====== Preferences ======
This page details all the settings available for the Application Finder. To edit settings, open up the application in it's expanded mode and select {gui>Preferences}.
===== General =====

<figure "General Preferences">
{{:xfce:xfce4-appfinder:4.12:xfce4-appfinder-preferences-general.png?nolink&|}}
</figure>

==== Behaviour ====

? Remember last selected category
! Select this option to make the Application Finder select the last selected category in the expanded view. If this option is disabled, the category {gui>All Applications} is selected.
? Always centre the window
! By default, [[../xfwm4:|Xfwm4]] might position the window in a place that isn't in the centre of the screen (see the section [[..:xfwm4:wmtweaks|Placement]] under Window Manager Tweaks to change this behaviour). Select this option to always centre the Application Finder screen on startup, regardless of Window Manager settings.
? Keep running instance in the background
! Keeps Application Finder running in the background to speed up opening times. You might want to disable this to reduce memory usage.
? Single window
! This option in only active if {gui>Keep running instance in the background} is enabled. Only keep one instance of the application open at a time.

==== Appearance ====

? View items as icons
! Select this option to show the applications and commands as icons rather than in a list view.
? Text beside icons
! This option in only active if {gui>View items as icons} is enabled. Select this option to position the application name or command beside the icon rather than below.
? Item icon size
! The size of the icons in the item view.
? Hide category pane
! Hides the category side pane when in expanded mode.
? Category icon size
! The size of the category icons in the side pane.

==== History ====

? Clear Custom Command History
! Use this option to remove the history of custom commands you've entered in the collapsed mode that did not match any of the installed application commands.

===== Custom Actions =====
You can set custom actions to quickly perform tasks when a certain character or combination of characters is entered in the collapsed view. For example, you can go to a certain article on Wikipedia by typing ''!w'' and then the article name.

<figure "Custom Actions">
{{:xfce:xfce4-appfinder:4.12:xfce4-appfinder-preferences-actions.png?nolink&|}}
</figure>



==== Usage ====
You can add a new (empty) action by clicking on the {gui>Add} (+) button and remove the selected action by pressing the {gui>Delete} (x) button. You can edit an existing action by selecting it from the list and using the {gui>Type}, {gui>Pattern} and {gui>Command} fields.

? Type
! There are two types of pattern matches:

  * **Prefix** - if this type is selected, there is a match if the entered string starts with the pattern specified.
  * **Regular Expression** - For complex matches you can write a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perl_Compatible_Regular_Expressions|Perl-compatible regular expression]] that's matched against the entered string.
? Pattern
! Depending on the type selected, it describes the prefix or regular expression.
? Command
! The command that is executed when the pattern is matched. To include parts of the search in the command the following variables are available:
  ? Prefix
  ! **%s** - Include the string after the matched pattern. For example, if the prefix-pattern is ''abc'' and the entered command is ''abcdef'', ''%s'' will be replaced with ''def''.
  ! **%S** - Include the complete string after the matched pattern. For example, if the prefix-pattern is ''abc'' and the entered command is ''abcdef'', ''%s'' will be replaced with ''abcdef''.
  ? Regular Expression
  ! During the process of matching, the results of the sub-pattern between parentheses ''( )'' are recorded for later use. ''\'' plus a number to refers to the corresponding sub-string. For instance, ''\1'' refers to the 1st pair of parentheses' match result, while ''\2'' refers to 2nd pair of parentheses' match result. A special case is ''\0'', which will be replaced with the entire match.
  ! If the pattern is ''^ab(.*)fg$'' and the entered command ''abcdefg'' for example, ''\1'' will be replaced with ''cde''.
? Save match in command history
! Select this option if you want matches to be saved in the {gui>Commands History} category.