xplorer2 v2.3 final

Post by **nikos** » 2013 Mar 01, 07:50

now everybody can try the new filterbox!
use Help > Check for updates menu command or browse this page
www.zabkat.com/x2down.htm

Kilmatead · Post by **Kilmatead** » 2013 Mar 01, 08:12

Changelog [2.3.0.0] 1 Mar 13 wrote:* Tools > Options menu, Advanced page has a button to access control panel's folder options. Note that some of these options have no effect on xplorer²
* Tools > Map network drive menu offers quick access to the respective windows function (also available by right clicking on My Computer icon)
* Tools > Options menu, Advanced page has a tickbox to make network access faster (plain icons, no overlays/tooltips/folder sizes, partial tree expansion). Combines the old advanced registry options GAOPT_TREENONETENUM and GAOPT_ECONOMYNETWD.
* {U} Tools > Fast search menu takes advantage of WDS v4.0 capability to search remote computers, if invoked while browsing some network folder. Likewise the Find Files command <ctrl+F> uses the remote computer search index if available. The remote folders must be shared.
* Right click menu in Draft quick viewer has option to show the end (tail) of files instead of the beginning. Only applies to plain text files
* If you don't have the NAME column first, the rename command <F2> uses a dialog window instead of failing.
* {P} Tools > Fuzzy groups menu command in a scrap window organizes the contents in groups according to how similar are their names (or any other text attribute). It can be used for fuzzy duplicate checking, e.g. how many folders you have that share a common artist name. For best results fiddle the fuzzy factor up/down.
* New filter box next to the addressbar allows quick selecting, filtering or [P] searching in the current view. Use the drop-down button menu to switch among the available modes and to fine-tune the operation. Press <ALT+Return> to operate on the inactive (dual) view. For more information please refer to the quickstart guide.
* registry option nCharsAutoFilter (available through the advanced settings editor: Layout settings > General). If your filter box is set to plain filename filtering, this setting controls after how many characters typed the focus will jump in the filter box, for easier visual filtering. Set to 0 to disable this function.
* Use the advanced registry settings editor (Layout settings > Main frame) to choose the relative size (percent) of the filter box in the addressbar. Set to 0 if you don't want the filter box.
* {P} smarter registration: if you copy the xplorer² unlock key from the email you receive when you buy xplorer², it will be automatically inserted in the registration dialog.
* Installer has option to add xplorer² to your folders' context menu. This can used as a soft alterative to replacing your windows explorer with xplorer².
* Double click on the filter icon on the statusbar to toggle the active filter. Double click on the "show hidden" status bar pane to toggle showing hidden files and folders.

Anticipated Frequently Asked Questions (related to the new Filterbox-thingy):

I'm feeling kind of uneasy about the filterbox hijacking the find-as-you type functionality.

Tools -> Advanced Options -> Layout Settings -> Incremental Search Auto-Filter

When you type the <n + 1>'th character, focus (and the string you're typing) will automatically switch into the filterbox, and the filtering will be reflected "live" in the pane.

Set it to 0 to turn off the "hijacking" and restore the "old" behaviour of focussing on consecutive entries. Or, conversely, set it to 1 to make it more immediately responsive. (If you pause typing for more than half-a-second before the focus switches, whatever you've already typed will be cleared.)

Is there a keyboard shortcut to get to this filterbox if I do choose to disable hijacking?

You may bind one yourself under Customise -> Keyboard -> Miscellaneous -> 33250

How do keyboard-users get to the dropdown menu?

When the focus is in the filterbox, press the <Down> key.

Can I remove the filterbox from the display?

Tools -> Advanced Options -> Layout Settings -> Filter Box Size (% of Addressbar)

Set it to 0 to remove the filter-bar completely.

Can it be separated from the end of the Addressbar and docked independantly?

No, only wholly removed or size-adjusted (see above).

Should I have my unborn-child genetically enhanced to have glowing blue eyes?

Only if it comes with a guarantee that they can use them to see in the dark.

Post by **nikos** » 2013 Mar 01, 10:00

there will be a blog article this sunday with more details, although Kilmatead summed it all up nicely

Kilmatead · Post by **Kilmatead** » 2013 Mar 01, 10:10

Will the blog include links to the institution (in Mexico) where the genetic enhancements are available? Or just the cut-rate Greek pharmacy that didn't work out exactly as you had planned?

fgagnon · Post by **fgagnon** » 2013 Mar 01, 13:09

... shaking my head while chuckling at the posts of the incorrigible K while drinking my morning coffee -- and reflecting that today this is actually a *little* better than rolling eyes while doing the same most mornings.

Kilmatead · Post by **Kilmatead** » 2013 Mar 01, 13:41

Believe it or not, I actually had a complaint in a PM this morning that my posts were becoming too serious and businesslike of late.

profess wrote:hey how comes you haven't been joking and have been getting straight to the point in your last couple of answers?

A harlequin-charlatan's work is never done. Life was so much easier back when you answered the questions, Fred, then I started disrupting the place - and now every other post has about 10 MSDN links in it. Where did I go wrong? People were supposed to shriek with anger when a thread even had the slightest whiff of off-topic-ness about it, now they expect it! <Sigh> I've become a typecast-stereotype starlette looking back on her career - I look back at my old moving pictures with their firm buttocks and high breasts, and now I'm just the fallen saggy hag they wheel out from time to time at awards shows so people can clap and remind me how forgotten I've become.

'Tis all for woe, 'tis all for woe.

(But then I look on the bright-side with my genetically glowing eyes and can't help myself from being the monkey flinging faeces at things that are just so obvious to anyone who ever crawled off the savannah and learned to climb trees just to fling faeces from a greater height so it flies further and splats better.

I mean, why not? We are but the grand fool's fisher kings after all.)

Herman Melville wrote:...it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off [...] This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.

kunkel321 · Post by **kunkel321** » 2013 Mar 01, 19:15

Very nice--fast too!

As a reminder to folks using custom skins (i.e. custom tool bar icons), you need to update your skin too.
http://zabkat.com/x2skin.htm

And thanks, K, for the PFAQ (Pre FAQ).

CrossX · Post by **CrossX** » 2013 Mar 01, 20:09

* Double click on the "show hidden" status bar pane to toggle showing hidden files and folders.

In both cases when I hover over it, I see the same message "Hidden files obscured" (and not "Hidden files not obscured" when in that situation)

Kilmatead · Post by **Kilmatead** » 2013 Mar 01, 20:31

It's always been like that - that tooltip isn't meant to be an update of the current status, it's just a static label for people who may not know what the icon (or the lack of an icon) may represent. The logic behind it is geared back towards its original implementation (before being clickable): if the icon was visible, people were more likely to mouse-over it wondering "Huh, what's this eye-thing?"

Now that the icon/icon-space is "live" the tooltip should probably just be switched to the rather droll "Hidden Files Indicator" or something similar.

Nikos (in his naïveté) didn't seem to think that offering a visible "inactive" icon-state would be an important addition, even though the new clickable state rather cries out for it, as it's silly to click on whitespace when there's nothing (but a tooltip) to suggest it's anything other than an empty slot when the Hidden Files aren't hidden.

drac · Post by **drac** » 2013 Mar 01, 23:55

As per usual, I agree with Kilmatead. There should be an icon in that spot on the status bar (AND others - like the filter) whether or not there is an active state. Show the funnel or show the funnel with the red circle with a line to indicate no filter. For those of us that do not use a feature very often the absence of an icon requires that I mouse over the space to see what it is used for. While (or is this a case where whilst would apply?) that space always containing an icon would give a fast visual cue of what those areas of the status bar indicate.

astewart · Post by **astewart** » 2013 Mar 02, 05:22

The new filter box doesn't seem set the "active filter" as the menu functions or addressbar does, so toggling off and back on with the new statusbar icon doesn't set the filter back to the filter box value :(

astewart · Post by **astewart** » 2013 Mar 02, 05:34

According to the quickstart guide, in the filter box, "If you do a mistake, delete a few letters to show more files in the pane". This doesn't work for me, either to delete a letter or backspace. If I remove all characters, everything is un-filtered. (Win XP Pro)

Post by **nikos** » 2013 Mar 02, 06:25

In order to provide fast "as you type" filtering, some corners had to be cut. So the filters you type in the new box aren't as secure as traditional wildcard filters. You must make your mind up whether you like the new care=free approach or you prefer the old robust mechanisms. If you don't like the filterbar you can turn it off completely as kilmatead said above

Tuxman · Post by **Tuxman** » 2013 Mar 02, 11:37

I turned off "find as you type" as I use Listary for this kind of things. Maybe I can also turn off the filter bar. Ha, usability!

Kilmatead · Post by **Kilmatead** » 2013 Mar 02, 12:34

The trouble with Listary is that (as of its own recent version 4 betas) it's getting a little carried away with itself, trying to be all things to all men (a programme launcher, a bookmark maker, project manager, search-group hub, lover, mistress, wife) - and by trying to add too much "integrated" functionality (for the sake of kiddie-requests from those who know not how to use their file managers in the first place), your man is making it difficult to "keep it simple" for those who liked its original minimalism.

I'm reserving judgement until he's out of beta (which has been ongoing for the last 6 months), but the last few I tried were just dross, flab, bloat, and (ironically) loss of customisation options.

I keep an old version 2 around just to remind me of how it used to be - but I've actually taken to disabling Listary for x2 (enabled for everything else), and setting x2's Find As You Type to 1 for quick response. Listary is fine for finding one object (and, obviously, working around modal windows), but it falls short if you need to select/work-with a set of results which are in the plural.

I used to be a big fan of it (licensed and everything), but the jury is out, for now. Too much pandering does not a better application make.