Blog updates have been and will be temporarily delayed: Sorry!

Publication of recent updates since late August have unfortunately been extensively delayed due to some personal circumstances of your blog author. Sincere apologies for this but will attempt to catch up in next few weeks!

v9.40.0104 - 2010-08-15 13:31

Note: BETA versions are a work in progress and might contain fresh bugs.
You have been warned.

• + Menu Help | Various Information: Hold CTRL to get some speed related information about your current settings.

v9.40.0102 - 2010-08-13 17:32

Note: BETA versions are a work in progress and might contain fresh bugs.
You have been warned.

• + Now you can force opening a folder in the other pane (inactive pane) by holding Ctrl+Shift while triggering the open. This works in the following contexts:
  - All sorts of location menus: History (Back, Forward);
    Breadcrumb; Favorites; Drives; Recent Locations; Hotlist; etc.
  - List: Ctrl+Shift+DblClick an item
    If the item is a file the containing folder is opened and the
    file is selected.
  It does not work in Tree, Catalog, and Address Bar. Quite useful little trick when you work with Dual Pane. Especially nice when the active pane shows a recursive search results listing which you want to explore further on the other pane.
• * Renaming locked items on Win7: You can now escape the "endless" message loop where Win7 again and again shows the same message by holding ESC down until the message finally disappears for good.
• ! Catalog did not yet fully support native variables <xydata> etc.). Fixed.
  

v9.40.0009 - 2010-08-11 21:10

Note: BETA versions are a work in progress and might contain fresh bugs.
You have been warned.

• ! History Retains Selections: A selected and focused item was not made the current item. Fixed.
• ! Tabs: The Clear Type related fix from v9.40.0007 had a bad side effect on tabs with a custom background color. Fixed again.
  

v9.40.0008 - 2010-08-11 14:43

Note: BETA versions are a work in progress and might contain fresh bugs.
You have been warned.

• ! Menu Go | Up: Did not work correctly with a Locked Tree and tweak AutoSelectMRUSubfolder=0. Fixed.
• $ The Home License went up from 19.95 to 29.29 Euro which is still very cheap for its relative value compared to the Pro License, but not such an extreme dumping as before. Actually the price is now identical to that of the Standard Pro License. Additionally now there are also Volume Discounts for the Home License.
  

v9.40.0007 - 2010-08-10 20:37

Note: BETA versions are a work in progress and might contain fresh bugs.
You have been warned.

• + Configuration | General: Added option "Scroll to top after sorting". If enabled the list is auto-scrolled to top when you change the sort order. Additionally, if there are no selections in the list, the focus is auto-shifted to the top item.
  Note that the option is honoured only when no current item is kept in view due to an enabled "Keep current item in view after sorting" (IOW, the latter setting takes precedence). Note that this option elevates the tweak added in v9.40.0005 - 2010-08-09 21:57 to UI level.
• * Both "Keep current item in view after sorting" and "Scroll to top after sorting" are now enabled by factory default.
• ! Info Panel | Find Files: Color-marking the tab headers for enabled filters did not work well with Clear Type enabled (color artifacts accumulated). Fixed.
• ! Tabs: Same issue as above with drag-hovering tabs in Visual Style "XYplorer Classic". Fixed.
• ! SC getinfo("SelectedItemsPathNames") and getinfo("SelectedItemsNames") returned a trailing delimiter after the last returned item. Fixed. Now delimiters are found only between the items.

v9.40.0005 - 2010-08-09 21:57

Note: BETA versions are a work in progress and might contain fresh bugs.
You have been warned.

• * List: Before (since v6.00.0014 - 2007-05-23 09:01), holding CTRL while re-sorting the list would invert the setting of "Keep current item in view after sorting". This, however, was a usability nightmare because you needed to know the state of the config setting to know what holding CTRL meant.
  From now on, holding CTRL while re-sorting the list will always keep the current item in view -- no matter whether "Keep current item in view after sorting" is enabled or not. It will even keep the focused item in view when it is not selected, so CTRL gives you even a little more power than the config setting.
• + Tweak to control whether the list scrolls to top after sorting when no current item is kept in view. Factory default is 1.
    ScrollToTopAfterSort=1
  

v9.40.0004 - 2010-08-07 10:05

Note: BETA versions are a work in progress and might contain fresh bugs.
You have been warned.

• + Tweak to toggle the service that selects the recent subfolder (taken from the "Recent Locations" data) when going Up or Down. The factory default (and hitherto hardcoded setting) is 1.
    AutoSelectMRUSubfolder=1
  Additionally to Up and Down (menu Go) this service also sets in when you enter a subfolder via the file list, and (this is new!) when you go to a location via breadcrumb. This tweak is supported by SC tweak:
    tweak("AutoSelectMRUSubfolder", 1);
    tweak("AutoSelectMRUSubfolder", 0);
• * Configuration | General | Keep focused item in view after sorting:
  Renamed it to "Keep current item in view after sorting" which now fits better.
• * Updated the help file.
• ! Recycle Bin: To browse a recycled folder, SYSTEM and HIDDEN items have to be shown (Configuration | General | Show system files and folders) because the real (not the virtual) Recycler is SYSTEM and HIDDEN.
  The bug was that you were not notified about this but ended up on the drive root of the Recycler path you attempted to go to. Fixed.
  Note that this was only an issue in Maxi Tree; the Mini Tree is tolerant about these settings and simple shows the folders you need to see.
• ! Tree: When switching from Mini to Maxi Tree on a current path that was hidden from the Maxi Tree, there was a bizarre (but hardly visible) drawing glitch, and tree and list got out of synch. Fixed.

v9.40.0003 - 2010-08-06 09:37

Note: BETA versions are a work in progress and might contain fresh bugs.
You have been warned.

• ! Tree: Keys DEL and F2 did not work in the Tree since v9.40.0002. Fixed.
• ! Copy/Move Here As... did not honour "Exclude extension on rename" anymore. Fixed.
• ! List: Would not drop anything into a selected and focused folder (e.g. from one pane to the other). Fixed.

v9.40.0002 - 2010-08-05 20:12

Note: BETA versions are a work in progress and might contain fresh bugs.
You have been warned.

• + Menu File | Duplicate: The following commands (originally added v6.40.0033 - 2007-10-31 11:03) have been elevated from CKS | Miscellaneous | File Operations to UI level and are now found in the Duplicate submenu:
  - Copy Here to New Subfolder... (Ctrl+Shift+C), #1042
  - Move Here to New Subfolder... (Ctrl+Shift+X), #1041
  Note that both commands only work on the selected list item(s), and are disabled if the file list is not focused. (They work however in scripting on selected items in a non-focused list.) I'm aware that "Move Here to New Subfolder" does not fit under the heading Duplicate, but hey... I'm confident your brain can handle it.
• * Main Menu: Removed the word "Suffix" from all captions like "Copy Here with Suffix Date Modified".
  Also "Date Now" has been rephrased to "Current Date", and "Date Modified" to "Last Modified Date".
• + Configuration | Templates | Date affix: Now the template supports the variable <folder> that is resolved to the moved/copied file's parent folder (only the folder, not the whole path).
  Example for a template:
    *-<date yyyymmdd> (<folder>)
  Note that the presence of this variable in the template is not reflected in the related commands' menu captions, so this variable is rather a very special option that you have to make a mental note about when you use it.
• * List: Now when changing the sort order and there are no selections the list is auto-scrolled to top and the top item is auto-focused -- regardless of the setting of Configuration | General | Keep focused item in view after sorting. IMO a small change with a big usability gain.

v9.40.0001 - 2010-08-04 13:25

• + Configuration | Templates | Date affix (previously "Date suffix"):
  Now this template can define a prefix, a circumfix, or a suffix (previously it could just define a suffix). To this purpose the file base is represented by an asterisk in the pattern. The (optional) date uses the <date ...> syntax known from XY variables.
  This template is employed for example when files are copied or moved using "Copy (Move) Here with Suffix Date Now (Modified)".
  
  Examples for copying a file called "Test.txt" using various affix templates:
    *-<date yyyymmdd>       = Test-20100803.txt
    <date yyyymmdd> *       = 20100803 Test.txt
    Copy of *               = Copy of Test.txt
    Copy of * from <date yyyymmdd> = Copy of Test from 20100803.txt
  
  Notes:
  - If the asterisk is missing the pattern is by default suffixed to
    the file base.
  - Each asterisk is replaced by the base, so you can do bizarre
    things like this:
    ** = duplicates the base of the copied (moved) items
  UPGRADE NOTE:
  - When upgrading to this version the Date affix is reset to the
    factory default *-<date yyyymmdd>.
  
• + Configuration | Previewed Formats: Now you can add files without any extension as a separate file type to any of the file type groups. To do this state "<none>" (without the quotes) as the extension.
• * List: Now when right-click DnD'ing some files onto a folder, the target folder is kept highlighted while the popup menu is displayed.
• * Configuration | General | Keep focused item in view after sorting:
  From now on this setting is ignored if there are no selections in the list.
• + Tweak to select list items by clicking the whole Name column, not just the caption:
    ListFullNameSelect=1
  The tweak is ignored if Full Row Select is enabled.
• ! Catalog: When adding selected items via context menu, the icons where not immediately updated in the Catalog. Fixed.
• ! Catalog: Insert a New Category Here Clipboard Item(s) did not work at all due to a false index. Fixed.
• ! List: Drawing glitches and confusion when using the wheel while lasso selecting. Fixed the glitches and abolished the combination of lasso and wheel. Once you wheel you lose the selections and the lasso.

v9.40.0000 - 2010-08-02 12:00

= NEW OFFICIAL RELEASE.
Main changes since last release:

• +++ Portable Tabs. Now tabs can be made fully portable by pointing them to a portable path that is resolved depending on the context, for example %userprofile%. Portable Tabs smartly adapt their contents to the current host system.
• +++ Go to Last Target. Now the copied or moved items found in the target location are auto-selected when you go there using the "Go to Last Target" command. A surprisingly useful little service.
• +++ History Retains Selections. Now (optionally) if you return to a previous location, any previous selections in this location are restored.
• +++ Portable File Associations. Now you can define associations for files without extension.
• +++ Tree. Now tooltips of junctions display the Junction Target.
• +++ Scripting. This new version comes with a couple of powerful new or improved scripting commands like inputselect(), tab(), listfolder(), and report().
• +++ Address Bar. Now right-clicking the dropdown arrow pops the breadcrumb menu for the current path.

v9.30.0029 - 2010-08-01 17:32

Note: BETA versions are a work in progress and might contain fresh bugs.
You have been warned.

• + SC GetToken enhanced. Now you can pass "count" as second parameter to retrieve the token count in the string. Note that the function returns 0 when the string is empty.
    text gettoken("a,b", "count", ","); // 2
    text gettoken("a,", "count", ","); // 2
    text gettoken(",", "count", ","); // 2
    text gettoken("", "count", ","); // 0
  

v9.30.0028 - 2010-07-31 17:48

Note: BETA versions are a work in progress and might contain fresh bugs.
You have been warned.

• + Menu Scripting: Added command "Run Script..." which opens a multiline edit box where you can enter a script and run it. The command is near identical to "Try Script..." but does not enforce Step Mode. Both commands share the same remembered contents when the dialog is opened again, and also the same last size and position.
  Note that the dialog has context sensitive help: F1 will open the Scripting Commands Reference.

v9.30.0025 - 2010-07-31 12:51

Note: BETA versions are a work in progress and might contain fresh bugs.
You have been warned.

• * Updated the help file.
• ! There was a problem with the MIDI preview on some systems. Fixed.
  

v9.30.0024 - 2010-07-30 18:43

Note: BETA versions are a work in progress and might contain fresh bugs.
You have been warned.

• + Tree: Now a tree with a horizontal scrollbar auto-scrolls into view when you drag-hover the left or right margins, aka Hot Scrolling.
• * SC replacelist enhanced. Now if you state only one replace unit, all items in the search list are replaced with that one unit. Removal of items is just a subcase of the rule (replace all items in search list with nothing).
  Examples:
    ::text replacelist("Taxi", "ai", ""); //Tx
    ::text replacelist("Taxi", "ai", "u"); //Tuxu
    ::text replacelist("Taxi", "a,i", "ou", ","); //Touxou
• * List | Inline Rename. Now it's a three-step circle when you repeatedly press F2 on a filename with extension.
    1) select, extension excluded
    2) select, extension included
    3) unselect, caret to end
  With Configuration | General | Exclude extension on rename ON the circle starts at 1), else at 2).
• + Tweak to preview audio files in an alternative manner. This might help if XYplorer does not play MIDI files using the factory defaults:
    AudioMCICustomExtensions=mid
• + Mini Tree: Non-existing drives or folders now can be removed via context menu ("Hide Folder from Mini Tree").

v9.30.0023 - 2010-07-29 12:14

Note: BETA versions are a work in progress and might contain fresh bugs.
You have been warned.

• + Scripting got a new function.
    Name:   listfolder
    Action: Lists the contents of a folder (non-recursive).
    Syntax: listfolder([path=<urpath>], [pattern=*], [filesonly], _
                [separator=""])
      path:      Path of folder to list; defaults to current list path.
                 Special paths ("Desktop") and portable paths ("?:\")
                 are supported.
      pattern:   Wildcard (?, *) pattern to filter returned items;
                 defaults to "*" (show all).
                 If no wildcards are contained, the pattern is auto-
                 embraced by "*".
      filesonly:
        0: show folders and files [default]
        1: show only filees
      separator: Separates the items in the returned list;
                 defaults to | (pipe).
      return:    List of items.
    Notes:
    - The order of items is determined by the OS resp. file system.
      For XP/NTFS and later it's alphabetical, files and folders
      mixed.
    - The possibilities this command brings to scripting are mind-
      boggling.
    Examples:
      //list all items current list folder
      ::text listfolder();
      //list all items in %windir% that contain "y" in the name
      ::text listfolder(%windir%, "y", , <crlf>);
      //list all DLL files in %windir% (typically C:\Windows\)
      //and gives a short report on them
      ::$itemlist = listfolder(%windir%, "*.dll", 1);
        text report("{Name}, {Size B} bytes,
        {Modified yyyy-mm-dd hh:nn:ss},
        ver {FileVersion}<crlf>", $itemlist);
      //list all DLL files in %windir%, select one to goto
      ::$itemlist = listfolder(%windir%, "*.dll", 1);
        goto inputselect("DLLs in %windir%", $itemlist, , 1);
• + Scripting got a new function.
    Name:   replacelist
    Action: Replaces substrings by list.
    Syntax: replacelist(string, searchlist, [replacelist], _
                [delimiter], [matchcase])
      string:      String to work on (haystack).
      searchlist:  Substrings to be replaced (needles).
      replacelist: Substrings to replace with.
        empty: All substrings in searchlist are removed.
      delimiter:   Delimites the strings in the lists;
        empty: Each character is taken as a substring.
      matchcase:   Compare method.
        0: A=a [Default]
        1: A<>a
      return:       The new string.
    Examples:
      ::text replacelist("Taxi", "ai", "ia"); //Tixa
      ::text replacelist("Taxi", "ax,i", "-,Rex", ","); //T-Rex
      ::text replacelist("Taxi", "ai"); //Tx
    Notes:
    - As you see from the 2nd example, the strings in search-replace
      pair can have different lengths.
    - If the item count in both list differs, then the smaller count
      is used and the surplus items are ignored.
    - The string is walked on time from left to right; any replaced
      parts are not processed again. So in this example, "Rex" will
      not be replaced by "Bone" in a second pass:
      ::text replacelist("Taxi", "ax,i,Rex", "-,Rex,Bone", ",");
    - The substrings are processed from left to right, first match
      wins. Therefore:
      ::text replacelist("Taxi", "a,ax", "i,ox"); //Tixi
      ::text replacelist("Taxi", "ax,a", "ox,i"); //Toxi
    Usage:
    - This command can be used for interesting things, e.g. to
      (roughly) transliterate e.g. Cyrillic to Latin, or do some
      simple encryption, or clean file names from undesired
      characters.
• * SC report(): Merged the "onlyselected" and "itemlist" parameter!
  New syntax:
    report([template], [itemlist], [header], [footer])
      itemlist:
        0 or "" = all current list items
        1       = all currently selected list items
        else    = pipe(|)-separated list of items (full path).
  Example for a report about a single specific item:
    text report("
      {Name},
      {Size B} bytes,
      {Modified yyyy-mm-dd hh:nn:ss},
      ver {FileVersion}", "E:\XY\XYplorer\XYplorer.exe");
• * Menu Go | Go to Last Target: Auto-selection of target items is not dependent on the setting of "History retains selections" anymore. It simply is done always.
• ! Spot & Jump: Would not spot a pattern when "Configuration | General | Type-ahead find uses sorted column" was enabled and the list was sorted by Ext, Type, or Path. Fixed. Spot & Jump now always works on the Name column independently of this setting.

v9.30.0022 - 2010-07-28 20:12

Note: BETA versions are a work in progress and might contain fresh bugs.
You have been warned.

• + SC report() enhanced. Added new optional argument "itemlist", where you can state the items that you want a report about.
  Syntax:
    report([template], [onlyselected=0], [header], [footer], _
        [itemlist])
      itemlist: pipe(|)-separated list of items (fullpath).
  Example for a report about a single specific item:
    text report("
      {Name},
      {Size B} bytes,
      {Modified yyyy-mm-dd hh:nn:ss},
      ver {FileVersion}", , , , "E:\XY\XYplorer\XYplorer.exe");
  

v9.30.0021 - 2010-07-28 11:44

Note: BETA versions are a work in progress and might contain fresh bugs.
You have been warned.

• + Menu Go | Go to Last Target: Now the copied or moved items found in that target location are auto-selected when you go there using this command. This service is only active when "History retains selections" (which is a similar service) is enabled. Note that any cancelled overwrite prompts are not taken into account here, so the selections are done *as if* all copies/moves actually happened.
  Every new copy/move will overwrite the previous last target data. And, just like the target folder itself, these selections are not remembered beetween sessions.
  

v9.30.0020 - 2010-07-27 21:00

Note: BETA versions are a work in progress and might contain fresh bugs.
You have been warned.

• ! Configuration | Previewed Formats: Focusing the top listbox would cause a total freeze on systems with DBCS codepages (e.g. Chinese). Fixed.