A file manager with sophisticated metadata handling capabilities
Extended file attributes are a very versatile and powerful extension of traditional file system semantics. Yet, most end-user applications ignore xattribs, or in cases where an app choses to make xattribs accessible for the average user, the actual user-interface is hidden in "file properties" sub menus, or cumbersome to use.
Wrangler is a "file manager"-like application that puts file metadata first, offering xattribs and other metadata alongside traditional metadata (size,type,mtime,...) in all of it's views. The application was designed to browse and manage large collections of multimedia content files, digital assets, and their associated metadata.
A modular application-layout in combination with a Plugin facility makes Wrangler adaptable to most workflows or work environments. The central file-browser can be complemented with a Navbar and Sidebar widget, for comfortable browsing, or with more specialised multimedia widgets: Wrangler's image/video Previewer or the Metadata-Editor. If you try only one feature, and you haven't used xattribs until now, then test the Previewer. It reads preview-thumbnails embedded into JPEGs and takes the lag out of browsing large image file collections - without maintaining an additional database.
Wrangler is not meant as a replacement for your primary file manager. Wrangler is primarily a metadata handling application, while it also offers the interface and most functionalities commonly found in file-managers for navigating filesystems and selecting files. But if you end up using Wrangler for everyday file browsing, that's okay with us.
Please note:
This here is only a short github placeholder README. More information about how to install and use Wrangler can be found in the POD embedded in the source code. So, please hop over to:
via CPAN (official releases):
sudo cpan -i Wrangler
from command-line (latest changes, if any):
wget https://github.com/clipland/wrangler/archive/master.tar.gz
tar xvf master.tar.gz
cd wrangler-master
perl Makefile.PL
make
make test
sudo make install
via .deb file:
go to http://www.clipland.com/wrangler
download .deb file
use gdebi or similar to install
install File::ExtAttr via CPAN (as long as there's no libfile-extattr-perl package)
Clipland for
Micropolis GmbH, micropolis.com
Copyright 2024 Micropolis GmbH. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2009-2015 Clipland GmbH. All rights reserved.
Wrangler is dual-licensed under the Wrangler Non-Commercial License for private, non-commercial use, free-of-charge; and under a purchasable license for commercial, institutional and educational use. Please contact Clipland at http://www.clipland.com/wrangler to buy commercial licenses.
Please note that Wrangler's license keeps it from being officially "open source" software. Nor is it GNU "free software", as it permits only one (freedom 2) of the four freedoms.
Wrangler belongs to Debian's non-free software category, as the Wrangler Licenses do not allow derived works, which would be rule 3 of the Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG).
Wrangler relies on a number of Perl modules and the WxWidgets toolkit. If you are interested in the licensing and copyright status of these modules, please have a look at Makefile.PL which contains some notes.