PCManFM patch for hiding menubar toggle (GTK2 version), accessed via 'View' menu or pressing Ctrl+M

pcmanfm_hide_menubar.patch

Description: Make menubar visibility optional
 Introduces a new toggle for hiding the menubar in the 'View' menu
 as well as via Ctrl+M.
 pcmanfm (1.3.1-1)

--- pcmanfm-1.3.1.orig/src/app-config.c
+++ pcmanfm-1.3.1/src/app-config.c
@@ -527,6 +527,7 @@ static void fm_app_config_init(FmAppConf
     cfg->autorun_choices = g_hash_table_new_full(g_str_hash, g_str_equal,
                                                  g_free, _free_archoice);
     cfg->show_statusbar = TRUE;
+    cfg->show_menubar = TRUE;
 #if FM_CHECK_VERSION(1, 2, 0)
     cfg->home_path = NULL;
     cfg->focus_previous = FALSE;
@@ -770,6 +771,7 @@ void fm_app_config_load_from_key_file(Fm
         }
         g_strfreev(tmpv);
     }
+    fm_key_file_get_bool(kf, "ui", "show_menubar", &cfg->show_menubar);
     fm_key_file_get_bool(kf, "ui", "show_statusbar", &cfg->show_statusbar);
     if (g_key_file_has_group(kf, "autorun"))
     {
@@ -1170,6 +1172,7 @@ void fm_app_config_save_profile(FmAppCon
         if (cfg->tb.home)
             g_string_append(buf, "home;");
         g_string_append_c(buf, '\n');
+        g_string_append_printf(buf, "show_menubar=%d\n", cfg->show_menubar);
         g_string_append_printf(buf, "show_statusbar=%d\n", cfg->show_statusbar);
         g_string_append_printf(buf, "pathbar_mode_buttons=%d\n", cfg->pathbar_mode_buttons);
 
--- pcmanfm-1.3.1.orig/src/app-config.h
+++ pcmanfm-1.3.1/src/app-config.h
@@ -144,6 +144,7 @@ struct _FmAppConfig
     GtkSortType sort_type;
     int sort_by;
 #endif
+    gboolean show_menubar;
     gboolean show_statusbar;
 #if FM_CHECK_VERSION(1, 2, 0)
     char *home_path;
--- pcmanfm-1.3.1.orig/src/main-win-ui.c
+++ pcmanfm-1.3.1/src/main-win-ui.c
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ static const char main_menu_xml[] =
       "<menuitem action='DirTree' />"
 #endif
     "</menu>"
+    "<menuitem action='ShowMenuBar'/>"
     "<menuitem action='ShowStatus'/>"
     "<separator/>"
     "<menuitem action='DualPane'/>"
@@ -284,6 +285,7 @@ static GtkToggleActionEntry main_win_tog
     {"ToolbarNav", NULL, N_("Show _Navigation Buttons"), NULL, NULL, G_CALLBACK(on_toolbar_nav), TRUE},
     {"ToolbarHome", NULL, N_("Show '_Home' Button"), NULL, NULL, G_CALLBACK(on_toolbar_home), TRUE},
     {"ShowSidePane", NULL, N_("Sho_w Side Pane"), "F9", NULL, G_CALLBACK(on_show_side_pane), TRUE},
+    {"ShowMenuBar", NULL, N_("Show Menu _Bar"), "<Ctrl>M", NULL, G_CALLBACK(on_show_menubar), TRUE},
     {"ShowStatus", NULL, N_("Show Status B_ar"), "<Ctrl>B", NULL, G_CALLBACK(on_show_status), TRUE},
     {"DualPane", NULL, N_("_Dual Pane Mode"), "F3", N_("Show two panels with folder views"), G_CALLBACK(on_dual_pane), FALSE},
     {"Fullscreen", NULL, N_("Fullscreen _Mode"), "F11", NULL, G_CALLBACK(on_fullscreen), FALSE}
--- pcmanfm-1.3.1.orig/src/main-win.c
+++ pcmanfm-1.3.1/src/main-win.c
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ static void on_toolbar_new_win(GtkToggle
 static void on_toolbar_new_tab(GtkToggleAction *act, FmMainWin *win);
 static void on_toolbar_nav(GtkToggleAction *act, FmMainWin *win);
 static void on_toolbar_home(GtkToggleAction *act, FmMainWin *win);
+static void on_show_menubar(GtkToggleAction *action, FmMainWin *win);
 static void on_show_status(GtkToggleAction *action, FmMainWin *win);
 static void on_change_mode(GtkRadioAction* act, GtkRadioAction *cur, FmMainWin* win);
 static void on_sort_by(GtkRadioAction* act, GtkRadioAction *cur, FmMainWin* win);
@@ -913,7 +914,7 @@ static void fm_main_win_init(FmMainWin *
     }
 #endif
 
-    menubar = gtk_ui_manager_get_widget(ui, "/menubar");
+    win->menubar = GTK_TOOLBAR(gtk_ui_manager_get_widget(ui, "/menubar"));
     win->toolbar = GTK_TOOLBAR(gtk_ui_manager_get_widget(ui, "/toolbar"));
     /* FIXME: should make these optional */
     gtk_toolbar_set_icon_size(win->toolbar, GTK_ICON_SIZE_SMALL_TOOLBAR);
@@ -946,7 +947,7 @@ static void fm_main_win_init(FmMainWin *
     if (atk_obj)
         atk_object_set_name(atk_obj, _("History"));
 
-    gtk_box_pack_start( vbox, menubar, FALSE, TRUE, 0 );
+    gtk_box_pack_start( vbox, GTK_WIDGET(win->menubar), FALSE, TRUE, 0 );
     gtk_box_pack_start( vbox, GTK_WIDGET(win->toolbar), FALSE, TRUE, 0 );
 
     /* load bookmarks menu */
@@ -1720,6 +1721,10 @@ FmMainWin* fm_main_win_add_win(FmMainWin
     act = gtk_ui_manager_get_action(win->ui, "/menubar/ViewMenu/ShowStatus");
     gtk_toggle_action_set_active(GTK_TOGGLE_ACTION(act), app_config->show_statusbar);
     gtk_widget_set_visible(GTK_WIDGET(win->statusbar), app_config->show_statusbar);
+    /* the same for menu bar */
+    act = gtk_ui_manager_get_action(win->ui, "/menubar/ViewMenu/ShowMenuBar");
+    gtk_toggle_action_set_active(GTK_TOGGLE_ACTION(act), app_config->show_menubar);
+    gtk_widget_set_visible(GTK_WIDGET(win->menubar), app_config->show_menubar);
     /* the same for path bar mode */
     gtk_widget_hide(GTK_WIDGET(win->path_bar));
     act = gtk_ui_manager_get_action(win->ui, "/menubar/ViewMenu/PathMode/PathEntry");
@@ -2689,3 +2694,17 @@ static void on_show_status(GtkToggleActi
         pcmanfm_save_config(FALSE);
     }
 }
+
+static void on_show_menubar(GtkToggleAction *action, FmMainWin *win)
+{
+    gboolean active;
+
+    active = gtk_toggle_action_get_active(action);
+    if (active != app_config->show_menubar)
+    {
+        app_config->show_menubar = active;
+        fm_config_emit_changed(fm_config, "menubar");
+        gtk_widget_set_visible(GTK_WIDGET(win->menubar), active);
+        pcmanfm_save_config(FALSE);
+    }
+}
--- pcmanfm-1.3.1.orig/src/main-win.h
+++ pcmanfm-1.3.1/src/main-win.h
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ struct _FmMainWin
     GtkRadioAction* first_view_mode;
     GtkRadioAction* first_side_pane_mode;
     GtkToolbar* toolbar;
+    GtkToolbar* menubar;
     FmPathEntry* location;
     FmPathBar* path_bar;
     GtkNotebook* notebook;

Hey mate I am a bit new to Linux and still learning how do I some things. how exactly would I use this patch on pcmanfm as I dont really like some of the other file managers.

@pdachim the process will be specific to the distribution and package manager you are using.
I can show you the process for Ubuntu 20.04 to get you started. It should be applicable to any Debian-based distribution as well.
Note that the patch command might show errors and fail if the PCManFM version is too old or new and the patch doesn't match its code structure. I've only tested the patch with PCManFM 1.3.1 so your mileage may vary.

# download the source code package
# (this will also automatically extract it in a subfolder)
apt source pcmanfm

# install necessary packages to compile pcmanfm
sudo apt build-dep pcmanfm

# enter the extracted source code directory (version number may differ)
cd pcmanfm-1.3.1/

# create a file using any editor (e.g. nano) and paste the patch into it
nano pcmanfm_hide_menubar.patch

# apply the patch
patch -p1 < pcmanfm_hide_menubar.patch

# build the modified pcmanfm package
dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot -uc -b

The built package will be in the parent directory, e.g. you can install it like this:

sudo dpkg -i ../pcmanfm_1.3.1-1_amd64.deb

Thanks alot mate will give it ago... I am using raspian light with lxde as a environment and openbox as a window manager. So that is nice and light for a raspberry pi. And raspian is Debian based.

Thanks. It works fine in pcmanfm github, version 1.4.0.

git clone https://github.com/lxde/pcmanfm.git
cd pcmanfm

Add the patch

./autogen.sh
./configure --prefix=/usr --sysconfdir=/etc
make
sudo make install