Tablacus Explorer - customizable, tabbed file manager

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HairyPorter
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Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2017 8:27 pm

Re: Tablacus Explorer (file preview function)

#16 Post by HairyPorter »

Currently, it is possible to natively preview images (eg. JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF, animated GIF) in Tablacus Explorer's preview pane.

May I know if it is possible to preview the contents of the following file formats in Tablacus Explorer as well ? I can't seem to find any relevant settings within the configuration, or from the available add-ons.
  • TXT, XML, CSV, INI, HTML
  • REG, BAT
  • PDF
  • MP3 album art
  • Video thumbnail
I am able to preview all of the above formats in Windows Explorer & 3rd-party file managers such as XYplorer. The exception is Q-Dir which can't preview animated GIF, TXT, XML, CSV, INI, HTML, REG, BAT & PDF, but can preview JPG/PNG/GIF/BMP images, MP3 album art & video thumbnails.

Thanks !

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smaragdus
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Re: Tablacus Explorer

#17 Post by smaragdus »

@HairyPorter
Thank you for the tips about "Label" add-ons, the information you provided is very useful!

I have another problem with Tablacus Explorer which forces me to use Q-Dir in stead (which, at least for me, is easier to configure). Q-Dir preserves desktop sorting (Group by - Type, Sort by - Type) after restart but Tablacus Explorer doesn't and I have to do this manually anytime I start Tablacus Explorer, for me this is frustrating and I don't know whether this can be set in options and the developer doesn't provide e-mail to ask him.

In short I like desktop grouping and sorting like this:

Image

but after restart it seems that Tablacus Explorer cannot preserve it (or I do not know how to force it preserve this arrangement).

HairyPorter
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Re: Tablacus Explorer

#18 Post by HairyPorter »

smaragdus wrote:Q-Dir preserves desktop sorting (Group by - Type, Sort by - Type) after restart but Tablacus Explorer doesn't
This add-on Remember Folder View Settings v1.25 (22 Nov 2016) should preserve "Group/ Sort by" settings between run sessions & also for separate viewing panes (in case you have split panes). The same add-on will also preserve user-customized "Name/ Date Modified/ Type/ Size" etc. column settings (eg. width, position) for separate view panes.
smaragdus wrote:the developer doesn't provide e-mail to ask him.
You might wish to post development-related queries & suggestions at Tablacus Explorer's issues page at Github. The developer Gaku ("tablacus") seems quite responsive, but requests for understanding in case his English is "wrong and impolite".

Perhaps that is why there is no Tablacus Explorer user guide (or is there one ?), & its changelog is devoid of details. The developer is more verbose (albeit in Japanese) on Twitter & his blog.

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smaragdus
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Re: Tablacus Explorer

#19 Post by smaragdus »

@HairyPorter
I highly appreciate your help, thank you very much. I will later check the add-on you mentioned and I hope that it will resolve my issue. I am a bit surprised that an add-on is needed for such a simple thing. I have enabled lots of add-ons and I have to compare the RAM usage with and without add-ons.

HairyPorter
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Re: Tablacus Explorer

#20 Post by HairyPorter »

smaragdus wrote:I am a bit surprised that an add-on is needed for such a simple thing. I have enabled lots of add-ons and I have to compare the RAM usage with and without add-ons.
I suppose Tablacus Explorer is designed based on a bare-bones, add-what-you-want concept. For instance, Its ZIP package (containing 32+64-bit binaries & some default add-ons) has a filesize almost half that of Q-Dir's ZIP package (containing only the 64-bit binary).

I've been using Tablacus Explorer x64 with the 'Remember Folder Settings' add-on enabled all along on Win 7 x64, & have not encountered any performance issue (eg. lag) where folders are concerned. I have not carried out quantitative measurements with respect to RAM use though.

HairyPorter
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Re: Tablacus Explorer (not stealth ?)

#21 Post by HairyPorter »

Tablacus Explorer (TE)'s software listing at TPFC indicates that it is stealth.

On my Win 7 x64, extracting & running the basic TE package with default settings, no additional add-ons & no user interaction creates & leaves behind the following items upon every run & clean exit.

TE x64 leaves behind:

Code: Select all

	%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MSIMGSIZ.DAT
	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DirectDraw\MostRecentApplication
	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing\TE64_RASAPI32
	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing\TE64_RASMANCS
while TE x32 leaves behind:

Code: Select all

	%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MSIMGSIZ.DAT
	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\DirectDraw\MostRecentApplication
	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Tracing\TE32_RASAPI32
	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Tracing\TE32_RASMANCS
I suppose TPFC's current definition of "Stealth" probably exempts DirectDraw & Tracing registry entries. But what about MSIMGSIZ.DAT in %LocalAppData% ? I first encountered MSIMGSIZ.DAT popping up since TE v16.12.9 (released: 09 Dec 2016).

If MSIMGSIZ.DAT is deleted or moved to either TE's working folder or its \config\ folder, TE instantly creates a new MSIMGSIZ.DAT at the same %LocalAppData% location at the next launch. If the DAT file is left alone at %LocalAppData%, TE doesn't try to update it on subsequent runs. The DAT file's timestamp dates back to the first time it was created by TE. (Maybe this is because there are no filesystem changes in between.)

Since there is no apparent performance or functionality impact as to whether MSIMGSIZ.DAT exists or not, I use a custom yaP config to delete the DAT file (as well as TE-related DirectDraw & Tracing registry keys) after TE closes.

According to this Microsoft dev blog, MSIMGSIZ.DAT is a "cache of image URLs to image dimensions for images that have been previously decoded by MSHTML", & is created by Internet Explorer.

Note: When TE is in use, Internet Explorer is not running, & the system is also physically disconnected from the internet. The default location that TE opens upon launch (system's Desktop folder) do not contain any image files, only a couple of shortcut LNK files to frequently-used programs.

So I wonder why TE keeps creating that MSIMGSIZ.DAT file (if deleted), & what content it actually caches, esp. if user were to proceed to browse the filesystem extensively & carry out some functions. As such, if I were to use TE on a public computer to view files on my thumbdrive, might leaving behind MSIMGSIZ.DAT on the host computer pose a privacy issue ?

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SYSTEM
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Re: Tablacus Explorer (not stealth ?)

#22 Post by SYSTEM »

HairyPorter wrote: I suppose TPFC's current definition of "Stealth" probably exempts DirectDraw & Tracing registry entries. But what about MSIMGSIZ.DAT in %LocalAppData% ? I first encountered MSIMGSIZ.DAT popping up since TE v16.12.9 (released: 09 Dec 2016).
Right, I think MSIMGSIZ.DAT isn't exempted. I marked TE as not stealth.
HairyPorter wrote: Note: When TE is in use, Internet Explorer is not running, & the system is also physically disconnected from the internet. The default location that TE opens upon launch (system's Desktop folder) do not contain any image files, only a couple of shortcut LNK files to frequently-used programs.

So I wonder why TE keeps creating that MSIMGSIZ.DAT file (if deleted), & what content it actually caches, esp. if user were to proceed to browse the filesystem extensively & carry out some functions. As such, if I were to use TE on a public computer to view files on my thumbdrive, might leaving behind MSIMGSIZ.DAT on the host computer pose a privacy issue ?
My guess is that the HTML that TE displays is chrome, i.e. user interface, and at least some of the images it displays are UI icons.

I don't know if MSIMGSIZ.DAT causes a privacy issue. It is possible that TE would use MSHTML to show image thumbnails, and the paths of viewed images would end up in MSIMGSIZ.DAT.
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billon
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Re: Tablacus Explorer (not stealth ?)

#23 Post by billon »

SYSTEM wrote:I marked TE as not stealth.
May be 70% of native windows programs (not some QT/GTK shit) here on TPFC uses IE controls for something. Would you also make great new researchings with all database and mark them as not stealh? Or may be we must change definition of stealhiness?

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SYSTEM
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Re: Tablacus Explorer (not stealth ?)

#24 Post by SYSTEM »

billon wrote:May be 70% of native windows programs (not some QT/GTK shit) here on TPFC uses IE controls for something.
Definitely less than 70 %. MSHTML isn't common.

Anyway, you can change the entry back if you want. I don't really care if the file is exempted or not.
My YouTube channel | Release date of my 13th playlist: August 24, 2020

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smaragdus
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Re: Tablacus Explorer

#25 Post by smaragdus »

@HairyPorter

"Remember folder view settings" add-on works fine but after restart "System Folder" on desktop is always unfolded (my old version of Q-Dir remembers "folded/unfolded" state but the new versions don't remember it and this was the reason I decided not to update). Thank you once again for pointing my attention to this add-on. I do not mind plug-in architecture, but since there are lots of Tablacus Explorer add-ons it is time-consuming to test them all and therefore for me Q-Dir is far easier to configure.

Also, thank you for your findings about "MSIMGSIZ.DAT"- when I was testing Tablacus Explorer for portability I failed to notice this.

Edit
On my system Tablacus Explorer x64 with 36 installed add-ons uses about 83 MB of RAM while with the default 13 add-ons it uses about 61 MB of RAM.

HairyPorter
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Re: Tablacus Explorer - Folder Tree State

#26 Post by HairyPorter »

smaragdus wrote:"Remember folder view settings" add-on works fine but after restart "System Folder" on desktop is always unfolded
Did you inadvertently leave the folder selection (highlight) at the affected folder before exiting Tablacus Explorer ?
  • To Display Fully-Collapsed Folder Tree : Click on (ie. highlight) folder tree's root node (= 'Desktop') before exit. There's no need to individually collapse all open folders/ subfolders before exit.
  • To Auto-Expand Folder X in Folder Tree: Click on Folder X before exit.
If multiple panes of folder trees are visible, the said add-on remembers the last-viewed/selected (ie. highlighted) folder for each pane, & expands the respective folders accordingly on next launch.
smaragdus wrote:my old version of Q-Dir remembers "folded/unfolded" state but the new versions don't remember it and this was the reason I decided not to update.
My copies of Q-Dir v6.48.1 (14 Jan 2017) & v6.48.4 (21 Jan 2017) do remember which folder in the folder tree was last expanded.
  • To Display Fully-Collapsed Folder Tree: Click on root node (= 'Desktop') before exit
For Q-Dir, the workflow to show auto-expanded folders differs slightly from that of Tablacus Explorer.

To launch with the following nodes auto-expanded:
  • My Computer: Click on on any main Drive/ Partition (eg. Drive X, Y or Z) before exit
  • Drive X: Click on any of its Primary Folders (XP1 or XP2 etc.) before exit
  • Primary Folder XP1: Click on any of its Secondary Folders (eg. XS1) before exit
  • Secondary Folder XS1: Click on any of its Tertiary Folders (eg. XT1) before exit

Code: Select all

- My Computer
   - Drive X
      → Primary Folder XP1
         → Secondary Folder XS1
            → Tertiary Folder XT1
      → Primary Folder XP2
         → Secondary Folder XS2
            → Tertiary Folder XT2

HairyPorter
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Re: Tablacus Explorer - RAM Use

#27 Post by HairyPorter »

smaragdus wrote:On my system Tablacus Explorer x64 with 36 installed add-ons uses about 83 MB of RAM while with the default 13 add-ons it uses about 61 MB of RAM.
At the bottom are the average RAM use ranges for Tablacus Explorer v17.1.17 (released: 17 Jan 2017)'s TE64.exe process for 3 different scenarios, each tested on Win 7 x64 over several usage sessions with exit in between sessions.

Observations:-
  • Seems that the installed add-on only uses RAM when the function it enables is actively being used. Eg. If you are not previewing any file, the Preview (pane) add-on doesn't use RAM.
  • User config may play a role in how much RAM is used by TE.
  • RAM & CPU use figures are relatively high when previewing large ani GIFs. Not sure if this has anything to do with Internet Explorer, since TE apparently rides on IE to do something related to image caching &/or rendering. (Ref: MSIMGSIZ.DAT). For comparison, I previewed the same ani GIFs in XYplorer — the 6.7 MB ani GIF only uses max 47 MB RAM & 2-12% CPU.
TEST CASE 1: 36 installed add-ons (35 enabled) with custom user config
  • Typical file operations, including previewing content of TXT & static images (JPG/PNG/GIF/BMP) in preview pane: RAM 9-28 MB
  • Previewing ani GIFs: RAM 21-80 MB; CPU 11-23% (rapidly fluctuating up & down)
    • RAM use rises with GIF size. The 80 MB figure applies to a 6.7 MB ani GIF.
    • If RAM use is high, TE64.exe periodically releases some memory, esp. when I preview another file (any supported type).
TEST CASE 2: Default setup (13 installed & enabled add-ons) with custom user config
  • Typical file operations: RAM 9-28 MB
    • Since default setup has no preview pane (requires 'Preview' add-on), there's no way to preview file contents.
    • It's possible to view image thumbnails though, & RAM use falls within the above-stated range.
TEST CASE 3: Default setup (13 installed & enabled add-ons) with default user config
  • Typical file operations: RAM 3-20 MB
(Note: RAM figures above refer to "Memory: Private Working Set", ie. RAM used by TE alone & not shared with other running apps.)

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giulia
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Re: Tablacus Explorer

#28 Post by giulia »

hi
great program , really
but is portable stealth with the add-ons ?
thanks

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smaragdus
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Re: Tablacus Explorer

#29 Post by smaragdus »

Tablacus Explorer can also be downloaded from GitHub (including previous versions).

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rbon
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Re: Tablacus Explorer

#30 Post by rbon »

Tablacus Explorer rel. 22.2.18 has been released at February 18, 2022

Links
• web site: https://tablacus.github.io/explorer_en.html
• GitHub project page: https://github.com/tablacus/TablacusExplorer
• GitHub downloaf page: https://github.com/tablacus/TablacusExp ... ag/22.2.18
• GitHub direct download: https://github.com/tablacus/TablacusExp ... 220218.zip
• works on: Windows 11 / 10 / 8.1 / 8 / 7 / Vista / XP (32-bit/64-bit)
• Major Geeks official mirror: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/detail ... lorer.html
• Softpedia: https://www.softpedia.com/get/File-mana ... orer.shtml

Changelog for rel. 22.2.18:
Some fix (Backup recommended)
• Adjusted because the setting to hide the file name is turned off immediately.
• # An icon pack of Vector icons (SVG) has been released.
It's a Vector icon, so it's beautiful even if you enlarge it! It looks good in both light and dark modes. It is an icon pack called Tablacus Vector.

Download & Installation:
• Extract the ZIP file to a folder
• Run Tablacus Explorer (32-bit TE32.exe / 64-bit TE64.exe)

Add-ons:
• Add-ons list: https://tablacus.github.io/TablacusExplorerAddons/
• languages: https://tablacus.github.io/TablacusExpl ... guage.html
• icon packs: https://tablacus.github.io/TablacusExpl ... packs.html

Screenshots:
screenshot #1: Image

screenshot #2: Image

screenshot #3: Image
"Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the universe trying to build bigger and better idiots. So far, the universe is winning." - Rick Cook.

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