XYplorer Beta Club

Sorry for being late to the game... We're talking about "Floating Preview," the toolbar icon with the crooked paint easel, correct?

Oddly, Excel files will preview correctly in the preview pane at the bottom, but not the Floating Preview...

I have tried *.xlsm files containing vba macros with a result cannot preview via office files. I can preview *.xlsm files via web files only.
Group of Office files is not containing extension *.xlsm as factory default. You must add xlsm extension to office files first.
The same result cannot preview is for *.docm files containing vba macros too. But *.xlsm files are much more important and very often used.
Preview other office files without macros via office files is OK.
Office 2007 32 bit.

Hi Don,

sorry for being late to this party, but live gets more demanding.

I'm using preview mostly for all text-based and plain office files. All is fine so far.

System
Win 10 Pro x64
Office 2013 32-bit

Is there anything else I can test? Perhaps some exotic stuff, due to my "simple" usage profile I might be the best DAU-tester.


Cheers,
Filehero

Thanks folks.

- Floating Preview support will come in step 2. I start coding this today.
- I'll add docm and xlsm.

Works very fast with PDF-XChange Viewer handler and when browsing through hundreds of small (~100kB) PDF files

Will Web files also be sopported, especially interested in svg files?!

Are there some other requirements for video playback that I need to know? For avi files, it worked perfectly in the floating preview. For all my mkv, mp4, and a few other files that I have, XYplorer said "No preview available" even though the video plays fine in the preview tab. This is with XYplorer 16.00.0241. Anyways, so far so good!

Preview 2.0 should auto play previewed file like preview tab

- Web files: yes, later
- Video: well, with Preview 2.0 it's: no preview handler = no video; if you had a preview in earlier versions then it was just the thumbnail; I will add a fallback to thumbnail in next beta
- auto play: Yes, I'd like that too but it seems its not possible. :\ Those preview handlers don't me do much. I just can show them and then it's 3rd party world.

Hmm... that's weird. That's what I meant to say. I can play the mkv video files perfectly fine in the preview tab. It's not a thumbnail at all. I can hit pause, play, and seek in the preview tab for all the mkv files. Just not not in the floating preview.

Wait. Unless you mean the preview tab and the floating preview are not really related? So I can watch a video in thee preview tab because it's... I'm confused Because I thought that if it shows up in the preview tab and plays in it, wouldn't that mean it has a preview handle from the system?

EDIT: Just notice it's the same for webm videos that I have. Got to do a few tests later.

Yes, different technologies at work. What I call "Preview 2.0" uses registered 3rd party preview handlers. The video preview in the preview tab uses Windows native means. Most videos will be playable both ways, but some only by one of the ways.

Are there any ways of making the floating preview use the Windows native means? I was hoping the floating preview be able to play these files since another file manager was using preview handles (at least that's what I thought for the longest times) with Windows Media Player directly in its preview window so I thought that was really useful. So now looking at it again, it seems like the author instead embedded the WMP directly into the window so that's completely different apparently. Unless there is another codec pack that does support preview handles for these files... hmmmm... I'm currently using K-Lite so I guess I will need to experiment more. Aaargh.

XYplorer beta v16.00.0241, v16.00.0243:
There is an issue related only to floating preview of excel files in a case when there is simultaneously opened excel
file with excel application. Focus is transferred to floating preview window at first click, but floating preview
window is not filled with data of previewed excel file. Then at second click is focus transferred to window of
opened excel file and windows of floating preview is filled with data of previewed excel file.

I have observed this behaviour in configurations:
Windows 7, Office 2010
Windows XP, Office 2007

XYplorer beta v16.00.0244:
There is an issue related:
1.to floating preview of excel files in a case when there is simultaneously opened excel file with excel application.
At mouse click focus is transferred to window of opened excel file only and windows of floating preview is not filled with data of
previewed excel file.

2.to floating preview of excel files without simultaneously opened excel file with excel application.
Focus is transferred to floating preview window at first click, but floating preview
window is not filled with data of previewed excel file. At second click floating preview
window is filled with data of previewed excel file.

I have observed this behaviour in configuration:
Windows XP, Office 2007

XYplorer beta v16.00.0241 - v16.00.0244
Preview of xlsm and docm files ends with message: No preview available. There is message "shell failed to decode" in title
bar of floating preview window too.

All other types of office files are previewed OK.

v16.00.0243 - 2015-12-07 18:50
+ Floating Preview: Now it supports Zip Files (if Windows ZipFolder
technology is enabled in your system) *IF* you add *.zip to Web Files

if zip file has txt file inside it will appear in Floating Preview,why i can't preview srt files(inside zip file) although it included in text files
category

Enternal wrote:Are there any ways of making the floating preview use the Windows native means? I was hoping the floating preview be able to play these files since another file manager was using preview handles (at least that's what I thought for the longest times) with Windows Media Player directly in its preview window so I thought that was really useful. So now looking at it again, it seems like the author instead embedded the WMP directly into the window so that's completely different apparently. Unless there is another codec pack that does support preview handles for these files... hmmmm... I'm currently using K-Lite so I guess I will need to experiment more. Aaargh.

When I said "Windows native means" that was not a good way to put it. You/XY definitely need some 3rd party shell extension to play MKV files. Only on your system it seems XY cannot find a preview handler for MKV but still can play MKV using Windows ActiveMovie technology.

You should check if there really is no 32-bit preview handler using NirSoft's ShellExView. Quoting TheQwerty:

... for reference NirSoft's ShellExView is extremely useful (like so many of their utilities).
Make sure to enable Options > Show 32-bit Shell Extension and you can also filter to just Preview Handlers using Options > Filter By Extension Type.

If there is one I can probably improve my ways to actually *find* it.

hogaty wrote:XYplorer beta v16.00.0241, v16.00.0243:
There is an issue related only to floating preview of excel files in a case when there is simultaneously opened excel
file with excel application. Focus is transferred to floating preview window at first click, but floating preview
window is not filled with data of previewed excel file. Then at second click is focus transferred to window of
opened excel file and windows of floating preview is filled with data of previewed excel file.

I have observed this behaviour in configurations:
Windows 7, Office 2010
Windows XP, Office 2007

XYplorer beta v16.00.0244:
There is an issue related:
1.to floating preview of excel files in a case when there is simultaneously opened excel file with excel application.
At mouse click focus is transferred to window of opened excel file only and windows of floating preview is not filled with data of
previewed excel file.

2.to floating preview of excel files without simultaneously opened excel file with excel application.
Focus is transferred to floating preview window at first click, but floating preview
window is not filled with data of previewed excel file. At second click floating preview
window is filled with data of previewed excel file.

I have observed this behaviour in configuration:
Windows XP, Office 2007

XYplorer beta v16.00.0241 - v16.00.0244
Preview of xlsm and docm files ends with message: No preview available. There is message "shell failed to decode" in title
bar of floating preview window too.

All other types of office files are previewed OK.

Thanks for the report. I don't have Office myself, but even if I had I don't think I could do anything about this. Office has always been full of exotic behaviors and bugs, it's like a world apart within Microsoft. One has to live with its quirks.

xlsm and docm: Can you preview them in Windows File Explorer?