File manager definition. File managers
What was the name of your first file manager? If in the last decade one could safely expect the answer "Norton Commander", then today an acquaintance with file structure most often starts with Windows Explorer. 2xExplorer largely repeats the concept of the standard Windows tool, while having a lot of additional useful functions.
It’s worth noting right away small size distribution and free status programs. Both of these factors make 2xExplorer extremely accessible.
The file manager, having support for many hotkeys, allows control only from the keyboard. You can assign your own keyboard shortcuts to frequently used folders. The developers paid close attention to viewing and changing files, including a good editor in the distribution. 2xExplorer allows you to create thumbnails for BMP and HTML files for easier viewing.
The main part of the functions is placed on the toolbar located at the bottom of the application working window.
The use of the program is overshadowed by only one fact. Development of 2xExplorer stopped several years ago, there are no prospects for improving the product.
To gain access, click on the "Get Demo Account" button, access will be sent by email.
How is he better than the rest?
Two-pane GUI
The file manager interface is made in the form familiar to the user: two areas for comfortable work with files.
In each of them you can open files on a server, remote FTP or on your computer.
When displaying files in a table, you can easily sort files and directories by type, size, creation date, etc. by clicking on the header of any of the columns.
Drag&Drop function
You can work with files and folders using the mouse, dragging files and folders to the server or remote FTP and back, to do this, select necessary files and folders, grab them and drag them to the desired location.
Working with remote FTP
Click on the " Remote FTP" in order to connect to remote server from the file manager. You can save connections and edit them if necessary in the future.
You can open external FTP in both the left and right panels, and you can even do this simultaneously to work through a file manager with two completely third-party FTPs. In order to open the FTP of your hosting account, just click the button " Home FTP".
Tab interface
The tabbed interface allows you to open multiple files at once and manipulate them in the file manager area, similar to how you do it in the operating system.
This interface will make it convenient for you to work with several files at once, make it easy to copy code from one file to another, etc.
You can collapse or expand open files. You can also change the size open window as you wish. The files you have open are displayed at the bottom of the file manager in the tab bar.
You can manipulate windows as you wish, changing their size and arranging them on the screen in the desired order.
Basic functions for working with files
The file manager will allow you to perform all the basic functions for working with files and directories, such as: copying, moving, renaming, changing attributes, etc. Moreover, you can perform all these actions in a large number of ways.
1. Copy
In order to copy a group of files, you can select them with the mouse while holding down the button Ctrl. Then simply drag them to the desired location. As soon as you release the mouse button over the selected location, the file manager will display a dialog box asking whether you want to copy the files or not; if files with the same names exist, you will be prompted to overwrite the files.
You can also copy files or folders by selecting them by clicking right button to call the context menu. Then you need to click the “Copy” button.
A few more ways to copy are to use the button in the menu " File" or the button at the bottom of the File Manager.
There is also a hotkey combination for quick access to the copy function - Ctrl + 5.
2. Moving
To move, you can use all the same methods as for copying, with the exception of " drag and drop". Hotkey combination for moving Shift + 5.
3. Renaming
To rename a file or directory, you can also use context menu, menu item in the drop-down menu " File"or a hotkey combination - Ctrl + 6.
Unlike copy and move this function is not group and can only be applied to one element.
After clicking the " Rename" You will see a dialog box to enter a change to the item name. Enter the new name and click " OK".
4. Changing attributes
To change the attributes of a file or directory, you can use the context menu or the menu item in the drop-down menu " File".
You can set file rights either in numerical format or by setting rights using the appropriate checkboxes for the user, the group to which he belongs, and for everyone.
In short, rights can be set separately for user- directly the owner of the file, for the group ( group), for all ( All).
You can get the digital designation of rights by adding, where:
1
- execution rights;
2
- write rights;
4
- read rights.
For example, we want to set read and write permissions: 6 = 4(read) + 2(write).
There are 8 possible options in total:
7
= read, write & execute (read, write, execute);
6
= read & write (read and write);
5
= read & execute (read and execute);
4
= read(read);
3
= write & execute (record and execution);
2
= write(record);
1
= execute(execute);
0
= no rights.
On our servers, files are executed as a user, so the last two digits in the permissions must be 0.
For example, if you need to set permissions to everything for a file, you need to set the value: 700.
5. Removal
You can delete files using the context menu, the button in the drop-down menu " File", using a hotkey combination - Ctrl + 8 or button "Del".
Before deleting files File manager will display a dialog box asking whether you really want to delete the selected files.
Working with archives
File manager allows you to work with archives. You can create or unpack archive, as well as immediately download the necessary files/directories as an archive.
1. Create an archive
In order to create an archive from selected files or folders, select the desired files and/or folders and press the " button Create archive" on the quick access panel. In the dialog box that appears, you can change the archive name and archive type.
2. Unpacking the archive
To unpack the archive, click the " Unpack archive" in the Quick Access Toolbar. In the appeared modal window select the path where you want to unpack the archive and click " Unpack archive".
3. Download archive
You can download files and folders as an archive with one click by clicking the " Download archive" on the Quick Access Toolbar. You can also use the drop-down menu: tab " File", Further " Download" and select the type of archive in which you want to download the selected files/folders.
Multiple loading
Most convenient way working and uploading files from your computer to the server means opening your local file system in one of the areas, this is described above. However, if for some reason you are unable to use Java, then you can upload files by clicking on the icon " download files".
A window will appear for you to upload files to the server. Select files from your computer and click the "Upload" button. Maximum size one file should not exceed 1.5 GB. The file manager will begin to sequentially download the selected files, the process of downloading each file to the server will be displayed in the browser as a percentage.
Text editor
File manager contains a convenient text editor for working with the code of your sites.
By pressing the " Settings"on the right top corner editor, you can customize the appearance of the text editor to your liking, change the font size and other parameters.
Text editor has a syntax highlighting function and can recognize which file you have opened, be it php script, bash script or other programming language. You can also choose your own code highlighting using the drop-down menu in the text editor.
A text editor will allow you to change the file encoding and resave the file in a different encoding.
Viewing graphic files
To view graphic files The file manager contains a built-in image viewer. You can flip the image, resize it, and move on to the next image.
Search by files and folders
If you need to find a file or folder, you can use the search in the file manager. Advanced mode allows you to search only files or only folders, and also search by file or folder size.
Access Control
Using the file manager, you can set a password for a folder and block access to the folder from specified IP addresses. In order to set a password for a folder, select it, in the top drop-down menu select the "tab" Tools" and then click " Set a password for the current directory". In the dialog box that appears, enter the password for the directory and click the button " Set password".
Similarly, you can block access to the folder from individual IPs. From the drop-down menu, select the " tab Tools", and then " Set blocking by IP address". In the dialog box that appears, enter a list of IPs in the format: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx from which you want to open access and from which you want to block.
Functions for working with Home FTP
The file manager has a number of functions that are only available to Home FTP.
1. List of sites
You can easily navigate between sites in your hosting account by using the button on the quick access panel or selecting a site from the drop-down menu on the " tab Transition". By double click left mouse button on the selected site, you will be redirected to the root directory of the site.
2. Folder size
On Home FTP you can easily get the size of your directories by clicking on the " Size Analysis" on the Quick Access Toolbar.
You can also always see the total size of the occupied disk space on the server at the bottom of the file manager.
Working with backups
Also, right in the file manager, you can view the list of available backups created for your account automatically by our backup system (by date). By clicking on the appropriate backup copy, You can view its contents and, if necessary, copy the necessary files from it.
Hotkeys
Like most desktops FTP clients our File manager contains a number of hotkeys, which speeds up work with the most common actions.
Below is a list of hotkeys:
Ctrl + 3- View;
Ctrl + 4- Editing;
Ctrl + 5- Copying;
Shift + 5- Moving;
Ctrl + 6- Renaming;
Ctrl + 7- Creating a new folder;
Ctrl + 8 or Del- Removal.
If you have any questions about work File manager, You can always contact our service.
File manager ( English. file manager) – computer program, providing user interface to work with file system And files. The file manager allows you to do the most frequent operations over files - creating, opening/playing/viewing, editing, moving, renaming, copying, deleting, changing attributes and properties, searching for files and assigning rights. In addition to the basic functions, many file managers include a number of additional features, for example, such as working with the network (via FTP, NFS and so on.), backup copying, management printers etc.
File managers provide a more convenient and visual way to communicate with a PC compared to the operating system (OS). One of the most famous early software shells was called Norton Commander. It was developed by American programmer Peter Norton. The file manager clearly showed on the screen the entire file structure of the computer: disks, directories and files. With such a program there was no need to type complex MS-DOS commands on the command line. Files could be copied, moved, searched for, deleted, sorted, modified, and executed with just a few keystrokes.
Currently, the Windows operating system has tools for visually working with the file system: the Explorer program, displaying objects directly in folders, etc. However, despite this, file managers continue to be very popular. Practice shows that this is a truly convenient tool for a wide range of users.
Highlight Various types file managers:
1) navigation and spatial – sometimes switching between these modes is supported;
2) two-panel - in general, they have two equal panels for a list of files, a directory tree, etc.
Thus, file managers are special programs designed to facilitate user communication with operating system commands. These are programs that run under the OS, occupy an intermediate position between the OS and application programs and serve to integrate application packages. The most common file managers: Norton Commander, Volkov Commander, FAR Manager, Windows3.1, Windows (Total) Commander, etc.
1.2 Features of using freely distributed software
Free Software – wide range software solutions, in which the user's rights (“freedoms”) for unlimited installation, launch, and free use, study, distribution and modification (improvement) of programs are legally protected copyright with help free licenses.
In accordance with modern legislation of most countries, the software product and its source protected copyright, which gives the authors and the copyright holder (most often the copyright holder is the organization that employs the author official works), power over modification, distribution, use, and behavior of a program, including when the source code is published. The power of power copyright in modern society is so great that even studying or trying to correct program errors by disassembly may be persecuted criminal law.
To relieve software users from problems caused by the bias of legislation on the protection of intellectual property in favor of the copyright holder, authors and copyright holders can transfer to users the rights to the four above-mentioned freedoms of action. This is achieved by releasing the source code of the software under one of a special kind of terms licenses, called free licenses. Despite the fact that, under the terms of free licenses, the copyright holder cannot revoke the permissions issued to users, the authors retain their rights guaranteed by law.
Free software is easy commercialized– there are many business models where the need to pay for copies of the program is eliminated. For example, a business model is highly popular when an entrepreneur can make money by providing technical support services. The copyright holder of free code may be interested in another option - implementation software products under the terms of a commercial license, in case the client needs to integrate free code into proprietary software, but he does not want his developments to be disclosed.
In order to preserve the model of scientific collaboration between developers, it was necessary to ensure that the source code of programs written by developers remained available for reading and criticism by the entire scientific community, while preserving the authorship of the works. To this end, Richard Stallman, whose photograph is shown in Figure 1, formulated the concept of free software, which reflected the principles of open software development in the scientific community that emerged in American universities in the 1970s.
Stallman clearly formulated the principles, which are also the criteria for free software. These criteria stipulate the rights that the authors of free software transfer to any user:
1) the program can be freely used for any purpose (“zero freedom”);
2) you can study how the program works and adapt it for your purposes (“first freedom”). A condition for this is the availability of the source code of the program;
3) you can freely distribute copies of the program to help a friend (“second freedom”);
4) the program can be freely improved and its improved version published - in order to benefit the entire community (“third freedom”). The condition for this third freedom is the availability of the source code of the program and the ability to make modifications and corrections to it.
The ability to correct errors and improve programs is the most important feature of free and open source software, which is simply impossible for users of closed proprietary programs, even if errors and defects are discovered in them, the number of which, as a rule, is unknown to anyone.
Only a program that satisfies all four of these principles can be considered a free program, that is, it is guaranteed to be open and available for modernization and correction of errors and defects, and has no restrictions on use and distribution. It must be emphasized that these principles stipulate only the availability of the source code of programs for general use, criticism and improvement, and the rights of the user who received the binary or source code of the program, but do not stipulate in any way the monetary relations associated with the distribution of programs, including free of charge. In English-language texts, confusion often arises here, since the word “free” in English means not only “free”, but also “free” and is often used in relation to free software that is distributed without charging for use, but which is not available to changes by the community because its source code has not been published. Such free software is not free at all. On the contrary, free software can be distributed (and is distributed), charging a fee, however, observing the criteria of freedom: each user is given the right to obtain the source code of the programs without additional payment (except for the price of the media), change them and distribute them further. Any software that does not grant users this right is proprietary software—regardless of any other terms.
Among various programs When used when working on a personal computer, file managers occupy a special place. For many users they have become an indispensable tool, which combines a number useful utilities and allowing you to effectively organize work with various files and all kinds of documents.
File managers
File manager file manager) - computer program, which provides a user interface for working with file system and files. The file manager allows you to perform the most common operations on files - creating, opening/playing/viewing, editing, moving, renaming, copying, deleting, changing attributes and properties, searching for files and assigning rights. In addition to the basic functions, many file managers include a number of additional features, for example, working with the network (via FTP, NFS, etc.), backup, printer management, etc.
Types of file managers
There are different types of file managers, for example:
- Navigation and spatial - sometimes switching between these modes is supported.
- Double-panel - in general, they have two equal panels for a list of files, a directory tree, etc.
Dual-panel file managers
o Norton Commander o DOS Navigator o Volkov Commander o PIE Commander o DOS Shell
- Microsoft Windows
o FAR Manager o Total Commander o Directory Opus o Unreal Commander o FreeCommander o Frigate o DOS Navigator Open Source o Nomad.NET About the Program (on the official website) o Altap Salamander
o Midnight Commander o Demos Commander o Krusader o GNOME Commander o Tux Commander o Beesoft Commander
- AmigaOS
o Class Action o Directory Opus o DosControl o FileMaster o FileQuest
- Symbian OS (Series 60)
o Griffon o Symbian Commander
- Cross-platform
o Double Commander o MuCommander o Mad Commander
Navigation file managers
- Microsoft Windows
o Windows Explorer(English) Windows Explorer) - built into Windows o Directory Opus o Q-Dir
- Windows Mobile
o Standard File Manager o Bynarys Smart Explorer o Pocket Total Commander o Resco Explorer
- Mac OS X
o Finder o Path Finder
- POSIX (GNU/Linux, BSD, etc.)
o Konqueror - comes with KDE o Nautilus (file manager) - comes with GNOME o ROX-Filer - comes with ROX Desktop o Thunar - comes with Xfce o Dolphin - comes with KDE 4 o Krusader
- AmigaOS
o Directory Opus Magellan o Scalos o Workbench - comes with AmigaOS
- Symbian OS (Series 60)
o FileMan o SeleQ
Story
File managers are a class of programs that serve for all kinds of work with files, including support for operations such as creating, editing, copying and deleting, to provide flexible and convenient launch of other programs designed to work with these files. They are often accompanied additional utilities, making the user's life easier. For many users, their favorite file manager often acts as a shell, replacing part standard means working with files available in the operating system.
The famous Norton Commander, which freed users from the need to work with the MS-DOS operating system through the command line, with its ingenious two-panel interface, took a place in their hearts for many years. Subsequently, the DOS Shell was included in MS-DOS, but it did not gain popularity among users.
Norton Commander was replaced by the no less famous Dos Navigator, which can confidently be called the first professional file manager. New program made it possible to simultaneously open several file panels and text files, had comfortable keyboard shortcuts and a powerful text editor. The file manager now has several useful utilities, including a calculator, a phone book, and even a CD player.
However, Dos Navigator was written for DOS, and the developers did not port it to the Win32 platform. Released for Windows, Norton Commander was not particularly popular. Many file managers that appeared after Dos Navigator claimed its laurels - the title of the best file manager. But some, with all their advantages, worked in text mode, others were unreliable in operation, and the interface of others was not flexible and convenient enough.
It should be noted that for last years the need for similar programs. If earlier file managers were almost the only way to conveniently work with the operating system, then gradually, thanks to the efforts of Microsoft, most users found that the tools available in Windows were sufficient. The other part of users, whose needs continued to grow, began, on the contrary, to place new, increased demands on functionality and appearance file managers.
Booklet
Before I talk about the remaining keys on the keyboard, I would like to introduce one more important (from my point of view) lesson on file managers. Explain what type of programs they are and their purpose.
First, let's understand the terminology.
Concepts such as “file” and “manager” have long become common nouns. The younger generation does not even suspect that these words are borrowed from in English. And that's okay.
After all, our generation is absolutely calm about such borrowed words as, for example, “shampoo” and “tram”.
But let's get back to our sheep.
File
Term "File" this is the Russian pronunciation of the English word "file", which in the broadest sense of the word means a certain complete set of data (information) that occupy a certain place on external media, but simply on the hard drive.
Once upon a time, in that distant time when programmers in the Soviet Union were called mathematicians, the file was called an “array” or “data array.” I don't think this will clarify anything. But there was something like that.
There were a lot of “interesting things” about this in the Soviet Union. For example, it was forbidden to write “Computer” or “PC” in official documents ( Personal Computer). Only a computer or PC (personal electronic computer).
So, this logically complete set of data can be:
- system file - information with which the Operating System works
- text file - text editor programs can work with this data
- media file - audio or video. The corresponding programs play music or video from these files.
- image files - pictures and photos various formats, which are opened for viewing by the corresponding programs.
- And so on.
I'll say more. Programs that allow us to edit texts, listen to music, watch photos or movies also consist of a set of files. True, they have a slightly different name - “ executable files" and "libraries".
And the operating system itself is a huge set of files.
Now I looked at the number of files in the operating system on my work computer: 87,108 files and 17,728 folders.
By the way, "Folder" is also a file. Officially it sounds like this:
"special file object, acting as a container for storing other folders or files.”
Summarize. Apart from files, there is nothing else on the hard drive of our computer (what else could there be?).
Manager
The concept of “manager” comes from the English “manager” (management), pronounced in Russian. True, in everyday reality, everyone usually hears more about Sales Manager (salesperson, tradesman) or Office Manager (cleaning lady), but the main meaning of this word is still “management”.
File manager
Thus, we come to the semantic component specialized programs working with files - file managers or "file management programs". That is, the main task of such programs is to make it easier and simpler to work with a large number of files.
The history of file managers
As I wrote in the previous lesson, at the dawn of computerization there were no graphics. All that could be seen on the monitor was a prompt and a lonely blinking cursor with a blinking frequency of 1 Hz.
The cursor was made to blink for two main reasons:
- the cursor indicated the place where the next character would be entered
- blinking meant that the system was still “alive”, i.e. the computer or mainframe has not yet frozen and is in working order
All commands had to be entered manually. Very often, the set of commands in a line to perform a particular operation was a set of tens or hundreds of characters.
The slightest typo, even in one character, resulted in an error. Then we had to enter everything again.
Even when it became possible to “return” previously typed text to the command line with just one cursor control key, it was still necessary to find this incorrectly entered character (typo), correct it and run the typed command for execution.
Agree, the work is not the most rewarding.
It’s good if the user knows perfectly well the location of symbols on the keyboard (letters, numbers and special characters). What if a novice user? But at the beginning of the century of computerization, almost the majority of users were beginners.
But computer thought developed. For changing 8-bit came to computers 16-bit. They allowed us to bypass a lot of limitations inherent in 8_mi bit systems. Additional characters could now be encoded to allow users to more easily manipulate data on their computer.
Thus, “pseudographic” symbols (and not only) appeared, which made it possible to create and facilitate the work of programmers and system administrators. well and ordinary users(at that time they were called “computer operators”) even more so.
Pseudographics- these are not graphic, but text characters(such as letters and special symbols), from which, like cubes, you can create various frames and tables.
Here are examples of these symbols:
And the programmers wrote a program that made working with files easier and significantly increased the speed.
This program was a kind of shell over text interface, which was visually perceived as graphic component, although it was not graphics.
The shell itself was located above command line, and help on the hot keys below it.
One of the first programs from a series of file managers under the DOS operating system was Norton program Commander (NC).
Even the first versions of the NC program turned out to be “explosive.” Now everything was clear and convenient.
Two panels, on each of which you could separately select drives and folders and perform various operations in them or between them, using functional and special keys on keyboard.
For example, drives A:, B: and C: on the left panel selected by pressing a combination "Alt+F1", A on the right panel combination "Alt+F2".
Storage media in a computer are designated by Latin letters A, B, C, D, E, ... When there was no hard drives, the only storage media were floppy disks. Typically, no more than two floppy drives were installed on a computer. The operating system was loaded from one floppy disk, and the programs with which they worked were loaded from the other. So, the disk drives were given the names A and B. Today no one uses floppy disks anymore. All storage media begin to be named with the letter “C:” (the first hard or logical drives). Well, the letters “A:” and “B:” remained reserved for disk drives.
The frames themselves were “drawn” with pseudographic symbols.
All functionality for working with files was “hardwired” into function keys F1 - F12. For advanced functionality, the “Ctrl” and “Alt” keys were additionally used together with F1 - F12 or with letters. In other words, everything basic commands operating room DOS systems were “hardwired” into function keys or their combinations.
A great achievement was the presence of a built-in text editor, which greatly simplified the work of both programmers and ordinary users. Text editor"called" by a key F4.
To cancel any “wrong action” the key was used (and is still used) "Esc"(I will make a separate lesson about undo keys).
Over time, with the release of new versions, the functionality of the file manager increased. More and more functions made it possible to perform various operations and actions by pressing just a few key combinations.
Programs analogous to the NC file manager began to appear, such as Volkov Commander (VC) and DOS Navigator (DN).
Volkov Commander:
File manager interface DOS Navigator:
By and large, they were practically no different from each other. Except that in each program the hotkeys were reassigned differently. Which was quite inconvenient after you “get used” to one of the managers.
But in any case, each of the managers had their fans.
True, in DOS Navigator it was possible to color in different colors background, folders and files. For example, files text format in one color, image files in another, etc. The result was such a “parrot” that the eyes were dazzled by such a “rainbow”. But many people liked it.
Then came graphical shell for DOS operating system named Windows(windows), which over time grew into a full-fledged operating system With graphical interface, the first of which was Windows 95.
File managers were written not with a pseudo-graphical, but with a graphical interface. Moreover, the functionality of these interfaces has increased significantly.
I will not list all these programs. I will only mention three that I use myself.
Far Manager
This file manager is used mainly by professionals.
Regular users will find it boring and ascetic due to its strict minimalistic interface.
It is popular among professionals due to the reliability of working with data. It is the fastest file manager that works under a graphical shell.
Total Commander
In my opinion, the best file manager today with very wide capabilities. I've been using it for over 10 years. With each new version functionality is added and improved.
True, it has a small drawback. Officially it is paid. But when has that stopped us? Torrents always have " free versions» for Russian-speaking users. 🙂
Double Commander
This is a cross-platform free file manager. Cross-platform means that this program can be used not only under Windows, but also under Linux and MacOS without any emulators.
Although this program is still in beta, it is quickly gaining popularity.
In this lesson we learned where and how file managers came from and what they are.
In the next lesson, using one of the file managers as an example, I will show you several examples of using these programs. Well, more precisely, why I myself use file managers. After this, I think it will finally become clear to you why these programs are still popular, and the family of file managers continues to develop.
That's all for today. Good luck and creative success to everyone. 🙂
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