It's Finally Here!
It's that time again, time for me get my notes together and report on my impressions of a few of XYplorer's features - my first impressions, that is...
The problem is, I cannot find my notes! But, along with a couple other items, I will be putting in my 2 cents about the Find Files feature - it's finally here!
I am also changing my strategy with how I do my research. From here on out, I will just be looking at the different features and reporting on my findings, I am no longer going to try to learn everything systematically. I will run a few tests on each item I am reviewing instead of exploring each feature in-depth. As I've stated earlier, and others have warned me, XYplorer is extensive.
I finally made it to the Testimonial page! What I find interesting is that Don didn't quote anything from my many continuing review posts, but from a random statement I made in another forum.
Damn My Memory
As I said, I cannot find my notes, so I don't have a list of what I played with over the last week and a half, but I know I did spend a lot of time in Find Files. First, the bad news: XYplorer's Find Files feature will not be replacing my FileLocator Pro. But really, this is not bad news for XYplorer, just for my pocketbook. Don't get me wrong, Find Files is great and I use it 75% of the time. The reason I will be upgrading my FileLocator Pro is that it can search individual files within compressed files (in their native format) and it has more options, whereas, if Find Files scans a compressed file, it will only see binary data (I'm sure even this limitation can be overcome with a properly written script, but I am not there yet, plus all of my searching is not initiated from my file manager). FileLocator Pro has one job, and that is searching files - it does this well.
For each separate file contained within a compressed file, should Don add the ability to scan these in their native format when searching for content with Find Files and for locating files themselves? I say no. There are plenty of search programs out there that can handle this, and many are free. Don has elected to concentrate on file management without innate compressed file support, which is perfectly acceptable; I support his decision. I was just hoping the Find File feature could replace FileLocator Pro, strictly from a financial point of view.
The Find Files feature is nice. It is easy to use and fairly intuitive. But, because of the inherent complexity of searching for and within files, the more options you need, the more complex this job will become. XYplorer handles this tool well. I give it my full endorsement.
Renaming Files
Again, I am impressed. This time I am impressed with the multitude of available option and techniques XYplorer has for renaming files. It can be as simple or complex as you want to make it. For those interested, Regular Expressions is one of the available options when locating which files you want to rename, and in renaming them. This feature quickly out striped my current knowledge level, but even so, I had no trouble utilizing this tool. I found myself renaming files (temporary test files I copied to my temp folder for this purpose) just to play with it - I was actually enjoying myself.
That's all I can remember from my notes, though I am sure I did learn at least one other feature. When I find my notes, or if I run across the same feature (or features), I will report on my finding then.
The Dark Side
Yes, once again the dark side of XYplorer reared its ugly head, but this time it is with information availability, not with XYplorer itself. I have to thank nas8e9 profusely for pointing me to a plethora of technical information and documentation on XYplorer. This is what he posted:
If you are a registered XYplorer user, check it out.nas8e9 wrote:For rooting out information about *specific* stuff that's undocumented, the best way is to access History.txt through the License Lounge, found in the Support section of the main website. (As the name implies, this is only accessible to licensed XYplorer users.) As a learning tool or put another way, for its suitability for bedside reading, well...
So, why did this end up under The Dark Side? Only because I mentioned briefly, awhile back, about possibly writing a PDF Quick Start Guide. Many people saw the post where I said this, including Don, but no one told me about this particular resource! If I'd known this existed, not only would I have not mentioned writing a PDF, but I would have said nothing at all; "XYplorer PDF Help" already covers most topics. It may not be a Quick Start Guide per se, but it covers anything that would be in a Quick Start Guide.
Wow, I'm glad I got that off my chest!
(Continued)