md5hash was born in Portableapps Beta Testing forum but because it was created using Autoit language, it can't be publish as Portableapps.com application. So i wrote an email to the author requesting to package it in non-portableapps format so that i could submit it here. Currently it doesn't have its own webpage so for now i just link it to portableapps forum.
I like its minimalist GUI. If you like it, please vote "This app rocks!" in the link below
http://www.portablefreeware.com/index.php?id=1646
md5hash
Re: md5hash
It's good.. but the file comparison seems to be not supported, is it correct? It could be a good feature to add..
Re: md5hash
A file comparison will be performed when dropping two files onto the application window or 'md5hash.exe'. Those are the only ways to perform a comparison at present.
Otherwise you can open the session window from the system menu (click the icon) and visually compare all your checksums from that session.
Otherwise you can open the session window from the system menu (click the icon) and visually compare all your checksums from that session.
Re: md5hash
I had this file comparison request before in portableapps post and wraithdu respond to my request had a point
Now i believe in my brain. Just took out and remember the first four characters from the hash and compare it with the hash number you want. So far, I never had a case where 2 different hash have same first four characters
Now i believe in my brain. Just took out and remember the first four characters from the hash and compare it with the hash number you want. So far, I never had a case where 2 different hash have same first four characters
Of course some people want a perfect, whole character comparison for safe. Above is just my quick trick6da06b5c03c34c73a4c06987915ba4fb
Re: md5hash
Sorry for my misunderstanding, I tested a little more this app and it results very well done. Anyway I have some ideas that could be possible improvements to this software (obviously previously discussed):
- the creation of an "Options" group in right-click menu, to include "UPPERCASE Hash", "Show Progress" and eventually other features like "Show Results After Process", "Minimize to Tray", "Always on Top" etc. (otherwise you could consider if create a separated window to include these options).
- the improvement of the result listview with features like: 1. the support to columns and items reordering, 2. the division of Directory and File columns, 3. the addition of the Size column, 4. the support to remove selected items by "Remove Item" from context menu, 5. eventually the possibility to show and hide columns by right-click on the listview header.
- the separation between the window context menu and the software context menu, creating a "Menu" button on the GUI, that show software menu when clicked. This could be discussed, because I know the idea of the software is to be essential, but in my opinion it maintains the minimalist style of the GUI and make it even more intuitive.
- the reduction of the progressbar height, from 12 to 8 pixels (it is a minor changes, but could be good because I found thin bars modern and it allow to reduce the height of the entire window, giving the correct size of the eventual button on the right).
All my ideas can be ignored
..I only saw that to develop my tools other ideas are very useful, so I hope to be useful as well for you. 
- the creation of an "Options" group in right-click menu, to include "UPPERCASE Hash", "Show Progress" and eventually other features like "Show Results After Process", "Minimize to Tray", "Always on Top" etc. (otherwise you could consider if create a separated window to include these options).
- the improvement of the result listview with features like: 1. the support to columns and items reordering, 2. the division of Directory and File columns, 3. the addition of the Size column, 4. the support to remove selected items by "Remove Item" from context menu, 5. eventually the possibility to show and hide columns by right-click on the listview header.
- the separation between the window context menu and the software context menu, creating a "Menu" button on the GUI, that show software menu when clicked. This could be discussed, because I know the idea of the software is to be essential, but in my opinion it maintains the minimalist style of the GUI and make it even more intuitive.
- the reduction of the progressbar height, from 12 to 8 pixels (it is a minor changes, but could be good because I found thin bars modern and it allow to reduce the height of the entire window, giving the correct size of the eventual button on the right).
All my ideas can be ignored
..I only saw that to develop my tools other ideas are very useful, so I hope to be useful as well for you. Re: md5hash
Those are good suggestions in general, but I'm not sure they all fit the idea of this particular application.
1) I don't want an additional GUI context menu that duplicates the window's system menu. Anything new will be added to the system menu, and indeed all options are already there (except the history length which is an INI only setting). I'm also not addidng a duplicate menu button, since it wouldn't add any additional functionality outside the system menu. The point is to keep the GUI as spartan as possible to keep it out of your way when using it. I want it to be powerful, but very unassuming.
2) I could put work into the listview, but are all those features really needed? I mean, this is not a file management app and that listview is only meant to keep track of what you've done in that session. You can already double-click a field to copy a value and save the whole session to file if need be.
3) I'll look at adding an option to toggle always-on-top mode. But without a taskbar button (which I'm not adding) the window could easily get lost behind others.
4) I'll look at shrinking the progress bar. That might work out well.
As most developers, I've written the program primarily to use myself, and I'm very pleased with the way it operates.
However an update is in testing that adds Unicode support which will be released soon.
1) I don't want an additional GUI context menu that duplicates the window's system menu. Anything new will be added to the system menu, and indeed all options are already there (except the history length which is an INI only setting). I'm also not addidng a duplicate menu button, since it wouldn't add any additional functionality outside the system menu. The point is to keep the GUI as spartan as possible to keep it out of your way when using it. I want it to be powerful, but very unassuming.
2) I could put work into the listview, but are all those features really needed? I mean, this is not a file management app and that listview is only meant to keep track of what you've done in that session. You can already double-click a field to copy a value and save the whole session to file if need be.
3) I'll look at adding an option to toggle always-on-top mode. But without a taskbar button (which I'm not adding) the window could easily get lost behind others.
4) I'll look at shrinking the progress bar. That might work out well.
As most developers, I've written the program primarily to use myself, and I'm very pleased with the way it operates.
However an update is in testing that adds Unicode support which will be released soon.
Re: md5hash
I'm happy you have considered some of my advices.
The idea of keeping gui context menu together with window menu is good as well, but don't you like the idea of unify all options that can be checked/unchecked under a unified menu group named "Options"? Given that the user usually sets all these options once in a while, as he prefers, and then use the software with that settings, it could be useful to separate them in a group (as for algorithms, to make the menu more intuitive and avoid to make it too long, also if you will add other options in future). Finally consider that grouping all options together make the menu easier to use because the user directly understand that all options he can sets are available there. [I don't want to be insistent, I only prefer to explain what I consider when I make my advices]
About the listview improvements: yes, I probably reported some unneeded improvements. Anyway I think items reordering and "Remove Item" in context menu are two useful features. The first feature allows user to order the list of processed files as he like, for example by algorithm or by hash (that allows an easier comparison). The second feature, as well, allows user to remove unwanted items, to eventually save results only of desired files.
I'll probably include it in my next release.. I'm progressively preferring it to other solutions.
The idea of keeping gui context menu together with window menu is good as well, but don't you like the idea of unify all options that can be checked/unchecked under a unified menu group named "Options"? Given that the user usually sets all these options once in a while, as he prefers, and then use the software with that settings, it could be useful to separate them in a group (as for algorithms, to make the menu more intuitive and avoid to make it too long, also if you will add other options in future). Finally consider that grouping all options together make the menu easier to use because the user directly understand that all options he can sets are available there. [I don't want to be insistent, I only prefer to explain what I consider when I make my advices]
About the listview improvements: yes, I probably reported some unneeded improvements. Anyway I think items reordering and "Remove Item" in context menu are two useful features. The first feature allows user to order the list of processed files as he like, for example by algorithm or by hash (that allows an easier comparison). The second feature, as well, allows user to remove unwanted items, to eventually save results only of desired files.
I'll probably include it in my next release.. I'm progressively preferring it to other solutions.
Re: md5hash
Version 1.0.3.4 is available (page might not reflect current download yet) which adds listview sorting and multi-select for saving and removal. I'm sticking to my guns on the system context menu for the time being, until it gets too big to handle without submenus
Re: md5hash
Good news! 
..so I have to make some more feature requests, to make it longer..
Thanks for good software ..if you would like, I could need help to improve some of my autoit software..you can try them if you want: ArcThemALL!, DropIt, Portable Puzzles, Suite Manager (this is included in my suite).. thanks again..
..so I have to make some more feature requests, to make it longer.. Thanks for good software
..if you would like, I could need help to improve some of my autoit software..you can try them if you want: ArcThemALL!, DropIt, Portable Puzzles, Suite Manager (this is included in my suite).. thanks again..Re: md5hash
..found it! you could add the ability to process all files included in a folder, if it is dropped on md5hash. If you want, I can send you the code to do it (I made this feature for my apps). You could consider to make it optionally (something like "Scan Into Folders") or automatic (given that now folders are obviously skipped).
Re: md5hash
A program that creates hashes automatically but doesn't verify those hashes automatically doesn't make much sense to me. I've lately been generating BitTorrent files to evaluate and later check for errors on CDs and DVDs. But there's still plenty of room for a simpler solution that will verify directory structures faster and easier.
Re: md5hash
The code is not an issue, it's easy to write. An implementation that makes sense is a little harder. I've already considered the feature, but I'm not sure where to go with it. Should it only go one directory deep? Should it recurse as far as it can go? If I implement it at all, I'm thinking it should only go one level deep.Lupo73 wrote:..found it! you could add the ability to process all files included in a folder, if it is dropped on md5hash. If you want, I can send you the code to do it (I made this feature for my apps). You could consider to make it optionally (something like "Scan Into Folders") or automatic (given that now folders are obviously skipped).
Re: md5hash
md5hash is not meant to be an SFV creator / checker. It is unlikely I'll go this direction.webfork wrote:A program that creates hashes automatically but doesn't verify those hashes automatically doesn't make much sense to me. I've lately been generating BitTorrent files to evaluate and later check for errors on CDs and DVDs. But there's still plenty of room for a simpler solution that will verify directory structures faster and easier.
Re: md5hash
I think it's not a problem a deeper directory scan. Do you think it could cause problems? You could implement an automatic checking for one level deep and add an option to "Scan Folders Recursively" or "Scan Also Subfolders".
To avoid problems, you could implement some limits like size, file number or sublevels, to pop-up a message if for example the folder contains 100 files or 2GB or when the checking is to the 4° level deep, reporting something like "You are trying to process more than 100 files. It could needs long time, are you sure to continue?".
In my opinion this feature is useful, for example: I have a folder of music, divided in author subfolders. With this feature I could drop the main folder on it, waiting a while given its big size, and have as result a list that can help me to find duplicates.
Another debatable idea: I saw that actually, if two identical files are dropped on it, the program report it. You could make that if the user drop some files on it and part of them are identical, the program report also it (for example "Some files are IDENTICAL."). This feature may be implemented as optional, because the hash comparison could need some more seconds.
To avoid problems, you could implement some limits like size, file number or sublevels, to pop-up a message if for example the folder contains 100 files or 2GB or when the checking is to the 4° level deep, reporting something like "You are trying to process more than 100 files. It could needs long time, are you sure to continue?".
In my opinion this feature is useful, for example: I have a folder of music, divided in author subfolders. With this feature I could drop the main folder on it, waiting a while given its big size, and have as result a list that can help me to find duplicates.
Another debatable idea: I saw that actually, if two identical files are dropped on it, the program report it. You could make that if the user drop some files on it and part of them are identical, the program report also it (for example "Some files are IDENTICAL."). This feature may be implemented as optional, because the hash comparison could need some more seconds.
Re: md5hash
I have folder searching with a configurable depth setting implemented and working well. It actually took all of 5 minutes to write the code and about 15 to work it into the app.
I've also reworked the system menu to include an 'Options' submenu. Yes, it finally got too big for my liking
I've decided not to do any major hash searching or comparison stuff, as it's not the point of the app. There's plenty of duplicate file finders out there, and md5hash is not one of them. Perhaps I'll add something like 'Compare last two hashes'. I'm still unsure of how that should be implemented so it doesn't hurt performance too badly. I could just do a simple string comparison of the last two hashes in the session history, but that would be affected by sorting the listview. Continually updating an in-memory array with the last two hashed files may hurt performace too much, but would solve the sorting issue, which really isn't an issue after all as long as the user is aware of the behavior. Thoughts?
The only other thing holding back the next release is for me to decide if I want to do some kind of warning about really large hashing jobs, like >100 files or something. Thoughts on that too? A bigger number like >200 maybe? The files are searched and aggregated before the actual hashing begins, so this is indeed a viable option.
I've also reworked the system menu to include an 'Options' submenu. Yes, it finally got too big for my liking
I've decided not to do any major hash searching or comparison stuff, as it's not the point of the app. There's plenty of duplicate file finders out there, and md5hash is not one of them. Perhaps I'll add something like 'Compare last two hashes'. I'm still unsure of how that should be implemented so it doesn't hurt performance too badly. I could just do a simple string comparison of the last two hashes in the session history, but that would be affected by sorting the listview. Continually updating an in-memory array with the last two hashed files may hurt performace too much, but would solve the sorting issue, which really isn't an issue after all as long as the user is aware of the behavior. Thoughts?
The only other thing holding back the next release is for me to decide if I want to do some kind of warning about really large hashing jobs, like >100 files or something. Thoughts on that too? A bigger number like >200 maybe? The files are searched and aggregated before the actual hashing begins, so this is indeed a viable option.