How does TC try packer plugins for unregistered extensions?

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__Vano
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Joined: 2006-12-13, 00:52 UTC

How does TC try packer plugins for unregistered extensions?

Post by *__Vano »

Could someone describe the algorithm of how TC tries to open a file on Ctrl+PgDn if the extension is not registered in the [PackerPlugins] section? Can a debug output of this process be viewed somehow?

I'm trying to troubleshoot MultiArc not opening a specific exe installer despite the underlying console app opening it okay. The first thing is to pinpoint the problem - if MultiArc even gets control.
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deus-ex
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Joined: 2003-02-10, 17:45 UTC

Post by *deus-ex »

From MultiArc's online helpfile (section Total Commander Plugin Handling):
  1. Total Commander checks, whether it can process a file with the given extension internally.
  2. If Total Commander can handle the file it is processed internally and no further search is done.
  3. If Total Commander cannot handle the file internally, it searches for the extension in the PackerPlugins section of Wincmd.ini.
  4. If a match is found, the file is forwarded to the associated plugin and the search is finished. Even if the plugin returns an error because it cannot handle the file type, no further search is done. For example the file extension EXE not only represents common applications but also self-extracting archives. There exist many different types of self-extracting archives such as RAR, ZIP, MSCAB, Install Shield and InnoSetup.
  5. If the extension is not found Total Commander tries every plugin entry of the PackerPlugins section, beginning from the first one. If a plugin can handle the file and responds to Total Commander, no further search is made. The search terminates after all plugins were checked unsuccessfully.
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