I can drag two files into the Meld GUI. I can also click File comparison (see 
), then choose one file, compare that to nothing, then choose the second file. This seems roundabout. I want to compare two files, preferably in a multiselect filepicker GUI.
Even better would be to right-click one or two files in Nautilus to run Meld.
Is either of those possible?
Personally, I always run meld from the terminal, so I give the two file names there:
meld fileA fileB
Using the GUI, all you need to do is select two files. I don't see why you need to "compare it to nothing". You just select the first file and then the second:
Here is a dash script for the automation of comparing [ folders/files / office/pdf documents / archives ] (the script uses diff / Meld by default - for the comparison; it also compares the contained URLs (...:\\...) in case of a .html/.htm/.pdf file):
#!/bin/dash
## Supported shells: dash, bash, zsh, ksh
PrintDesktopFile () {
cat<<EOF
[Desktop Entry]
Name=File Comparer
Comment=Compares [ folders/files / office/pdf documents / archives ] using 1. diff -r / 2. diff -r -q / 3. Meld
TryExec=$terminal_emulator
Exec=$terminal_emulator_plus_launch_flag "$current_shell_full_path" "$current_script_path" OPEN_WITH_MENU %U
Terminal=$1
Type=Application
Icon=utilities-terminal
Categories=Utility;
MimeType=inode/directory;text/plain;application/x-tar;application/x-gtar;application/x-compressed-tar;application/x-bzip-compressed-tar;application/x-tar-bz2;application/x-bzip2;application/zip;application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document;application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation;application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.slideshow;application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet;application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text;application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet;application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation;application/pdf
EOF
}
PrintMenu () {
{
printf '\n%s\n' "Choose one option: "
printf '%s\n' "Press: "
printf '%s\n' " 1 - Compare with diff -r the previously selected files/folders"
printf '%s\n' " 2 - Compare with diff -r -q the previously selected files/folders"
printf '%s\n' " 3 - Compare with Meld the previously selected files/folders"
printf '%s\n' " 0 - EXIT script"
printf '%s\n' " - - FORCE EXIT (EXIT terminal)"
}>"$print_to_screen"
}
GetTerminalEmulatorPlusLaunchFlagLinux () {
terminal_emulator_raw="$(ps -o comm= -p "$(($(ps -o ppid= -p "$(($(ps -o sid= -p "$$")))")))")"
if [ ! "${terminal_emulator_raw#*"tmux"*}" = "$terminal_emulator_raw" ]; then
terminal_emulator_raw="$(ps -o comm= -p "$(($(ps -o ppid= -p "$(($(ps -o sid= -p "$(tmux display-message -p "#{client_pid}")")))")))")"
fi
terminal_emulator="${terminal_emulator_raw%"-"}"
if [ "$terminal_emulator" = "gnome-console" ] || [ "$terminal_emulator" = "gnome-terminal" ]; then
terminal_emulator_plus_launch_flag="\"$terminal_emulator\" --"
elif [ "$terminal_emulator" = "lxterminal" ] || [ "$terminal_emulator" = "qterminal" ]; then
#For LXDE and LXQt for example: the shell can be called directly (no terminal emulator needed):
terminal_emulator_plus_launch_flag=""
else
terminal_emulator_plus_launch_flag="\"$terminal_emulator\" -e"
fi
}
get_char () {
{
saved_tty_settings=$(stty -g); #save initial tty settings
stty raw -echo #enable special characters (erase, kill, werase, rprnt) and disable echo-ing
dd count=1 2>/dev/null #read (copy) and print: 1 input block
stty "$saved_tty_settings" #restore initial tty settings
}</dev/tty 2>/dev/null||{ printf '\n%s\n\n' "ERROR: Could not read character!">&2; }
}
PrintJustInTitle () {
printf "\033]0;$1\007">"$print_to_screen"
}
CheckFilesFoldersToCompare () {
if [ -z "$files_folders_to_compare" ]; then
printf '%s\n' "Please add files/folders to the comparison queue first!"
exit_code=1
else
error="false"
IFS='
'
for file in $(cat "$stored_file_paths_file_path"); do
if [ ! -e "$file" ] || [ ! -r "$file" ]; then
printf '%s\n' "ERROR: input file/folder: "$file" does not exist or is not readable!"
error="true"
fi
done
unset IFS
if [ "$error" = "true" ]; then
printf '\n%s\n\n' "Please: Try to readd files and compare them afterwards..."
exit_code=1
fi
fi
}
GetOSType () {
if [ -n "$1" ]; then
case "$(uname -s)" in
"Linux" )
eval $1="Linux"
;;
"Darwin" | "BSD" )
eval $1="BSD-based"
;;
* )
eval $1="Other"
;;
esac
else
printf '%s\n' 'ERROR: GetOSType: Expected 1 parameter!'>&2
{
printf '%s\n' 'Press Enter to exit...';
CleanUp; read temp;
}>"$print_to_screen"
fi
}
GetCurrentShell () {
if [ -n "$BASH_VERSION" ]; then current_shell_name="bash";
elif [ -n "$ZSH_VERSION" ]; then current_shell_name="zsh";
elif [ -n "$KSH_VERSION" ]; then current_shell_name="ksh";
elif [ "$PS1" = '$ ' ]; then current_shell_name="dash";
else current_shell_name="dash"; #default shell
fi
current_shell_full_path="$(which "$current_shell_name")"
eval $1=\"\$current_shell_name\"
eval $2=\"\$current_shell_full_path\"
}
PrintSavedBreakTimeoutFromFile() {
cat "$temp_break_timeout_state_file" 2>/dev/null
}
PrepareExitAndExit () {
if [ "$input_answer" = "1" ] || [ "$input_answer" = "2" ]; then
if [ "$OPEN_WITH_MENU" = "OPEN_WITH_MENU" ]; then
{
printf '%s\n' "Press Enter to exit...";
CleanUp; read temp;
}>"$print_to_screen"
fi
else
if [ ! "$1" = "RUN" ]; then
PrintJustInTitle ""
if [ -n "$TEMPORARY_EXTRACT_PATH" ] && [ -n "$TEMPORARY_EXTRACT_FOLDER" ]; then
rm -R -f "$output_dir/"*
fi
fi>"$print_to_screen"
fi
exit $exit_code
}
ExtractFirstAndLastPathComponent () {
eval current_path=""$$1""
first_path_component=""
last_path_component=""
if [ -n "$current_path" ]; then
#Remove trailing '/' characters:
while [ ! "${current_path%"/"}" = "$current_path" ]; do
current_path="${current_path%"/"}"
done
if [ -z "$current_path" ]; then
eval current_path=\"\$$1\"
fi
last_path_component="${current_path##*"/"}"
first_path_component="${current_path%"$last_path_component"}"
fi
eval $2="\"\$first_path_component\""
eval $3="\"\$last_path_component\""
}
ExtractFileIfArchive () {
eval fileEFIA="$$1"
if [ -z "$first_time" ]; then cat '/dev/null'>"$stored_file_paths_file_path"; first_time="defined"; fi
case "$fileEFIA" in
*'.zip' | *'.odt' | *'.ods' | *'.odp' | *'.docx' | *.'xlsx' | *'.pptx' | *'.ppsx' | *'.pdf' | *'.htm' | *'.html' | *'.tar.'* | *'.bz2' | *'.xz' | *'.gz' | *'.tgz' | *'.tar' | '/dev/null' )
error="false"
case "$fileEFIA" in
*'.pdf' )
CheckUtilities pdftotext pdftohtml
;;
esac
if [ "$error" = "false" ]; then
ExtractArchive fileEFIA fileEFIA_extracted
output1="$(printf '%s' "$fileEFIA_extracted"|sed "s/'/$Q\"\$Q\"$Q/g")"
printf "'%s' " "$output1"
fi
;;
* )
output1="$(printf '%s' "$fileEFIA"|sed "s/'/$Q\"\$Q\"$Q/g")"
printf "'%s' " "$output1"
fileEFIA_extracted="$fileEFIA"
;;
esac
printf '%s\n' "$fileEFIA_extracted">>"$stored_file_paths_file_path"
}
ExtractArchive () {
eval current_archive_path=""$$1""
if [ "$current_archive_path" = '/dev/null' ]; then
{
cd "$output_dir" || error="true"
mkdir "null"; cd "null" || error="true"
full_current_archive_extract_to_path="$output_dir/null"
cat /dev/null>"$full_current_archive_extract_to_path""/""temp.links.txt" || error="true"
} 2>/dev/null
if [ "$error" = "true" ]; then printf '%s\n' "ERROR: Could not create/access <output> directory structure!">&2; { printf '%s\n' "Press Enter to exit..."; CleanUp; read temp; kill $$; }>"$print_to_screen"; fi
else
full_current_archive_path="$current_archive_path"
ExtractFirstAndLastPathComponent current_archive_path fpc_current_archive_path lpc_current_archive_path
cd "$fpc_current_archive_path"
fpc_current_archive_path="$PWD"
ExtractFirstAndLastPathComponent fpc_current_archive_path fpc_fpc_current_archive_path lpc_fpc_current_archive_path
current_archive_name_ext="${lpc_current_archive_path}"
if [ ! -d "$current_archive_path" ]; then
current_archive_name_ext_plus="$current_archive_name_ext""_extract"
else
current_archive_name_ext_plus="$current_archive_name_ext"
fi
full_current_archive_extract_to_path="$output_dir/$lpc_fpc_current_archive_path/$current_archive_name_ext_plus"
if [ ! -e "$full_current_archive_extract_to_path" ]; then
{
error="false"
cd "$output_dir" || error="true"
mkdir "$lpc_fpc_current_archive_path"; cd "$lpc_fpc_current_archive_path" || error="true"
mkdir "$current_archive_name_ext_plus"; cd "$current_archive_name_ext_plus" || error="true"
} 2>/dev/null
if [ "$error" = "true" ]; then printf '%s\n' "ERROR: Could not create/access <output> directory structure!">&2; { printf '%s\n' "Press Enter to exit..."; CleanUp; read temp; kill $$; }>"$print_to_screen"; fi
case "$current_archive_path" in
*'.zip' | *'.odt' | *'.ods' | *'.odp' | *'.docx' | *.'xlsx' | *'.pptx' | *'.ppsx' )
unzip "$full_current_archive_path" -d "$full_current_archive_extract_to_path"
;;
*'.pdf' )
pdftotext "$full_current_archive_path" "$full_current_archive_extract_to_path""/""temp.text.txt"
pdftohtml "$full_current_archive_path" "$full_current_archive_extract_to_path""/""temp.html"
cat "$full_current_archive_extract_to_path""/"*|eval "$extract_urls_command">>"$full_current_archive_extract_to_path""/""temp.links.txt"
full_current_archive_extract_to_path="$full_current_archive_extract_to_path"
;;
*'.htm' | *'.html' )
cp "$full_current_archive_path" "$full_current_archive_extract_to_path""/""temp.html"
cat "$full_current_archive_extract_to_path""/"*|eval "$extract_urls_command">>"$full_current_archive_extract_to_path""/""temp.links.txt"
full_current_archive_extract_to_path="$full_current_archive_extract_to_path"
;;
*'.bz2' | *'.xz' | *'.gz' )
cp "$full_current_archive_path" "$full_current_archive_extract_to_path"
case "$current_archive_path" in
*'.bz2' ) bzip2 "$full_current_archive_extract_to_path/""$current_archive_name_ext" -d "$full_current_archive_extract_to_path"; ;;
*'.xz' ) xz "$full_current_archive_extract_to_path/""$current_archive_name_ext" -d "$full_current_archive_extract_to_path"; ;;
*'.gz' ) gzip -d "$full_current_archive_extract_to_path/""$current_archive_name_ext"; ;;
esac
case "${current_archive_name_ext%"."*}" in
*'.tar' )
tar -xvf "$full_current_archive_extract_to_path/${current_archive_name_ext%"."*}" -C "$full_current_archive_extract_to_path"
rm "$full_current_archive_extract_to_path/${current_archive_name_ext%"."*}"
;;
esac
;;
*'.tgz' | *'.tar' )
tar -xvf "$full_current_archive_path" -C "$full_current_archive_extract_to_path"
;;
esac >/dev/null 2>/dev/null
else
cd "$full_current_archive_extract_to_path"
fi
fi
eval $2=\"\$full_current_archive_extract_to_path\"
}
CheckUtilities () {
#Check if any of the necessary utilities is missing:
error="false"
for utility; do
which $utility>/dev/null 2>/dev/null || { printf "\n%s\n" "ERROR: the '$utility' utility is not installed!">&2; error="true"; }
done
if [ "$error" = "true" ]; then
{
printf "\n%s\n" "Press Enter to exit...">&2
CleanUp; read temp;
kill -s PIPE -- -$$; #kill all children processes, suppressing "Terminated" message
}>"$print_to_screen"
fi
}
CleanUp () {
IFS="$initial_IFS"
cd "$initial_dir"
}
set +f #Enable globbing (POSIX compliant)
setopt no_nomatch 2>/dev/null #Enable globbing (zsh)
Q="'"
initial_IFS="$IFS"
cd "${0%/}" 2>/dev/null
current_script_path="$(pwd -P)/${0##/}"
GetCurrentShell current_shell_name current_shell_full_path
APPS_DESKTOP_FILES_FOLDER="$HOME/.local/share/applications" #(for Linux) this is the default location for .desktop files (should not be changed)
desktop_file_name_ext="FileComparerScript.desktop" #(for Linux) can be changed
desktop_file_path="$APPS_DESKTOP_FILES_FOLDER""/""$desktop_file_name_ext" #(for Linux)
stored_file_paths_file_parent_dir_path="$APPS_DESKTOP_FILES_FOLDER" #can be changed
if [ ! -e "$stored_file_paths_file_parent_dir_path" ]; then
stored_file_paths_file_parent_dir_path="$HOME" #can be changed
fi
stored_file_paths_file_path="$stored_file_paths_file_parent_dir_path""/"'FileComparerScriptSettings.txt'
temp_break_timeout_state_file="$stored_file_paths_file_parent_dir_path""/"'temp_break_timeout_state_file.txt'
temp_compared_status_file="$stored_file_paths_file_parent_dir_path""/"'temp_compared_status_file.txt'
temp_to_be_resetted_status_file="$stored_file_paths_file_parent_dir_path""/""temp_to_be_resetted.txt"
NL2=$(printf '%s' "\n\n") #Store New Line for use with sed
insert_NL_before_URLs_command='sed -E '"'"'s/([a-zA-Z]://)/'"\${NL2}"'\1/g'"'"
strip_NON_URL_text_command='sed -E '"'"'s/((.([^a-zA-Z+])|([a-zA-Z])))(([a-zA-Z])://)([^ ^'"${TAB}"'^>^<])./\4\5\7/g'"'"
delete_lines_not_containing_an_URL='sed -E '"'"'/.://.*/!d'"'"
extract_urls_command="$insert_NL_before_URLs_command|$strip_NON_URL_text_command|$delete_lines_not_containing_an_URL"
print_to_screen='/dev/tty'
CR=$(printf '\r')
default_menu_option="1" #can be changed [ 1..3 ]
GetOSType OS_TYPE
exit_code=0
OPEN_WITH_MENU=""; if [ "$1" = "OPEN_WITH_MENU" ]; then OPEN_WITH_MENU="OPEN_WITH_MENU"; shift; fi
if [ "$1" = "--install" ]; then
IFS='
'
if [ "$OS_TYPE" = "Linux" ]; then
{
CheckUtilities grep update-desktop-database cat ps
cat '/dev/null'>"$desktop_file_path"
GetTerminalEmulatorPlusLaunchFlagLinux
#terminal_visible=false/true <=> not show / show: the initial launcher app (terminal) window
#for LXDE and LXQt Desktop Environments: use "true"; otherwise: use "false"
if [ -z "$terminal_emulator_plus_launch_flag" ]; then
terminal_visible="true"
else
terminal_visible="false"
fi
PrintDesktopFile $terminal_visible>"$desktop_file_path"
favorite_icons_list=$(dconf read /org/gnome/shell/favorite-apps 2>/dev/null)
printf '%s' "$favorite_icons_list"|grep -F "$desktop_file_name_ext">/dev/null||{
dconf write /org/gnome/shell/favorite-apps "${favorite_icons_list%"]"}"", ""'$desktop_file_name_ext'""]"
} 2>/dev/null
# Update database of desktop entries cache:
update-desktop-database "$APPS_DESKTOP_FILES_FOLDER"
} && {
printf '\n%s\n\n' "Installed in the Desktop Favorite Apps Ribbon."
} || {
printf '\n%s\n\n' "ERROR: Install encountered errors."
}
else
printf '\n%s\n\n' "ERROR: Currently, install is implemented only for the Linux operating systems!"
fi
fi
if [ -z "$1" ]; then
printf '%s\n' "true">"$temp_to_be_resetted_status_file"
fi
if [ ! "$1" = "--install" ]; then
CheckUtilities mkdir cat diff kill stty dd unzip tar cp
{
[ "$OS_TYPE" = "Linux" ] && [ -e '/dev/shm' ] && {
TEMPORARY_EXTRACT_PATH='/dev/shm'
} 2>/dev/null || {
[ "$OS_TYPE" = "BSD-based" ] && [ -e "$HOME" ] && {
TEMPORARY_EXTRACT_PATH="$HOME"
}
} || {
printf "Please provide TEMPORARY_EXTRACT_PATH: ">&2; read TEMPORARY_EXTRACT_PATH>"$print_to_screen";
}
TEMPORARY_EXTRACT_FOLDER='TEMP_EXTR_FOLDER'
}>/dev/null
initial_dir="$PWD"
output_dir=""
error="false"
{
[ -n "$TEMPORARY_EXTRACT_PATH" ] && cd "$TEMPORARY_EXTRACT_PATH" && {
if [ ! -e "$TEMPORARY_EXTRACT_FOLDER" ]; then
mkdir "$TEMPORARY_EXTRACT_FOLDER" || error="true"
fi
cd "$TEMPORARY_EXTRACT_FOLDER" && output_dir="$PWD" || {
error="true"
}
} || error="true"
} 2>/dev/null
if [ "$error" = "true" ]; then
printf '%s\n' "Error: Could not access temporary folder \"$TEMPORARY_EXTRACT_FOLDER\" in the extract location: \"$TEMPORARY_EXTRACT_PATH\"!">&2
{ printf '%s\n' "Press Enter to exit..."; CleanUp; read temp; }>"$print_to_screen"; exit 1
fi
cd "$initial_dir"
if [ ! -e "$stored_file_paths_file_path" ]; then
cat '/dev/null'>"$stored_file_paths_file_path"
fi
PrintJustInTitle "File Comparer"
if [ -e "$1" ]; then
#######
if [ -z "$(cat "$temp_compared_status_file" 2>/dev/null)" ]; then
printf '%s\n' "compared">"$temp_compared_status_file" 2>/dev/null
else
cat '/dev/null'>"$temp_compared_status_file" 2>/dev/null
fi
if [ "$(cat "$temp_to_be_resetted_status_file")" = "true" ]; then
cat '/dev/null'>"$stored_file_paths_file_path"
printf '%s\n' "false">"$temp_to_be_resetted_status_file"
fi
#######
for file; do
files_folders_to_compare=$( \
IFS='
';
for current_file in $(cat "$stored_file_paths_file_path"); do
ExtractFileIfArchive current_file;
done;
ExtractFileIfArchive file;
);
done
else
if [ ! "$1" = "RUN" ]; then
files_folders_to_compare=$( \
if [ -n "$1" ]; then \
IFS="$initial_IFS"; \
for file; do \
ExtractFileIfArchive file; \
done; \
else \
IFS='
';
for file in $(cat "$stored_file_paths_file_path"); do
ExtractFileIfArchive file;
done;
fi;
);
fi
if [ -z "$3" ]; then
files_folders_to_compare=$(
IFS='
';
for current_file in $(cat "$stored_file_paths_file_path"); do
ExtractFileIfArchive current_file;
done;
);
fi
input_answer="$2"
if [ -z "$input_answer" ] || [ ! "$1" = "RUN" ]; then
PrintMenu
printf '%s\n' " Press other keys (e.g. arrows) during the first 1 second"
printf '%s\n' " to cancel automatically loading the default option ($default_menu_option)..."
printf '%s' " "
fi>"$print_to_screen"
break_timeout_state="STATE1"
break_timeout_state="$(PrintSavedBreakTimeoutFromFile)"
if [ ! "$break_timeout_state" = "STATE3" ]; then
cat '/dev/null'>"$temp_break_timeout_state_file"
printf "STATE1">"$temp_break_timeout_state_file"
else
printf "STATE2">"$temp_break_timeout_state_file"
fi
{
sleep 1;
break_timeout_state="$(PrintSavedBreakTimeoutFromFile)"
if [ "$break_timeout_state" = "STATE1" ]; then
printf "STATE3">"$temp_break_timeout_state_file"
#stty -F /dev/tty sane
eval "$current_shell_full_path" \"\$current_script_path\" $OPEN_WITH_MENU RUN "$default_menu_option"
exit 0
fi
}&
pid=$!
break_timeout_state="$(PrintSavedBreakTimeoutFromFile)"
while [ ! "$break_timeout_state" = "STATE3" ] && [ ! "$input_answer" = "1" ] && [ ! "$input_answer" = "2" ] && [ ! "$input_answer" = "3" ] && [ ! "$input_answer" = "0" ] && [ ! "$input_answer" = "-" ]; do
input_answer=""
input_answer=$(get_char)
if [ "$break_timeout_state" = "STATE1" ]; then
eval kill -s PIPE $pid>/dev/null 2>/dev/null #kill the background process denoted here by $pid, suppressing "Terminated" message
break_timeout_state="STATE2"
printf "STATE2">"$temp_break_timeout_state_file"
fi
done
##
IFS='
'
case $input_answer in
"1" )
printf '\n%s\n' "1. diff -r"
printf '%s\n' "diff -r $files_folders_to_compare"
printf "\n"
CheckFilesFoldersToCompare
if [ "$exit_code" = "0" ]; then
printf '%s\n' "compared">"$temp_compared_status_file"
IFS='
'
diff_output="$(eval diff -r $files_folders_to_compare)"
error_code=$?
if [ -z "$diff_output" ] && [ "$error_code" = "0" ]; then
printf '%s\n' "NO DIFFERENCES ENCOUNTERED..."
[ ! "$2" = "1" ] && printf '\n%s\n' "DONE.">"$print_to_screen"
else
printf '%s\n' "$diff_output"
[ ! "$2" = "1" ] && printf '\n%s\n' "DONE.">"$print_to_screen"
fi
fi
if [ "$default_menu_option" = "1" ]; then if [ ! "$2" = "$default_menu_option" ]; then PrepareExitAndExit; fi; else PrepareExitAndExit; fi
;;
"2" )
printf '\n%s\n' "2. diff -r -q"
printf '%s\n' "diff -r -q $files_folders_to_compare"
#printf "\n"
CheckFilesFoldersToCompare
if [ "$exit_code" = "0" ]; then
printf '%s\n' "compared">"$temp_compared_status_file"
IFS='
'
diff_output="$(eval diff -r -q $files_folders_to_compare)"
error_code=$?
if [ -z "$diff_output" ] && [ "$error_code" = "0" ]; then
printf '%s\n' "NO DIFFERENCES ENCOUNTERED..."
[ ! "$2" = "2" ] && printf '\n%s\n' "DONE.">"$print_to_screen"
else
printf '%s\n' "$diff_output"
[ ! "$2" = "2" ] && printf '\n%s\n' "DONE.">"$print_to_screen"
fi
fi
if [ "$default_menu_option" = "2" ]; then if [ ! "$2" = "$default_menu_option" ]; then PrepareExitAndExit; fi; else PrepareExitAndExit; fi
;;
"3" )
printf '\n%s\n' "3. Meld"
printf '%s\n' "meld $files_folders_to_compare"
printf "\n"
CheckFilesFoldersToCompare
if [ "$exit_code" = "0" ]; then
printf '%s\n' "compared">"$temp_compared_status_file"
IFS='
'
eval meld $files_folders_to_compare 2>/dev/null||{
printf '%s\n' "ERROR: Meld is not installed?">&2
{
printf '%s\n' "Press Enter to exit...";
CleanUp; read temp;
}>"$print_to_screen"
exit_code=1
}
fi
if [ "$default_menu_option" = "3" ]; then if [ ! "$2" = "$default_menu_option" ]; then PrepareExitAndExit; fi; else PrepareExitAndExit; fi
;;
"0" | "-" )
if [ "$input_answer" = "0" ]; then printf "\n">"$print_to_screen"; exit 0; elif [ "$input_answer" = "-" ]; then printf "\n">"$print_to_screen"; kill -s PIPE -- -$$; fi
;;
esac
fi
fi 2>&1|sed "s/$/$CR/"
IFS="$initial_IFS"
If not already done: run the script with the --install flag to install the .desktop file (for quick access)
Second step
Open With, and the choose File Comparer.or:
Run the script with the desired parameters ([ folders/files / office/pdf documents / archives ])
-> in order to add these [ folders/files / office/pdf documents / archives ] to the comparison queue
(Can be run repeatedly:) Run the script with no parameters in order to do the comparison (the file selection is memorized until running the steps 2.1. / 2.2. again)
If you want to compare two files with meld from Nautilus, you can write some scripts that can be activated through the right-click menu on a file or folder.
The scripting language for Nautilus scripts may be bash, python, perl or ruby, just to list some examples. In this answer I'll show a solution based on bash.
The first thing to is to create the scripts folder with the terminal command:
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/nautilus/scripts
All scripts will go into this folder. Once a script is in the folder, it will not show up in the right-click context menu until you make it executable with the terminal command:
chmod +x <script_name>
Once you have at least one executable script, then it will appear under 'scripts' in the context menu, as shown below (the image is just a reference taken from a StackExchange post, currently I don't have acces to my own Ubuntu for a more "personal" screenshot).
Now, you can add to that folder the following two files, that I have named Meld (select first item) and Meld (select second item). I have not put the .sh just for an aestethic reason (the extension appears in the context menu, and I don't like it): the presence of the shebang line at the beginning of every file it's enough for the system to understand how to execute them.
Content of Meld (select first item) file:
#!/bin/bash
#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Script: Meld (select first item)
# Author: Lorenz Keel (AskUbuntu)
# Purpose: Define left-side compare operand for meld
# Note: Don't forget to run: chmod +x <script_name>
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exit values
STATUS_OK=0
STATUS_ERROR=1
Check meld package installation
if [ -n "$(command -v meld)" ]; then
Create temp file
TMP_FILE="/tmp/nautilus-compare.txt"
Check if the Nautilus environment variable is empty
if [ -z "${NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS}" ]; then
# If it's blank, exit with notification of error
exit "${STATUS_ERROR}"
else
# Remove the previous version of the temporary file
if [ -f "${TMP_FILE}" ]; then
rm -rf "${TMP_FILE}"
fi
# Put quotes around every full path
while read -r FULL_PATH; do
echo "'${FULL_PATH}'" | tee "${TMP_FILE}"
done < <(echo "${NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS::-1}")
fi
else
Get the name of the current icon theme
ICON_THEME="$(gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.interface icon-theme | tr -d "'")"
Set the value of the notification icon
if [ -f "/usr/share/icons/${ICON_THEME}/scalable/status/dialog-error-symbolic.svg" ]; then
NOTIFY_ICON="/usr/share/icons/${ICON_THEME}/scalable/status/dialog-error-symbolic.svg"
else
NOTIFY_ICON="error"
fi
Specifies the timeout in seconds after which the dialog is closed
NOTIFY_TIMEOUT=5000
TEXT_ERROR="Installare meld per usare questo script"
notify-send -t "${NOTIFY_TIMEOUT}" -i "${NOTIFY_ICON}" "${TEXT_ERROR}"
fi
Exit with notification of success
exit "${STATUS_OK}"
The above files does not trigger yet meld, but simply creates a temporary files that contains the list of the files that are selected in Nautilus when you press the Meld (select first item) item in the context menu. The selected files are read from the special variable NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS that serves for this specific purpose.
The remaining part of the script triggers a notification with the proper icon in the Ubuntu top bar in case of errros.
Content of Meld (select first item) file:
#!/bin/bash
#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Script: Meld (select second item)
# Author: Lorenz Keel (AskUbuntu)
# Purpose: Define right-side compare operand for meld
# Note: Don't forget to run: chmod +x <script_name>
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exit values
STATUS_OK=0
STATUS_ERROR=1
Check meld package installation
if [ -n "$(command -v meld)" ]; then
Temp file location
TMP_FILE="/tmp/nautilus-compare.txt"
Check if the Nautilus environment variable is empty
if [ -z "${NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS}" ]; then
# If it's blank, exit with notification of error
exit "${STATUS_ERROR}"
else
if [ -f "${TMP_FILE}" ]; then
# Put quotes around every full path
while read -r FULL_PATH; do
echo "'${FULL_PATH}'" | tee -a "${TMP_FILE}"
done < <(echo "${NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS::-1}")
else
# Temp file is absent, left item has not been selected
exit "${STATUS_ERROR}"
fi
fi
Open meld
tail -2 "${TMP_FILE}" | xargs meld &
Wait before deleting the temp file
sleep 1s && rm -rf "${TMP_FILE}"
else
Get the name of the current icon theme
ICON_THEME="$(gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.interface icon-theme | tr -d "'")"
Set the value of the notification icon
if [ -f "/usr/share/icons/${ICON_THEME}/scalable/status/dialog-error-symbolic.svg" ]; then
NOTIFY_ICON="/usr/share/icons/${ICON_THEME}/scalable/status/dialog-error-symbolic.svg"
else
NOTIFY_ICON="error"
fi
Specifies the timeout in seconds after which the dialog is closed
NOTIFY_TIMEOUT=5000
TEXT_ERROR="Installare meld per usare questo script"
notify-send -t "${NOTIFY_TIMEOUT}" -i "${NOTIFY_ICON}" "${TEXT_ERROR}"
fi
Exit with notification of success
exit "${STATUS_OK}"
This second script fills the temporary files with the second item of the comparison and then run meld.
You can create these files with you preferred text editor, such as nano (from terminal) or gedit and gnome-text-editor (if you prefer a GUI). The important thing is to save them in the folder I mentioned at the beginning of this answer and enable execution rights on them.
These scripts have been written by myself for my personal usage, my minimal debugging showed me that they work for the simple tasks I ask them to do, I'm aware that probably they can be improved a lot.
