Spatial Mode

This section describes how to browse the file system using the file manager when configured in spatial mode. In spatial mode, which is the default, each window corresponds to a single folder.

Spatial Mode Windows

A new spatial mode window opens each time you open a folder. To open a folder, perform one of the following actions:

Double-click the folder's icon on the desktop or an existing window.
Select the folder, and press Ctrl+O.
Select the folder, and press Alt+down arrow.
Choose an item from the Places menu on the top panel. The Home folder and bookmarked folders are listed here. For more information about bookmarks, see Using Bookmarks.

To close the current folder while opening a new one, hold down Shift when double-clicking, or press Shift+Alt+down arrow.

The following figure shows a sample spatial mode window that displays the contents of the main Computer folder.

Figure 8-1 Spatial Mode Window

In spatial mode, each open window displays only one location. Selecting a second location opens a second window. Because each location remembers the previous position on the screen in which it was opened, you can recognize the folder when many folders are open at once.

The following figure shows an example of spatial browsing with many open locations.

Figure 8-2 Browsing Spatial Windows

image:Spatial browsing with many open locations

Note - Because spatial mode fills the screen with the file manager windows, being able to reposition them easily is important. You can press and hold the Alt key and click anywhere within the bounds of a window to reposition it instead of having to locate and drag it by its titlebar.

The following table describes the components of a spatial window.

Table 8-1 Spatial Window Components

Component	Description
Menubar	Contains menus that you use to perform tasks in the file manager. You can also open a pop-up menu from a file manager window by right-clicking the window. The items in this menu depend on where you right-click. For example, when you right-click a file or folder, you can choose items related to the file or folder. When you right-click the background of a view pane, you can choose items related to the displayed items in the view pane.
View pane	Displays the contents of the following: Folders FTP sites Windows shares WebDAV servers Locations that correspond to special URIs
Statusbar	Displays the status information such as number of items in a folder and amount of free space on disk.
Parent folder selector	Located in statusbar. Displays the hierarchy of the folder. Choose a folder from the list to open it. Note - Press and hold Shift while choosing from the list to close the current folder as you open a new one.

Displaying the Home Folder in a Spatial Window

To display the Home folder, perform one of the following actions:

Click the Home launcher icon on the top panel.
From a folder window's menubar, choose Places → Home Folder.
From the top panel menubar, choose Places → Home Folder.

The spatial window displays the contents of the Home folder.

Displaying a Parent Folder

A parent folder is the folder that contains the current folder. To display the contents of the current folder's parent, perform one of the following actions:

Choose File → Open Parent.
Press Alt+Up arrow.
Choose from the parent folder selector at the bottom left of the window.

Displaying a Folder in a Browser Window

You can display a single folder in browser mode while continuing to work in spatial mode.

How to Display a Folder in a Browser Window

Select a folder while working in spatial mode.
Choose File → Browse Folder.

Closing Folders

Clicking the Close button to close folders might not be the most efficient way to close many windows. If you would like to view only the current folder and not the folders you opened to reach the current folder, choose File → Close Parent Folders. If you want to close all folders on the screen, choose File → Close All Folders.

Opening a Location

You can open a folder or other location in spatial mode by typing its name.

Choose File → Open Location, and type the path or URI of the location that you want to open.

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