How to copy file path with forward slash?

[Laish]

Hi,

I'm currently using an Hotkey to run the command cm_CopyFullNamesToClip.
In the clipboard the path is set with backslash (i.e c:\dev\file.txt).

I would like to have the path with forward slash (i.e. c:/dev/file.txt), Is there any settings that influence that?

I know i can write a script and put it in the shortcuts bar (something like this https://superuser.com/a/977847) but i want to use the keyboard shortcut to run it.

Does anybody have any idea how to achieve that?

Thank you!

[Stefan2]

Hi and welcome Laish.

Instead of into the shortcuts bar (buttonbar) you can write with that commands and parameters a "user defined command" (usercmd.ini),
which you can assign a keyboard shortcut to. (Configuration > Options > Misc.)


To aid you whit your actual task you can try to use an Add-on instead of an own script:
https://totalcmd.net/plugring/list2clip.html

https://www.ghisler.ch/board/viewtopic.php?t=1853


Or just use PowerShell:
viewtopic.php?t=48019


The forum is full with tips and tricks, just search for that keywords....

[visr]

I had the same question, and did not see a relevant option in List2Clip, so quickly coded a tiny CLI app that does gives forward slashes, and always quotes paths as well. That way I can easily copy it into code without worrying about escape characters and such.

https://github.com/visr/copy-paths-to-clipboard

[beb]

A simple TotalCommander/Windows-native (PowerShell-based) solution, no third-party tools required:

user-command:

Code: Select all

[em_toForwardSlash]
cmd=pwsh -c (Get-Clipboard).replace('\','/')|Set-Clipboard

Now, the cm_CopyFullNamesToClip,em_toForwardSlash commands' chain does the job.

Example toolbar button:

Code: Select all

TOTALCMD#BAR#DATA
cm_CopyFullNamesToClip,em_toForwardSlash

WCMICON2.DLL
Copy Names with Path to Clipboard /using forward slash path delimiters/

0
-1

Note:
To force enclosing each path in double quotes (as mentioned in the message above), put the user command as follows:

Code: Select all

[em_toForwardSlashQuoted]
cmd=pwsh -c (Get-Clipboard).replace('\','/').split([Environment]::NewLine)|foreach{'"""{0}"""' -f $_}|Set-Clipboard

Then, the button becomes as follows:

Code: Select all

TOTALCMD#BAR#DATA
cm_CopyFullNamesToClip,em_toForwardSlashQuoted

WCMICON2.DLL
Copy Names with Path to Clipboard /using forward slash path delimiters/ and "quoted"

0
-1

NB:

Code: Select all

'"""{0}"""'

The triple quotes are there to override the TotalCommander quotes' handling; in PowerShell itself,'"{0}"' would be enough.

[visr]

Thanks, that looks like a good alternative.
I'd probably add "pwsh -NoProfile", since, depending on the profile, it can add a lot of latency.
Even with that the latency to start PowerShell is quite a bit higher than running the Rust CLI:

Code: Select all

❯ hyperfine 'pwsh -c 1'
Benchmark 1: pwsh -c 1
  Time (mean ± σ):      3.871 s ±  0.810 s    [User: 2.977 s, System: 1.201 s]
  Range (min … max):    2.317 s …  4.387 s    10 runs

❯ hyperfine 'pwsh -NoProfile -c 1'
Benchmark 1: pwsh -NoProfile -c 1
  Time (mean ± σ):     331.8 ms ±  18.2 ms    [User: 256.2 ms, System: 157.8 ms]
  Range (min … max):   299.6 ms … 364.3 ms    10 runs

❯ hyperfine 'copy-paths-to-clipboard some_file'
Benchmark 1: copy-paths-to-clipboard some_file
  Time (mean ± σ):      46.9 ms ±   6.8 ms    [User: 11.6 ms, System: 12.5 ms]
  Range (min … max):    34.5 ms …  59.4 ms    41 runs

[beb]

2visr
Thank you too.
At least we give a user an option to decide what approach is better for them.
It's always great to have a choice.

[Fla$her]

At least we give a user an option to decide what approach is better for them.

And I even know which one. However, everyone decides for themselves:
FR: Copy names with full path - with / instead of \
Namen mit kompletten Pfad kopieren mit Forward Slashes
unix path of sftp connection to clipboard
Kopiere Namen mit Pfad in Zwischenablage mit '\', '\\' oder '/'
etc.

[Stella75]

A simple TotalCommander/Windows-native (PowerShell-based) solution, no third-party tools required:

2beb
Thank you very much for sharing , works well for me since I'm not able to download the addons in other threads.

For the user command, it doesn't work at the beginning, I'm new to TC so I asked Copilot to provide an alternative and it works:

Code: Select all

	User command name: em_toForwardSlash
	Command: powershell.exe
	Parameters: -NoProfile -Command "(Get-Clipboard -Raw).Replace('\','/') | Set-Clipboard"
	Start path: leave empty
	Icon file: optional
	Tooltip: using forward slash path delimiters/

[beb]

2Stella75
My pleasure.
Glad it was helpful.

For the user command, it doesn't work at the beginning, I'm new to TC so I asked Copilot...

Code: Select all

	User command name: em_toForwardSlash
	Command: powershell.exe
...

powershell.exe is the key here on why the command didn't work for you at first.
My original command used pwsh[.exe].
As soon as you changed "pwsh" to "powershell.exe" with the LLM's help, the command agreed to work in your current machine environment.
I apologise that I was too lazy to mention it in my first message at once.

Postscript

For your and other users information, that may come in handy in the future:

They are both PowerShell; however, there's a nuance.

The visual difference:

• Using powershell[.exe] executable implies we are running Windows PowerShell.
• Using pwsh[.exe] executable implies we are running Cross-Platform PowerShell.

The core difference:

• powershell.exe launches the legacy, Windows-only Windows PowerShell
  Windows PowerShell (version 5.1 and older)
  Development is frozen; slower startup, higher resource usage; underlying engine .NET Framework
• pwsh.exe launches the modern, open-source, cross-platform PowerShell
  Cross-platform PowerShell (version 6.0 and newer, 7+, currently 7.6.2)
  Active development; faster startup, better performance; underlying engine .NET (Core)
  https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell
  https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/releases

If you ever try to launch Windows PowerShell terminal via Windows Start menu (e.g., right-click the Start button and choose "Windows PowerShell" from the menu), in the upper-left corner you'll see something like this (an o-o-old message, but it's there for a reason):

Windows PowerShell
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Try the new cross-platform PowerShell ****//aka.ms/pscore6

C:\Users\YourUserName>

• Installing Cross-Platform PowerShell (7+) does not replace Windows PowerShell (5.1 and older).
  By design, the new version has been made so both could happily coexist on the same system, side by side.
  If your machine is running under Windows 10 or Windows 11, there are no reasonable grounds not to update PowerShell.

[beb]

I'd probably add "pwsh -NoProfile", since, depending on the profile, it can add a lot of latency.

Code: Select all

❯ hyperfine 'pwsh -c 1'
  Time (mean ± σ):      3.871 s ±  0.810 s    [User: 2.977 s, System: 1.201 s] ...  10 runs

❯ hyperfine 'pwsh -NoProfile -c 1'
  Time (mean ± σ):     331.8 ms ±  18.2 ms    [User: 256.2 ms, System: 157.8 ms] ...  10 runs
...

2visr
Thank you again for your input.
I somehow missed, overlooked, and in other ways didn't pay due attention to the essence of this comment.
I need to dive deeper into that.

[beb]

2visr
Thank you one more time!

pwsh vs powershell with and without -NoProfile performance test using hyperfine

Test:
pwsh_powershell_NoProfile_performance_hyperfine.ps1

Code: Select all

$time = [diagnostics.stopwatch]::StartNew()
$env:Path += ";$pwd\bin"
hyperfine.exe -w 3 "powershell.exe -command 'exit'" "powershell.exe -NoProfile -command 'exit'" "pwsh.exe -command 'exit'" "pwsh.exe -NoProfile -command 'exit'"
''
# finalizing
$time.Stop()
'{0:mm\:ss\.fff} by {1}' -f $time.Elapsed,$MyInvocation.MyCommand.Name
sleep -seconds 55

Results:

Code: Select all

Benchmark 1: powershell.exe -command 'exit'
  Time (mean ± σ):     804.4 ms ±  12.0 ms    [User: 1492.2 ms, System: 240.0 ms]
  Range (min … max):   786.0 ms … 819.4 ms    10 runs

Benchmark 2: powershell.exe -NoProfile -command 'exit'
  Time (mean ± σ):     806.9 ms ±  11.3 ms    [User: 1470.3 ms, System: 283.8 ms]
  Range (min … max):   784.7 ms … 822.5 ms    10 runs

Benchmark 3: pwsh.exe -command 'exit'
  Time (mean ± σ):     403.5 ms ±   4.6 ms    [User: 445.3 ms, System: 196.2 ms]
  Range (min … max):   393.3 ms … 409.2 ms    10 runs

Benchmark 4: pwsh.exe -NoProfile -command 'exit'
  Time (mean ± σ):     419.0 ms ±  15.7 ms    [User: 475.0 ms, System: 186.9 ms]
  Range (min … max):   396.3 ms … 445.5 ms    10 runs

Summary
  pwsh.exe -command 'exit' ran
    1.04 ± 0.04 times faster than pwsh.exe -NoProfile -command 'exit'
    1.99 ± 0.04 times faster than powershell.exe -command 'exit'
    2.00 ± 0.04 times faster than powershell.exe -NoProfile -command 'exit'

00:33.381 by pwsh_powershell_NoProfile_performance_hyperfine.ps1

It turns out, in case of my 14-year-old Win 10 laptop, -NoProfile does not make a difference, which means my "PowerShell profile is exceptionally clean and well-optimized"
Meanwhile, pwsh.exe runs twice as fast as powershell.exe (let alone it should run the actual commands faster as well); that's good to know.
I'm going to repeat that on other PCs.

[Fla$her]

since I'm not able to download the addons in other threads.

Which ones exactly? The link to lst2clip-u.exe that I gave you, doesn't it work for you? It was the fastest and most optimal solution of all those suggested, especially compared to the slow first-run powershell, which requires a console and has version and OS limitations. lst2clip-u will work for you quickly, without flickering and without any hassle, even on XP.

[Stella75]

For your and other users information, that may come in handy in the future:

They are both PowerShell; however, there's a nuance.

2beb

Thank you very much for such detailed explanation. I've downloaded the pwsh and now your command works for me and it's actually quicker than powershell exe.

[Stella75]

since I'm not able to download the addons in other threads.

Which ones exactly? The link to lst2clip-u.exe that I gave you, doesn't it work for you? It was the fastest and most optimal solution of all those suggested, especially compared to the slow first-run powershell, which requires a console and has version and OS limitations. lst2clip-u will work for you quickly, without flickering and without any hassle, even on XP.

2Fla$her

The add-in was my first attempt since there are several posts recommemded this tool. But unfortunately I'm using a company workstation so that all the links are block for me. Or maybe because the location I'm in

[Fla$her]

2Stella75
1. Don't have access to mediafire.com? Or is there a problem with downloading archives?
2. Does this button code not work for you?