Name

xdg-file-dialog — command line tool for providing file and directory selection dialogs

Synopsis

xdg-file-dialog openfilename [--title TITLE] [FILENAME]

xdg-file-dialog openfilenamelist [--title TITLE] [FILENAME]

xdg-file-dialog savefilename [--title TITLE] [FILENAME]

xdg-file-dialog directory [--title TITLE] [DIRNAME]

xdg-file-dialog { --help | --manual | --version }

Description

The xdg-file-dialog program can be used to let the native file selection dialog handle file and directory input.

xdg-file-dialog is for use inside a desktop session only. It is not recommended to use xdg-file-dialog as root.

Commands

openfilename
Returns the filename with path for a file to read from. FILENAME can optionally be used to specify path and filename of a preselection.
openfilenamelist
Returns one or more filenames with path for files to read from, each on a new line. FILENAME can optionally be used to specify path and filename of a preselection.
savefilename
Returns the filename with path for file to write to. FILENAME can optionally be used to specify path and filename of a preselection.
directory
Returns the path for an exsiting directory. DIRNAME can optionally be used to specify a path of a preselection.

Options

--title TITLE
Sets the dialog's title (caption) to the specified text.
--help
Show command synopsis.
--manual
Show this manualpage.
--version
Show the xdg-utils version information.

Exit Codes

An exit code of 0 indicates success while a non-zero exit code indicates failure. The following failure codes can be returned:

1
Error in command line syntax.
2
One of the files passed on the command line did not exist.
3
A required tool could not be found.
4
The action failed.

Examples

xdg-file-dialog savefilename /tmp/foobar.png

Asks for a save file name starting in directory /tmp and suggesting foobar.png as the filename 

xdg-file-dialog directory --title "Select a target folder" /tmp

Asks for a directory name starting in directory /tmp using the text "Select a target folder" as the dialog's title/caption.