new alpha version 2306

[nikos]

if you want to do some testing here's the new xplorer2 (to be v2.4)
http://www.zabkat.com/test/kenny.7z

32 bit debug version without installer, just unpack and run (while your regular xplorer2 isn't running)
the main improvement is those autohiding dock panels
any problems please let me know

[Kilmatead]

And for the love of small animals everywhere, Please do not post about the "Some assertions failed" message you get on closure. This is perfectly normal and will not cause the milk in your fridge to go sour, the will in your willie to digress, or the pomp in your circumstance to weep uncontrollably. Just ignore it. (Unless you have a real [repeatable] crash instance wherein any tracelogs/minidumps found in your Temp folder should be rendered unto Nikos forthwith.)

Again, the failed assertions are normal and not any threat to your small children. Larger children should be checked for radiation/lice/herpes levels as usual, but the smaller ones are tough little buggers and won't be bothered by a few errant assertions.

Also, please remember that you cannot launch the alpha/beta/gamma versions from within x2 - you will only succeed in launching another instance of the one you're already using (and yes, even though the binaries have different names). They cannot be used simultaneously unless you launch specifically with the /P switch, but that's messy and just asking for trouble and unhelpful for testing. Please don't do it.

[2.3.0.6] 22 Aug 13 ----------------

* Mark > Sync wizard dialog has a field to ignore a prescribed date difference (it applies when modification date is used for comparisons). Tick it to consider files within the specified date range as identical, or clear the checkbox to use the default +/- 2 seconds tolerance.

* [P] When using robust copy <F5>, if there is a filename collision (target file exists), you get a chance to supply a different filename so you can "manually" rename and keep the old target file or folder. Just type in the new filename (no path) and click on YES button. You don't need to type the extension even!

* [P] Docking panes like tree have a PIN icon on their titlebar. If you click on the pin you toggle the autohide/docked mode. When set to autohide the panel is minimized, brought into view by hovering the mouse over the panel button (or clicking on the minimized button). Click on the titlebar pin again to fix the panel in docked (expanded) mode.

* Text extraction (search for keywords) works for PDF documents even if you have the latest Adobe reader — but it is recommended you switched to PDF X-change viewer especially if you are on 64 bit windows.

* Background context menu menu (when you click on empty space) on some virtual folders includes an NSE submenu that routes to some special namespace extension commands, e.g. add new secure FTP connection. Several special folders have such commands (requires windows Vista or later)

* Tools > Fast search command more flexible when started from local folders outside the system index like C:\. It will search whatever folders are in the system index, under the current folder.

* Various small bugs fixed

* Quickviewer (Native mode) won't get in the way when renaming or deleting items; console window likewise won't block folder delete/rename operations

* Right click on a USB drive icon (e.g. on the drivebar or tree) and use EJECT context menu command to safely remove it. This ensures that xplorer² at least won't be locking it (but it could be locked by other applications on your system, try the Safe device removal icon on the taskbar notification area too)

* [P] AddressBar filter box works in miniscrap pane too (filter and select modes only), e.g. start typing a filename while the miniscrap has the focus and see what happens.

* Default document categories e.g. {pictures} are recognized as quick filters in the addressbar

* Symbolic links inherit the actual file dates at the time of creation (note the modification dates will diverge in the future)

* Subfolder sizes are calculated automatically (if relevant advanced option is set) even when you aren't in detailed view mode

* [P] Window > Set title menu command in scrap containers can be used to supply a custom titlebar name. Useful for multiple scrap windows.

P.S. If your larger children do indeed have preternaturally high levels of radiation, lice, or herpes, please do not inform Nikos. This is not an x2 issue. You may however post about such things, as the ghoulish details will prove useful for scaring the smaller (more healthy) children.

[otlaolap]

There is a bug in the new alpha version in the way it handles the filter box when a typo is made.

First, consider what happens when Explorer2 is running correctly (at least what appears to me to be correctly). To define this, I use a fresh boot with no extraneous utilities running, and I completely delete ZabaraKatranemia's registry. Then I fire up kenny.exe. When I am in a folder and type rapidly, causing the filterbox to become active, the files shown gradually are whittled down, corresponding to the state of the filter. If I make a typo or a repeated typo, the files shown become empty. Then, as I backspace out of what I typed, the files shown remain empty until I finally have remaining in the filter box something that matches one or more files in the folder, and then those files are shown. The files that are shown, in other words, very nicely and dynamically follow what is present in the filter box. This is, per previous discussions, the expected and normal behavior.

Now, still with this fresh boot and clean registry, go to the Xplorer2 menu item View->Toolbars>Status Bar, and remove the tick mark (so that no status bar is shown). Rerun the typing experiment. When you have typed enough, and have a filter that no longer matches files, then, when you backspace, you get a popup message "No item matches the specified (text) rule". You will continue to get new popups, character by character, as you backspace out of the typo, until you reach a point where a match can occur.

[Kilmatead]

I will confirm this, though it is not specific to the Alpha - it happens in the current stable version as well. Definitely linked to the visual status of the status bar.

(Curiously, it doesn't necessarily trigger immediately [just the usual annoying 'ding' thing], but the modal will kick in eventually.) Not even sure it's a "bug" per se (as it would be silly to interrupt the user every time he backspaces), it looks more like a leftover debug message that was never removed to me.

[nikos]

I wouldn't call this a bug either; the status bar is good with filtering anyway, because you double click on the green filter icon there to turn off the filter

if you insist on having it hidden, instead of deleting one character at a time, press shift_home to delete all the text and start again

[drac]

Just like the fox should not be in charge of the hen house security, the programmer should not have the final word on what action is a bug. Either we, as users, get to decide which operations we consider a bug or we will nominate a representative to act on our behalf. And since there is a strong possibility that our rep will be Kilmatead, Nikos would be wise to be a bit more open to making changes that seem to be considered bugs by "the group".

[Kilmatead]

And since there is a strong possibility that our rep will be Kilmatead...

Yeah, see, you know, about that... like, hey kitty-cat, I saw Jimmy Hoffa wearin' those concrete galoshes down by the river there, right under the old Ambassador bridge he was, and, like, man, I ain't even no union guy. I'm just some poor schmuck who's never gone near no meetin' of them there teamster fellas, and I knows how to minds my own business, see? You ain't gonna catch old Clarence here tryin' on no cement shoes for size, ya know? No sir, old Clarence, see, he be knowin' how to keep hisself to hisself.

You shiny city folk can keep your representin' minds, I'm just an old hobo with the heart of a gadfly, pokin' and proddin' and pushin' and smilin'...

[otlaolap]

The filter box behavior is a bug. You gave us a nice option to turn on the status bar or to turn it off (I prefer it off because it keeps flashing stuff at me, stuff like green icons, and that does distract me and break my focus and concentration). Turn it off, and the filter box does not work as it should. The advice to use dreadful workarounds (clear the whole thing out and try typing again) is truly surprising.

I resolved this time around to participate in testing the alpha versio, thinking it would be helpful. Apparently not.

[nikos]

if you turn off the statusbar then ALL messages that would appear on the statusbar end up messageboxes. That's by design

[Kilmatead]

Well, yes, except this message is a mistake - anyone who needs to be told (above the dinging and ringing) that his typing filter isn't matching anything (and then only when he's backspacing?) probably shouldn't be using x2 in the first place (they'd be happier playing with a ball of yarn).

Give your users at least a little credit for a modicum of intelligence. It's not a bug - I'm sure you meant well - but the end result is naff. So, simple solution: remove the modal. Trust me, no one will even notice it's missing.

[nikos]

everything in xplorer2 is interlinked. This message isn't coming from the autofilter but from the shared command that implements some of its functions. If I was to silence this error then the other command that uses it (alt+H) would be adversely affected

so if you don't want to use the statusbar, the only option is to press SHIFT+HOME and delete everything

[drac]

Kilmatead, you SAY you do not want to be our representative, but then you march right in and get on Nikos' case by being an advocate for other users. That is exactly the role I suggested for you and, contrary to your protestations, it is a role that is made for you. Besides, having you as a representative is our best instrument and our best opportunity for getting our requests fulfilled. Your American hobo and gangster allusions aside, you are our David to his Goliath.

[Kilmatead]

Do not mistake vociferous colloquy for honest intent.

The difference here is that you take this stuff seriously - to me, it's a lark. I have a wonderful habit of making a mockery of sporting events, as I will happily root for whichever side is losing at any given moment (winners do not require support). So, while the users are downpressed I will arbitrarily choose or ignore a cause to press home - but the minute I am pigeon-holed into a roleplaying game, I will happily condemn the commoners and just agree with the aristocracy that even cake is too good for thee.

This makes me an unreliable advocate, for in the guise of a Caliban I would people the island with a race of me's - then set fire to the lot and write poetry to the nightly screams of my multiple deaths like some mad medieval Japanese warrior. I know the political game of civilised voyeurism only too well - ally with the condemned man and he becomes your steadfast friend much more quickly than you could lose the favour of the king in a cardgame. I don't think anyone would wish to be subject or beneficiary to my stochastic humours, let alone my measured duplicity.

This is why they keep me around here - I provide an entertaining centrepiece made up of the local Rabelaisian wildlife. My protestations to the negative are what themselves describe the contrarian burlesque.

After all, one of my alma-maters did not itself fail due to my lack of absence, but due rather to the laughter of endeavour and the ridiculous nature of organisation. David was on Goliath's payroll after all - which tells you more about the vanity of the playwrite than the subject of his play.