Remember what files are opened in a session of gedit

Question

Is it possible to remember what files are opened in a session of gedit, by gedit itself or its plug-ins, just similar to what the session manager of Firefox does?

So that next time restarting gedit, I can reopen and continue to work on the files opened in the last session.

Answer 1

There's also a Session Saver plugin to save and restore working sessions.

Answer 2

This is an old question, but it is the first result in google when searching for a plugin to re-open previously opened files. It seems that no one gave a very specific answer, though.

gedit-restore-tabs is a nice plugin that was written for G-Edit 3.12 but works in later versions. I used it in the past, but couldn't remember where I had gotten it. I found it again by going to this page on the gnome.org wiki and searching through the lists linked there.

Answer 3

Just hit "File" on Gedit's menu. A number of files used previously will appear in the drop-down menu numbered 1, 2, 3...

The Help menu states: "The application records the paths and filenames of the five most recent files that you edited and displays the files as menu items on the File menu. You can also click on the {down arrow} icon on the toolbar to display the list of recent files."

Answer 4

In version 3.18.3 (or may be earlier) you may use plugin "Quick open". When it is enabled you may see recently opened files by using "File -> Quick Open".

Answer 5

A little late to the party but, I wrote a python program to reopen all my applications on reboot. This includes gedit and the last five opened files in their own tabs.

Here's the snippet from the program:

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
'''
REQUIRES:
sudo apt install xdotool
'''
from future import print_function           # Must be first import
import os
import time
OTHERS_TIME = 3                                 # Firefox, etc. to load up
SERVER_TIME = 1.5                               # gnome-terminal-server time
BASHRC_TIME = 1.5                               # Seconds to load ~/.bashrc
WINDOW_TIME = .5                                # Seconds fpr window to appear
def launch_command(ext_name):
    ''' Launch external command in background and return PID to parent.
        Use for programs requiring more than .2 seconds to run.
    '''
all_pids = get_pids(ext_name)       # Snapshot current PID list
all_wins = get_wins(all_pids)       # Snapshot of windows open
new_pids = all_pids
new_wins = all_wins
sleep_count = 0                     # Counter to prevent infinite loops

os.popen(ext_name)                  # Run command in background

while new_pids == all_pids:         # Loop until new PID is assigned
    new_pids = get_pids(ext_name)   # Snapshot current PID list
    if sleep_count > 0:             # Don't sleep first time through loop
        time.sleep(.005)            # sleep 5 milliseconds
    sleep_count += 1
    if sleep_count == 1000:         # 10 second time-out
        print('launch_ext_command() ERROR: max sleep count reached')
        print('External command name:',ext_name)
        return 0, 0

pid_list = list(set(new_pids) - set(all_pids))
if not len(pid_list) == 1:
    print('launch_command() ERROR: A new PID could not be found')
    return 0, 0

time.sleep(WINDOW_TIME)             # Give time for window to appear
new_wins = get_wins(all_pids)       # Snapshot of windows open
win_list = list(set(new_wins) - set(all_wins))
if not len(win_list) == 1:
    #print('launch_command() ERROR: New Window ID could not be found')
    #suppress error message because we aren't using window ID at all
    return int(pid_list[0]), 0

# Return PID of program we just launched in background
return int(pid_list[0]), int(win_list[0])



def get_pids(ext_name):
    ''' Return list of PIDs for program name and arguments
        Whitespace output is compressed to single space
    '''
    all_lines = []
    # Just grep up to first space in command line. It was failing on !
    prog_name = ext_name.split(' ',1)[0]
    all_lines = os.popen("ps aux | grep -v grep | grep " + 

                        "'" + prog_name + "'").read().strip().splitlines
    PID = []
    for l in all_lines():
        l = ' '.join(l.split())         # Compress whitespace into single space
        PID.append(int(l.split(' ', 2)[1]))
return PID



def get_wins(all_pids):
    ''' Return list of all windows open under PID list
        Currently unnecessary because we work on active window '''
    windows = []
    for pid in all_pids:
        all_lines = os.popen('xdotool search --pid ' + str(pid)). 

                             read().strip().splitlines
        for l in all_lines():
            windows.append(int(l))
return windows




def gedit():
last_modified_files = gedit_recent_files()
command = 'gedit '
for f in last_modified_files:
    # Add each file name to parameter list passed to `gedit`
    command += '"' + f + '" '

# Open gedit with last five modfied files. '&' = run in background
command=command+' &'
active_pid, active_win = launch_command(command)
if active_pid == 0:
    print("ERROR launching", command, \
    "Aborting 'alienstart' script")
    exit()



def gedit_recent_files():
    ''' Get list of gedit 5 most recent files:
grep --no-group-separator -B5 'group>gedit' ~/.local/share/recently-used.xbel | sed -n 1~6p | sed 's#  <bookmark href="file:///#/#g' | sed 's/"//g'
/home/rick/python/mmm added=2020-05-02T15:34:55Z modified=2020-11-19T00:43:45Z visited=2020-05-02T15:34:56Z>
/home/rick/python/mserve added=2020-07-26T16:36:09Z modified=2020-11-28T01:57:19Z visited=2020-07-26T16:36:09Z>
'''
command = &quot;grep --no-group-separator -B5 'group&gt;gedit' &quot; + \
          &quot;~/.local/share/recently-used.xbel | &quot; + \
          &quot;sed -n 1~6p | sed 's#  &lt;bookmark href=&quot; + '&quot;' + \
          &quot;file:///#/#g' | &quot; + &quot;sed 's/&quot; + '&quot;' + &quot;//g'&quot;

recent_files = []
times = []
all_lines = os.popen(command).read().strip().splitlines
uniquifier = 1                  # gedit can give all open files same time
for l in all_lines():
    fname = l.split(' added=', 1)[0]
    trailing = l.split(' added=', 1)[1]
    modified = trailing.split(' modified=', 1)[1]
    modified = modified.split('Z', 1)[0]
    # TODO: 2038
    d = time.strptime(modified, '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S')
    epoch = time.mktime(d)
    epoch = int(epoch)
    recent_files.append(fname)

    try:
        times.index(epoch)
        # gedit has given multiple files the same modification time
        epoch += uniquifier
        uniquifier += 1
    except:
        pass                    # Not a duplicate time
    times.append(epoch)

N=5
top_files = []
if N &gt; len(times):
    # Less than 5 most recent files in list
    N = len(times)
    if N == 0:
        # No most recent files in list
        return top_files            # return empty list

# Store list in tmp to retrieve index
tmp=list(times)
# Sort list so that largest elements are on the far right
times.sort()

#print ('5 most recent from lists and indices')
for i in range(1, N+1):
    top_files.append(recent_files[tmp.index(times[-i])])

return top_files



if name == "main":
gedit()

The larger REAL program is more complicated because it opens gnome-terminal, changes directory, renames tabs and move windows to one of three monitors. Sometimes the larger program launches programs in the background, sometimes in the foreground. It polls to ensure one program is running (or finished running) before proceeding to the next program.

Answer 6

You can use a third-party gedit plugin: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Gedit/ThirdPartyPlugins

Depending on your gedit version, I know about these plugins that can help you: Restore Tabs, Session Saver and Ex-Mortis.

For gedit 41.0 on Ubuntu 22.04 I use Ex-Mortis

1. Download the latest release and extract: https://github.com/jefferyto/gedit-ex-mortis/releases/latest

2. Copy plugin files:

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/gedit/plugins
cp -r ex-mortis ~/.local/share/gedit/plugins
cp ex-mortis.plugin ~/.local/share/gedit/plugins

3. Restart gedit, then activate the plugin in the Plugins tab in gedit's Preferences window.

4. Activate "Restore windows between sessions" from Ex-Mortis plugin's Preferences.

5. Restart gedit again.