Plocate GUI

A simple GUI for the plocate command-line utility on Linux systems. Built with PyQt6.

 

Features

• Fast Search: Uses the plocate database.

• Dual Database Support: Searches system and optional external media databases concurrently.

• Search Options: Supports case-insensitive search (-i), regular expressions, and category filtering.

• Database Update: Executes updatedb via pkexec for system and external media indexes.

• Item Selection (Reveal): Highlights/selects the file in the native file manager when opening the containing folder (supports Dolphin and Nautilus).

• Adaptive Design: Automatic adjustment of table column widths when resizing the window.

• Keyboard Shortcuts:

  • Enter / Double-click: Opens the selected file.
  • Ctrl+Enter / Double-click (Path Column): Opens the containing folder.
  • Ctrl+Shift+T: Open the containing folder in the Terminal.
  • Ctrl+Shift+D: Select database (System, Media or both)
  • Ctrl+F: Move focus to the Search input field.
  • Ctrl+G: Move focus to the Filter input field.
  • Ctrl+Tab: Cycle focus between the Search and Filter input fields.
  • Ctrl+Shift+C: Toggle Case Sensitivity.
  • Ctrl+Shift+L: Toggle Live Filtering (auto-filter).
  • Ctrl+Shift+F: Open the Category Filter dropdown menu.
  • Ctrl+Shift+M: Open the Filter menu.
  • Ctrl+Shift++: Enable include mode in Filter menu
  • Ctrl+Shift+-: Enable exclude mode in filter menu.
  • F5: Execute the database update process (updatedb).
  • F1: Open the application's documentation/help.
  • Esc: Cancel current search/update task, clears results, or closes the application.

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Requirements

• Python 3.x
• The plocate package.
• PyQt6 libraries.

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Database Usage

The application is configured to work with the following default databases:

• System: /var/lib/plocate/plocate.db (updated with pkexec updatedb).

• External Media: /var/lib/plocate/media.db (created/updated with pkexec updatedb -o ... -U /run/media).

Important Note: Database updates (Update Database) require pkexec (provided by the polkit package) to be installed and configured to request root permissions, as the updatedb command needs privileges.