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xplorer2 v4207 beta

Posted: 2019 Oct 14, 11:09
by nikos
And the light ceased... and darkness fell upon the land :)
there was no moon, just diesel trucks

screenshot: http://zabkat.com/test/dark2.png
download BETA(test): http://zabkat.com/test/xplorer2_setup64_ult_beta.exe

other than dark mode, finally I added support for regular expressions while mass renaming. As I am not very fond of regexp, if you think something needs improvement please let me know

detailed changelog
* Welcome to the DARK side. Use TOOLS > ADVANCED OPTIONS menu command and turn on the fashionable dark mode (see the GLOBAL property page). It may be good for your eyes, or it may be just another fad, but you've asked for it and we delivered!

Microsoft didn't make it easy for old school desktop programs like xplorer² to change window colors, so you will discover a number glitches, remnants of the default white-ish system colors here and there. In general things look best for windows 10.

You can tell which pane is active by its slightly brighter dark background. Inactive panes are pitch black. If you need more distinct identification of inactive panes, select a background color from TOOLS > OPTIONS menu, but that is liable to upset the darkness. Alternatively tick the advanced option (TOOLS > OPTIONS menu again) to "Highlight active pane's titlebar as in 2xExplorer".


* [P] Mass rename with regular expressions. Finally that long term disabled "RE" tickbox in FILE > MASS RENAME dialog is available for use. This is a super advanced rename mode suitable for replacing parts of filenames with backreferences etc. Here is an example:

filename = LOG.17112006.TXT
regexp = (\d\d)(\d\d)(\d\d\d\d) -> matches all digits in 3 (groups)
replace with = $3-$2-$1 -> backreferences
result name = LOG.2006-11-17.TXT -> inverted date YMD

So using group operators in (brackets) and then $1 etc back references, you can rearrange parts of the filename, or remove them altogether. Parts of the filename that aren't matched, remain the same.

To use regular expressions, tick the RE box and enter your regular expression in your WHAT TO MATCH field, then provide the replace string in the TARGET NAME TEMPLATE. Note the usual $-tokens in xplorer² cannot be combined with regular expressions.


* [Ult] MARK > FIND TEXT IN FILES (ctrl+G) has a tickbox to USE SEARCH INDEX, for super-fast content matching in the current folder. Note it cannot find special symbols or keywords that are not in the beginning of the word, as all cases of indexed search. If you need to search for exact text with symbols, untick this checkbox.

* New keyboard-only command CYCLENEXT (id = 33525) can be used to jump from one pane to another. Unlike past editions where you had to remember that <CTRL+TAB> keyboard combination jumped to the folder tree pane, <SHIFT+TAB> jumped to the addressbar and so on, now a single key cycles through all open panes. The recommended binding is <F6> key, but as this is already used, use CUSTOMIZE > KEYBOARD menu command, find command 33525 in the Miscellaneous category, and assign your favorite keyboard shortcut to it. Command #33526 cycles in the opposite direction.

Sorry some native mode preview handlers eat all keyboard shortcuts, so if you get stuck in one, the only solution is to click out with the mouse. Here's a reminder of other pane navigation keyboard shortcuts:

TAB: Switch locally e.g. from the active to the inactive pane, or from the addressbar to the filter box

ESC: Jump from any pane back into the active folder pane

CTRL+ALT+LEFT: (or right arrow) Jump to previous or next tab

ALT+Q: Switch previewer modes (native/draft tab)


* Advanced option GAO2_WEXPATTRS(=512) tells xplorer² to use explorer-friendly file attributes. Most attribute letters are the same, but there are some differences (L==junction etc). For more information see here https://superuser.com/questions/44812/w ... umn-values

* Windows 10 version 1903 has sadly made an adverse turn in terms of managing files in very deep paths. Renaming/deleting files in deep folders works only in elevated mode (you must run xplorer² as administrator or use WINDOW > ADMINISTRATOR menu command). In transition folders you will need to use CTRL+F2 to supply a deep file or folder name

* xplorer² should look better if you have two or more monitors with different DPI resolutions

* Macro command POSITIVE can be used to test arithmetic operations whether they are positive or not.

* [Ult] Programmable column instruction DIRCNT, similar to Contents [S] column but more flexible. You can use it to count files under a folder given a wildcard, and specify if you want to count only files, only folders or both.

* Zoom image previewer (Draft tab) takes JPG photo/picture orientation tags into account and shows correctly rotated picture previews.

* [P] similar picture locator (TOOLS > FIND SIMILAR PHOTOS menu command in a scrap window) can detect pictures that are (almost) the same and differ in rotation/orientation.

* New tips 51a, 98c and 164a.

* various bugfixes and improvements

Re: xplorer2 v4207 beta

Posted: 2019 Oct 14, 12:17
by neko
Thank you Nikos. It is good start! Although I would consider really dark grey instead of full black color (maybe user definable, ok, this might be impossible). :) There is still lots of bright parts, I mean inactive parts, Menu-bar, window-borders and so on. Are they are work in progress? :)

The previous ones were wishes / feedback, thank you anyway! :)

Re: xplorer2 v4207 beta

Posted: 2019 Oct 14, 13:24
by nikos
I know there are bright faults here and there, but the smaller they are, the harder it is to eliminate them. A lot of effort was added as it is to get things as dark as this. It is very hard to combine themes with custom colors.

MS advice is to "create your own control since you cannot change the background color of the windows controls". This is rubbish. To change one little aspect of the control, write one from scratch :shock:

but that\s MS for you, they don't give a $#!+e about desktop programming any more

in the future there could be a moderate amount of customizability with the dark scheme, but for the moment xplorer2 copies the color scheme of dark windows explorer

Re: xplorer2 v4207 beta

Posted: 2019 Oct 14, 17:03
by pschroeter
Can regexp handle capitalization changes? About half the time this is why I want to rename a file.

Re: xplorer2 v4207 beta

Posted: 2019 Oct 14, 17:46
by nikos
probably not, but i'm not a regexp expert

Re: xplorer2 v4207 beta

Posted: 2019 Oct 14, 18:36
by Tuxman
Am I the last person on Earth who really doesn't like dark backgrounds?

Why is the DOS UI so popular again? :roll:

Re: xplorer2 v4207 beta

Posted: 2019 Oct 14, 19:04
by drac
You are not alone in disliking the dark themes. Not sure what the advantage is other than making it harder for older eyes to read the text unless there is a LOT of contrast between text and background colors. I also like the bright background in the morning - it helps wake me up.

Re: xplorer2 v4207 beta

Posted: 2019 Oct 15, 02:54
by Gandolf
In days of old
When knights were bold
and Windows wasn't invented
We had a black screen
The text was green
and we were not contented.

It's called "fashion". People want it just because Windows introduced a dark mode, I suspect because they had run out of other ideas!

I use a dark screen for text editors, but otherwise I prefer a light background.

Re: xplorer2 v4207 beta

Posted: 2019 Oct 15, 04:18
by nikos
I remember once I had an Amstrad (?) computer that was blue background with yellow text? All sorts of crazy ideas!

you can't believe how many people wrote to ask about this "fashion" in the last few months. And all the major competition already offered dark modes. Obviously we're all running out of ideas :)

Re: xplorer2 v4207 beta

Posted: 2019 Oct 15, 04:42
by pj
Are you initializing all variables now including "empty" folders, as requested here?

---------------------------------
PJ in FL

Re: xplorer2 v4207 beta

Posted: 2019 Oct 15, 04:54
by neko
Well, if someone do not like dark theme/mode/whatever, you do not have to use it. Simple. But if there is option to use it and someone use dark mode, I cannot understand problem. If there is important features to do in to-do, they must be done first.

I asked for a dark space, one would think it's normal to be able to request new features, but the idea doesn't seem to be gaining in popularity, so I won't be personally hurt if it never happens. :)

Re: xplorer2 v4207 beta

Posted: 2019 Oct 15, 07:35
by nikos
pj wrote: 2019 Oct 15, 04:42 Are you initializing all variables now including "empty" folders, as requested here?
ok I will change $P to use always the parent folder

Re: xplorer2 v4207 beta

Posted: 2019 Oct 17, 07:12
by nikos
here's another beta 4208 with a few corrections and additions
download 64 bit ultimate: www.zabkat.com/test/xplorer2_setup64_ult_beta.exe
* [Ult] Programmable column instruction DATETIME formats a (file) date as you like it. For example DATETIME(${modified}, YYYY.MM.dd, "") will show the date as 2019.09.15 without any time information. This could be useful for mass renaming tasks or for general date formatting. Note you can also use the advanced settings editor if you need to customize how stock dates appear in xplorer².

* [Ult] A PREVIEW button was added in the programmable column definition dialog, that lets you test the expression on the selected item (in the active pane).

* $P token (selected item's folder path) now works even for empty folders

Re: xplorer2 v4207 beta

Posted: 2019 Oct 17, 11:00
by Tuxman
I tested the regex multi-rename with sufficiently complex expressions and it seems to work. Sad. I cannot complain!

Re: xplorer2 v4207 beta

Posted: 2019 Oct 17, 15:07
by nikos
but of course, it's bullet proof :P
can you think of any regexp rename scenario that cannot be handled?