TCMSearch - Searching an app in button bars

[snop]

Hi all,

I several button bars (as many of you), and I was wondering if there is a way to make a sort of search that would filter out the buttons based on what i search/type.
I would for example trigger the search in button bars (not only the visible one), via a hotkey, it would display a small input field, when ever I start typing few letters, it would dynamically filter the buttons to only show the buttons that regex answer to my search, i can then click on the desired button and close the search which would make the bars go back to normal.

I'm thinking about that approach, trying to see if that is even something that can be coded via a plugin (i can give it a try if so), but the idea for me in short is really to search/filter out so that I can quickly select my desired app without having to click multiple next/previous to find the right button bar and look for the app etc.

Thank you for any help !

[snop]

ok, couldnt find anything, ended up building this :
https://github.com/dayeggpi/tcmd-search-buttons

t's a first draft, and WIP, and might need some testing for some use cases, but seems to do the trick maybe..

build.bat builds up an exe file, that can be perfected, but it works for me.
Maybe someone has a better solution ?

[snop]

hi all,

I wanted to share a solution I made in reference to this post : viewtopic.php?p=483624#p483624

I needed a solution that acts as a quick-search launcher specifically for "Total Commander" (TC) Button Bars.
The app parses Total Commander `.bar` files, extract the buttons, and provide a quick-search overlay GUI triggered by a hotkey. As the user types, it filters the buttons using Regex, allowing the user to select and execute a command instantly.

Made a first version here https://github.com/dayeggpi/TCMSearch

Thank you all for comments/feedbacks

[Native2904]

I actually put all the buttons into individual bars and then placed those into the main bar... because I’d lost track of them... Being able to search for buttons isn’t a bad idea.
I’ll give it a go for a while.

[Horst.Epp]

I have about 130 buttons in 3 lines.
Many of them are menu entries.
The buttons are grouped by functions and have meaningful icons and tool tips.

I tried it, but I don't see any benefit to use this search tool.
Showing only the names of cm_ or em_ entries makes it hard to find a certain command.

[petermad]

2snop
You write:

TCMSearch reads standard TC .bar files (INI format):
[Buttonbar]
Buttoncount=3

menu1=Notepad
cmd1=C:\Windows\notepad.exe
param1=
path1=
tooltip1=Open Notepad

But TC does NOT have a TooltipX= entry - Tooltip in TC is provided by menyX=
Is TooltipX your own addition?

Is it possible for you to provide a compiled TCMSearch,exe file for us, who do not have Python 3.11+ ?

[sqa_wizard]

FYI: A compiled TCMSearch.exe is already available at "Releases" on the far right.

[petermad]

2sqa_wizard
Thanks - I had to change browser, the right side of github is not shown in my standard browser.

[sqa_wizard]

Thanks for the nice tool!
As I can see, the filter acts on all entries (name/tooltip, command and parameter). Fine so far.

But there seems a lack to run an external program as administrator (flagged by a leading "*")
Such as:

Code: Select all

*C:\WINDOWS\notepad.exe c:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC\HOSTS

[petermad]

When I run the downloaded TCMSearch.exe I get the message:

Could not load PyInstaller's embedded PKG archive from the executable (C:\totalcmd\TOOLS\TCMSearch\TCMSearch.exe)

[snop]

Hi all, thanks for your feedback.
May I please ask you to redirect any questions to that other thread so that I don't manage two threads, and also to avoid duplicates (it was my bad in the first place, this one was mainly to see if a solution exists, and I think it can now be closed).

I answered to your points in the other thread here : viewtopic.php?t=87514

Thanks.

[snop]

Hi all, thank you for your help and questions.
The "PyInstaller PKG error on app launch" error should be fixed. It seems to be do to UPX (to make the app smaller). I removed it and should work now. I wasnt able to replicate the error, so I trust that you can try again and let me know if you still have the issue please.

The "tooltipX" thing was me testing some stuff and I forgot to remove that part. It is now removed, good catch thank you.

I implemented a better handling of TC internal commands name mapping. Should now be more user friendly hopefully.

Finally, I added support for "Run as Admin buttons". However, all my apps always seem to launch as admin, something I might need to check out now that I think about it, so i'm not able to test if the fix works, but please let me know.

download for 0.1.1 : https://github.com/dayeggpi/TCMSearch/releases/tag/0.1.1

[petermad]

Moderator message from: petermad » 2026-05-07, 00:05 UTC

Meged the topics "TCMSearch - Searching an app in button bars" and "Searching an app in button bars"

[sqa_wizard]

Well done! With V 0.1.1 the "run as administrator" mode works fine and is highlighted now.

You may improve the README a little bit:
[App]
tc_path = C:\totalcmd ; TC installation directory (auto-detected if not set)

BTW: This mode allows a portable TC usage

[Native2904]

Hi, I wanted to ask if you could add some variables to the config for the window position or if you could make the window movable by mouse, so the user can place it anywhere on the desktop.
Thank you.