hi, is there any way to start gimp so that if there is already another instance of the gimp running (by current user, or on same display, etc.), gimp just uses the earlier-running (1st) instance, instead of starting up a whole new instance?

there are many programs that do this. and it makes sense in the gimp, too, because the gimp can have more than one image open. so why start a 2nd (or more) instance of the gimp?

the reason i ask this is because if i use gqview and look at several jpegs in a directory with gqview, and then right-click on a thumbnail of one of the images, and choose, ¨Edit | in the Gimp¨, then it will start up the Gimp and open that file so i can edit it. so far, great. now, if i do the same thing for another thumbnail, it starts up a whole new instance (2nd running copy) of the Gimp each time. since there is already a running instance of the gimp, it would be nice to use the currently-running copy.

also, gqview does offer a way to change the list of available image editors, and their command line arguments, which is nice. so it would seem to me that the easiest way to get the behavior i am seeking would be if the gimp had such a command-line flag/option available. but maybe there is another way?

anyway, i could find no such command-line flag listed in the man page for the Gimp, nor in the manual at http://manual.gimp.org , nor in the user faq at http://www.rru.com/~meo/gimp/faq-user.html , etc etc.. so i was wondering if anyone here knew.. is there any way to do this?

thank you, jeff stern

hi, david, thanks for your prompt (and informative) response. much appreciated..

1) i did a little digging and found out that though it comes with the gimp source distribution, the gimp-remote executable program has been missing for some time from the redhat rpms. this omission is a bug, and though still present in redhat 8.0 (gimp-1.2.3-9 rpm), was originally filed for redhat 7.0 in april of 2001: (http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=35493)

2) i also agree with you: gimp-remote should be in some faq. however, i found no mention of it in the following places:

======================================================================== gimp home page (http://www.rru.com/~meo/gimp/faq-user.html).

RRU tutorial (http://www.rru.com/~meo/gimp/Tutorial/) listed on the gimp site at http://www.rru.com/~meo/gimp/

gimp savvy book web companion site (http://www.gimp-savvy.com)

joshua´s GIMP Guide (http://jgo.local.net/GimpGuide/) ========================================================================

so it sounds like a good potential addition (though i don´t know how frequently this question is actually asked)..

3) i downloaded the gimp source tarball and commenced le grande compilé, slippiing on xjpeg custard, which wanted (and could not find) jpeglib.h ..

so before i go around chasing jpeg (and other) libraries, does anyone have a spare gimp-remote binary that works on the latest gtk+/gcc/rh8.0? i´d be most grateful, as that would work for me until redhat fixes the rpm.

thanks... jeff stern.

this just in..

i realized that even though the compilation compiled gimp-remote *before* choking on the missing jpeglib, so i lucked out. [fyi i didn´t set any compile flags (directories, etc.).. just ran configure and make right out of the tarball.]

gimp-remote is small (9k after stripping). i copied it alone into /usr/bin with the other (previously-installed-via-rpm) gimp exe´s/links, and it´s working fine. so that´s my solution for now..

now gqview (set for gimp-remote -n) spawns many images, but only one gimp.

thanks, david..