Nothing too special in this weeks snapshot. 2 new icons and some bug fixes. I spent the whole week in designing the Item Provider I talked about last week. It’s a simple concept but difficult to design. On the other hand, I’ve always been poor in designing programs. Maybe those are the skills you learn in school. I’ve tried to learn to use UML to help the designing process but it’s still painfully difficult. Anyway, I managed to create a working prototype so things are getting easier from now on since I have something concrete to work with.

Next week I’ll implement threading support which should be quite a challenge. After that I can start to add this code into CE. I’m thinking that at first bookmarks will use this new system. Then slowly I’ll replace FolderTree and FileView with the new system.

NOTICE!!!
Please use the Help->Check For Updates instead of Version Manager to do the update if you are using last weeks snapshot (0.95.0.1414). There was a bug which makes CE crash when you push the Download button. It’s fixed in this weeks build.

Change Log

• Added icon for Show Hidden Files.
• Added icon for Show Extensions.
• Check For Updates now shows connection error message.
• Fixed bug in Version Manager’s Download button.
• Fixed BrowseZipFolders in Folder panel (again).
• Fixed bug when opening multiple files with Enter.
• Updated Portuguese translation (thanks to Mário Gonçalves).
• Updated German translation (thanks to nefycee).
• Updated French translation (thanks to BB).

CubicExplorer 0.95.0.1415 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.9MB)
Portable (3.3MB)

Very small release this week. There’s only few fixes and some new icons.

I was planning to start the bookmark speed tweak this week. However, since I will be rewriting the bookmark system completely I decided that it’s pointless to tweak the old system. Instead I started to design the new system. It’s not just bookmarks that will use the new system but also Folder panel and FileView will use it. Stacks will probably use it eventually too. What I’m building is a sort of database/item provider that will host all items (files, folders, bookmarks, stacks, sessions…etc.) you see in CE.

The current way of handling different type of items is a complete mess. There’s no standard on how to do things. This makes things difficult when you want to blend different type of items in a single view. With the new system every item behaves similarly which enables things like viewing bookmarks, sessions, stacks in FileView just like any other file. Also the new system will optimize resource usage since there’s a central place for items. Even if you have same folder open in 100 tabs, CE will only use memory for one which is not the case in the old system.

Anyway, it’s quite a challenging task so we’ll see how it turns out.

Change Log

• Added Proxy login prompt for Update Check.
• Added new icons.
• Moved Version Manager item to Tools menu.
• Fixed BrowseZipFolders in Folder panel.
• Removed "No New Updates" message when checking updates on startup.
• Updated French translation (thanks to BB).

CubicExplorer 0.95.0.1414 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.9MB)
Portable (3.3MB)

Starting to be a bad habit these late releases. This week I fine tuned the Version Manager. There’s now a Delete button which can be used to delete downloaded update. I also added possibility to automatically check updates on startup. It’s disabled by default so you have to enable it from Tools->Options->Updates. You can also quickly check for updates manually from Help->Check For Updates.

I also did some bug fixes and disabled the Archiver. It was causing problems and since it’s not usable at the moment, I decided to hide it until it’s working properly. Next week I’m starting to work with the performance tweak for Bookmarks.

How to update using Version Manager?

If you have last week’s snapshot (0.95.0.1401 or higher) installed, you can do the update from Version Manager. Here’s how to do it:

1. Click Help->Version Manager
2. Click Check Updates
3. Select version 0.95.0.1412 from the list
4. Click Download
5. Click Use this version
6. Click Update
7. Click Yes to restart CE.

Change Log

• Added icons for Updates and Version Manager.
• Fine tuned Version Manager.
• Possible fix for Crash when switching session or closing CE.
• Fixed Column size/visibility bug.
• Fixed black background on ICO files when viewed in QuickView tab.
• Fixed SelectPreviousFolder when dbl clicking on background to go folder up.
• Fixed bug in Filters toolbar button (Clear Filters didn’t work).
• Disabled crash dialog if Copy Path fails.
• Disabled crash dialog if update fails.
• Changed Double Click to parent to work only on other columns when full row selection is used.
• Disabled Archiver. (it’s not usable at the moment).
• Updated gBW theme (thanks to g..)
• Updated Portugues translation (thanks to Mário Gonçalves).
• Updated Spanish translation (thanks to juanmanuel).
• Updated German translation (thanks to nefycee).

CubicExplorer 0.95.0.1412 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.9MB)
Portable (3.3MB)

Phew, finally it’s done. Creating the Version Manager turned out to be little bigger job than I thought (as usual). Well, it’s now up and running even though there’s still some things I need to do. I’ve tested it in many systems and Windows versions but it’s possible that I missed something so let me know if there’s any issues.

Versions are downloaded into Versions folder (in your settings path). At the moment you have to manually delete them if you don’t want to keep them. I’ll add delete button in CE to make things easier. I’ll also add (optional) automatic check for new versions.

Since I needed to add ability to handle zipped files, I thought that why not use the same code elsewhere. So I added Archiver panel. At the moment it only displays the content of archives but I’ll add more functionality in future versions. I’m using 7-zip library (7z.dll) so it will have similar format support as 7-zip.

There’s also some other small changes in this version. Few bug fixes and some advanced settings. In the BookmarksPanel settings you’ll find UseSystemPopupMenu option that will let you enable the use of normal right click menu.

Oh and, if someone has better name idea for the Archiver, I’m interested .

Change Log

• Added Archiver panel.
• Added Version Manager.
• Added UseSystemPopupMenu advanced option to Bookmarks.
• Added ShowOpenAllItem advanced option to Bookmarks.
• Added New Window item in File menu.
• Fixed AutosizeListViewStyle when CheckBox Selection used.
• Fixed crash when deleting multiple bookmarks
• Open in current tab is now used in bookmark panel popup menu when Open in new tab by default is used.
• Bookmark panel now shows overlay icons also.
• Improved Bookmark icon auto update.
• Double click on stack item now opens it.
• Alt+Click and Alt+Shift+Click now works in Bookmark toolbar.
• Updated Hungarian translation (thanks to Mezei Zoltan)
• Updated Polish translation (thanks to Skrzat)
• Updated Russian translation (thanks to buddah)

***UPDATED 18.7.2011***

There was a bug preventing file launch from Bookmark toolbar. I updated below files. You can also do the update from Help->Version Manager.

CubicExplorer 0.95.0.1402 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.9MB)
Portable (3.3MB)

This week mostly went in coding the Version Manager. I wasn’t able to finish it for this week’s snapshot, hopefully next week then. I did some fixes and changes to CE also. One new “feature” is the ability to drag and drop files to tabs. It’s not very well tested so be careful with it. Relating to this feature I added SwitchTabOnDragHover and AllowDropToTab settings in Options->Advanced->Tabs.

Another thing I added was support for a custom path to the settings folder. In the installation folder you’ll find a file called settings.path. You can define the location of the settings folder in that file. By default, the CE installer will set the location to %APPDATA%\CubicExplorer\. Portable version will use the same folder where CubicExplorer.exe is. There is more information inside the settings.path file.

NOTICE!!! If the settings folder specified in settings.path file is empty, CE will load setting files from the same folder as CubicExplorer.exe is. On Exit, those settings are then saved to the new location. This is done to ease the transition for older users. However, it does not work for Stacks. You have to manually move the Stack folder into the new location. Here are the default locations used by CE’s installer:

Windows Vista and Win7

Old: C:\Users\xxxxx\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\CubicExplorer_dev
New: C:\Users\xxxxx\AppData\Roaming\CubicExplorer

Windows 2000 and XP

Old: C:\Program Files\CubicExplorer_dev
New: C:\Documents and Settings\xxxxx\Application Data\CubicExplorer

Change Log

• Added support for custom settings folder.
• Added support for dropping to tab.
• Added "SwitchTabOnDragHover" and "AllowDropToTab" advanced setting.
• Right button drag now switches tab.
• Fixed freeze when pressing Back mouse button if context menu showing.
• Fixed "Select previous folder" when ThreadedEnumeration used.
• Fixed "Empty Folder" text to refresh on file create/delete.
• Updated French translation (thanks to BB).
• Updated Japanese translation (thanks to benok)
• Updated German translation (thanks to nefycee)
• Updated Spanish translation.

CubicExplorer 0.95.0.1388 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.4MB)
Portable (2.7MB)

Little short week as there were some other engagements taking time. I did however manage to get something done. I’ve kept working with CubicTodo but also started to work with CE. To kick off version 0.95 development, next major feature will be Version Manager. I created a base for it and hopefully it will be available in next week’s snapshot. Currently I have 4 CE installations in different machines and it’s always a pain to update. With the Version Manager, updating should be much simpler. Also it allows easy switching between versions which is good for testing.

For this week’s snapshot I’ve fixed some bugs and added “Open in new tab” to all right click menus. I also added “Checkbox Selection”. Didn’t have time to do much testing so let me know how it works.

Happy Midsummer or “Hyvää Juhannusta” as we say here in Finland!

Change Log

• Added "Open in new tab" to all Right click menus.
• Added "Checkbox Selection".
• Possible fix to crash when right clicking on Fileview background.
• Fixed crash when changing theme after File Search has been open.
• Fixed bug with "Empty Folder" text when ThrededEnumeration used.
• Fixed rename issue when going back in history.
• Fixed crash when selecting search tab.
• Updated Swedish translation (thanks to eson)
• Updated German translation (thanks to nefycee)
• Updated French translation (thanks to BB)
• Updated Slovak translation (thanks to Sepp Winkler)

CubicExplorer 0.95.0.1382 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.4MB)
Portable (2.7MB)

No snapshot this week. I’ve been working with CubicTodo whole week. As I mentioned last week, it’s a task manager I’m creating to help manage CE’s bugs/requests. I decided to use CE as base for it. It was actually very helpful to strip CE down to it’s basics. I now have much better understanding on how CE actually works and how to make it better. After I removed all file manager related stuff, I ended up with an application framework that has nice built-in support for tabs, panels, customizable toolbars… etc. 

Stripping CE only took 1 day. Rest of the week I spend in filling the blanks. I’ll keep working with CubicTodo next week but I’ll also do some work with CE so there should be snapshot coming on Friday.

Little bit fine tuning this week. Fixed some bugs and added few new settings. In Advanced settings you’ll now find FontSize and LineHeight for Panels, FileView and FileSearch. Actually, FileView doesn’t have LineHeight, you can control the item size in the CellSizes setting. I also added “Open in new tab” to the right click menu.

I’ll make this build to be the new “official” download. There’s still some bugs left but we can fix them later. My plan is to release these “official” snapshots more often, maybe every few months or so.

Next week I’ll be working with TodoManager. It’s a little program that I’ll be using to interact with the bug tracker. I never liked the idea of using web site as a bug tracker, mainly because it’s awkward and slow in use. With this program I’m hoping to make CE development more managed and not so chaotic. It should help me plan my work weeks better and at the same time, create more detailed roadmaps.

Change Log

• Added FontSize Advanced setting to all Panels, Fileview and FileSearch.
• Added LineHeight Advanced setting to all Panels and FileSearch.
• Added “Open in new tab” in Right click menu.
• Fixed Ctrl/Shift selection when SingleClickBrowse/Execute used.
• Fixed jumping issue when dbl clicking on SingleClickBrowse mode.
• Fixed “Select previous folder” when dbl clicking.
• Fixed CenterOnExpand in FolderPanel
• Usability fix in “Save Session” and “Save Stack” dialogs.
• Fine tuned CenterOnBrowse in FolderPanel
• Updated French translation (thanks to BB).
• Updated German translation (thanks to nefycee).
• Updated Blue Line theme (thanks to sl23).
• Added gBW theme (thanks to g..).
• Added OldDays theme (thanks to badloginname).
• Added Deviant Dark theme (thanks to nefycee).

***UPDATE*** 11.6.2011 12:03
There was a bug that prevented one from saving Stacks. I fixed this issue and updated the files below. If you don’t want to update, you can fix it by manually creating Stacks folder in the install directory.

CubicExplorer 0.94.0.1377 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.4MB)
Portable (2.7MB)

CubicExplorer 0.94 (Official)
Installer (2.4MB)
Portable (2.7MB)

Here’s the 0.94 snapshot. Since I made quite a few changes this week, I’ll wait few days before updating the official download to this version. This weeks build has quite a random set of changes. I’ve fixed some bugs and added few new settings. I also added /f command line switch for opening files in CE. Also the browse buttons in multimedia keyboards and mouse should now work.

Let me know if there are any major issues so I can fix them before updating the official download.

Change Log

• Added CenterOnBrowse and CenterOnExpand options to Folders (Options -> Advanced -> FolderPanel)
• Added support for AppCommands (BROWSER_BACKWARD, BROWSER_FORWARD, BROWSER_SEARCH).
• Added /f command line switch for opening files in CE.
• Added AutoExpand, AutoCollapse and FullExpandOnLoad options to Stack.
• Added On Startup settings to Stack (Options -> Display -> Stack).
• File operations now happen in background (Vista/Win7).
• Fixed bug that made CE go behind previous window after Delete.
• Fixed SingleClickExecute issue when dragging files.
• Fixed Background menu bug on Small Icons and List view styles.
• Fixed translation issues.
• Fixed "Continue from last time" session.
• Updated French translation

CubicExplorer 0.94.0.1367 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.4MB)
Portable (2.7MB)

Not really a snap worthy week but here’s one anyway. I had some other things to do this week so there wasn’t much time to work with CE. The little time there was I spent in trying to fix the text input component used in the Text Filter button/field. It turned out to be quite a bit more complicated than I thought and I’ll need to leave it like it is for now. I’ll rewrite it on a better time when I can fully concentrate on it.

There’s really only 2 new things in this release. I fixed the auto scrolling in folder tree and added ArrowBrowse to FileView. Arrow Browse enables you to go folder up with Left arrow and open folder or launch file with Right arrow. It only works in Details view mode and can be turned off from Advanced settings.

Oh, and there’s a new theme included called Blue Line (thanks to sl23).

Change Log

• Added ArrowBrowse option (Options -> Advanced -> FileView -> ArrowBrowse).
• Added Options page for Stack (still empty).
• Added Blue Line theme.
• Fixed Folder tree auto scrolling.
• Updated French translation (thanks to BB).
• Updated German translation (thanks to nefycee).

CubicExplorer 0.94.0.1351 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.4MB)
Zip (2.7MB)