Re: du output?

[Pavel Roskin <proski gnu org>]

Hello!

> Is there a way to use du -s output for directories' size column instead
> of the default display (4096 for most dirs, on my system) that makes
> little sense to me? Or a switch between the default display and du
> display?

No.  You have a choice between size for files and directories ("size" in
the "Listing mode" dialog) and size for files only ("bsize" in the same
dialog).  If you look into src/screen.c, there is a structure "formats"  
that gives you all supported elements.  Neither of them uses external
commands.

> If it's not implemented, how difficult it might be to add an external
> call for du (e.g. upon some keystroke) and replace the size values for
> selected dirs with the du output? Is there a similar functionality in mc
> from which I could borrow code?

External panelize (src/panelize.c) calls a user-specified command and 
opens a pipe to read its output.

But I don't think this code will ever be applied to the mc sources.  This
option would make mc too slow, and most people won't use it.  When a
feature is rarely used, the code can be easily broken by further changes
without anybody noticing it for a long time.  There is not enough manpower
to maintain bloated code.

-- 
Regards,
Pavel Roskin