Directory hotlist: Difference between revisions
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You can selectively deactivate the display of the * button for the Directory HotList as shown on the screenshot on the right. Just access TC’s configurations and under the Layout section you will see an op-tion that reads: “Show buttons for history list and hotlist”. Uncheck this option if you wish to deactivate the display of the hotlist button. By doing so, you do not deactivate the feature itself but just the display of the hotlist button. You can still access the hotlist via the first three ways mentioned above. | You can selectively deactivate the display of the * button for the Directory HotList as shown on the screenshot on the right. Just access TC’s configurations and under the Layout section you will see an op-tion that reads: “Show buttons for history list and hotlist”. Uncheck this option if you wish to deactivate the display of the hotlist button. By doing so, you do not deactivate the feature itself but just the display of the hotlist button. You can still access the hotlist via the first three ways mentioned above. | ||
[[image: | [[image:Directory_hotlist_layout.png|frame|center|Figure 2 - Activating/Deactivating the * Button]] | ||
The displayed directory hotlist menu contains a list of previously added directories, plus two additional commands (refer to Figure 5): | The displayed directory hotlist menu contains a list of previously added directories, plus two additional commands (refer to Figure 5): |
Revision as of 10:48, 11 July 2005
What is “Directory HotList” and how can it be accessible
The directory hotlist allows quick switching between multiple directories. The directory hotlist can be opened in three different ways:
- Through the Commands menu.
- By double clicking on the title bar of the file windows (display of the current path).
- By pressing Ctrl+D.
- From the * button above the tabstop header as shown of the following screenshot:
You can selectively deactivate the display of the * button for the Directory HotList as shown on the screenshot on the right. Just access TC’s configurations and under the Layout section you will see an op-tion that reads: “Show buttons for history list and hotlist”. Uncheck this option if you wish to deactivate the display of the hotlist button. By doing so, you do not deactivate the feature itself but just the display of the hotlist button. You can still access the hotlist via the first three ways mentioned above.
The displayed directory hotlist menu contains a list of previously added directories, plus two additional commands (refer to Figure 5): • Add/Remove current dir: This option allows to add the currently dis-played directory to the list, or to remove it, respectively.
• Configure: Opens a configuration dialog, which allows to sort the menu entries, and which allows to modify, add or remove entries. The dialog box is built like the dialog box to change the start menu.
The directory menu is invoked with Ctrl+D, or a double click on the current path header. To move menu items to a different line, put the cursor bar on the desired entry, hold down the Shift key and move it using up and down arrow keys. You can also drag items using the mouse.
Figure 3 Configuring the Directory HotList
The following table describes elements of the Dialog Box: Change Directory Menu:
# | Field | Meaning | |||
1 | Directory menu: | Shows the existing entries of the directory menu. If you select an entry, the command line and parameters belonging to it are shown. | |||
2 | Add item... | Creates a new entry in the directory menu. Asks for a menu title first. A & sign causes the letter behind it to be underlined. Enter a single dash '-' to create a separator line. | |||
3 | Add submenu... | Creates a new submenu. Asks for a menu title first. Submenus are shown with a dash in front of the name. The end of the submenu is shown with two dashes. | 4 | Delete Item | Deletes the selected menu entry. Choose CANCEL to cancel all changes. |
5 | Change Title... | Changes the title of the menu entry. | |||
6 | Command: | This box contains the command to change the source directory. It looks like this:
cd Drive:\Directory New (v5.51): You can also choose one of Total Commander's internal com-mands from the dropdown combobox, e.g. cm_OpenDesktop to switch to the Desktop. New (v6.00): You can use appendtabs and opentabs commands to load folder tab arrangements saved to files. | |||
7 | Target path: | Then the path given in this edit box is set in the target window. This allows to set both paths (source and target) at the same time. You can either specify only the path, or the command cd Drive:\TargetDirectory | |||
8 | OK | Saves the changes made to the file wincmd.ini in the Windows directory. | |||
9 | Cancel | Closes the dialog box without saving. | |||
10 | Help | Opens Windows Help with this page. |
Table 1 Elements of the Directory Menu configuration
Tips on how to effectively organise your own Directory HotList
Here is a list of what you should consider when you edit and organise your directory menu:
- It is useful to make an entry for the Control Panel by using the corresponding internal com-mand. In this way you have fast access to the Control Panel which is used frequently by the ma-jority of users.
- It is useful to make an entry for your Desktop by using the corresponding internal command to eliminate the delayed processes you usually follow to access your desktop.
- Use any other internal command you find useful but make sure that TotalCmd’s core function-ality isn’t actually better in those cases than using Directory Hotlist. Some internal commands can be executed with their assigned shortcut which is faster than having to press Ctrl+D first and then select the desirable entry either by keyboard or with your mouse.
- Make extensive use of the “&” character to create keyboard shortcut. For your own ease you should practically use it on every single entry you have. You should try to avoid duplicated use of the character as your shortcuts won’t function properly. Using an already assigned letter as shortcut to a sub-menu entry does not lead to duplication.
For example, having two root entries one called Multimedia and one called Music using “M” as your shortcuts for both will not work properly. In this case, pressing “M” will switch from one entry to the other but TC will not enter the corresponding directory immediately; you will have to press Enter. On the other hand, having a sub-menu entry sourced from Music called MP3s using “M” as well as shortcut is acceptable. You can then access it by pressing Ctrl+D+M+M which will bring you directly inside the MP3s folder.
- Visually separate drives and network location by using the “-” character as an entry to create a divider. Follow the same approach to separate internal commands also or any logical groups you have in your mind based on your needs.
- When adding the current directory to the hotlist use the “Also save the target dir” tick box on your locations where moving and/or copying around files is planning for frequent use. The example shown on the following screenshot (Figure 4) illustrates the tight relation between the Downloads folder and the adding entry for the MP3s folder.
- The Directory HotList feature is also capable of storing FTP addresses. Different FTP server types have different notations of those addresses as well as different notation of users’ account details embedded within the addresses. As a result of that, it is advisable to add these paths us-ing the “Add current dir” option and avoid manually inserting an address if you do not know the syntax (Section 4.1 of this document describes, with the aid of examples, some differences in these notations).
Save also the target path where you usually download/upload data for your ease. You can then easily synchronise folders and/or compare them. For one more time, separate your FTP section with network/local drives and internal commands for a clean and functional outcome.
- Total Commander is also capable of storing FileSystem Plug-ins within the Directory HotList. FileSystem Plug-ins can be found under the Network Neighbourhood icon in the drive button bar of TC. Again, separate this section from network, local, FTP and internal commands en-tries. It is extremely useful to save the destination folders you usually work with for your corre-sponding favourite FileSystem Plug-ins.
If, for example, you use an external FTP plug-in or an e-mail client or an HTTP browser, it is functional to save each of these FileSystem plug-ins in your directory menu with a correspond-ing local folder to increase your working reliability.
- Define the drive letter or network location before each of your entries as you might have com-mon path names on different physical or logical locations and it might be confusing. You can skip this approach for sub-menu entries where normally everything included belongs to the root entry logically or physically.
- Try to use sub-menus only for rarely accessible locations as you need to press more keys or use the mouse extensively slowing you down as a result. It is a good technique to use sub-menus to organise a complex list of paths but you should rather place in the root all your frequent loca-tions for faster access.
- If more than one user has access on a specific machine and you perform management tasks for those users, it is a good technique to also include a separate section with the individual users’ folders within Documents & Settings. It is also advisable to include an entry for All Users and the administrator folder if you have admin rights.
- If more than one user is using TC on the same machine it is advisable to create entries with the names of the individual users and then let the directory tree unfold separately according to the needs of the individual users. Common entries can be placed in the root of the menu for speed.
- It is also a good technique when using sub-menus to also include an entry for the root path of a specific location as you may not always need to go to a direct location.
- It is nice to also include just the root paths of your favourite physical and network drives but since this can be reliably performed by using other features of TotalCmd the suggestion only relies on personal taste.
- In general use the “Add current dir” option whenever and wherever file and/or folder synchro-nisations and comparisons are planned. It will speed up your functionality.
- Version 5.51 of TC introduced the ability to define internal commands for your hotlist. Since v6.00 of TC you can also use appendtabs and opentabs commands to load folder tab ar-rangements saved to files. An Easter Egg feature you can say that not many users are aware of.
- Finally, it is efficient to map the left-hand side keys for your frequent paths, if possible, since you will be using Ctrl+D to call the function itself anyway. Don’t follow though this tech-nique if it leads to confusing shortcut for the titles of the entries. It is logical to assign the first letter of every entry as a shortcut but eventually you will reach a point where a duplicate is un-avoidable. So, use first letter for your frequent selections. Have them in capital case as well. It is easier to locate them in this way.
You probably have realised by now that in some cases there is no such thing as the best solution due to practical and/or logical conflicts! You know your own needs better than anyone else so apply the above suggestions and tips to your own needs and working behaviour. Following the aforementioned tips you can have a result similar to the one shown on the following captured screenshot (Figure 5).
Remark: The shortcuts are not case sensitive which means your available options become slightly limited. Avoid, if possible, special characters as it can be confusing.
Manually Editing Directory HotLists
Power Users _______________________________________________________________ The folder information is saved within the wincmd.ini file that is located in your Windows directory (your INI file can be located in another directory if you have specified one during the installation or afterwards using the INI Relocation Tools from www.ghisler.com. Go to the “Help” menu and point to the “About” section to view the location of your own INI files). You can find the section with all the information related to the Directory HotList under the [DirMenu] entry of your INI file. Here is an extract example of were you should look for additional information within the INI file for manual modifications:
____ wincmd.ini extract _____________________________________________________________
[DirMenu] menu1=CONTROL &PANEL cmd1=cm_OpenControls menu2=- menu3=&DESKTOP cmd3=cm_OpenDesktop menu4=- menu5=-C: Documents and &Settings menu6=&Root cmd6=cd c:\Documents and Settings menu7=- menu8=&Administrator cmd8=cd c:\Documents and Settings\administrator menu9=All &Users cmd9=cd c:\Documents and Settings\All Users menu10=- menu11=&Panos cmd11=cd c:\Documents and Settings\Panos menu12=&Nick cmd12=cd c:\Documents and Settings\Nick menu13=&Claire cmd13=cd c:\Documents and Settings\Claire menu14=&Zoe cmd14=cd c:\Documents and Settings\Zoe menu15=-- menu16=- menu17=C: Total&Cmd cmd17=cd c:\Program Files\totalcmd menu18=-C: &Windows menu19=&Root cmd19=cd c:\WINDOWS menu20=&Common Files cmd20=cd c:\Program Files\Common Files menu21=Pr&oductivity cmd21=cd c:\Program Files\Productivity menu22=Program &Files cmd22=cd c:\Program Files menu23=&Microsoft Office cmd23=cd c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office menu24=MutiM&edia cmd24=cd c:\Program Files\MutiMedia menu25=&Utilities cmd25=cd c:\Program Files\Utilities menu26=-- menu27=- menu28=D: Down&loads cmd28=cd D:\Downloads menu29=-D: &Software menu30=&Internet cmd30=cd D:\Software\Internet menu31=&Multimedia cmd31=cd D:\Software\Multimedia menu32=&Productivity cmd32=cd D:\Software\Productivity menu33=&Unsorted cmd33=cd D:\Software\Unsorted menu34=Utiliti&es cmd34=cd D:\Software\Utilities menu35=&Various cmd35=cd D:\Software\Various menu36=-- menu37=D: &Images cmd37=cd D:\Images menu38=D: &Games cmd38=cd D:\Games menu39=D: Ci&nema cmd39=cd D:\Cinema menu40=D: &MP3s cmd40=cd D:\MP3s menu41=D: &Temp cmd41=cd D:\Temp menu42=- menu43=-&X: Server\Prg menu44=&Root cmd44=cd X:\ menu45=&Applications cmd45=cd X:\Applications menu46=&Graphics cmd46=cd X:\Graphics menu47=&Internet cmd47=cd X:\Internet menu48=&Multimedia cmd48=cd X:\Multimedia menu49=&Productivity cmd49=cd X:\Productivity menu50=&Utilities cmd50=cd X:\Utilities menu51=&Various cmd51=cd X:\Various menu52=-- menu53=-&Y: Server\Drivers menu54=&Root cmd54=cd Y:\ menu55=&Modem cmd55=cd Y:\Modem menu56=Mother&Board cmd56=cd Y:\MotherBoard menu57=&Printer cmd57=cd Y:\Printer menu58=&Scanner cmd58=cd Y:\Scanner menu59=So&und cmd59=cd Y:\Sound menu60=&Display cmd60=cd Y:\Display menu61=-- menu62=-&Z: Server\Users menu63=&Root cmd63=cd Z:\ menu64=&Admin cmd64=cd Z:\Admin menu65=&Power cmd65=cd Z:\Power menu66=A&cademic cmd66=cd Z:\Academic menu67=Teaching &Staff cmd67=cd Z:\Teaching Staff menu68=&Trainee cmd68=cd Z:\Trainee menu69=&Guest cmd69=cd Z:\Guest menu70=--
______________________________________________________________________ End of code ____
The above code (previous page) will have to outcome shown in Figure 3 (page 6). For every entry you usually see a pair of commands one corresponding to the title of the entry (e.g. menu58) and one for the command to be executed (e.g. cmd58). In those cases where the target path is also stored, you will see a third entry (e.g. path58) which will include the saved destination folder.
A sub-menu starts with the “-” character before its title and a double dash “--” specifies its end. A single divider as has been mentioned before is just the “-” character.
Please, note the extensive use of the “&” character in order to create keyboard shortcuts for fast access of the corresponding entries.
The only situations that do not follow the pair configuration are the divider and the notation of the beginning and end of a sub-menu. Of course, as it has been mentioned before, saving the target path will produce a three command configuration.
Total Commander also allows manually disabling parts of the user interface. To disable the Directory HotList enter the value 32 in the entry RestrictInterface under the section [Configuration] of your INI file. Your corresponding line should read:
RestrictInterface=32
This will partially block any changes to the Directory HotList.
Path Syntax Notation
There are four main syntax configurations according to the type of path you have stored in your directory menu, as follows:
1. The typical and well know local drive paths. The syntax is as follows:
cd driveLetter:\dirName\subDir1Name\subDir2Name\...\subDirNName
e.g. cd D:\Downloads\Music\MP3s\Jazz
2. The notation of LAN machines and/or elements with the following syntax:
cd \\remoteLocationOrMachineName\FolderName1\...\FolderNameN\O$
Where O is an optional value that denotes a local, to the remote machine, element that can have assigned to it a logical or physical element’s name. The path actually can con-tinue from that point on with the folder names of the remote machine’s local paths.
e.g. a. cd \\nserver\printers cd \\nserver\Scheduled Tasks\*.*
cd \\nserver\faxes\
b. cd \\ns_finance_dep1\c$ cd \\ns_finance_dep1\d$\FreeTime\MP3s
Remark: If you have previously mapped remote machines they will now have a drive letter assigned to them and the syntax will be similar to the one in configuration 1.
Cont’d…
3. The notation of FTP addresses with the users’ directory area. How the syntax and the directory structure will look like depends here on the type of the FTP server. Here is a typical syntax with an example:
a. cd ftp://prividersName@userLogonName/Path1/Path2/.../PathN
e.g. cd ftp://PowerNet@JackDanniels/html/images
b. cd ftp://username:password@ftp.domain.com/any/path/
e.g. cd ftp://johnny:P82X3fG-P@ftp.mozilla.org/dev/stable/
Notice the use of forward slashes which denotes that this is probably a UNIX server.
4. The notation of TC’s FileSystem Plug-ins. In this case you should follow configuration number 2 with the only difference that now the prefix consists of three back slashes. Here is an example:
e.g. cd \\\Event Log\*.*
Remark: You cannot modify the commands’ section to include commands other than path locations (physical or logical) and internal commands of TotalCmd.
Related Applications/Plug-ins
Wincmd Directory Menu Customizer (Widimec) is a tool (freeware) you can use only to customize the Directory Menu of Total Commander. It allows you to drag and drop folders and menu items. The follow-ing screenshot illustrates how Widimec looks like.
You can easily add a button on your “Button Bar” of TotalCmd so that you can easily call this useful tool. As this document concentrates over TotalCmd features we will not analyse Widimec’s functionality here. For more information use the corresponding help file of Widimec. To download the tool from the direct author’s web site, follow the following link:
http://www.danish-shareware.dk/soft/widimec/ widimec.zip v1.2 (284 kb; help file included).
References/Acknowledgments
• Total Commander Help file and Christian Ghisler himself.
• Widimec Help file and his creator (Finn@Ekberg.com).
• Ilya Gulko for his “Guide to Efficient Use of Windows Commander”.
• A great number of users and members of the official forum for TotalCmd. More specific: - Roman Korcek aka Hacker, http://thehacker.host.sk, thehacker@host.sk - Djk from Poland - Maxwish for making this file available online on his web site (www.clubtotal.tk) - Andrey Pyasetskiy aka Ergo for hosting this file in his new site: www.totalcmd.net
Version History
Version # Release Date Corrections & Additions v1.0 03/07/2003 Initial version. v1.1 07/07/2003 - FTP address storing ability documented. - Path syntax notation description. - Introduced version number for this guide. - Minor aesthetical tweaks. - Added new acknowledgment in References section. v1.2 19/07/2003 - File System plug-in storing ability documented. - Code explanation on target path. - Refined information related to target paths. - Terminology usage note has been extended with more terms. - Added a fourth entry in the syntax notation section defining that
part of the document as a sub-section (4.1) as well.
- Introduces description of version history. - Documented on the possibility of disabling Directory HotList via a setting in TC’s INI file. - Added new acknowledgment. v1.3 09/08/2003 - New entry in the References section. - Added one more FTP example. - Some minor aesthetical improvements and grammatical correc-tions. V1.4 25/03/2004 - Just added a reference to the new (since v6.0 of TC) button for accessing Directory HotList and the corresponding configuration option for activating/deactivating the display of the button(s). - Updated sections affected by the aforementioned addition. - Documented about the ability to use appendtabs and open-tabs commands since v6.00 of TC! - Added Andrey Pyasetskiy in the acknowledgment section.
This document covers up to v6.02 of Total Commander
Author: Panos Davitidis, pdavit@hotmail.com
© Copyright July 2003 – March 2004 v1.4