Hello Nemo Team,
A long-standing workflow limitation in Nemo is the inability to select multiple files by simply drawing a path over them (brush selection) without relying solely on the rigid box selection.
To solve this, I have developed a working prototype that adds Freeform Path Selection via Right-Click Drag.
How the Prototype Works:
- Smart Timeout: Right-clicking initiates a small timeout. If the user drags >10px, path selection activates. If released immediately, the standard context menu pops up.
- Visual Feedback: Uses Cairo to draw a path tracking the mouse, dynamically adapting to
theme_selected_bg_color.
- Synthetic Events & Spatial Memory: To bypass external selection limits and the
Ctrl+Click toggle issue, the code injects synthetic GDK_BUTTON_PRESS events and uses a spatial hashing array (ignoring clicks within a ~45px radius of previous points) to ensure solid selection without accidental deselections.
I have created a repository with the modified nemo-icon-view.c and a .patch file that applies cleanly to the current build.
You can check out the code, the patch, and the full explanation here:
👉 https://github.com/yazeedali/Linux-mint-nemo-path-selection
I would love for the core team to review this concept, polish it, and hopefully consider merging it into a future release. I believe this would be a massive UX improvement for Linux Mint users.
Thank you for your hard work on Nemo!
Best regards,
Yazeed Ali Al-Ghamdi
Hello Nemo Team,
A long-standing workflow limitation in Nemo is the inability to select multiple files by simply drawing a path over them (brush selection) without relying solely on the rigid box selection.
To solve this, I have developed a working prototype that adds Freeform Path Selection via Right-Click Drag.
How the Prototype Works:
theme_selected_bg_color.Ctrl+Clicktoggle issue, the code injects syntheticGDK_BUTTON_PRESSevents and uses a spatial hashing array (ignoring clicks within a ~45px radius of previous points) to ensure solid selection without accidental deselections.I have created a repository with the modified
nemo-icon-view.cand a.patchfile that applies cleanly to the current build.You can check out the code, the patch, and the full explanation here:
👉 https://github.com/yazeedali/Linux-mint-nemo-path-selection
I would love for the core team to review this concept, polish it, and hopefully consider merging it into a future release. I believe this would be a massive UX improvement for Linux Mint users.
Thank you for your hard work on Nemo!
Best regards,
Yazeed Ali Al-Ghamdi