There’s been no progress in CE this week. I’ve been rebuilding my work environment which turned out to be quite a big job. Mainly it’s because my central server is now powered by Windows 7 and not Linux which I’m more familiar with. To get all things working together without a problem isn’t that simple it turns out.

Anyway, by trial and error, things are starting to be functional at last. So hopefully I can get back on working with CE next week. As there wasn’t any progress, this weeks snapshot isn’t anything major. There’s only one bug fixed, a bug which I already fixed few weeks ago. The new server should help in preventing mistakes like this from happening in future.

Change Log

• Fixed sort columns bug in list view mode (again).
• Updated Turkish translation

CubicExplorer 0.91.0.1253 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.3MB)
Zip (2.6MB)

This week I’ve mostly been building a new server. One of it’s uses will be to function as a backend to the Version Manager. It will be used to create CE builds and publish releases. I’m using Windows 7 as the operating system. Because my hardware is fairly old, I’ve had to fight hard to make everything work.

Since I’ve been using Windows 7 on my laptop for some time now, I’m getting more used to it. I’ve also done some reading on how the UAC works. That information will be useful in making CE fully compatible with Vista and Win7. In this weeks snapshot I’ve added a “Create Symbolic Link” action (read more about Symbolic links). This action uses UAC elevation technique that will be used in the Version Manager if there aren’t any major issues. Let me know if you have any problems with it.

Change Log

• Added “Create Symbolic Link” action
• Updated Spanish translation

CubicExplorer 0.91.0.1251 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.3MB)
Zip (2.6MB)

I had a bit of a relapse this week, seems like I was pushing too hard. This meant I had to take it easy with the work. I did make progress with the Version Manager but wasn’t able to finish it for this weeks snapshot. I did however made InfoBar auto refresh when renaming etc. Also by default, folders are now included in search results. You can control this from Attributes tab:

Change Log

• Updated Hebrew translation.
• Removed border around Drop Stack.
• InfoBar now refreshes on rename etc.
• File Search now includes folders to results by default.

CubicExplorer 0.91.0.1246 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.3MB)
Zip (2.6MB)

I’ve spent most of the week coding the Version Manager. Unfortunately it’s not yet implemented in this weeks snapshot. Reason for that is Vista/Win7 support which is causing some problems. Past few days I’ve been doing some research on how to fix those problems and also learned how Vista/Win7 works in general (information I’ll need later when I’ll make CE fully compatible with Vista/Win7). Anyway, here’s how the Version Manager looks now:

I’ve fixed bunch of bugs for this weeks snapshot. Also I added option in Advanced settings to make CE use jumbo size icons in InfoBar (Vista/Win7 only). Reason why it’s not enabled by default is because I haven’t yet figured out how to get around a bug in Windows itself. At the moment if selected file doesn’t support jumbo icons, a small icon is displayed instead.

On other notes, I’m still keeping little distance to the forum. Since I’m still not fully functional, I’ll have to keep the pressure at minimum. However, I do read all forum posts.

Change Log

• Added Hebrew translation
• Added Use_JumboIcons_in_InfoBar option in Advanced settings.
• UI accessibility enhancements in Translator.
• Fixed possible crash at CE startup.
• Fixed crashes in Search.
• Fixed crash in TextEditor.
• Fixed crash in Translator sort column.
• Fixed sort column size remembering bug.
• Fixed InfoBar multi selection bug.

CubicExplorer 0.91.0.1239 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.3MB)
Zip (2.6MB)

I used this week mostly to fix my house and to build the work system. I did however manage to design the Version Manager (Online Updater). It’s called Version Manager because it will allow users to make backups/”portable packages” of CE installations. Also it will have an option to roll back to previous versions and snapshots. It’s fairly simple to code so we should have a working prototype in next weeks snapshot.

I also fixed some bugs:

Change Log

• Fixed filter bug when changing tab.
• Fix try for “list index out of bounds” error in search.
• Fixed selection issue when using Info Bar.
• InfoBar now gets information in background.

CubicExplorer 0.91.0.1228 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (1.9MB)
Zip (2.2MB)

I spent some time polishing the Info Bar this week. I’m pretty happy with the results. It now has some text formatting to make it more pleasant for eyes. Also the thumbnail image is resized smoothly now. The file information shown comes from Windows (same info as you see when hovering mouse over file in Explorer). That means I have little control over what information is shown. However, it does allow people to use 3rd party extensions to add more information. Plans are to make Info Bar customizable but at the moment it’s not top priority.

So what is top priority at the moment? Hmm, I’ve been thinking about CE’s future whole week. There are two important areas that need to be fixed:
 
1. The layout scheme (panels, toolbars, dual/multi-view etc.). It’s almost ready, only some finishing touches are needed.

2. The file system handler. This is a big one to do. At the moment I’m using Jim’s Delphi components to handle most interaction with Windows file system. However, while it’s a fine component package, it’s not quite optimized for CE’s use. So, I’ve been playing around with an idea of creating my own tools. This would make it possible to add some interesting features (virtual folders/files, ftp and other network protocol support, instant search/filtering, offline access etc.). The new handler would be database driven so it should be pretty fast.

However, the top priority goes to online update feature. That’s a feature i think everyone (including me) will enjoy. Also it allows me to release daily snapshots for testing purposes. I’ll start working with this feature next week. Once it’s done I’ll try to fix as many bugs as possible and release official 0.91 version.

Anyway, here’s the snapshot…

Change Log

• Added “Clear Filters” button
• Enter key now starts search
• Fixed crash on Search end (fix try)
• Updated Spanish translation
• Updated Italian translation
• Polished Info Bar

CubicExplorer 0.91.0.1223 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (1.9MB)
Zip (2.2MB)

Getting back to work this week. Little slow start as always after longer break. However, I did make some nice progress. I fixed few bugs that have been bugging me since the last snapshot. The enhanced tooltip introduced in last snapshot turned out to be quite nasty when browsing network drives. So I removed it for now.

Biggest change in this snapshot is the Info Bar. I’ve been using Windows7 quite a lot lately and it has similar thing which I like a lot. CE’s implementation of the bar is little different and there’s still work to do until it’s done. The finished solution will be customizable and there will be some editable fields (file name for example). For some reason the thumbnail does not have proper aspect ratio in Windows7. I didn’t have time to fix it for this build but I’ll do it next week.

Change Log

• Added Info Bar.
• Added Romanian translation.
• Updated Greek translation.
• Updated Russian translation.
• Enhanced file search.
• Removed InfoQuery hints.

CubicExplorer 0.91.0.1214 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.2MB)
Zip (2.5MB)

So, I’ve been resting for the past few months. Reason for that is a burnout I had some years ago which still effects my ability to work. It gets worse at this time every year due to "Seasonal affective disorder". Anyway, this break has had some positive side-effects. I’ve had much time to think about the future of CE and other projects related to CubicReality.

The current state of CE is pretty awful. It’s filled with bugs and unfinished features. Also my motivation level to code it has gone down quite a bit lately. To solve those issues, I’ve decided to do some major changes in my life. The only way to ensure CubicExplorer’s future and quality is to make it my full-time job and run it like a business. CE will however stay free so no worries. In some distant future there might be an optional registration, not sure yet.

I’ve already built a nice office and I’m looking forward to start work next week.

Happy New Year everyone! – Marko

So, I took little break which happens every fall. I’ve had some other stuff I needed to take care of and also I needed some time to rest. This week I started to work with CE again. I rewrote the search feature from scratch. It now has a new more powerful engine and lot’s of advanced search options including content search. I haven’t done much testing yet so there might be some bugs left.

Next I will finish the DualView implementation. I haven’t yet checked the forum but I’ll go through all posts next week.

*UPDATED 18.11.2009*

CubicExplorer 0.91.0.1209 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.2MB)
Zip (2.5MB)

Very little progress on CE this week. I started the change to separate tabs from pages which means tearing down some old code and writing some new. Most of the week however has gone in helping my sister to move. We painted her new apartment and the actual move was yesterday. A lot of stuff was moved and the biggest one was piano which we had to carry from 3. floor down. I guess I still have some muscles since pretty much every place is hurting now.

Anyway, next weeks schedule is almost clear and I have the opportunity to work with CE. I’ll check out the forum tomorrow. It seems there has been some spam posts lately. To all forum users, if you see spam, hit the Report to moderator link.