The Properties dialog displays the following information about the archive:

Name

The name of the archive.

Path

The position of the archive in the file system.

File size

The size of the archive contents when compressed. To learn the size of the archive contents when uncompressed, check the statusbar.

Number of files

The number of files in the archive.

Modified on

The date and time at which the archive was last modified.

7.2. To View the Contents of an Archive

To view the contents of a File Roller archive, use a Bonobo-enabled viewer. File Roller displays the archive contents as a file list with the following columns:

Name

The name of a file or folder in the archive.

Size

The size of the file when the file is extracted from the archive. For a folder, the Size field is blank. For information on how to display the size of the compressed file, see Section 8.3 ― To Display Additional Details.

Type

The type of the file. For a folder, the value in the Type field is Folder.

Date modified

The date on which the file was last modified. For a folder, the Date modified field is blank.

Location

The path to the file within the archive. For a folder, the Location field is blank.

If another program has modified the archive since File Roller opened the archive, choose View ▸ Reload to reload the archive contents from disk.

For information on how to customize the way that File Roller displays the archive contents, see Section 8 ― Customizing the Archive Display.

For more advanced tasks, use an application installed on your system. For more information, see Section 7.3 ― To View a File in an Archive.

7.3. To View a File in an Archive

To view a file in an archive, perform the following steps:

  1. Select the file.
  2. Choose Edit ▸ View File.

File Roller uses information from the File Types and Programs section of Advanced Desktop Preferences to automatically determine the appropriate viewer or application for the file type, and then launches that viewer or application. For more information about the differences between viewers and applications, see Section 7.3.1 ― Viewers and Applications. If File Roller cannot determine the appropriate viewer or application, File Roller tries to use a text viewer to display the file contents.

You can also use a viewer or application specified by you, rather than the default viewer or application, to view a file. To use an external application to open a file, choose Edit ▸ Open Files. File Roller displays the Open Files dialog, which lists all of the applications that can open files of the specified type. To select one of the applications, click on the application name and then click Open. Alternatively, enter the application name in the Application text box and then click Open to launch the application of your choice.

You cannot use File Roller to change a file. If you use an application to open a file within a File Roller archive and make any changes to the opened file, File Roller does not save the changes in the archive, even if you click Save in the application. File Roller creates a temporary copy of the file, and then passes the temporary copy to the file-editing application. When you close the file-editing application, File Roller deletes the temporary copy of the file and all changes are lost.

To edit a file in a File Roller archive and save your changes in the archive:

  1. Extract the file to a temporary location.
  2. Edit the temporary file created in step 1, and then save your changes.
  3. Add the edited file back into the archive, that is, overwrite the original version of the file.

7.3.1. Viewers and Applications

Viewers do not launch a separate application to display the contents of a file. Instead, viewers show the contents of the file inside a file manager window. Viewers usually start much more quickly than applications, but have very limited functionality.

Viewers are not part of the File Roller application. Viewers are provided by other GNOME applications and use special technology called bonobo which enables the viewers to work inside a file manager window. The number of viewers available to File Roller depends on the bonobo-enabled applications installed on your system.

8. Customizing the Archive Display

You can customize the way that File Roller displays the archive contents, as follows:

File Roller updates the display immediately, when you make any of the above customizations.

8.1. To Set the View Type

If the archive contains folders, you can show the archive contents in either folder view or file view.

8.1.1. Folder View

File Roller displays the archive contents in folder view by default. To explicitly select folder view, choose View ▸ View as a Folder.

In folder view, File Roller shows folders in the same way as a file manager shows folders. That is, File Roller indicates folders in the display area with a folder icon and the folder name. To view the contents of a folder, double-click on the folder name.

The folderbar, which File Roller displays only in folder view, contains the components described in the following table.

Component Description
Click on this button to navigate backwards in the location history list.
Click on this button to navigate forwards in the location history list.
Click on this button to navigate up one level in the folder tree.
Click on this button to open the top-level folder in the archive.
Location

This field shows the full pathname, within the archive, of the current folder.

To change to a different level in the folder tree, type the new location in the Location text box then press Return. File Roller displays the contents of the new location.

8.1.2. File View

To select file view, choose View ▸ View All Files.

In file view, File Roller displays all files in the archive, including files from subfolders, in a single list.

8.2. To Sort the File List

You can sort the file list by name, size, type, modification date, or location.

To specify a sort order, choose View ▸ Arrange Files and select the required sort order. Alternatively, click on the heading of the corresponding column.

To reverse the sort order, click on the column heading again, or choose View ▸ Arrange Files ▸ Reversed Order.

For example, to sort the file list by modification date, click on the Date modified heading. File Roller rearranges the file list to display the files by modification date, starting with the earliest. To display the latest files first, click on the Date modified heading again.

File Roller always performs a secondary sort based on the file name. In the above example, File Roller sorts by name any files that have the same modification date.

8.3. To Display Additional Details

To check whether an archive contains encrypted files, choose Archive ▸ Test Integrity:

  • If the archive contains no encrypted files, or if the archive contains encrypted files and you have entered the correct password in the Password text box, File Roller opens the Test Result dialog to list each file in the archive, and indicates that each file has status OK.
  • If the archive contains some encrypted and unencrypted files, and you have not entered the correct password in the Password text box, File Roller opens the Test Result dialog to list each file in the archive, and indicates that each unencrypted file has status OK, and each encrypted file has status incorrect password.
  • If the archive contains only encrypted files and you have not entered the correct password in the Password text box, File Roller displays an Error dialog.
For more information about file encryption, see Section 6.1 ― To Encrypt Files in an Archive.

To open the Last Output dialog, choose View ▸ Last Output:

  • If you tested the archive in the current File Roller session, the Last Output dialog displays the results of the last test.
  • If you did not test the archive in the current File Roller session, the Last Output dialog displays a list of all files in the archive, but does not indicate any status for the files. Instead, the Last Output dialog provides the compressed size of each file and the percentage of compression, and the date and time at which the file was last modified.

9. Using the File Manager to Work with an Archive

You can use the file manager to add files to an archive, or to extract files from an archive.

9.1. To Add Files to an Archive by Using the File Manager

You can use the file manager to add files to an archive, in the following ways:

  • Drag the files into a File Roller window from a file manager window.
  • Use the file manager popup menu to add the files to the archive.

To use the file manager popup menu to add files to an archive, perform the following steps:

  1. Right-click on the files or folders in a file manager window.

  2. Choose Create Archive from the file manager popup menu to display the File Roller Create Archive dialog.

  3. Enter the archive name in the Archive text box.

  4. Click Create to add the selected files to the root folder of the specified archive.

    To select any of the advanced add options, you must invoke File Roller as described in Section 2.1 ― To Start File Roller.

9.2. To Extract Files From an Archive by Using the File Manager

You can use the file manager to extract files from an archive, in the following ways:

  • Drag the files from a File Roller window into a file manager window.
  • Use the file manager popup menu to extract the files from the archive.

To use the file manager popup menu to extract files from an archive, perform the following steps:

  1. Right-click on the archive in a file manager window.
  2. Choose Extract Here to extract all of the archive contents into the directory where the archive is located.

To extract encrypted files, you must invoke File Roller as described in Section 2.1 ― To Start File Roller.

10. Extract Options

The Extract dialog provides the following options, which are saved when you quit File Roller:

Files

Select one of the following extract options:

All files

Extract all files from the archive.

Selected files

Extract the selected files from the archive.

Files

Extract from the archive all files that match the specified pattern. See Section 3.1 ― Filename Patterns for more information about filename patterns.

Re-create folders

Select this option to reconstruct the folder structure when extracting the specified files.

For example, you specify /tmp in the Filename text box and choose to extract all files. The archive contains a subfolder called doc.

  • If you select the Re-create folders option, File Roller extracts the contents of the subfolder to /tmp/doc.
  • If you do not select the Re-create folders option, File Roller does not create any subfolders. Instead, File Roller extracts all files from the archive, including files from subfolders, to /tmp.

Overwrite existing files

Select this option to overwrite any files in the destination folder that have the same name as the specified files.

If you do not select this option, File Roller does not extract the specified file if an existing file with the same name already exists in the destination folder.

Do not extract older files

This option is only effective while the Overwrite existing files option is selected.

Select the Do not extract older files option to extract the specified file only if the destination folder does not contain the specified file, or if the destination folder contains an older version of the specified file. File Roller uses the modification date to determine which file is the most recent. If the version of the file in the archive is older, File Roller does not extract the specified file to the destination folder.

If you do not select the Do not extract older files option while the Overwrite existing files option is selected, File Roller extracts the specified file from the archive and overwrites the previous contents of the destination folder.

Password

This option is only enabled if the archive type supports encryption. Currently, only .zip and .arj archives support encryption.

If the archive contains encrypted files, enter the required password in the Password text box to decrypt the specified files during the extraction process. The required password is the encryption password that was specified when the archive was created. For more information, see Section 6.1 ― To Encrypt Files in an Archive.

Alternatively, you can enter the required password in the Password dialog. To display the Password dialog, choose Edit ▸ Password.

Open destination folder after extraction

Select this option to display the contents of the destination folder in a file manager window when the extraction of the specified files is completed.