Hello,

I'm using MC ("3:4.7.0.9-1", says dpkg) on Ubuntu 11.04, and have a couple of questions about using MC.

1. I often need to have the two panels show the same directory.

ALT+o doesn't work, as this shortcut is used by the Windows terminal emulator I'm using.

ESC+o sort of works, except that it cd's to the parent directory instead of the same directory: For instance, if the right panel is in /usr/src/mydir, hitting TAB to switch to the left panel followed by ESC+o cd's to /usr/src instead of /usr/src/mydir.

Does someone know why MC behaves that way?

2. Does MC support going back to the previous directories through eg. ALT+left arrow like TotalCommander does in Windows?

3. How can I jump to the first file/directory starting with a given letter? In TotalCommander, I use the ALT+(letter) shortcut, but this feature doesn't work in MC.

Thank you.

Hello,
1) Did you try Alt-i ? It should make the current directory of the current panel also the current directory of the other panel

2) You have C-PageUp which should change directory to ..
and Alt-y to change to the previous directory in the history (Alt-u to the next)

3) To go to an entry in the current panel, just type in the first letters of the name and Enter when you are at the right entry.

You can also redefine the hotkey bindings in a keymap-file : copy the default /etc/mc/mc.keymap to $HOME/.mc/mc.keymap
And edit it to change the key bindings.

You should read the integrated Help of mc (F1 key) where all the above is written.
Regards.

Edit : the last version of mc is 4.7.5.2
if possible you should upgrade to that version.

There's an option in the configuration menus somewhere for "Lynx-like navigation", which allows Left arrow and Right arrow to move through directories, left being "back".

edit:

Alt-i works here.

Control-s, then type.

Thanks guys.

1. ESC+i works to make the current panel to jump to the same directory as the other panel.

2. CTRL+PageUp doesn't work in my terminal emulator (SecureCRT just scrolls the whole screen), but ESC+y/u does the job.

Options > Configuration > Lynx-like motion doesn't go through the navigation history but rather jumps in/out of a directory so the user doesn't have to hit PageUp followed by Enter

I find ALT+left/right much more intuitive than ESC+y/u, though. I'll check what can done mc.keymap about this.

3. CTRL+s followed by the letter works; To rotate through other items that start with the same letter, keep pressing CTRL+s

To start searching, you can directly type in the first letters, without preceding it with C-s, it's even quicker like that. Then C-s to rotate.

Simply hitting the first letter doesn't work in my terminal emulator: The letter is simply displayed at the shell prompt at the bottom of the screen below the MC interface.

Yes you are right, it works only if the command prompt is disabled in Options/Layout: [ ] Command prompt.
Personally I disable the command prompt, and when I need one, I use C-o, so it's why the trick I gave you works on my machine.

Makes sense. I prefer to have the command prompt displayed.