Copyright: © GPSoftware, Brisbane 2001-2002


Copyright Notice

Directory Opus 6 for Windows and this manual are Copyright © GPSoftware, Brisbane 2001-2002. All rights reserved. Title, ownership rights and intellectual property rights in and to the SOFTWARE shall remain the property of GPSoftware.

No part of this publication or the accompanying software may be copied or distributed, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system or translated into any human or computer language, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, manual or otherwise, or disclosed to any third party without the express written permission of GPSoftware, Australia.

Disclaimer

GPSoftware and its associated distributors make no representation or warranties with respect to the performance of the Software nor of the contents of this publication and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchandisable quality or fitness for any particular purpose. Further, GPSoftware reserves the right to revise the Software and this publication and to make changes to them from time to time without obligation of GPSoftware to notify any person or organization of such revisions or changes.

Illustrations in this publication are intended to be representations and may not be exact duplicates of the screen layouts generated by the Software.

License

GPSoftware provides this program and any updates under the terms set out below and licenses its use worldwide. You assume responsibility for the selection of the program to achieve your intended results, and for the installation, use and results obtained from the program.

Warranty

All care has been taken to ensure that the program performs the functions as set out in this manual. However, GPSoftware provides the program 'AS IS' and makes no express or implied warranties with respect to the software, its documentation, performance, fitness for a particular purpose, or merchantability. The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the software is borne by you. Should the software prove defective, you and not GPSoftware assume the entire cost of any service and/or repair.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall GPSoftware or its suppliers be liable for any special, incidental, indirect, or consequential damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, loss of data, or any other pecuniary loss) arising out of the use of or inability to use the software product, even if GPSoftware has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

At the discretion of GPSoftware, any and all warranty or technical support is available only to the original purchaser of this package. Please contact your local GPSoftware distributor in your local country for Technical Support in the first instance.

Program License

Directory Opus 6 is supplied under the following conditions. If you do not agree to abide by these conditions, you must return the package to the place of purchase together with the disk package unopened and a full refund will be given. You accept responsibility for the serial numbered version of the software supplied in this package.

The basic level license is a single-user dual installation license which allows the installation of the software on up to two machines on the one site providing it is used by the one person holding the license.

You may a) Use the software up to two microcomputers at a specific site only, unless a multiple site license has been negotiated at time of purchase from GPSoftware. Where the software is executed from a common disk shared by multiple CPU's, the same limitations apply - you must ensure that one authorized copy of the software has been licensed from GPSoftware or authorized agent or resellers for each USER / CPU executing the software.

b) Depending on the exact nature of the license purchased, this license may grant you rights to technical support, bug fixes and rights to updates and enhancements to the software for the duration of this license.

c) You may not redistribute this software and/or accompanying serial number to any person or organization without the prior written consent of GPSoftware.

YOU MAY NOT USE, COPY, OR TRANSFER THE PROGRAM OR MANUAL, OR A COPY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY PROVIDED. IF YOU TRANSFER POSSESSION OF ANY COPY OF THE PROGRAM TO ANOTHER PARTY, YOUR LICENCE IS AUTOMATICALLY TERMINATED.

Limited Term Evaluation License

If you are using an evaluation version you may trial the program for a period of 30 days only. After this time you must either purchase a valid license, or cease using the software and uninstall any and all copies of the software and any related material from your computer.

Termination

This license is effective unless terminated. This license may be terminated immediately without notice from GPSoftware if you fail to comply with any provision of this license. Upon termination you must destroy the software and any and all associated materials and all copies thereof. The licensee may terminate the license at any time by destroying the software and all copies thereof.

Copyrights, Trademarks and Acknowledgments.

Directory Opus 6 for Windows and this manual are copyright © GPSoftware, Brisbane, 2001-2002. All rights reserved. The software was written by Jonathan Potter and Dr Greg Perry. Trevor Morris produced most of the icons and images. The manual and associated help files were written by Dr Greg Perry and Jonathan Potter.

Jon and I extend our thanks to the many people who have encouraged and provided assistance in the development and extensive Beta testing of this package. Our very special thanks go to the dedicated work put in by the early beta testing team of Leo ‘Nudel’ Davidson, Trevor Morris, Gus ‘Biggus’ Wrethman, David Apelt, Bill Near, Michael Portmann, Dave Clarke and Steve McNamee.

Opus™, Directory Opus™, DOpus ™, DirOpus™ and Opus File Manager™ are trademarked 1991 by GPSoftware; Opus Magellan ™ is trademarked 1996 GPSoftware; Opus6™, OpusPC™, PCOpus™, SmartFavorites™ are trademarked 1998 by GPSoftware.

Microsoft ® Windows, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP and other related terms are Copyright © or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

Amiga and AmigaDOS are trademarks of Amiga Inc.

Directory Opus makes use of several third party libraries; acknowledgement is hereby given for these.

•	zlib: (c) 1995-1998 Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler

•	jpeg: This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.

•	libpng: Copyright (c) 1998-2000 Glenn Randers-Pehrson, Copyright (c) 1996, 1997 Andreas Dilger, Copyright (c) 1995, 1996 Guy Eric Schalnat, Group 42, Inc.

•	libtiff: Copyright (c) 1988-1997 Sam Leffler, Copyright (c) 1991-1997 Silicon Graphics, Inc.
Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that (i) the above copyright notices and this permission notice appear in all copies of the software and related documentation, and (ii) the names of Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics may not be used in any advertising or publicity relating to the software without the specific, prior written permission of Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics.

•	xpdf:Copyright © 2001 Derek B. Noonburg. xpdf is used by the pdftext.dll Viewer plug-in. As xpdf was released under the GNU GPL, the pdftext.dll Viewer plug-in is also available under GPL. See http://www.gpsoft.com.au/pdf-text.htm for more information

Opus ZIP handling makes use of DynaZip Library from Innermedia, Inc.

Other products mentioned in this manual are trademarks or copyright of their respective owners.

Imitators beware!

Jonathan Potter originally developed the Directory Opus file manager in the 1980’s for the Amiga computer and it has been under continuous development since that time. A partnership was formed between Jonathan Potter and Dr Greg Perry of GPSoftware to carry on this development in 1993. We have noted with some disquiet that software clones for Windows and Linux has been published in recent years which have apparently stolen many of our concepts and intellectual property developed in earlier versions of Directory Opus. Some have even had the audacity to use our trademarked names, copyrighted logos and ideas in the product names and related material in order to pass themselves off as products related to Directory Opus. This is illegal and an infringement of our intellectual property rights. Directory Opus 6 is the only genuine product developed for Windows by Jonathan Potter and GPSoftware and we will take action against anyone attempting to pass off software which infringes upon our trademarks or the intellectual property of Directory Opus.

Dr Greg Perry, GPSoftware, PO Box 570, Ashgrove, Brisbane, Australia 4060Phone/Fax +61 7 33661402Email: greg@gpsoft.com.au  URL: http://www.gpsoft.com.au

ACN 010 794 359 All Rights Reserved.


Technical Support

Technical support, bug fix releases and discounts on future upgrades are available only to registered users.

Please contact your dealer or the local GPSoftware distributor in your local country for Technical Support in the first instance

You must quote your registration code and related details to be eligible for technical support. The level of technical support available to you will depend on the plan for which you qualify or the support package you have purchased and may vary from country to country depending on local distributors.

GPSoftware provides direct technical support by email for registered users and a subscriber mailing list for general discussion and technical issues related to Directory Opus. For further details please see our web site at http://www.gpsoft.com.au. On the Support page are self-service links for you to obtain help on common problems, plus an FAQ of current resolutions and topical issues.

Note that at the discretion of GPSoftware, any and all warranty or technical support is available only to the original purchaser of this package.


System Requirements

Directory Opus is designed to run on Windows 95/98/ME, Windows NT4 and Windows 2000, Windows XP and above. It requires at least Internet Explorer 4.0 to be installed in order to run. Don't worry - you don't need to use IE as your web browser if you don't want to! It just needs to have been installed on your system.

Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000, XP and later all have IE 4.0 or later factory-installed, so if you are using those versions of Windows you don't need to be concerned about this at all.

If you are using Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.01 you will need to make sure you have at least IE 4.01 installed. If you are using Windows NT 4.01 you will also need to have at least Service Pack 3 installed. You can download the latest version of Internet Explorer from http://www.microsoft.com/ie. We recommend that you upgrade your version of Internet Explorer to the latest one available to take advantage of some of the newer Windows features.

You can download the latest version of Internet Explorer from http://www.microsoft.com/ie. We recommend that you upgrade your version of Internet Explorer to the latest one available to take advantage of some of the newer Windows features.


Installing and Serializing Directory Opus 6

Install Opus by double-clicking the supplied install program either from the CD or from the downloaded archive. We recommend that you select the default options for each section. Once the installer has done its job, run the program from the Start Menu or by double-clicking on the Opus 6 icon which appears on your Desktop.

Depending on how you purchased the product, you may have been supplied with a personal serial number or both a registration code and serial number. Before you can use your new Directory Opus 6 program, it must be personalized with this serial number. When prompted, enter your name or user code, serial number and other details as requested in the dialog. Follow the Wizard to complete the registration and Opus 6 will be ready for use.

•	Purchased Online: If you have purchased the product via our web site or an online store, a receipt and registration detail will have been sent by e-mail to your nominated address. You will need these details to register the program.

•	Purchased a Boxed Product: In the program package you will find a registration card with a product code number and a matching registration code. You will need these details to serialize the program which will register your software with our online server and automatically obtain a validation code for you. During the serialization procedure you will be given a new personal registration code. We suggest you print this out and store it for later reference

•	Trial Evaluation: If you have not purchased the product yet, you may obtain ONE 30-day trial evaluation code. When this expires you have a further 30-day period of grace after which you must either purchase the product, or cease using the program and uninstall it completely from your computer.

Please safeguard your personal serial number. It is unique to you. If you need to re-install Directory Opus 6, you will need to serialize the program again with this number. You also need to quote this code and related details to be eligible for technical support and upgrades, depending on the plan for which you qualify or have purchased. Technical support, bug fix releases and discounts on future upgrades are only available to registered users.


Launching Opus for the First Time

After completing the registration process, when you run Directory Opus for the first time you are presented with a Wizard which sets up some of the basic functionality of the program. We recommend that you accept the default settings.

Don’t worry! Use the default settings to start with until you understand how Directory Opus works. Afterwards, you can easily change these and other default choices from Preferences.

By default, Directory Opus is set to Run Opus on Startup. This starts Directory Opus when you boot the machine. Opus can be made to run in minimal mode and quietly just add the Opus light bulb icon to the system Tray to be waiting there for you when you need it. Alternatively, Opus can be told to optionally open the introductory Splash Screen, a Lister or layouts on startup. Once Opus is running you can easily open a Lister (or layout) from the tray icon, by a simple double-click on the Desktop, or any of the variety of methods discussed below.

Also by default, Directory Opus is installed as a Windows Explorer replacement with various context menus and double-click hooks for the Desktop installed. Directory Opus is also set as the default picture viewer for images and default sound player for WAV and other sound files.

Directory Opus has the ability to automatically check the GP Software web site to see if there is a new version available. When you run Opus for the first time it will perform this check in the background if you have an internet connection established. You can disable this behavior or change the frequency of automatic checks from Preferences.


Welcome to Directory Opus

Directory Opus 6 for Windows is a program unique amongst file managers, unlike anything seen before on the Windows platform. We have combined the knowledge gained from more than twenty person years experience in the development of file managers with the latest design concepts to provide more power in one package than ever before. By using a strict object-oriented design methodology to harness the often hidden multi-tasking power of the Windows Operating System, we have been able to create a totally new program, which is much smarter in the way it delivers this new power and flexibility to you the user.

But, you don’t need to worry about all this! You can take immediate advantage of the program straight out of the box. File management, integrated ZIP handling and FTP transfers, viewing images and performing all those previously difficult to handle file operations under Windows have never been easier!

And you can be confident that once you have mastered the basics, the unique design of Directory Opus will allow you to readily expand your abilities by taking advantage of the program’s powerful underlying architecture. You will be able to easily customize the program to combine your desired look and feel with the specific functionality you need.

Explorer Replacement

Directory Opus can be set as the default handler for all folders. This means that when you double-click on a folder, it will open in Opus and not in Windows Explorer. This is known as Explorer Replacement Mode.

When used as an Explorer replacement, Opus 6 greatly enhances your productivity since there is no longer any need to keep swapping between programs to perform everyday tasks nor to have to run a new copy of Explorer just to copy files between folders. Opus 6 provides a seamless integration of file manager and Explorer functions and handles ZIP archives and FTP file transfer in the one program.

See Also

• Opus Components  • Overview  • The Lister  • Opus_Toolbars  • Preferences  • Customize  • Folder Options	• File Types  • The Opus File Filter System  • The Opus Viewer  • The Opus Output Window  • Predefined Commands  • Opus Raw Commands  • Pattern Matching Syntax
·* This Help file is a reduced version of the Directory Opus 6 Manual supplied in PDF format as part of the program package. For a full details of how to use the program please consult the PDF Manual.


Directory Opus 6 Components

Directory Opus 6 consists of a number of inter-related objects, each running on its own thread but communicating with each other as required.

The main components which make up the Directory Opus 6 system (in addition to the main program thread) are any number of the following objects

•	a window displaying files and folders, called a Lister;

•	a window displaying custom buttons, called a Toolbar;

•	secondary windows performing various file or other functions such a Find, Advanced Select;

•	and various windows used to edit and configure the settings or operational parameters of the Directory Opus 6 system.

This may all seem a little complicated at first, but in practice it is not!  It just uses the capabilities of the Windows Operating system to allow you to do several things at once, if you want. In reality you will find the power and flexibility easy to master.

Each of the following components is actually the visual footprint of a separate program thread, which is invoked only when required. Note that you can only run Directory Opus 6 once. However, once the program is running, at any given time you may have none or any number of Listers and dialog windows open in any configuration.

Main Program Thread

The main program, the parent task of the Opus 6 system, is not directly visible to the user and may be run on startup or is started when any Opus Lister or dialog window is displayed for the first time. A footprint of this main task is shown by the Opus icon in the system Tray. This gives access to the main functions of the program if no other object is visible. The characteristic Opus ‘naked light bulb’ icon and Tray Icon context menu are shown to the right.

The Lister

File Listers are independent windows which display lists of files and folders. You may have just one Lister open to view contents of a single folder or as many as you desire. Each Lister may be a source or destination for actions. A Lister may have one or more Toolbars. Several different and powerful View Modes are available to display the files in the Lister and the format of the file display may be extensively defined from Folder Options, while the visual design of the Lister display can also be customized from the various Preferences settings.

Toolbars

Toolbars are windows which display custom action buttons showing text or graphic images. Toolbars are usually attached to Listers, but may be free-floating. You may choose the number and position of the Toolbars in the Listers. Also, the Toolbars themselves are built from an internal Opus command list so may be easily customized by the user.

Preferences, Customize and Other Windows

Other independent dialog windows are provided for you to customize the visual display and performance of Directory Opus 6, add or edit Toolbars, context menus and Hotkeys, and many other functions. Most aspects of the program may be changed at any time, even while the program is performing other tasks.


Overview

Opus provides for single, dual or multiple file displays, called Listers. The number of Listers is unlimited and you may swap between them as desired. Not only does Opus provide the traditional Windows file view modes with an optional Folder Tree, but it also adds a special Thumbnails view plus an exclusive Power mode where you can define the exact actions of left, right and middle mouse buttons and their file drag and drop abilities.

For the file display format itself, Opus allows you the widest control of any program with an extensive choice of display columns, sorting methods, filters, auto calculation of folder sizes and so on. Also, you may easily set and save custom formats for specific folders on local or remote systems as well as for ZIP archives and FTP sites. You can even save a snapshot of any given set of Listers as a ‘Layout’ and reopen it at a later time to redisplay the same set of Listers using the same settings, position and file paths etc, just as you left them.

Opus Listers are supported by the Toolbar functions which act between a source and destination Lister for any action. You select one Lister to be the source and another to be the destination, or simply expand the one Lister to a dual file display. By default, source and destination Listers show green or orange title bar colors, respectively, so you can easily identify them.

Toolbars may take many forms, with or without images or labels etc, so they may appear as simple menus, traditional Toolbars or Windows Task Bars (Docks). However they are all instances of the same Toolbar object.

Toolbars may be attached to any side of a file display and even between Listers in dual display mode, or they may be independent of the Lister itself, floating freely on the Desktop or docked with the edge of the screen.

Toolbar action buttons are based on a command sequence which uses an extensive set of internal commands. This may consist of single commands or sequential steps and may contain any mixture of internal Opus commands or external program calls.

The Opus command set includes traditional file functions such as Copy, Copy As, Move, Delete, Create Folder etc, the clipboard functions of Cut, Copy and Paste and many other file-related commands such as Show (for images) and Play (for sounds). These are supported by a host of extra commands such as Select and Advanced Select, Search and Find, plus others which allow you to change the format in which files are displayed, open new Listers, customize the display of Lister and Toolbars and so on.

To make life easier for you we have provided an extensive set of Predefined Commands which you simply need to drag and drop onto a Toolbar (in Customize mode) to activate. Or, if you need more power, you can build your own functions from the underlying Opus Raw Commands to automate file operations or to perform the more complicated functions. Since almost every action performed by Opus is actually done by one or more of these internal commands, you can readily tailor the program operation to suit your needs.

Drag and drop is widely supported in Opus in ways too many to detail. For internal commands and external programs, drag and drop is supported for all file operations between Opus Listers (irrespective of source or destination identity) and most third party software and with most Opus objects. As examples, apart from the simple copying of files, you may drag and drop a text file onto the Notepad icon to open and read the file. Simply drag and drop a single image onto a paint program to edit it, or, drag and drop multiple images onto the Opus Show command to start a slide show. Drag and drop is also supported for internal Opus objects. For example, when customizing Toolbars and Preferences, you drag and drop commands and images etc between Opus objects. You can even drag and drop commands onto the Desktop to create an external stand-alone Opus command icon.

From Preferences, you can drag a Layout and drop it on the Desktop. A double-click on the shortcut will then open the defined Lister layout. Similarly, you can drag out FTP sites from the address book to the Desktop for instant access. Double-clicking on the shortcut will open the site in a new Lister and dropping external files on to a Desktop FTP shortcut will connect to that site and transfer the file(s).

Opus seamlessly integrates ZIP handling and FTP file transfers. Most command functions and drag and drop actions are supported. For you, the user, there is essentially no difference between files in a ZIP archive and on a remote FTP server and those on your local hard drive. You treat ZIP files and directories on remote FTP servers the same as local folders. Opus even supports intelligent Site-to-Site transfers directly between remote FTP servers without downloading and uploading via the local computer. In fact, you can even copy files directly from a ZIP archive to an FTP site, and vice versa!

Opus provides comprehensive filter functions for Find, recursive Copy and Delete, and Rename functions. These filters support Opus’ wildcard pattern matching or full regular expressions. A unique test mode even allows you to test whether your pattern matching syntax is correct before you commit to the file actions for real.

For Listers and Toolbars, you can change the look of Opus by using background images. Several methods are supported including a unique mode which shares, or maps, a single image over all displayed Toolbars or over the complete Lister display encompassing the Toolbars and file and Folder Tree backgrounds.

Sounds may be triggered by many actions. Sample sounds and background images are provided in some of the sample Preferences so you may get some idea of how these can be used, then configure your own.

Opus tracks the folders you use and adds them to an intelligent Recent List for quick access. Not only does Opus allow you to enter a list of your own Favorites, but it also provides a unique SmartFavorites™ system to automatically track your usage and update the Favorites list automatically.

Opus extends the standard functionality of the Windows file type system. You can define the behavior for double-click and drag and drop actions, add your own custom commands to context menus as well as add context sensitive commands to system file types.

The powerful internal picture Viewer intuitively understands most common image formats so you can view images quickly with just a simple double-click. You can even view multiple images sequentially in a slide show. Similarly an internal sound Player allows you to listen to WAV and other sound files without calling up a full-blown media player.

Opus allows you to configure various Context Menus and provides for user-definable Hotkeys which can be set to work either inside Opus only or system-wide. Hotkeys can be can be independent or attached to a Toolbar button.

An independent Output Window displays the results of Find operations, file operation logs, an undo list of recent functions, two independent FTP logs, and a special Test section showing the results of trials for pattern matching commands with rename functions.

Opus supports most System Namespaces and virtual file systems such as My Computer, Desktop, etc for Windows 95/98/Me and Windows 2000, and those from third party developers. However, since these Namespaces provide their own ‘black box’ handlers and functionality, Opus commands can only be guaranteed to work inside Opus. Many Opus commands unfortunately cannot operate on files in most virtual folders. Opus tries to emulate as many of those actions as possible but the APIs of many Namespaces simply do not allow all commands to be supported. Opus commands not available in a virtual folder appear ghosted.

Namespaces often provide their own commands which can be added automatically to Opus menus and Toolbars if you have inserted the appropriate marker. See Customize commands.


Summary

Directory Opus provides for all your file management and Windows Explorer-type needs in a powerful and easy to use program. The underlying power of the Opus design allows you to work smarter and more efficiently. Crafted from object-oriented principles and supported by clever multi-threading, the Directory Opus architecture allows each Lister, container or action to be handled intelligently by its own process as required.

Remember, waiting is rarely required with Directory Opus. In most cases, as soon as you have launched an action you can quickly move on to the next job while the independent thread completes the current task. For example, you can select a series of files to be copied, start the copy, then immediately change folders and start a new action. You can even close down the Lister while the action is under way.

The following chapters will deal with each aspect of the program in more depth.

•	The Lister details the inner workings of the Directory Opus system.

•	Preferences explains how to tailor the functionality of the program to suite your needs. This includes file operations, background images, Lister Layouts, custom FTP sites and more.

•	Customize shows you how to configure the Toolbars, Hotkeys and Context Menus.

•	File Types explains how to add Opus extensions to the Windows file types system.

•	Folder Options shows you how to set the format of the Lister file display and how to save predefined formats for special paths.

•	The Opus File Filter System examines the advanced expression-based selection capabilities of Find and Select commands as well as the recursive Copy and Delete Filters. Learn how to use multiple clauses to match any file name, property or attribute, file contents, time and date, MP3 property, etc, and the details of the easy-to-use Opus wild card system.

•	Opus Find discusses the powerful replacement for the Windows find function which is built upon the Opus File Filter system.

•	The Opus Picture Viewer discusses the integrated image viewer which can display most types of images, either alone or combined in a slideshow.

•	Predefined Commands details the ready-to-use buttons which you can simply drag and drop to build custom Toolbars of great power.

•	Opus Raw Commands gives an in-depth look at all the Opus commands, their functionality and examples of how they can be used.


The Lister

The working heart of the Directory Opus system is the file Lister window. This is used to display a list of folders and files in the order and format you desire. Often only one Lister is required, for example, when you wish to view and delete files from a specific folder. On other occasions, you will select two or more Listers (or a single Lister in dual file display mode) to act in concert to copy files between one folder and another, or compare files in different folders. Directory Opus gives you the flexibility to use as few or as many Listers as you require to get the job done.

As one of the axioms of Opus 6's object orientated design, file Listers are designed to be dynamic. Do not consider them as the traditional, static file display windows which you must leave open and on screen all the time! Each Opus 6 Lister is fully independent with its own integrated functionality. They have been crafted to be transient objects, to be brought into existence for the specific job in hand and then discarded. Alternatively, if your application requires it, you can readily create a dual or multi-Lister display and save the complete ‘Layout’ for use at a later time.

The following sections deal with the basic performance of the Lister and its use and  functionality

• Opening a Lister  • Display Modes  • Lister Window Title Bar  • Window Gadgets  • Dual Lister Gadgets  • Slide-out Navigation Buttons  • File Display  • View Modes  • Viewer Pane  • Filmstrip Mode  • Lister Format	• Folder Properties  • Lister Caching  • Navigation by Keys  • Renaming Files  • Context Menus  • Drag and Drop  • Double-Click on Folders  • ZIP Files  • Docking of Listers  • Status Bar  • Defined Keys
Opening a Lister

There are several ways to open a Lister depending on the Preference settings for Miscellaneous – Double-Click and context menu settings. You may

•	Double-click on the Desktop

•	Double-click on the Opus light bulb icon in the system Tray

•	Right-click on the light bulb icon and choose Open New Lister

•	Double-click on My Computer or a folder on the Desktop

•	Double-click on a folder in Explorer

•	Select ‘Open in DOpus’ from a folder context menu

•	Windows Key plus ‘O’ (or other defined Hotkey combinations)

•	And some others.

On the surface, Listers are very similar in operation to what you may have seen in other programs. By default, a Lister is provided with three Toolbars – a menu (a Toolbar with names on and images off), an image Toolbar (a Toolbar with images on and names turned off) and a Toolbar with a single Path function. We have also provided some extra sample Toolbars with the installation. These include a Toolbar showing the available drives for your system, and one with some sample ‘standard’ Windows applications such as Notepad, etc.

As discussed below, the Lister Toolbars can be readily configured using Customize from the Settings menu, either from the default Lister menu or from the light bulb in the icon tray, or from the popup menu on a Toolbar itself.

Like most Opus objects, each Lister window has a depth arrangement pin, which, if enabled, allows you to selectively stack a given Lister window with respect to other Listers and other Opus windows (within limits).

Display Modes

Listers can support single or dual file displays with or without a Folder Tree. In dual display mode, source and destination Listers are relative to the display, not external Listers. The dual file display and the Folder Tree can be turned on from the View menu, a Toolbar button or assigned control key. When the tree is displayed, you can change folders by clicking on them in the tree. The tree will also change to follow you as you change folders in the main Lister. You may drag and drop folders and files to and from folders in the tree. The tree also has full context menus. To close the Folder Tree turn the option off again in the View menu, click the close button in the Folder Tree title bar, or double-click the bar separating the tree from the Lister display.

If you have altered the relative sizes of the displays in a dual file display, double-clicking the bar separating the two displays will resize them back to the default, 50-50 split settings.

Most of the graphical display elements of a Lister window such as file and status colors, background images and other features can be customized to your liking from Preferences. The format used to show the files may be modified from Folder Options and the Toolbars themselves may be enabled, disabled or edited from Customize.

Listers may be viewed in single or dual display modes. The individual file displays in dual mode each have their own title bar, containing several special buttons. These are back, forward, up, and swap layout between horizontal and vertical. See below for descriptions.

Optionally you can select to display a Folder Tree on the left-hand side of the Lister window. The Folder Tree can be added to either single or dual file display Listers. When used with a dual display Lister, the tree changes to reflect the path shown in the active source (green) file display.

Each Lister has several special features which allow you to navigate the display.

Lister Window Title Bar

The title bar is at the very top of the Lister display. This shows the path of the source folder. As with most other application windows, if the Lister window is active, the window title bar will be highlighted. The Opus light bulb icon and the background color of the title bar itself indicates the current Lister state for file operations, either Source, Destination or Off. The state can be controlled from the File Lister menu. Clicking on a file or folder in a Lister will set that Lister into Source mode. The current state is also displayed in the Status Bar at the bottom of the Lister. Remember, Opus file commands act between the current source and destination Listers unless you are using a dual file display when the source and destination file displays are contained within the one Lister.

Note that the Lister title bar will not be displayed in a special color if the Lister is in dual file display mode, or it is in single file display mode and you have either the Show file display border in single display mode Preferences option enabled, or the Indicate source/destination status by coloring Lister title bars Preferences option disabled. Both these options are found in the Lister Settings section of Preferences.

Window Gadgets

As well as the standard system gadgets (small buttons), the window title bar also houses various other gadgets.

•	The Pin Gadget appears in Listers and various dialog windows. This allows you to selectively set the depth arrangement of the window to which it is attached. There are three settings - Off, Middle and Top. See Preferences - Lister_Settings for more information.

•	The Zoom Gadget appears in Lister only. The Zoom gadget allows you to have two stored window sizes and positions. The behavior of this gadget can be modified to perform a Zoom to Title Bar action from Preferences. When in either mode, Shift-click overrides the current action and performs the alternative.

Dual Lister Gadgets

When a Lister is in dual file display mode, each file display has its own title bar showing the path of the display as well as the extra gadgets shown above. Swap swaps between vertical and horizontal dual file display; Close closes the designated display and returns to a single file display Lister. The other buttons access the Lister file cache as discussed below (See Lister Caching.).

The "inner border" and Dual Lister Navigation Gadgets can also be displayed in single file display mode, if the Show file display border in single display mode option is enabled in the ListerSettings section of Preferences.

The inner border also has an Opus light bulb icon which can be dragged out to create a shortcut to the folder currently displayed.

Slide-out Navigation Buttons

To make it easier for you to navigate your folders, Listers have special "slide-out" buttons that appear in the corners and at the sides of the file displays when the mouse cursor remains stationary in that area. These buttons let you access back, forward and parent functions with a minimum of mouse movement. You can configure or disable this feature with the Enable "slide-out" navigation buttons option in the ListerSettings section of Preferences.

File Display

Listers have two distinct modes of operation.

•	Opus mode: The first is when you view a ‘real’ folder or directory that is part of the file-system (e.g. c:\windows). In this case, Opus provides the complete display and the full range of file-handling commands is available.

•	Virtual mode: The second mode of operation is when you view a virtual folder, like My Computer, the Control Panel, Network Neighborhood, or even the Desktop. These are not really folders and the folder display is provided by the system and not by Opus. In other words Windows provides everything between the Toolbar at the top and the status bar at the bottom. Generally, virtual folders will behave exactly as they do with Windows Explorer. Depending on the virtual folder itself, Opus commands may or may not work. Opus tries to interface to virtual folders as well as it can, but since these are generally ‘black-boxes’, it is impossible to make all commands work with all folders.

View Modes

There are six different viewing modes available when viewing a file-system folder. These are the traditional Windows view of Large Icon, Small Icon, List, Details, plus the special Opus-only modes of Power and Thumbnails. To change view modes, use the View menu or Cycle menu (Set View Cycle) in the Toolbar.

•	The first four are traditional Explorer-style modes require no further explanation.

•	The fifth mode, Power mode, is handled differently by Opus and is very similar to the Amiga Lister way of operation. By default, file selection is done by click and drag, and files are not automatically deselected when others are selected. If the drag select begins with an unselected file, files are added to the selection, whereas if the drag select begins with a selected file, all subsequent files are deselected. Keyboard control of Power mode can be toggled by pressing the control key. By default, icons are displayed in Power mode, however these can be turned off if not desired. The behavior of Power mode can be extensively configured from the Preferences - Power Mode section.

•	The Thumbnails view is similar to some other Windows systems. The behavior of the thumbnail display, properties such as size of the thumbnail etc can be set from Preferences -Thumbnails. Holding the mouse over a thumbnail will display a pop-up window showing image information. If the image is a JPG EXIF format from a digital camera etc, extra details such as time/date, shutter speed etc, are displayed according to the manufacturer’s included data in the image header. Adobe PhotoShop files are also supported for thumbnails and in the Viewer (if they are PhotoShop 5.0 or later and have an embedded thumbnail then the thumbnail image will be used in Thumbnails mode - the file must have been saved with a composite image in 24 bit or grayscale for it to work in the viewer).

Viewer Pane

The Lister Viewer Pane is an optional image viewer that is integrated with the Lister. It appears either at the right of bottom of the Lister and displays (or attempt to display) the currently selected file. The Viewer Pane updates its display automatically as you select files in the Lister. Use the button on the Toolbar to turn the Viewer Pane on or off.

By default the Viewer Pane can display only those graphic formats that Opus understands natively (GIF, JPG, BMP, etc) but it can be extended using the Viewer Plug-in system. Opus ships with text.dll, a Viewer Plug-in to display text files (it can also display any type of file in binary or hexadecimal mode).

The Viewer Pane title bar contains buttons for rotating and zooming the current image. The Viewer Pane also supports a right-button context menu (depending on the Viewer Plug-in) that lets you display the previous or next file in the folder, modify the display of the current image, copy to clipboard and print, and also configure the current Plug-in. If the current Viewer Plug-in does not support or overrides the standard context menu, you can still access it by right-clicking on the Viewer Pane title.

The Viewer Pane has an optional "control bar", a toolbar that appears at the bottom of the display, that provides quick access to commonly used functions. The control bar can be turned on or off using the Show control bar option in the Viewer Pane section of Preferences.

Filmstrip Mode

To make it easy to browse your image folders, Opus Listers have a special Filmstrip mode. This is not actually a View Mode, such as those above, but is a special function which automatically puts the Lister into single-file display mode, displays a single row of Thumbnails, and enables the Viewer Pane. Use the button immediately to the right of the Viewer Pane button on the default Toolbar to enter or leave Filmstrip mode.

Lister Format

Both Details and Power mode allow the traditional columns for Name, Size, Type, Date, Time and Attributes but they have been greatly enhanced with more than 32 extra Opus-only columns. These include fields such as extension, expanded time and date fields, various description fields for images and MP3s, program and module versions and more. Also, both FTP and ZIP have their own description fields. For example, FTP provides a description field for linked files or index descriptions provided by the server plus a field that shows the approximate transfer time.

In the default Preferences, the file display format is set to Details mode to be compatible with Windows Explorer. You will most likely want to change this to Power mode as soon as possible!

Columns can be resized in the traditional manner by dragging the divider between the columns. A double-click on the divider will resize the columns automatically. You can change the order of the columns by dragging them around and right-click on the column title gives access to the various fields from a pop-up menu.

Since each Lister supports dynamic resorting, it is easy to change the sorting method in a specific Lister on a temporary or permanent basis. Clicking the column title sorts the display by that field (in alternate order). A small ‘arrow’ indicates the direction of the sort. As an example, if may wish to see the new files recently added to a folder, simply click the title of the Modified column and the file display will be sorted by date with the oldest at the top. Select the title again and the display will be sorted with the most recent files at the top. The Name column has a special hidden feature. Holding down Shift when clicking the title puts the display into sorting alternatively by name or file extension.

Folder Properties

Folder Properties, accessed from the right-most button on the default Toolbar, the View menu on the default menu Toolbar or the folder context View menu, gives access to all features of the Lister format for the current and/or special folders. Various display options, columns, sorting priority, filters and more can be set from here. Opus supports a global default Lister format for local folders, Networked and removable drives, FTP servers and ZIP files, and you can also set specific formats for specific folders and individual FTP sites. Listers will remember the current Lister folder format when you change folders until you specifically change the format or until it is overridden by a saved format - unless you have set the lock gadget in the status bar which locks the format from change by saved formats.

Lister Caching

Listers cache the display format, selected files and other details when you browse between folders. Accessing a folder via Back or Forward (first and second buttons in the default Toolbar) retrieves these details from the cache. A Parent or Up (third button) displays the folder using the default format, or, if one has been previously saved, the stored format for that folder. With local drives the file display itself is not cached since directory reads are quite fast but on slower systems such as FTP sites and ZIP folders, the file display itself is also cached, meaning almost instant back and forward redisplays of file contents. (FTP still sends an UP or CD to keep in sync so will not be instant but it does not have to re-read the directory contents.)

Navigation by Keys

The cursor keys, page up and down, and home and end keys can all be used to navigate the file display by keyboard. To scroll quickly to the first item matching a given name, type the first letter or letters of the name on the keyboard. The list will scroll as close as it can get to the first entry. Pressing the same letter repeatedly will move the selection to subsequent files beginning with that letter. If the current sort order is set to a text field other than name (for example, Type), then keyboard navigation will look at the sort field rather than the name field. For example, to jump to the first ZIP file in the list, click the Type column to sort by FileType and then press the ‘z’ key.

Renaming Files

Like Explorer, Directory Opus supports renaming files by clicking on the filename to select it, and then clicking again to enter rename mode (or by selecting the file and pressing the F2 key). We call this inline rename. In Power and Details mode, Opus inline rename has a number of features that Explorer does not:

•	When Opus displays the edit field, only the filename stem is selected by default, as you usually do not want to change the filename extension.

•	You can move the "rename field" from one file to the next by pressing the up or down cursor keys.

•	You can access a history of the last 10 filenames you used by holding the Shift key down and pressing the up or down cursor keys.

•	If the new name you give to a file is already in use, Opus can automatically modify the new name until it is unique. To enable this, turn on the Automatically number files renamed inline option in the File Operations – General – Functions section of Preferences.

Context Menus

The file context menu is available in all six modes by clicking the right button over a file. The context menu is file type sensitive and can be configured from the Customize and File Types sections. The Lister context menu is displayed whenever you click the right mouse button over a clear area of the file display. This is formed from a mixture of Opus functions and those added by the System. The column header context menu is displayed when you right-click on the Lister column headers visible in either Details or Power mode. (See Customize).

Drag and Drop

Drag and drop is fully supported throughout the program. In the four system view modes (Large Icon, Small Icon, etc), the drag operation is initiated in the standard Windows way. In Power mode, the default drag operation is initiated by drag selecting the desired files, and then dragging either left or right approximately 8 pixels. If you have only clicked on a single file when you drag left or right, then only that file will be part of the drag operation. If, however, you have drag-selected more than one file, then all currently selected files will be part of the drag operation. You can also initiate a drag of all currently selected files without selecting any more by holding the Ctrl and Shift keys down, clicking in the Lister and then dragging to the left or right. This behavior may be changed in Preferences Power Mode.

The default behavior of the right mouse button in Power mode is different than in Windows Explorer. Clicking the right button on a file will select that file. If you then release the button over the same file, the context menu will appear. However, if you keep the right button pressed and then move up or down, the files you move over will also become selected. You can then initiate a right button drag by moving left or right the same as with the left button. Right button dragging can also be initiated by holding the Ctrl and Shift keys down when you click in the Lister and move left or right. By default, Opus creates default file types or Predefined File Types for All Files and All Folders, and defines default actions for all drag and drop events. The default actions are as follows.

Action	Opus Command
Drag & Drop	Copy MOVEWHENSAME
Drag & Drop + Shift	Copy MOVE
Drag & Drop + Ctrl	Copy
Drag & Drop + Alt	Copy MAKESHORTCUT

Therefore, if you drag a file and drop it onto another Lister using the left mouse button, the file will be moved if the source and destination Listers are on the same drive, or copied if they are on different drives. This behavior is the same as Explorer. You can obviously hold down qualifier keys to modify the behavior of drag and drop since the default file type set up mimics the way Explorer works, but unlike Explorer, all actions can be configured.

If you drag with the right mouse button and drop over an Opus Lister, the drag and drop menu is displayed. This menu is constructed first from any Opus file types that match the selected files, then from Drag and Drop menu items configured for the Windows file type, then from any ‘DragDropHandlers’ configured for that file type by Windows, and then finally the default actions of Copy, Move and Shortcut. Please note that if you drop files on Explorer or the Desktop rather than on an Opus Lister, it is Explorer that handles the operation, not Opus, and so any changes you have made to Drag and Drop actions in Opus will not be respected.

Double-Click on Folders

The action of a double-click on folders is supported through the file types system as well. The following table shows a summary See Predefined File Types for All Folders for details.

Action	Opus Command	Result
Double-click	Go	Open in same Lister
Shift – double-click	Go NEW	Open in new Lister
Ctrl – double-click	Go OPENINDUAL	Open in dual file mode
Alt – double-click	GetSizes	Calculate the size of the folder
ZIP Files

Directory Opus makes handling ZIP files a breeze. Activate Opus ZIP handling from Preferences – ZIP Files and you can treat ZIP archives as virtual folders. Double-clicking on a ZIP file will behave just as if it were a regular folder as described above. Opus can also be set to be the system default ZIP handler so that whenever you double-click on a ZIP archive anywhere in the system outside of Opus, it will be opened by Opus as a virtual folder.

Docking of Listers

If docking has been enabled from Preferences - Lister Settings, you may join or dock two independent single file display Listers by dragging the title bar of one over the title bar of another. These will merge to form a dual file display Lister. Similarly, you may separate a dual file display Lister into two independent Listers by dragging the title bar of one file display out of the Lister Window. Also, you may swap the left and right hand file displays by dragging the title bar to the left or right as required.

If docking has not been enabled, you can still perform all the above actions but you must first hold down the Shift key.

Status Bar

At the very bottom of the Lister, the Status Bar displays a file count, and space free information, as well as the current Lister state (Source, Destination or Off). The contents of the Status Bar can be defined from Preferences - Status Bar.

Defined Keys

Keys that are currently defined in Listers (apart from menu accelerators) are:

Key	Action
Up/Down	Scroll the Lister up/down.
Page Up/Down Shift Up/Down	Scroll the Lister one page up/down.
Home/End Ctrl Up/Down	Scroll the Lister to top/bottom of current folder
Left/Right	Scroll the Lister left/right. With Shift or Ctrl, jumps one page or to the start/end
Alt-Left/Right	Perform Back to previous folder in cache or Forward to next folder.
Shift-Escape	Closes the current Lister.
Delete	Delete selected files. With Shift deletes without confirmation – depending on the Recycle Bin setting in Preferences
Backspace	Go to Parent folder.
Ctrl -Backspace	Go to root of current file system.
Tab	Move focus between tree and file display.
Ctrl-Tab	Activate next Lister. With Shift activates previous Lister.
Shift-Enter	Activate path entry field.
Ctrl	Activate keyboard control in Power mode. **
a-z, A-Z, 0-9	Scroll to file/folder matching typed in string (cumulative).
** In Keyboard mode, file selection is done with Shift-Cursor Up/ Down or Shift Page Up/Down.


Toolbars

Built-in Commands and Custom Buttons

With Directory Opus 6, all Toolbar and context menu functions are performed by the extensive range of internal Opus commands. Sometimes they are just different arguments for one of a smaller group of base commands. You can easily create your own custom buttons which execute your desired commands at the click of the mouse.

The modular design of Opus 6 means that Toolbars are fully independent threads and the command buttons themselves are interchangeable between different Toolbars. Even editing of Toolbars via Customize is effectively independent of other program operations, so you do not need to stop other activities to create, load, edit or save Toolbars.

Each Toolbar Button can execute an unlimited set of instructions, which may be triggered by the action of a left, middle or right mouse click on the custom button, or by selecting an item from the button's optional pop-up menu. Actions may include Opus 6 commands or external program calls.

With Opus 6, you can now define an unlimited set of pop-up menus for each button. This allows you to group a larger number of related functions in one place and select one when required.

Scope and Focus of Buttons

Many button commands act on the selected files in the current source (SOURCE) folder, or between the source and destination (DEST) folders. When creating and using buttons, it is very important that you understand both what the command does, and what files and folders it will affect. This is known as the scope and focus of a button.

Novice Opus 6 users can be confused when they have clicked on a custom button and nothing happens. Often this is because they have no SOURCE window selected!

Toolbars and Menus

Directory Opus for Windows greatly simplifies the concept of the Toolbar, button bank or menu as implemented in other programs. Within the context of a Lister, there are no longer separate Toolbars and menus; rather, they are all just Toolbars. As supplied in the default configuration, a Lister contains three main Toolbars – the ‘menu’ (ListerMenu.dop), the ‘Toolbar’, (Toolbar.dop) plus a ‘path bar’ Toolbar (Pathbar.dop). The ‘menu’ is just a Toolbar with labels turned on and images turned off, and the ‘path bar’ is a Toolbar with images turned off images and a single function showing a label. From Customize you may enable or disable these and create or edit other Toolbars as desired. See below for details of the functions defined for the buttons in these default Toolbars.

Note that these three Toolbars are automatically created if they do not exist when you run the program. So, if you make a total mess of editing Toolbars you can get the defaults back by simply deleting these files from the Buttons folder and re-running the program. (You can also turn these Toolbars off if you wish.)

There is no limit on the number of Toolbars that can be displayed within a Lister save for the available space. However, there can only be one Toolbar per line. Toolbars can be positioned on any side of the display - top, bottom, right or left - or between a dual file display. To reposition a Toolbar, simply click on the grab bar on the left-hand edge of the Toolbar and drag it up or down, left, right etc.

Toolbar buttons can give rise to menus of their own, which can give rise to further menus, and so on ad infinitum. If the Lister is too narrow for all Toolbar buttons to be displayed, a ‘chevron’ (a small double arrow button) will appear at the right-hand edge of the Toolbar. Clicking on this will cause a menu to pop up that contains all the ‘out of sight’ buttons.

If a button has been set into three-button mode or multi-function mode (see below), it may have three separate functions attached. These are accessed via the left, right and middle buttons respectively. The image above shows the multi-function Select button in Customize mode with the three available selections. In normal use the three options do not appear as a menu but are accessed directly by pressing the appropriate mouse button over the button.

Moving the mouse over a Toolbar button displays a ToolTip revealing the functions of that button.

Right-clicking on the grab bar or on a blank space in the Toolbar (one not occupied by buttons) causes the Toolbar control menu to appear. This menu allows you to perform several actions as shown below.

The menu commands are - Save - saves the Toolbar (although Toolbars are saved automatically when they are edited), Save As - saves the Toolbar under a new name, Customize - edits the Toolbar, Restore - an undo feature which reverts the Toolbar to the previous state it was in when you last entered Customize mode, Hide - reduces the Toolbar to a footprint in the Lister, Float - floats the Toolbar free of the Lister, Close - closes it down.


The Default Toolbars

The default Toolbars are provided as a starting point for using Opus. See the full Directory Opus manual for details of the default Toolbars. All the following buttons and menus are provided by using internal Opus commands. See Customize for details.


Editing a Toolbar

Toolbar editing, referred to as being in as being in Customize mode, is global and modal. To edit the Toolbars, select Customize from the Settings menu (or from the Toolbar control menu or tray icon) and the Customize dialog window will then appear. When in Customize mode, all Toolbar action is effectively ‘blocked’ - the Toolbar buttons are not active and can not be used to run commands until you close the Customize dialog.


Preferences

You may change the way Opus works from Preferences, Customize, Folder Options and File Types.

Preferences controls the main operational parameters of Opus plus gives access to features to change the look and feel of Lister and Toolbar images, colors and so on.

To open the Preferences editor, choose the option from the Settings menu in the default Lister menu or from the Opus ‘light bulb’ Icon menu in the system Tray. Opus Preferences may also be accessed from the system Control Panel.

While most of the settings in the Preferences system should be self-explanatory, remember that every option has Context Help so you may quickly check a specific setting if required. To activate Context Help, click the ‘?’ in the Preferences window title bar and then click the item of interest.

The Preferences settings are split into a number of categories and sub-categories for ease of use. Each section has Restore and Defaults buttons. These apply to the section in question only. Restore allows you to easily reset the values for current section to what they were when you entered that section. Defaults resets this section to the default values of the program. If you have made changes to several categories, you may restore or set all settings to defaults from the Preference Management section.

After you have changed settings in a category you may apply these changes immediately by selecting Apply button on the bottom of the Preferences window; this will not close the Preferences dialog. If you have changed the settings in one section and then moved on to another, pressing the Apply button will apply all the changes made in all categories you have visited. Selecting OK applies the changes, saves the complete set to the system Registry and closed the Preferences dialog window.


Double-Click

This section controls the action performed when you double-click on various things such as the Windows Desktop, the Opus Task Bar icon or various files. The action can be made to open a new Lister, open a defined Layout of Listers, perform Opus commands etc. For clarity these settings have been divided into three sections.

Desktop

Double-clicking the left mouse button on a clear area of the Windows Desktop can be made to Open a new Lister, Open a saved Lister Layout or Run a defined User Command. The specific Layout or User Command may be chosen from the popup list showing a list of the Layouts/User Commands you have previously defined and saved as part of this Preferences set. (Note: These are not independent but are part of a given Preferences set.) When opening a Layout you can select whether to close the existing Listers or leave them open.

• This is a great shortcut way to open a new Lister quickly!

If you are running Windows with an active Desktop, the double-click event may be consumed by Windows for its own use. To override this and allow Opus to respond to it instead, select the setting Recognize double-click even if Active Desktop (web content) is enabled.

Task Bar Icon

When you double-click on the Opus ‘light bulb’ icon in the system Tray, it can perform actions similar to those above and open a new Lister or Layout. Alternatively, you may select to Run a defined User Command. The specific User command is chosen from a popup list of User commands that you have previously defined as part of this Preference set. User commands may be defined via Customize.

Files

When you double-click on a file in a Lister, what happens usually depends on the action defined in the file type for that specific type of file. For certain general-purpose files such as text, images and sound files, Opus can intercept the double-click to perform an internal function. For example, you may select to Show a picture file in the Opus Viewer rather than load an external paint program; or to use the Opus Play command to quickly play a WAV file rather than use an overblown media player.

The settings are

•	Open unregistered file types in text viewer if they appear to be plain text

•	Use internal sound player for WAV files

•	Use internal picture viewer for all recognized pictures/unregistered picture file types

An unregistered file type means a file which has not been registered with the Windows file types system and is of unknown type so no specific action has been defined for the Open or double-click actions etc. For example, a ReadMe.txt file would usually devolve to a registered text file from the extension but a file such as ReadMe with no extension would be of unknown type.

File Caching

These two special settings enable local file caching for a double-click on files from remote FTP directories or ZIP archives. Normally, with ZIP the file has to be extracted first from the archive and with FTP the file has to be downloaded first before the double-click action can be performed. With the file caching the second double-click always acts on the temporary copy. Remember that if these settings are enabled, you are acting on the temporary copy not the real file!


Favorites & Recent

One of the functions of a file manager is to allow you quick access to your favorite folders including FTP sites and to remember the folders you most often use and make these available when needed. Opus provides three mechanisms to help you.

Recent List

The Recent list displays a list of those folders you have used most recently in the order of last usage. You may define whether Opus remembers recent folders and how they are added to the list from these settings.

•	Enable Recent List and set the Maximum number of folders to remember

•	Include Virtual Folders

•	Ignore folders which are only transited.

The last two options allow you to restrict the types of folders Opus will remember to only those which are more important. Virtual folders are folders which do not actually exist but are created when required by the Windows system. These are used much less often for file operations. Virtual folders include My Computer, Control Panel, Printers etc. Similarly, often you will traverse folders to reach a final path. By default, if the Recent List is enabled, Opus keeps the full history of all folders accessed. But you may select to remember only those important folders where you performed a specific action on a file such as copy, delete, rename etc and ignore folders where no action took place.

From this page you can also configure the size of the Lister History List. Each Lister maintains its own list of recently visited folders which you can navigate to using the Back and Forwards functions. By default this list remembers a maximum of 10 folders but you can increase or decrease this as you like.

Favorites List

Opus allows you to add the folders you most often use to a quick selection list. They are displayed with the Favorites command. This list is immediately available from the Favorites menu in the default Toolbar set. You may add, edit or delete items as you wish from this section in Preferences or you can add the path of the currently displayed Lister by using the Favorites ADD command. The Import button allows you to import Favorites from Windows Explorer.

SmartFavorites™

For most of us, keeping track of the folders we use most often is not as easy as it first appears. Although you often have definite favorites you usually find that you use a variety of different folders for everyday activities. Opus provides a great advance in keeping track of your usage. It provides an exclusive system to automatically create a special list of only those folders you most often use for ‘real’ activities. We call this system SmartFavorites™.

Opus can monitor the specific actions you perform but only add a folder to the SmartFavorite list if you have used it for important tasks. The folder is added only if it has accrued sufficient points according a defined minimum activity threshold depending on the importance you assign to a specific action. For example you can decide that copying a file to a folder is an important activity and you wish to have Opus remember the folder which you most often copy to. With SmartFavorites this is easy! Define the Folder Activity Threshold at, say, 40, and give the Copy To activity a value of 10. Once you have performed at least four copy actions to a given folder, it will be automatically added to SmartFavorites. Alternatively, you may decide that showing pictures is less important and give it a value of, say, 5, which means you would have to view images from a given folder at least eight times to have it added to SmartFavorites. The folders appear in the SmartFavorites list according to the total points accrued. Those with the highest number of points appear at the top.

Note that a folder accrues points on EACH activity event ONLY, NOT on the number of files involved in any given event. This means that if you copy 20 files to a given folder on one operation, it would accrue only the defined activity value of 10 points. You would have to perform the copy action at least four times to have it accrue enough points to be added as a SmartFavorite.

From this section you can also define the maximum number of folders to display in the SmartFavorites list and the maximum number of folders to monitor for SmartFavorite activity - this is the pool from which the top set of SmartFavorites is chosen. Often folders are temporary, have been deleted, or are generally no longer available in the system. Opus can check for these on startup and automatically delete them from the SmartFavorite system.

• SmartFavorites are not just used for a list of folders but are very useful in other areas of Opus. For example, when you Open a new Lister or split a Lister into a dual file display, you can select to have it open using the most popular SmartFavorite folder.


File Operations

This section controls aspects of file operations including Copying, Deleting and some other general parameters

Copying – File Copy Options

•	Allow drag and drop into sub-folders

Normally, when you drag a file from a Lister and drop into another Lister, the file is copied into the folder displayed in the Lister. If you drop the file on a sub-folder within the Lister, this option enables the file to be copied directly to that sub-folder. Even if this option is not enabled, you may still drop the file directly into the sub-folder by holding down a qualifier key (Shift, Alt or Ctrl) when you drop the file.

•	Ask for confirmation before overwriting existing files

This option provides a safety feature which asks you to confirm the action before overwriting one file with another of the same name.

•	Ask for confirmation before overwriting read-only files

The Read-only attribute is often used to safeguard important files which you do not wish to accidentally overwrite. This option provides a safety feature which asks you to confirm the action before overwriting a file whose Read-only attribute is set.

•	Count files in folders before copying

Before the copy operation starts, Opus can recursively count all the files in the selected folders. This allows the progress bar for the copy function to display more accurately the percentage complete of the operation. If turned off, Opus will count only the files and folders selected in the top-level folder.

•	Clear read-only flag when copying from CDs

Files stored on a CD-ROM have the Read-only attribute set by definition since one cannot write to the medium. This attribute is normally preserved by Opus when you copy the file. On a normal hard drive this can be annoying. Set this option to automatically clear the read-only attribute when a file is copied from a CD.

•	Mark copied files as archived

Clears the archive ('A') attribute on the copied files after they have been copied.

•	Mark original files as archived after being copied

Clears the archive ('A') attribute on original (source) files after they have been successfully copied.

•	Preserve attributes of copied files

Sets the Read-only, Archive, Hidden and System attributes of the copied file to match those of the source file.

•	Preserve the timestamp of copied files

Sets the time and date stamps of the copied file to match those of the source file.

•	Show progress bar speed timer when copying files

While a file copy is in progress, Opus can display a simple progress display or an extended one showing the byte count, transfer speeds and other information. Select from the list those locations where you wish to show the extended display.

•	Use File Filter

This option activates the exclusive Opus File Filter when copying files from the current and any selected folders. It allows you to recursively copy only those files in the selected folders which match a given set of criteria. For example, you may wish to copy only files which have changed after a certain date, or which are of a specific type.

Deleting – File Delete Options

•	Ask for confirmation before commencing delete

Ask if you wish to delete the selected files before starting the delete process.

•	Ask for conformation for each file before deleting

Asks if you wish to delete the selected file before each file it is deleted.

•	Ask for conformation for each folder before deleting

Asks if you wish to delete the selected folder before each folder it is deleted

•	Count files in folders before deleting

Opus can count the files in all selected folders before starting the delete. This will slow the delete process but allows you to see the exact number of files and folders plus the total byte count before any files are deleted.

•	Delete read-only files automatically

Files can be marked as Read-only to prevent them being accidentally deleted. This option overrides this safety check and deletes such files automatically. It can be useful if you wish to recursively delete a large number of files and folders, some of which may have Read-only attributes set.

•	Delete using the Windows Recycle Bin if possible

Opus can delete to the Windows Recycle Bin (if the file is small enough) or can delete the files immediately. If you successfully delete files to the Recycle Bin you can recover the files at a later date (using the Opus Undo system) unless you have subsequently emptied the Recycle Bin. Choose the method you wish to use.

• WARNING: Files NOT sent to the Recycle Bin cannot be recovered and are lost permanently.

•	Use File Filter

Activates the Opus File Filter when deleting files from the current and selected folders. This allows you to selectively delete only those files from the current and selected folders which match a given set of criteria. For example, you may wish to recursively delete only those files which have changed after a certain date, or which are of a specific type such as .jpg etc.

Deleting – Recycle Bin

This section allows you to open the Windows Recycle Bin in a new Lister and also configure the properties of the Windows Recycle Bin.

General – Functions

•	Automatically sort new and modified files

By default, Opus automatically adds new and modified files to the file list in sorted order. Other programs such as Windows Explorer add such files to the end of the list. Turn this option off to emulate Explorer.

•	Delayed progress indicators and Delay time

Opus normally shows a progress window when performing actions. For actions which take only a few moments this can be intrusive. This option prevents the display of such windows for actions which complete in less than 800ms or as defined.

•	Detect external file changes on network drives

When a folder is displayed in a Lister, Opus ordinarily uses "file notification" to detect changes to that folder that occur outside of Opus (for example, in Explorer).This can, however, result in reduced performance during extended file operations, particularly for networked devices. If you turn this option off, Opus will no longer monitor network folders for file changes (except those made by Opus itself.)

•	Postpone file deselection until end of function

Functions in Opus are performed by separate threads independent of the Lister itself. By default, once the Lister has dispatched the function, it deselects all the selected files. This can be unexpected and unwanted if the action is likely to fail. This option delays the deselection until the function has completed. Note however that if you access the Lister before the function returns, the files will NOT be deselected at all.

•	Show percent complete in progress bar titles

Displays the percentage complete for the current action in the progress title bar.

General – Shortcut options

•	Automatically rename new shortcuts if they class with existing ones

Normally when you create a shortcut to an item, the name of the shortcut is automatically changed if there is already a shortcut by that name in the target folder. For example, Shortcut to DOpus may be changed to Shortcut (2) to DOpus automatically. If you turn this option off Opus will not automatically rename new shortcuts, but instead will prompt you to enter a new name or replace the existing one if a shortcut already exists by that name.

•	Hide .lnk filename extension

Windows uses a file extension of .lnk for shortcuts to files. By default Opus displays all file extensions. This option hides these file extensions for shortcuts.

•	Show arrow overlaid on shortcut icon

When displaying an icon for a shortcut, Opus can optionally overlay a small image of an arrow to distinguish between shortcuts and normal files or folders.

•	Use name template for new shortcut / Template when shortcut names clash.

Opus creates the new name for a shortcut as "Shortcut to <name of file>". This setting allows you to choose the argument to be used to create the new name. By default, Opus uses <Shortcut to %1>. Similarly, you can choose the argument to be used to create the new name for a shortcut if that name already exists. By default, this is <Shortcut (%2) to %1>

In both of these examples, %1 is replaced with the name of file that a shortcut is being created to. In the case of the ‘clash’ template, the argument %2 is replaced with the number of the shortcut.


FTP

This section displays the address book or list of defined FTP sites. You can create new site entries, edit or delete existing ones. Apart from those immediately visible, extra functions including cut, copy, paste, create new folder, create shortcut are available from the context menu over an individual site entry. You may also drag a site entry out of this list and drop it on the Desktop to create a shortcut.

Opus allows each FTP site to have its own custom settings or inherit a common set from the Default Settings as defined in the first item. Normally you will be able to use the default settings provided by Opus but you can tailor individual Site settings for special cases if required.

Global FTP Settings

This section defines the global settings for Opus FTP

•	Anonymous password

Defines the password to be used when using an anonymous login to an FTP server.

•	Show site passwords

Passwords in Opus FTP sites lists can be hidden or shown in plain text. This allows passwords to be show in plain text.

•	Remember Quick Connect passwords

When you connect to an FTP site using the Quick Connect function, Opus normally stores information about the last connection in the system registry that it can be quickly recalled next time you use Quick Connect. If you turn off this option Opus will not store the password of the last connection.

•	Global password

The global password is required before you can reveal any fields with hidden details. If set, you are required to enter this before other passwords are revealed in plain text. It allows you to secure your Site passwords from casual users of your computer. The initial default password is set to "password". We recommend that you change this.

•	Proxy Settings

Opus can connect to the FTP server via a (local) proxy server. Enter the details in this section.

• Important: GPSoftware can not provide support for proxy settings. Consult your local network administrator if you are unsure of what settings to use.

Individual Site Entry Settings

•	Site Name / Host Address / Port

Enter the details for this Site. Enter your desired name, the IP or host and the port number used for FTP on the remote server. By default, this uses port 21.

•	Anonymous or Username and Password

If the remote site allows anonymous connections Opus can login using the anonymous password defined above. Otherwise you will need to enter your defined user name and password.

•	Initial Directory

If required, Opus can attempt to CD to a specific directory immediately after a successful login to the remote server. Leave this blank to access the default FTP root directory for the server. If you have asked Opus to remember the last accessed directory from Network Settings, Opus updates this field with the current directory path when you close the connection to the site.

•	Time Zone

Opus can adjust the displayed file times and dates to take account of the time differences between your computer and remote servers in other parts of the world. If enabled, this time zone information is also used when transferring files to and from the remote site. You may select the time zone offset in hours ahead of UTC (GMT). For example, Paris is UTC +1; US Eastern Time is UTC -5.

• Opus will attempt to set the file dates after you copy files to a remote server but not all FTP servers support this function.

Network – Connection

•	Allows special names beginning with space

Some FTP servers allow special filenames beginning with a space character which is often used by site managers to hide files and directories. Many FTP clients often do not display nor allow access to such directories and files. Opus will check for this case if this option is selected.

•	Keep last directory

Opus can remember the last directory accessed. When you disconnect from the remote server, the current directory will be transferred to the Initial Directory field of the Site entry and Opus will attempt to change to this path when you next connect to this site.

•	Rescan directory after copy

After you have copied files to a site, it is possible for the remote and local folders to become out of sync especially if the server does not support the setting of file dates. This option causes Opus to re-read the remote directory after the copy finishes. It ensures that the visible Lister display is always synchronized with the remote directory contents. Recommended.

•	Use PASV (passive) mode

Transfer of data from a remote server can either use active connections (PORT mode), where Opus tells the remote site to connect to a specific data port on your machine, or passive connections (PASV mode) where Opus asks the server to supply a data port with which we can connect. If your computer or the server is behind a firewall, you may not be able to establish an active data connection. When using Windows ICS connection sharing on a local network, you may also find that active mode does not function reliably resulting in timeouts on PORT commands. Passive mode is disabled by default – you will probably need to enable it if your computer is behind a firewall.

Passive mode is selected as the default. We also recommend that you enable passive mode if the remote server is behind a firewall.

•	Timeout (secs)

This defines the local network timeout in seconds. In actuality, there is little you can do about this because of the way Windows Sockets works, but, you can try adjusting this if you experience excessive timeouts on connections. In such cases, you may be better to try passive mode connections.

Network – Reconnect

•	Retry count and Delay in seconds

If Opus cannot connect to a server, it will retry the connection up to the number of times you have selected before abandoning the attempt.

•	Automatically reconnect if connection lost

If the connection is lost, Opus attempts to reconnect to the server automatically.

•	Keep link alive

Most FTP servers will close the connection after a period of inactivity of approximately 2-5 minutes. Opus provides a mechanism to keep the connection alive by sending default packets every so often. Some FTP servers do not support this.

• Such behavior can block the site from other users and can be viewed as anti-social. It is a better practice to connect to the site, perform the desired functions then disconnect, rather than attempt to keep the link alive for long periods.

Network – Site-site Transfers

Opus supports the transfer of files directly between two remote FTP servers. This is known as Site-Site transfer. Unfortunately, not all servers support this so you may choose to disable this option for certain sites. If the option is enabled, Opus attempts to transfer files between the sites directly. If not enabled, Opus will download the data to your local computer first and then upload it to the other site – potentially a much slower process.

Display – Display

•	Display progress windows (Logon, CD and List

Opus shows intermediate progress windows during login and read directory functions but these may be turned off if desired.

•	Hide files beginning with a DOT

UNIX systems often have extra files beginning with a dot. This option hides such files.

•	Show directory messages / Show startup messages

Opus can display the informative messages provided by the remote server when you first login and each time you enter a directory. These are displayed in the Opus Output Window under the FTP Log associated with this Site entry.

•	Links – treat unknown link as files/directories

UNIX systems often have links to files and directories. Opus can usually determine the link type but unknown links can be treated as either. This setting defines an overriding behavior. By default, Opus treats a link as a reference to a directory.

•	Logical parent directory

Directories on FTP servers are often accessed through relative links so the actual path of a directory may not be an absolute path. This option adjusts for this and allows for a logical parent directory.

Display – Log

Opus can display the conversation between your computer and the remote server during an FTP Session. Choose one of two channels for the session log in the Output Window. Debug displays both the commands and responses plus other information in the session log.

Index

Many FTP servers provide index files containing short descriptions of files and directory contents. If enabled, Opus will recognize such files automatically in the directory listing, download them and display the information to the Description field in the Lister. Opus recognizes the common index files but you can define extra index files if required. If multiple index files are found, the highest priority file will be downloaded automatically according to the settings. If you define a new index file you will also need to set the starting byte position in the index file where the file name description information is stored.

•	Download automatically if less then than given size

This restricts the size of the index file to be downloaded automatically. If the size if greater than defined, Opus will use the following setting to decide what action should be taken. If index not downloaded automatically, then you can select to ignore it or ask if it should be downloaded

Sounds

Opus monitors certain activities during an FTP session and can play sounds if these events occur within the defined time frame. For example, Opus can play a sound if a login to an FTP server is successful but takes longer than the Activation time. The sounds themselves are defined in Preferences - Sounds  and must been enabled and defined there.

Misc – LIST Command

This contains the Use server-specific command option. If this option is enabled (the default) then Opus will determine the appropriate LIST command based on the type of FTP server it is connected to. If you need to specify a custom LIST command you can turn this option off and enter the command in the field provided. This should be done with care since it may prevent the Opus reading the directory on the server. By default, Opus uses the command LIST -alF. If this does not work, possibly try LIST without arguments.

Misc – Transfer Mode

Opus supports the standard FTP transfer modes of ASCII and Binary, as well as a third Auto mode, in which case Opus will determine the transfer mode to use based on the name of the file being transferred. You can select the default transfer mode for each site – the default is Binary which should be used in most cases.

Under Misc – Transfer Mode for the FTP Default Settings, the ASCII Identification List lets you configure the file names that Directory Opus will transfer as ASCII when the transfer mode is set to Auto. You can enter either file name extensions or full wildcard patterns in this list.

• Note: If you transfer binary files as ASCII they will most likely be corrupted!


Images

The Images section is divided into three pages – Backgrounds, Thumbnails and Viewer Pane.

Backgrounds

The Backgrounds page lets you configure background images to be used in Listers and floating Toolbars. Opus allows you wide control over the display of Listers and Toolbars. You may select to use colored backgrounds or background images. The background images can be tiled, stretched or shared. Shared is a special Opus mode where a single image is drawn as the background over the whole Lister Window and any objects using it. Some of the samples provided in the sample Preferences use Shared images.

This section provides global control over these background images where you can define a list of images predefined for use as backgrounds in various Opus objects. The Standard Image definitions are provided for easy reference as placeholders elsewhere in the Opus system. Alternatively you may add your own.

Note that the image settings for Toolbars are configured in the Customize - Toolbars system, and can be set independently for each Toolbar.

Thumbnails

The Thumbnails page lets you configure the special Lister view mode which shows thumbnail images of the folder contents. This is very useful for looking quickly at folders of images and sometimes for other types of files. This section controls how these Thumbnail views are generated.

•	Width, Height, Square

Select the width and height in pixels for the thumbnail.

•	Thumbnail background fill color

From the popup, you may define the background color used to fill the thumbnail background and the surrounding area if the thumbnail is smaller than the defined area.

•	Animate AVI Thumbnails

If this option is selected, Opus will attempt to play AVI movie files as a thumbnail image in thumbnails mode. Opus uses the system codec to support common AVI formats. Mpeg or other movies types are not supported in this version. If this option is not selected, Opus will attempt to display the first frame of the animation in the thumbnail image if possible.

• AVI files may be locked whilst they are being displayed in thumbnails mode. If so, they may not be deleted or edited. If this occurs, swapping to another display mode will return full access rights to the files.

•	Display JPEG thumbnails in gray-scale

Instead of displaying the full colored image, this restricts the number of colors used to gray scale of 256. It provides for faster thumbnail display when handling images with large numbers of colors such as those from digital cameras.

•	Load all thumbnails in folder automatically

Thumbnails are normally decoded and shown progressively only when made visible in the Lister window. This option scans and generates all thumbnail images for a given folder automatically. It gives a faster display when scrolling around a Lister containing many thumbnails.

•	Overlay thumbnail with file type icon /Hide file type icon if type not registered

If a thumbnail is displayed and the file is associated with an application registered in file types, Opus can overlay a small icon representing the application in the bottom right-hand corner. For picture or other thumbnails which are not registered, Opus uses a default icon. This may be selectively turned off. Note that if there is no thumbnail image, the application or default icon will be displayed centered in the thumbnail area.

•	Use shell image extraction for formats Opus does not understand

Natively, Opus understands only the common image file types such as GIF, JPEG, BMP, PNG, PhotoShop and so on. This option tells Opus to ask the system to display a thumbnail image for files it does not understand. It is useful for generating thumbnails for files such as HTML, WORD documents etc. Alternatively, Opus will display a blank thumbnail. This will work successfully under most cases but is system dependent.

•	Use multiple threads to generate thumbnails

This option allows for better performance on multi-processor systems when generating thumbnails by using multiple threads to decode multiple images at the same time. When enabled, Opus creates N+1 threads to read thumbnails, where N is the number of CPUs in the machine.

Amiga Icons

Opus can display icons drawn for the Amiga computer system. This setting allows you to choose the default palette to be used to map the icon images. These icons are useful as Toolbar icons since there are thousands available from public domain sources such as Aminet. Amiga icon images often do not have a surrounding border but you can choose to add one if desired. (Aminet is the Internet's largest collection of Amiga software. See http://us.aminet.net/~aminet/ )

Viewer Pane

The Viewer Pane page lets you configure the appearance and behavior of the Lister Viewer Pane. You can select to Hide scrollbars and Scroll with left mouse button when viewing pictures in the Viewer Pane, and can enable or disable the control bar with the Show control bar option (these options are similar to the ones available in the Picture Viewer). The Auto refresh option tells Directory Opus to automatically refresh the display of the current file if it changes. You can also configure the background color that is used when displaying images. Selecting Auto makes Directory Opus pick the background color automatically.


Lister Defaults

The pages in the Lister Defaults section allow you to configure which Listers are opened when Opus runs, how a new Lister is opened, and the initial path and related settings of a new Lister. Note that if you load a Lister Layout, some of these settings can be overridden by values saved with the actual Lister layout

Startup Listers

This page lets you configure which Listers are opened when Opus runs. The settings here are only used if Opus runs without opening any other Listers. For example, if Opus runs because you double-click on a folder icon on the Desktop, it is that folder that will be opened in a Lister – the settings on this page will be ignored in this case.

•	Don’t open any Listers

Directory Opus will not open any Listers at all. The only indication that Opus is running will be the icon in the system icon tray (and even that may not be visible if you have disabled it!)

•	Open a Lister using the settings on the New Listers tab

A single Lister will be opened. Its size, position, state and the folder it displays is configured by the settings on the other two pages in this section.

•	Open the Listers that were open when the program was last closed

When Opus shuts down, any Listers that are opened are automatically remembered. If you have this option enabled, they are automatically re-opened again when Opus runs the next time. If you have the Include virtual folders option turned off, any Listers that were displaying system namespace folders like Control Panel are not re-opened.

•	Open a saved Lister layout

Opus will load a saved Lister layout automatically when it runs. You can select the layout you wish to load from the drop-down list.

Default Listers

The settings on this page control what happens when you open a new Lister, by (for example) double-clicking on the Desktop or the tray icon, or selecting New Lister from the Desktop context menu.

•	Open with the mode and size of the last Lister that was closed

This option tells Opus to remember the path, mode and size of the last Lister when it is closed and re-open it in the same state when a new Lister is opened. If you have the Include virtual folders option turned off, a system namespace folder like Control Panel is not remembered in this way and in that case the Lister will default to showing the folder configured on the Initial Folders page. If you turn on the Open at the position of the last Lister that was closed option, a new Lister will open at the same position on the screen as the last Lister that you closed. If this option is turned off, the new Lister will open relative to the position of mouse cursor.

•	Open with the settings below

Select this option and then configure the settings below to specify the appearance of a new Lister. Opus allows you to select the default type of Lister to open either as a single or dual file display and whether to add a Folder tree and a Viewer Pane. You can define the default width and height for the default Lister manually or you can drag the finder tool over an existing Lister to use its current size. There is also an option to have new Listers open maximized.

Initial Folders

This section allows you to configure the default folder path to be used as the initial folders for new Listers opened from the New Lister command, by double-clicking on the Desktop, etc. You may set a specific path or ask Opus to take the folder path from the highest-ranking SmartFavorites folder.

•	Auto Loading

If the initial path of a new Lister is set to a folder on a CD ROM, FTP Site, floppy disk or a Network drive, you may not wish to connect to this location automatically when Lister opens. You can select the behavior as you wish. It can be useful to prevent Opus attempting to access a CD or Network drive which is no longer mounted on your computer. Similarly, you may not want immediate access to a remote FTP site when opening a new Lister or a saved Layout. For those cases when you are uncertain, you can select to have Opus ask you before attempting to access such a path.


Lister Display

This section consists of three pages: Lister Display to configure fonts, colors etc for different sections of the Lister visual display, and two Status Bar pages to configure exactly what you wish to show in the status bar (at the bottom of the Lister), both for single and dual file-displays.

Lister Display

This page defines the parameters used for the visual display of the file Listers. Pick the item you wish to change by selecting the object type either directly from the preview display or from the popup list. All display aspects for the Lister can be adjusted including the background color, the file display font, color of selected, unselected and compressed files, colors used for Source and Destination title bars and many other items including the color for the Opus logo in the title bar! Once you have selected the item to change, adjust the foreground and background color or font etc as desired from the popup gadgets to the right.

Notes

•	The background colors for the Lister, Tree, Viewer Pane, Toolbars and status bar only apply if you have not chosen to use a background image from Preferences - Images-Backgrounds.

•	The colors for Standard Toolbars applies only to Toolbars that are not set to use their own colors from Customize.

•	Initially, the fonts used will be taken from your Windows system fonts. If you change the system fonts Opus will not be updated automatically – you will need to make this change in Opus as well via the File display font or Folder Tree font from the item popup list.

•	The toolbar, status bar and tree view colors have an option called Use system colors. If this option is turned on the colors for these items are not stored statically in Preferences but instead come from the system at all times. This is desirable when switching between different themes in Windows XP. Note that when this option is enabled for toolbars on a Windows XP system, popup menus may be rendered in a different color to toolbars.

Status Bar

This page allows you to algorithmically define exactly what to show in the status bar at the bottom of a Lister. From the Samples popup, you may select from some predefined equations we have provided for you. Select from Opus Default, Windows Explorer 98 or 2000 or Dual Display which displays separate details for the source and destination sections in the Lister.

Alternatively you may craft your own display. Enter or create the equation for the display using any of the available codes provided in the Codes popup. You can immediately check the results of you efforts in the preview display provided. As a simple example, the Opus default status bar uses four sections defined by:

{sd}/{td} folders, {sf}/{tf} files, {sba} selected{h!} ({hi} hidden items){h!}{rpad}

{pu}% full, {df} free

{fl}

{ls}

Note that the Opus codes are enclosed in parenthesis {}. Text including commas etc is inserted literally. The list of codes is fully defined in the section Status Bar Control Sequences towards the end of the manual.

The second Status Bar page is identical to the first, except that it has an additional option to enable or disable the use of separate status bar text for dual file-display Listers.


Lister Layouts

A Layout remembers the details of one or more Listers saved as a set. The Layout records the current screen position, the display format and current path of all Listers which are open at the time you save the set. Opus Layouts even support Listers on different monitors if you have multiple monitors attached to your machine. The Lister paths may include removable or networked drives, remote FTP directories or ZIP archives or any legal path on your system. Opening a Layout re-opens all the Listers in the set in the same position and with the same formats as when they were saved and then reads the saved directory paths into the individual Listers.

Some example Layouts have been provides with the program installation. These include Single, Single-Tree, Dual, Dual-Tree-Maximized and Multiple displays.

To save your own Layouts, open the Lister or Listers you require and select the Save As button. This will provide a dialog where you may give the Layout a name. Select an existing Layout name before choosing Save As to overwrite an existing layout.

By default, Opus leaves any existing Listers open when opening a new Layout but you can set the option to close all current Listers before opening a new Layout. This setting is global unless overridden by a specific parameter to the Prefs LAYOUT command. See Opus Raw Commands section later in this manual.

The Preview in the bottom half of the display shows the approximate position of each Lister in the selected Layout on the monitor screen. It includes multiple monitors if supported in your system.


Lister Settings

This section has three pages; Lister Settings controls general operations of the Lister, Folder Tree lets you configure the behavior of the Folder Tree, and Power/Details Mode lets you customize the behavior of Power Mode and Details Mode Listers.

Lister Settings

•	Allow file selection when clicking to activate Lister

If a Lister is not the active window so does not have the active focus, the first mouse click usually just activates the Window. This setting allows you to select a file at the same time. So, if you click on a file in a non-active Lister, the Lister will become active (and change to become a Source) and the file will also be selected.

•	Allow docking of Listers

Opus has the ability to automatically dock individual, single file display Listers to form a dual display. When you drag the title bar of a single file display Lister over the title bar of another, Opus will automatically join or 'dock' the two Listers to form a single Lister in a dual file display mode. Similarly, you may separate a dual file display to two individual Listers by dragging the title bar of one file display out of the Lister window, and you may also swap left and right hand displays by dragging the title bar of one horizontally to the opposite side.

When not enabled, Listers will not allow docking and dual file display displays cannot be swapped or separated. Use Shift to override.

• It is only possible to dock single file display Listers to form a dual file display. You cannot dock more than two Listers or two dual display Listers.

•	Blend file background colors with background image

This enables alpha-blending of the background color for selected files and folders. The effect is designed for users who have faster machines – you may want to leave this turned off if you have a slow machine, especially under Windows 9x.

•	Enable pins in Lister title bars

By default, the Windows OS does not provide a method for selective depth arranging of application windows. Windows either come to the top when active or are top layer windows and stay on the top of the display in all cases. However, Opus provides selective depth arranging for its own Listers and associated windows. The mechanism allows three levels of priority and can be made to override the sometimes annoying behavior of the Windows OS where only the active window is on the top. When enabled, a ‘pin’ is added to the title bar of each window title. The pin shows the priority used for depth arrangement of that window. The priority may be set as follows:

•	Off (horizontal): The window will behave as normal and come to the top when active unless there are other Opus windows of higher priority. Such windows can never appear on top of windows with middle or top priority, and they depth arrange as normal with other application windows.

•	Middle (diagonal): The window will come to the top when Opus is active. Windows of middle priority always appear on top of windows with off priority but will depth arrange with other windows of middle or top priority. When Opus is not active, they will depth arrange as normal with other application windows.

•	Top (vertical): The window will always be top priority. They always appear on the top of windows with off priority, and will also appear on top of windows with middle priority. As an example of where this may be useful, you may wish to keep an Opus Lister displaying thumbnail images on top of an Image editor so you can quickly drag files from the Lister and drop them into the editor.

• WARNING: Pins can be very useful but by changing the default depth behavior of the window display you may lose other windows behind a top layer window. If you think that a program or action you have started hasn’t worked, check to see whether it is hidden behind a top layer window!

•	Enable "slide-out" navigation buttons

Opus has hidden navigation buttons in Listers that slide-out from the edges and corners when you move the mouse over this area. These buttons provide quick access to Back, Forwards and Up functions without having to move the mouse up to the Toolbar. You can configure whether the "slide-out" buttons appear at the sides of the Lister, in the corners, or both. You can also configure the time in milliseconds that must elapse before they appear.

•	Indicate source/destination status by coloring Lister title bars

Normally, a single file display Lister indicates its source or destination status by coloring its title bar. If you wish to turn off this behavior, you can do so with this option.

•	Set new window to source when switching to dual file display

By default, when you split a Lister to create a dual display, the newly created file display on the right is set to be a destination and does not have the active focus. You may prefer this behavior if you have the destination path set automatically from Lister Defaults - Initial Folders. Alternatively, if you wish to access this new display immediately to set a path or perform other activities, this setting makes the new display the source and gives it the active focus.

•	Show file display border in single display mode

A dual file display Lister displays an "inner border" with special gadgets in each of its file displays. If this option is turned on, this inner border is also displayed in a single file display Lister.

•	Show Lister "footprint" on Windows task bar

This option lets you disable the "footprint" button that Windows normally adds to the Windows taskbar for each open Lister. If you turn off these footprints, it will also disable the entry in the Alt-Tab dialog list. The Show "footprint" when minimized option only displays the footprint when a Lister is minimized.

•	Zoom Listers to title bar (Shift overrides)

As well as maximized and minimized, Opus gives you two independent sizes and positions for a Lister. The extra zoom gadget in the Lister title bar swaps the Lister size between the two stored states. Alternatively, the zoom gadget can minimize the Lister to a small footprint, displaying only a title bar.

• As with other controls in Opus, holding down the Shift key while selecting the gadget inverts the defined behavior.

Folder Tree

The Folder Tree page contains controls that configure the behavior and appearance of the Folder Tree.

•	Automatically expand the ‘My Computer’ branch

This option instructs Directory Opus to automatically expand the My Computer branch of the Folder Tree when a Lister opens, even if that branch would not normally need to be expanded. This makes it easier for you to access your drives via the Tree even if the initial folder in the Lister is the Desktop.

•	Display Favorites in the Folder Tree

This option enables the display of your Favorites list in the Folder Tree. Favorites entries will appear in their own branch positioned just under the Desktop entry.

•	Display SmartFavorites in the Folder Tree

This option enables the display of your Smart Favorites folders in the Folder Tree. Smart Favorites folders also appear in the Favorites branch of the Folder Tree, positioned just under the Desktop entry. If both this and the Display Favorites option are enabled, normal Favorites entries are listed before Smart Favorites entries.

•	Display Recent List in the Folder Tree

This option enables the display of your recently visited folders list in the Folder Tree.

•	Expand branches automatically when dragging over the Tree

This option lets you disable the automatic expansion of Folder Tree branches when you drag a file over a collapsed branch of the Tree.

Power Mode

Opus provides the traditional Windows Explorer file display modes (List, Details, etc...), an Opus Thumbnail view, plus a unique Power mode. This view mode is handled differently by Opus and is very similar to that used successfully on the Amiga for many years. It is similar to details mode but, by default, file selection is done by click and drag and files are not automatically de-selected when others are selected. You can easily drag multiple files out of the display and you can even selectively drag out one single file even if other files have been highlighted.

In Opus for Windows, you can completely configure the behavior of Power mode. From this section you can choose the desired behavior for left, middle and right mouse button events and can select what happens when you drag and drop files using a specific mouse button.

• With three-button mice, the middle button is sometimes controlled by an external driver and may not be available for Opus use. You may need to change the behavior of your mouse driver to take full advantage of the middle mouse button in Opus.

In Power mode you can range select easily by simply drag selecting or by first selecting one file then, with a qualifier key held down, select a file some distance away. All files between the first and second selection points will be highlighted. You may configure the qualifier key used for the range selection process from Shift, Ctrl or Alt key, or turn this behavior off completely.

By default, if you have selected multiple files in Power mode, you may pick up all selected files in one action by holding down both Shift and Ctrl keys when you click in the Lister to drag the selected files.

When you have already selected multiple files, there are times when you may wish to drag just one single file out of the Lister without affecting the other selected files. Enable the Allow Single File Drag option to enable this behavior.

Pressing the Control key toggles keyboard control of Power mode. When in keyboard mode, file selection is done with Shift-Cursor Up/Down or Shift-Page Up/Down, or by using the Space bar to toggle file selection on or off.

Full-row selection can be enabled / disabled for both Power Mode and the traditional Details mode.


Logging

Opus can keep a log of all file activities you perform for later review or housekeeping. This section allows you to enable the log and choose which actions to remember. The historical log can be viewed at any time from the View Log button. This will open the Opus Output Window and display the Log section.


Miscellaneous

The Miscellaneous section consists of two pages. The first page lets you configure how Opus integrates itself into the Windows system. The second page lets you configure Internet-related settings within Opus.

In order to provide some of its exceptional power and functionality, Opus adds assorted custom controls and menu items to the Windows system in a polite and system friendly manner. These are defined in this section. They include the ability to replace Windows Explorer and add related menus and functions for default folders etc. Depending on how you wish to run Opus, you may selectively enable these as you choose. By default, Opus is installed as an Explorer Replacement.

Windows Integration

•	Add items to the Desktop context menu

This adds two new menu items, New Lister and Opus Preferences to the Desktop context menu. They allow quick access to Opus from the Desktop whether Opus is running or not. Additionally, if you have any saved Lister layouts, a sub-menu is added to the Desktop context menu allowing you rapid access to these.

•	Add icon to the Taskbar Status Area

When Opus is running, this option adds an Opus light bulb icon to the Taskbar Status Area or system Tray menu. It allows quick access to Opus functions with a right click on the ‘light bulb’ icon. The menus provided by the icon are fully user definable from Customize - Context Menus.

•	Add icons to system Control Panel

By default Directory Opus will add two icons to the system Control Panel; one to open the Opus Preferences editor and one to open the Customize editor. You can disable these icons by turning off this option. Note that if you change this option you need to restart your system for the change to take effect.

•	Add "Open in DOpus" item to folder context menus

Adds an extra menu, Open in DOpus, to the context menu of all folders. This means that from Windows Explorer or the Desktop you can quickly open the folder in a new Opus Lister whether Opus is already running or not.

•	Hide Windows items on file context menus (Shift overrides)

Through file types Windows allows external programs to add items to the context menu of all or selected files. After you have installed a number of programs these can build up to be distracting. This option hides these items and only shows Opus specific menus as defined by the Opus file type system.

• As with a number of other controls within Opus, if you hold down the Shift key when accessing the menu, Opus will invert the defined behavior.

•	Make Directory Opus the default handler for folders (Explorer Replacement Mode)

This option enables Explorer Replacement Mode and makes Opus the default handler for all folders. Opus will intercept and open a folder for most instances where you previously would have used Windows. This includes when you double-click on My computer or any other folders, select ‘Open’ in My Computer and other folders plus other cases where a folder real or virtual would have opened in Windows Explorer. System folders such as Control Panel, Printers and so on will also now open in Opus.

•	Make Directory Opus the default handler for FTP sites

Sets Opus as the default handler for all FTP sites. Accessing a path such as FTP:// will activate Opus and display the site in an Opus Lister.

Startup

•	Launch Directory Opus on Startup

Opus can start automatically when you boot the computer. This makes Opus immediately ready when you need it. The program can be set to open quietly, for example, to just add the Opus light bulb icon to the tray menu, or can be set to open the last set of Listers you used or even complete Layouts. This is the recommended way to start Opus and will ensure that the program is always available for immediate use.

•	Show introductory start windows (splash screen)

An introductory window or "splash screen" can be shown whenever Opus is started. This provides quick access to the main Opus functions to Open a New Lister, access Preferences or Customize while you are learning the program.

Miscellaneous

•	Allow Output Window to be docked with edge of screen (Shift overrides)

The Opus Output Window displays the results of various functions and activities within Opus. It may be moved and positioned anywhere on the Desktop area. If you drag the Output Window to the edge of the Desktop area it can be made to automatically dock with the edge of the display by enabling this option..

• As with other Opus controls, if you hold down the Shift key while dragging the window, Opus will exhibit the reverse of the defined action.

•	Path completion in path fields

This provides a shortcut when entering text into a path field. To save typing the complete string of characters, Opus can complete the path for you. You may disable path completion or select between having Opus complete the path automatically as you type or wait until up/down cursor keys are pressed before completing the path. Path completion is available in any field that is designed for path entry, for example, the default Path Toolbar or the hidden path entry field that appears when you press Shift-Enter in a Lister.

• After Opus completes a path, typing a forward slash or back slash character will jump to the end of the path string ready for you to continue typing the next element.

Internet Settings

•	Check for program updates automatically

This option lets you turn on or off the automatic background check for new versions of Directory Opus. By default Opus will perform this check once per month, by connecting to the GP Software web site and sending information about your current version of Directory Opus. This will only take place if you have an active Internet connection – you will not be prompted or otherwise disturbed. You can configure auto-update checking to take place monthly or weekly, or disable it altogether. You can also configure the proxy settings if your connection to the Internet is through a proxy.

•	Use MAPI when sending files via email

Opus has the ability to send files as email attachments (optionally zipping them first). This option determines whether email messages are sent using the MAPI system or via the Windows shell. If you have a MAPI server installed you may enable the MAPI option – however you should make sure this option is turned off if there is no MAPI server on your machine. If you wish to be able to specify the default recipient on the command line of the Copy SENDMAIL command you must have the MAPI option enabled.

Note: Users who use Microsoft Outlook Express as their email client may turn this option on.  Eudora users need to enable the MAPI server option in the Eudora Settings if they wish to send email via MAPI.


Preference Management

The Opus preference settings are stored in the Registry for efficiency. This section allows you to Import or Export your current settings, Restore all the preferences after changes or Reset all the settings to the default values provided by Opus.

As an example, you may wish to have different Preference settings for different users of the one computer with different images, FTP site lists and Favorites etc. It also permits you to export and import Preferences from one system into another. All settings are exported but you may choose which settings to import. For your security FTP passwords are encrypted in the Registry and the Preference files.

The Preferences data contains all program settings including all Lister settings, selected Toolbar states, Lister Path formats, FTP sites, Favorites, saved Layouts etc. Not saved are SmartFavorites and any settings specifically related to a given Toolbar. Toolbar settings are saved with the Toolbar file itself in the Buttons folder.

Samples Preferences and Layouts have been provided in this installation. Please load them and have a look. The sample Preferences below progressively activate more Opus functionality as you move down the following set.

•	Minimal: Uses Default Preferences but has minimal Listers with a single menu Toolbar only, no images, and no sounds. A single Lister display wit Tree is provided and Explorer replacement functions are disabled with only the additions of menus to Desktop and tray light bulb icon activated

•	Default: Uses all default Preferences and Toolbars. Has three Toolbars but no images, no sounds. Explorer replacement functions are active.

•	Default-Colors-Layouts-Sounds: Same as Default above but with simple images for backgrounds for Toolbar, Lister and Status Bar. There are three Toolbars with images defined for Standard Toolbar Image and Standard Status Bar Image (Nudel-Blue-Light.png), Standard File Display Image and Standard Folder Tree Image (Nudel-Grey-Light.png) and sample Sounds. Default Preferences settings are used. Default Lister is single with Folder Tree.

•	Initial: This set is only loaded after a fresh install. It is set to use Default above. The internal settings may be modified by the install Wizard on a fresh install.

•	SampleToolbarsDrives: Variation on Initial (above) but with images plus five Toolbars, on each side of the Lister. Includes shared Toolbar and file display images with a ‘Drives’ Toolbar in the center of a dual display, plus an applications Toolbar activated on the right. Double-clicking on tray light bulb icon opens the Layout for dual file display Lister.

•	OpusStyle: Same as SampleToolbarsDrives (above) but with all characteristic Opus options enabled. Has shared images, pins, docking, sample FTP list, POWER mode as default Lister format and Opus as default handlers for everything and full progress displays for all file copy functions. Asks for confirmation before deleting each file. Remembers open Listers and the mode and size of last closed Lister. New Lister is set to Source when going into dual display mode. Open in DOpus menus option is added to folder context menus. Loads all Thumbnails automatically with multiple threads. Opus is the default handler for Folders, ZIP & FTP.


Reading Folders

This section contains options that control how Directory Opus accesses and reads folders.

•	Calculate folder sizes automatically

When turned on, the size of all sub-folders will be calculated automatically when a folder is read. From the popup list, you can select the type of drives you wish this effect to be used on. The calculation is done using low-priority background threads and is generally transparent to the user, however on a slow machine you may wish to leave this turned off.

Note that you do not have to wait for the size calculations to finish but can use the Lister as normal while the sizes are being calculated. Changing folders will cancel any outstanding calculations automatically.

If you have chosen to not calculate sizes automatically or you wish to recalculate a folder size, highlight the folder(s) and use the GetSizes command. By default, the Opus all folders file type defines the dblclkalt event to call GetSizes so you simply need to hold down the Alt key and double-click on a folder to calculate the size.

•	Display generic icons

By default, Opus will query each file or folder that it displays in the Lister for its icon. Most files do not have their own icon but instead use the file class icon as defined in the registry. However, some file types like .EXE have a different icon for each file. Querying files and folders for their icons can reduce the display speed, particularly on network connections or other slow devices. Turning on the Display generic icons flag will prevent Opus from querying each file for its icon and instead will use the generic icon for that file class as defined in the system registry. You can enable this behavior for all folders, for network folders only, or for network and removable drives only.

•	Ignore "virtual folder" status of real folders

This option tells Opus to treat Virtual folders (such as the Windows Fonts directory) which do actually have a physical location as real folders and enable the full Opus command set. Otherwise, the commands available in the Virtual folder will be supplied by the operating system, not by Opus. Note that the Desktop (which is both a virtual and a real folder) is excluded from this option, and always appears as a virtual folder. This option is particularly useful with the Windows Fonts directory, as viewing it as a "real" folder enables the use of Opus Thumbnails mode.

•	Sort shortcuts to folders like folders

This option causes folder shortcuts to be treated for the purpose of sorting as if they were real folders rather than files.

•	Support Windows XP CD writing system

This option lets you enable or disable Opus support for the Windows XP CD writing system. You may wish to disable this if you are using third-party CD writing software.

•	Use system display for writeable CDs under Windows XP

If support for the Windows XP CD writing system is enabled, this option controls whether Opus uses its own display when viewing the contents of writeable CDs, or the system virtual folder. If this option is enabled, then Opus will always display the virtual folder for writeable CDs rather than using its own display modes. If turned off, Opus will only display the virtual folder if the CD is empty, or Opus is operating in Explorer replacement mode, and the Lister was invoked automatically by Windows (for example, in response to you clicking the "There are files waiting to be written to the CD" bubble.)


Sounds

Opus can play sounds for specific events. This section allows you to enable sounds and choose the specific sounds for each event. Sample sounds are included with some of the sample preferences as discussed above. You may readily change these to use other WAV files as desired. Usually there are many sounds included as part of your Windows install so you should have many to choose from!

If a sound has been enabled for a specific event, that event will be shown in bold. You can turn individual sound events on or off using the checkmarks next to each item.


Thumbnails

Opus provides a special Lister view mode which shows thumbnail images of the folder contents. This is very useful for looking quickly at folders of images and sometimes for other types of files. This section controls how these Thumbnail views are generated.

Thumbnails

•	Width, Height, Square

Select the width and height in pixels for the thumbnail. Use Square to force the width and height to always be the same

•	Thumbnail background fill color

From the popup, you may define the background color used to fill the thumbnail background and the surrounding area if the thumbnail is smaller than the defined area.

•	Animate AVI Thumbnails

If this option is selected, Opus will attempt to play AVI movie files as a thumbnail image in thumbnails mode. Opus uses the system codec to support common AVI formats. Mpeg or other movies types are not supported in this version. If this option is not selected, Opus will attempt to display the first frame of the animation in the thumbnail image if possible.

• AVI files may be locked whilst they are being displayed in thumbnails mode. If so, they may not be deleted or edited. If this occurs, swapping to another display mode will return full access rights to the files.

•	Display JPEG thumbnails in gray-scale

Instead of displaying the full colored image, this restricts the number of colors used to gray scale of 256. It provides for faster thumbnail display when handling images with large numbers of colors such as those from digital cameras.

•	Load all thumbnails in folder automatically

Thumbnails are normally decoded and shown progressively only when made visible in the Lister window. This option scans and generates all thumbnail images for a given folder automatically. It gives a faster display when scrolling around a Lister containing many thumbnails.

•	Overlay thumbnail with file type icon / Hide file type icon if type not registered

If a thumbnail is displayed and the file is associated with an application registered in file types, Opus can overlay a small icon representing the application in the bottom right-hand corner. For picture or other thumbnails which are not registered, Opus uses a default icon. This may be selectively turned off. Note that if there is no thumbnail image, the application or default icon will be displayed centered in the thumbnail area.

•	Use shell image extraction for formats Opus does not understand

Natively, Opus understands only the common image file types such as GIF, JPEG, BMP, PNG, PSD and so on. This option tells Opus to ask the system to display a thumbnail image for files it does not understand. It is useful for generating thumbnails for files such as HTML, WORD documents etc. Alternatively, Opus will display a blank thumbnail. This will work successfully under most cases but is system dependent.

•	Use multiple threads to generate thumbnails

This option allows for better performance on multi-processor systems when generating thumbnails by using multiple threads to decode multiple images at the same time. When enabled, Opus creates N+1 threads to read thumbnails, where N is the number of CPUs in the machine.

Amiga Icons

Opus can display icons created for the Amiga Operating System. This setting allows you to choose the default palette to be used to map the icon images. These icons are useful as Toolbar icons since there are thousands available from public domain sources such as Aminet. Amiga icon images often do not have a surrounding border but you can choose to add one if desired. (Aminet is the Internet's largest collection of Amiga software. See http://us.aminet.net/~aminet/ )


Toolbars

This section provides global control over some Toolbar settings. Other Toolbar settings are handled directly by the Toolbar itself from Customize - Toolbars.

•	Allow Floating Toolbars to be docked with the edge of the screen (Shift overrides)

In the same manner as the Output Window, Floating Toolbars can be moved to any position on the Desktop. This allows them to be docked with the top, bottom or sides of the Desktop when the Toolbar is moved to the edge of the display. When docked, they behave much the same as the standard Windows Taskbar.

• As with other Opus controls, if you hold down the Shift key while dragging the Toolbar, Opus will exhibit the reverse of the defined action.

•	Animate menus

This option lets you enable or disable popup menu animation within Directory Opus. There are three choices – off, on and use system setting.

•	Display popup help text (tooltips) / Show shortcut keys in help text

Opus Toolbar buttons support popup comments displaying help or information on the action to be performed by the button (or menu). These are known as ToolTips and you may define them for any specific button from Customize. You can select to enable / disable these as you wish. As a quick reminder Opus can also append to the end of the ToolTip the Hotkey you may have defined for the button.

•	Save state of Floating Toolbars automatically on exit

The Toolbar state, of whether it is docked with a Lister or free-floating, may be set in Customize in the individual Toolbar settings. This setting saves this state of the Toolbar when you close it or exit Opus. It is useful if you have dragged a Toolbar out of or into a Lister and not specifically saved its state.

•	Use Windows-style highlighting in menus

Opus can use two different styles of highlighting for menus – either Windows style highlighting using the defined Windows highlight color or an Opus custom 3D look. Choose whichever one you prefer.

•	Horizontal button spacing/Vertical Button spacing

These settings allow you to adjust the spacing for Toolbar buttons (including menus).

The Windows XP Compatibility section is only available under Windows XP. In here, you can enable or disable the drop shadow effect for popup menus, control whether you want to use the Windows XP visual style for toolbar buttons, and configure the amount of "padding" that is added to toolbar icons rendered in the XP visual style.


ZIP Files

Opus incorporates its own ZIP engine to display and access ZIP files directly rather than using outside programs. This allows you to treat ZIP archives just like normal folders.

Introduction to Opus ZIP handling

One of the unique features of Directory Opus is its implementation of the virtual file system concept. Directory Opus lets you browse ZIP files and FTP sites as if they were local folders. For instance, you can copy files directly from a ZIP file to an FTP site, or vice versa.

Unfortunately, ZIP files are not in reality a file system, but are instead a complex data structure which does not lend itself well to the virtual file system concept. Directory Opus therefore offers two modes for access to ZIP files. The normal, virtual file system mode has a number of advantages but also one major disadvantage – speed. The ZIP file format does not allow full random access, so when copying to or from or deleting from a zip file in virtual file system mode, Directory Opus must make special allowances for the limitations of the ZIP format. The alternative mode is known as batch mode. This mode accesses ZIP files using their native interface. It gives faster access but precludes the use of some of the more advanced Opus features such as file filters.

In general, we recommend that you leave the batch mode options turned on since they do result in increased performance. However, it is important that you be aware of the limitations of the batch modes.

The ZIP Files Preferences section consists of two pages; Integration controls the integration of ZIP handling within Opus and the system itself, and Settings lets you modify the ZIP settings themselves.

Integration – ZIP Support

•	Activate Opus ZIP file handling

Turn this option on to enable Directory Opus ZIP handling. If this option is turned off then Opus will not recognize ZIP files at all and you will need an external program to handle them.

•	Make Opus the system default handler for ZIP files

This setting makes Opus the default ZIP handler for the system. If activated, Opus will override any other ZIP handling application installed on your computer and open all ZIP files in Opus automatically. So, whenever you open a ZIP archive by a double-click or by selecting Open from the context menu, the archive will be opened in an Opus Lister. You may also decide to selectively add context menus to ZIP files to Extract with Opus and to normal files to Add to ZIP archives.

•	Show ZIP files in the Folder Tree

By default, ZIP files are not added to the Folder Tree but you may do so if you wish. With this option turned on, they appear in the Tree like any other folder.

Integration – Context Menus

•	Add context menu items for ‘Add files to ZIP’

If this option is turned on, Directory Opus will add items to the context menu for all files to add the selected files to a ZIP file, and to ZIP and email the selected files.

•	Add context menu items for ‘Extract files from ZIP’

If this option is turned on, Opus will add items to the context menu for ZIP files to extract the contents of the ZIP file.

•	Cascade context menu items

If you enable this option, the context menu items added by the above two options will be displayed in a sub-menu rather than in the main file context menu.

Integration – Auto-extract

Auto-extract is a special Opus feature that lets you automatically extract the contents of a ZIP file whenever files of a certain type within that ZIP file are double-clicked. This can be crucial for, example, installation or setup programs which may require several ancillary files as well as the actual Setup.exe file.

•	Enable Auto-extract

This option lets you turn auto-extract on or off altogether.

•	Use on Double-click

This option enables auto-extract functionality on file double-clicks. If this option is disabled, the only way to access auto-extract is via the right-button context menu of a file within a ZIP file. Auto-extract can be enabled on any double-click of a file or only when a specified qualifier key is held down. If the Prompt switch is turned on then Opus will ask on a double-click whether you wish to perform auto-extract or not.

•	Filename Patterns

This list lets you configure which filename patterns will trigger the auto-extract on double-click feature. This list is not needed if you only wish to access auto-extract via the right button context menu – in this case, any file can be auto-extracted. However, on double-click only files whose names match the patterns given here are auto-extracted. You can enter as many filenames or wildcard patterns as you like, one per line.

Settings – Settings

•	Adjust file times using Opus ZIP file time zone information when available

Opus ZIP handling stores the time zone information from the computer which created the ZIP file. This allows you to transfer files across time zones and preserve the absolute dates and times of files and folders. This is a special facility only available for ZIP archives generated by Opus.

•	Ask for encryption and compression settings when copying files into ZIP files

This option selects whether Opus should prompt you for settings whenever you copy files into the ZIP archive.

•	Open ZIP files as read-only by default

This option causes Opus to automatically treat all ZIP files as read-only. If you wish to make changes to an existing ZIP file you will need to enable writing using the Set READONLY command. If you wish to use this feature we recommend that you add this command to your Toolbar or menu for easy access.

•	Save time zone information to ZIP files

If this option is enabled then Opus will store information about your local time zone in ZIP files that it creates. Then if you send the ZIP file to someone who has Opus in a different time zone, they will be able to recover the correct file times when unzipping the archive.

•	Compression level

You may adjust the compression level used by the Opus ZIP engine. The higher the compression level the smaller the resulting archive but the longer it will take to add or extract files from the archive

Settings - Advanced

•	Use batch add / delete / extract

When the batch modes are enabled, copying files from a local disk to a ZIP file, or extracting files from a ZIP file, or deleting files from a ZIP file is generally faster. Copying files from other ZIP files or FTP sites is not affected by this option.

Depending on the size of your ZIP file, batch copy mode may make a significant difference to the time taken to add files. If you mainly work with small ZIP files you will probably not notice any advantage in batch copy mode so you may wish to leave it turned off.

With batch copy mode enabled, some of the more advanced Opus features can not be used when copying into ZIP files. File filters do not work below the first level – that is, you can filter files that you have selected in the source folder, but if you have selected any sub-folders, their entire contents will be added to the ZIP file.

Another disadvantage is caused by the very nature of batch copy mode. Because the files you are copying into the ZIP file are added as a batch, they are not permanently written to the ZIP file until the very end of the operation. So, if you abort a copy operation halfway through, the entire operation is aborted and the ZIP file is left unchanged.

Because the files are copied all at once as a batch, any confirmations or additional information needed for individual files must be supplied before the copy begins. For example, if you have selected ten files to copy and have used the Copy As function to give them new names, you will be prompted for a new name for each of the 10 files before the copy actually begins. If you are moving files, the original files are not deleted until the entire copy operation has completed.

Additionally, it is not possible for Directory Opus to discover if any individual files failed for any reason, and so you will not receive any error reports once the copy has begun

The main disadvantage of the batch delete mode is that the delete operation can not be aborted. Once you confirm the delete operation there is no going back.

As with batch copy mode, any individual file confirmations must be given before the delete begins. It is not possible for Directory Opus to discover if any individual files failed for any reason, and so you will not receive any error reports once the delete has begun.

•	Use temporary file when copying to ZIP files (safer but much slower)

Instead of writing directly to the ZIP file itself, Opus can use a temporary file when copying to a ZIP archive. This provides extra safety. If some operation fails, the original ZIP file will have been preserved. Note however that copying to a ZIP archive will be much slower when using a temporary file. In most cases we recommend that you leave this option turned off.

•	Use working folder for removable media only

Opus sometimes uses a temporary folder when handling ZIP files (especially if you have the previous option turned on). With this option, the temporary folder is used only when accessing ZIP files on removable media like floppy disks. This often means better performance because of less access to the often slower removable media.

•	Working folder.

By default, Opus uses the Windows TEMP folder when processing ZIP files, but if required, you may choose the path of the temporary folder to use.


Customize

You may change the way Opus works from Preferences, Customize, Folder Options and File Types.

Customize allows you to add, delete or edit the Toolbars, Menus, and Hotkeys used in Opus. You can also create your own custom Commands from the internal Opus command set.

Selecting Customize from the default Settings menu, or the Tray icon menu, puts the Toolbars and menus into Customize mode and displays the main Customize dialog window. Select from the tabs which page you wish to access, either Commands, Toolbars, Keys or Context Menus.

When Opus enters Customize mode it enters a special modal edit state. The display of Toolbars and context menus changes to show their underlying constituent commands and the buttons will no longer function as usual. Instead, you may edit the specific buttons and menus from a popup menu over the specific button. Double-clicking a Toolbar button displays the Command Editor for that button. If the button is a multi-function button (a three-button button) or a menu button, clicking the left mouse button over it displays the commands or menus associated with that button. Clicking the right mouse button displays a special edit menu.


Toolbar Menus in Customize Mode

The above image shows the standard Toolbar in Customize mode and the three commands for the multi-function Select button for the left, right and middle mouse actions respectively. Notice the special triangular marker at the end of the Toolbar. This is a special marker indicating that an external namespace or virtual folder will add its own commands starting at this location.

Right-click on a Toolbar button to access the button control menu as shown above. This provides the traditional cut, copy, paste and delete functions plus the following:

•	Edit:  Displays the Command Editor for the specific button

•	Three Buttons: A toggle which switches the button between single and multi-function mode. In this mode, the button is turned into a sub-menu with a maximum of three functions, and these functions are accessed directly via the left, right and middle mouse buttons (rather than through a pop-up menu).

•	Begin a Group: Marks this button as one that begins a group. If this option is turned on, a separator will be displayed in the Toolbar immediately before this button. You can also add a separator via drag and drop, by dragging an existing button in the Toolbar very slightly to the right and dropping it on itself. To remove a separator, either use the button control menu to turn the Begin a Group option off, or perform the reverse of the drag and drop method, by dragging the button slightly to the left and dropping it on itself.

•	Insert New: Inserts a blank new button, menu or menu button at this point in the Toolbar. This should only be used for advanced editing. Normally, just drag the required command from the Commands list in the main Customize window.

To access the Command Editor, either double-click on a button or select Edit from the button control menu. Note that from normal mode (outside of Customize), you can invoke Customize and the Command Editor directly by holding down the Alt key and single-clicking the button.


Editing Toolbar Buttons

Use drag and drop to reposition existing Toolbar buttons, to move them from one Toolbar to another, or to move them from the root of the Toolbar into a sub-menu. To remove a button from a Toolbar, drag it and drop it back onto the Customize window.

To add a button to a Toolbar you simply need to drag one of the predefined command buttons from the Command page in the main Customize window and drop it on the Toolbar in the place you want the new button to appear. Menus are added in the same fashion. Just drag and drop the button wherever you wish to insert it in the menu. (Remember menus are simply Toolbars in disguise with images turned off and labels turned on). At a less intuitive level, you can also use the popup menus to add an empty button, menu or menu button then manually edit the button itself.

If you wish to create a Toolbar button that runs an external program, simply drop the program’s icon onto a Toolbar while in Customize mode. The function that is created will automatically include the %1 code to open selected files using the specified program.

To delete a button from a Toolbar, drag the button out of the Toolbar and drop it onto the main Customize window.

To move a button to a new position in a given Toolbar or even between Toolbars, simply drag it and drop it in the desired place. Dragging a button in a Toolbar slightly to the right adds a separator on the left-hand side of the button to ‘begin a group’. Similarly, the group separator can be removed by dragging the button slightly to the left.

To duplicate a button, you can either use the traditional Cut, Copy, Paste mechanism or simply drag the button to the new place on any visible Toolbar, while holding down the Ctrl Key.

Selecting Edit from the context menu or double-clicking a button gives access to the Command Editor (above) showing the individual settings for that button.

The editor lets you configure the image, label and functions for the button. The Show image option lets you turn the image display off altogether. If Dual Image is turned on, the button will use two different images – one is displayed when the button is in its normal state, and the second image is displayed when the mouse is over the button or the button is pressed.

Selecting the images at the top of the page displays the extensive set of internal predefined images provided for Opus commands. You may select one of those shown or browse for an external icon image.

If Large icon size is turned on, the button will show images using the large size (nominally 30 x 30) rather than the small size (nominally 20 x 20).

If you turn on the Override colors switch you can define the text and background colors for the button – if this switch is turned off the button will inherit its colors from its parent.

The Show label option lets you control whether the button label is displayed as well as (or instead of) the image. If the label is turned on you can also control where in relation to the image it is displayed (left, right, above, below). The default setting for this causes the label to be displayed below the image in Toolbars, but to the right of the image in pop up menus.

The Label field lets you edit the button label, and the Tip field lets you edit the ToolTip. If no ToolTip is provided, the label will be used as the ToolTip by default.

For Images and Labels, the values set in the Command Editor are known as the default values for the button. They can be overridden by the global or master setting for the Toolbar as a whole. The master settings for each specific Toolbar are discussed below in Customize - Toolbars.

Use the Hotkey field to specify a Hotkey for this button.

The Function field displays the current function for this button. In simple mode (the default), this is just a single line. You can use the Commands drop-down list to select one of the predefined Opus command functions, or you can enter your own function. Note that when you select a predefined command from this drop-down list, it will be automatically converted into the underlying Opus command language when it is displayed in the Function field.

Clicking the Advanced button takes the Command Editor into advanced mode, which then allows you to create a function with more than one line.


Advanced Command Editor

Selecting the Advanced button pops out the advanced command selection page where you may define one or more command actions and associated arguments for the button as desired.

In advanced mode, the drop-down Commands list contains only the 'pure' Opus commands, which is a substantially shorter list than in simple mode. Most of the internal commands can be modified by the addition of arguments, which you can access from the drop-down Arguments list.

You can also start external programs from Opus commands. To select an external program to run, use the Browse button. When the cursor is over the name of an external program, the drop-down Arguments list will change to display a list of External Command Control Codes.

The MS-DOS Batch Function option can be used to create complex functions involving MS-DOS (or console-mode) applications. When this option is turned on, Directory Opus uses your command definition to create a temporary batch (.bat) file. This lets you call more than one external program in succession (and view their output in a console window).

With the MS-DOS Batch Function option turned off, any external programs defined in the command are started simultaneously.


Exchanging Buttons with Friends

Directory Opus makes it easy to exchange your button definitions with friends. When in Customize mode, right click on a button to display its context menu and choose Copy. As well as placing the button itself on the clipboard, Opus also creates a text definition of the button on the clipboard. This can be pasted into any text editor, or, for example, an email message to a friend. When your friend receives the email message, all they need to do is copy the text definition back to the clipboard, go into Customize mode and paste it into their own toolbar.

You can also create Command Files by dragging a button from a toolbar in Customize mode and dropping it onto the desktop. These files can then be sent as file attachments, and can be imported back into a toolbar by drag and drop.


Customize - Commands

The Commands page provides access to the predefined Opus command set arranged into categories. To add a command to a Toolbar, select the command from the Commands list and drag it to the specific place in the Toolbar or menu where you wish to insert the button.

Most of the categories are self-explanatory but there are three special categories:-

•	Default menus

These provide a predefined set of the standard sub-menus used in Opus. You can quickly construct a new menu or Toolbar by simply dragging the desired sub-menu to the desired place.

•	New

Creates new buttons containing no predefined commands. These options are the same as provided defines a new blank buttons for a New Button, New Menu and New Menu Button. These are the same as provided in the RMB popup menu on a Toolbar.

•	User

Allows you to define your own new commands based on one or more of the commands from the Opus internal command set (including optional arguments), as well as external programs. Once you have defined a new user command, you may use this in a Toolbar just as you would any of the other predefined commands provided in Customize. This is a very powerful mechanism which allows you to explore the range of the possibilities provided by the very extensive internal Opus command set.


Customize - Toolbars

The Toolbar page shows a list of the currently available Toolbars in the left-hand panel. Activate a specific Toolbar by ticking the box next to the Toolbar name. You may create new (blank) Toolbars with the New button, or create a copy of an existing Toolbar with the Copy button. You can Rename or Delete existing Toolbars. Import and Export allow you to move Toolbars between different systems. Save State takes a snapshot of the current state and position of all currently-open Floating toolbars.

The right hand sections allow you to change the visual display of the Toolbar and select whether it is connected to a Lister or free-floating. The Background section allows you to select a color for the background of the Toolbar or you may select one of the predefined images. See Preferences Images for details of the standard predefined images. Use the Image is inherited by submenus option to control whether submenus that come from this Toolbar inherit the Toolbar’s image settings or use the default Toolbar colors.

Images and Labels define the global or master control of these settings in the selected Toolbar. Note that individual buttons also have such settings but these are overridden by the master setting in this section. The options for these settings are Default, On or Off. Default tells the Toolbar to display the label or image etc according to the setting in the individual buttons. This allows you to change these settings in a Toolbar quickly. Sometimes you may wish to mix settings. For example, you may want a Toolbar with most of the labels turned off but have labels for only one or two items, say DriveButtons. This can easily be done by setting this master setting to Default then setting the individual settings in the Toolbar to either On or Off as required.

The Floating Settings allow you to control whether the selected Toolbar appears inside Listers, or is free-floating and able to move moved around the screen independently.


Customize - Keys

The Keys page shows you all the Hotkeys defined in Opus whether as part of a Toolbar, menu button or as a stand alone Hotkey. The Hotkey Editor allows you to attach functions to any keystroke combination. Hotkeys are effectively the same as standard Opus buttons which are called directly by the press of a key rather than with a mouse click.

You can create a new Hotkey or edit an existing one by selecting New or Edit to display the Hotkey Editor and then entering the required information. The key or key combination for the selected entry can be changed by activating the Key field and simply pressing the desired key or key combination.

To define the key sequence for the given Hotkey, click in the Hotkey field and press the key or key with or without qualifier keys and Opus will register and display the sequence. Apart from Esc and Tab, you may use any single key including main keyboard keys, numeric keypad keys, cursor and edit keys and function keys either alone or in combination with a qualifier key including Shift, Alt, Ctrl and / or the Windows keys.

If the System-wide Hotkey option is not set, the Hotkey will be only be available from within an Opus Lister. If this option is turned on, the Hotkey will be functional anywhere in the system. System-wide Hotkeys are indicated in the main list with an asterisk (*).

Next, select a command from the list of available from the popup menu at the right-hand side of the Function field. This provides a list of predefined commands similar to that shown in Customize - Commands. Alternatively, you may wish to browse for an external program to execute when you hit this Hotkey.

As discussed in the Advanced Command Editor section above, selecting the Advanced button pops up the Advanced Command page where you may edit the command functions in detail to add multiple or extended commands and / or extra qualifiers and arguments.


Sample Hotkeys

By default, the following traditional Windows key sequences are implemented or emulated using internal Opus commands:

Key	Action
F1	Help
F2	In-line Rename
F3	Find
F4	Activate path field
F5	Refresh
F10	Activate menus
Ctrl + Tab	Cycle between Listers (or panes in a dual file display Lister)
Ctrl + C	Copy, (Clipboard Copy)
Ctrl + X	Cut (Clipboard Cut)
Ctrl + V	Paste (Clipboard Paste)
Ctrl + A	Select all
Ctrl + F	Find
Ctrl + Z	Undo
Ctrl + Up/Down cursor	Scrolls list in Details mode (without changing selection)
Backspace	Parent (Go up)
Alt + Left/Right cursor	Previous/next path in history
Alt + Enter	Properties
Shift + Delete	Delete file without Recycle Bin
Shift + F10	Context menu


Customize - Context Menus

Opus provides a number of user-definable context menus. These are popup menus which appear when you press the right mouse button over specific objects. This section controls the Tray Icon menu and the default Lister context menus. The Lister context menus appear when you press the right mouse button over a clear area of the Lister. The context menu which appears when the mouse is over a file is known as the file context menu. It is formed by a combination of items added by Windows and Opus and is discussed in the File Types and Preferences sections.

Opus provides the following context menus, initially defined as shown below, but you may edit and change these as you wish.

Remember that these menus are really just Toolbars in disguise with images turned off and labels turned on. They may be edited in the usual way. To edit a given menu, click the Show button (or double-click the menu name) to display the menu then drag and drop command buttons from the Customize - Commands page just as you would for other Toolbars.


File Types

You may change the way Opus works from Preferences, Customize, Folder Options and File Types.

File types are an indispensable feature of Windows which are readily extended by Directory Opus 6 in a manner fully compatible with normal Windows operations. Don’t be confused - there are not separate Windows and Opus file types, except for the special cases mentioned below. The file types themselves are global - you cannot create Opus-only file types. But, you can configure all the Windows file types from within Opus and you can add Opus-only actions to a file type. If you configure special Opus 6 functions, these will only be available while you are within Opus.

A file is simply stored data. Files can contain executable programs, text files, pictures of various types, or a multitude of other information. In Windows, file types are not identified by the internal structure of a file but simply by their the file name extension. The essence of a file type is that when you do something to a file, Directory Opus can figure out what kind of file it is and take the appropriate action for that type of file.


Predefined File Types

Opus 6 comes with several special predefined file types to match All files, All folders, All files and folders, Recognized images and Unknown file types. The file type for All files and folders defines default actions for the following events:

Action	Opus Command
Double-click + Ctrl	Properties
Drag & Drop	Copy Movewhensame
Drag & Drop + Alt	Copy Makeshortcut
Drag & Drop + Ctrl	Copy
Drag & Drop + Shift	Copy Move
So, if you drag a file and drop it onto another Lister using the left mouse button, the file will be moved if the source and destination Listers are on the same drive, or copied if they are on different drives. This behavior is consistent with Windows Explorer. The default file type mimics the way Explorer works but as shown above, if you hold down qualifier keys you can modify the behavior of drag and drop. Unlike Explorer, all actions can be configured in Directory Opus!

The Recognized images file type is a special Opus-only file type that refers to all files that Opus recognizes as images. It can be used to add context menu items to any image files without having to add them to each individual file type.

The Unknown file types file type is a special file type that matches any file that doesn’t match any other file type.

If you drag with the right mouse button and drop over an Opus Lister, the drag and drop menu is displayed. This menu is constructed first from any Opus file types that match the selected files, then from drag and drop menu items configured for the Windows file type, then from any ‘DragDropHandlers’ configured for that file type by Windows, and then finally the default actions of Copy, Move and Shortcut.

In a similar manner, a double-click on a file or folders is supported through the file types system as well. For a summary, see the chapter on The Lister and the section on Double Click on Folders.


File Type Editor

The File Type Editor lets you configure the traditional Windows file types but with Opus extensions. Opus also adds features which are only available from within Opus.

The display shows you both the configured Opus and Windows file types:

•	To view or edit a file type, select it and click Edit.

•	To create a new file type, click the New button

•	The Copy button lets you make a new copy of the currently selected file type.

•	The Delete button lets you delete the currently selected file type.

•	The Find button lets you search all file types for text strings by extension, description, content type and Open With.

The File Type Editor consists of a number of parts; one showing the actual file type definition or class, one showing the possible events or user actions, and one detailing the corresponding commands each action will perform.

When you select a file type and click the Edit button, the Edit File Type dialog is displayed. On the surface, this appears very similar to the Windows file type editing system. You can add and delete extensions from the file type, and also change the MIME Content Type field.

There are four different classes of action you may adjust:

•	Actions

These are the standard actions that are available in Explorer and Opus, including Open, Open With, Explore, Find, Print and Print To. When setting these actions for a Windows file type, the dialog is very similar to the one that appears  in Windows Explorer. It lets you configure the label, command, and DDE options.

•	Events

These are actions that are only available in Opus, and include double-click with various qualifier keys (double-click by itself is defined by the Open event), double-click with the middle mouse button, and four drag and drop events. These actions have no effect at all in Windows/Explorer. Double-click on the event to display an editor where in may define Opus commands for this function in a similar manner to editing buttons.

•	Context Menu

The Context Menu page lets you configure the items that will appear on the context menu for selected files. You can choose to add context menu items which are supported by Windows or which are Opus-specific. Both of these will appear inside Opus but Explorer will only show the supported Windows items.

Windows allows external programs to add items to the context menu of all or selected files. After you have installed a number of programs these can build up and become distracting. From Preferences – Miscellaneous you can select to show only the Opus-specific menu items for the file context menu if you wish

• As with a number of other controls within Opus, if you hold down the Shift key when accessing the menu, Opus will invert the defined behavior.

•	Drop Menu

This lets you add items to the drag and drop menu (the menu that appears when you drag with the right mouse button). You can add items to both Opus and Windows file types, but they will only appear when the file is dropped onto an Opus Lister; Explorer does not support this.


Folder Options

You may change the way Opus works from Preferences, Customize, Folder Options and File Types.

Opus 6 provides you with a powerful system to customize the visual display and format for any specific folder. Folder Properties gives you access to all Lister formatting features for the current and other special folders. Various display options, columns, sorting priorities, filters and more can be set from here. Opus supports a global default Lister format for local folders, Networked and removable drives, FTP servers and ZIP files. You can also set specific formats for specific folders and individual FTP sites.

Listers will remember the current folder format when you change folders until you specifically change the format or it is overridden by a saved format

• The Format Lock Gadget in the Status Bar can be used to temporarily lock the Lister into the current format preventing it being changed by any saved formats.

The OK and Apply buttons apply the currently defined format settings to the current Lister but do not save them permanently. If you turn on the Set default format for this folder option, the format will be saved permanently for the current folder. Any saved format will be used whenever you access this folder again unless the lock gadget in the Status Bar is enabled. If no special format has been saved, the Lister will use the format of the current folder or Default format if a new Lister is being opened. Advanced displays the list of default and user-defined formats for specific folders.

Options

•	Folder Size Calculation

When a directory is read, the folder sizes are calculated and displayed in the Lister according to this setting.

•	View As

Use this to select the View Mode used to display files and folders in the Lister. Select from traditional Windows views or Opus Power or Thumbnails mode. You can also use the View Mode button on the default toolbar to change view modes.

•	Auto-size columns

Automatically adjusts the size of the columns to fit the widest entry / file.

•	Hide file name extensions in file name column

By default, Opus displays the full file name including the extension. This hides the file extensions.

•	Modify display of all uppercase filenames

If files are stored in UPPERCASE format (as is done with some DOS based filenames), this modifies the name according to the settings defined by the subsequent gadgets.

•	Show day names if date is within one week

This option changes the way Opus displays dates in the Listers. If enabled, the date of a file is only displayed if it is older than seven days. Otherwise, Opus shows Today, Yesterday or the day name if appropriate. (e.g. Monday, Tuesday, etc.)

•	Show seconds in date/time columns

By default, the date/ time fields do not display the seconds value of the time. This displays seconds for all such fields.

•	Show <dir> extension for folders in Extension column

Folders do not have file name extensions and so normally the column that displays extensions displays nothing for folders. If you enable this option, it will display <dir> for folders.

•	Use as default format for sub-folders

If a folder does not have a defined Lister format, it will normally be displayed using the Default Lister format. This tells Opus to use the current format for any sub-folders.

Note: If the lock gadget in the Status Bar is closed, Opus will always use the current format to display folder contents.

Columns

Both Details and Power mode allow the traditional columns but have been greatly enhanced with dozens of extra Opus-only columns. These include fields such as Extension, expanded time and date fields, relative size and date fields that are displayed as bar graphs, various description fields for images, document and MP3s, program and module versions and more. Also, both FTP and ZIP have their own descriptive fields. For example, FTP provides a description field (for linked files or index descriptions provided by the server) and a Transfer Time (which shows the approximate time required to transfer each file at your current line speed.

The Available fields are displayed in categories to make it easy to locate the display columns. Use the columns dialog to add / remove and sort the columns to suit your personal preferences. The above image shows a field (Shooting Time) being dragged from the Available fields to the Displayed fields.

Sorting

•	Sort by

Defines the column by which the Lister display will be sorted. Select from one of the available column fields in the display.

•	Reverse order

Reverses the order of the sort.

•	Numeric name head sorting

Sorts numbers numerically rather than alphabetically. This ensures that files beginning with numbers will sort in their correct order. For example, 1, 2, 10 would be sorted in this order rather than 1, 10, 2.

•	Numeric name tail sorting

Similar to Numeric name head sorting, except it applies to filenames that end rather than begin with numbers.

•	Word sort (special handling for hyphens, etc)

By default, Opus uses a traditional string sort which sorts items on the ASCII value of the character. This is usually more logical when sorting lists of files. Other programs such as Windows Explorer, use a word sort that treats hyphens and apostrophes differently than it treats other symbols that are not alphanumeric. This ensures that words such as "coop" and "co-op" stay together within a sorted list. (Note that the default string sort uses lexicographic order which may vary with non-English languages.)

Mixing

Mixing allows you to specify how folders and files should be sorted: all folders before files, all files before folders, or display files and folders intermixed as defined by the sort order.

Filters

The Show and Hide Filter allows you to define exactly what items will be shown in the file display by matching a name pattern or file Attribute. You can specify separate filters for files and folders. For example, the filter to the right is designed to show only a limited range of images files –those with file extensions of .jpg or .bmp, or .gif. The wild cards which may be used for the file name pattern are *, #, ?, |, (), [], ~ or single quote. See Pattern Matching Syntax in the Appendix for more details.


Advanced Folder Options

Opus allows you to set default Lister formats to apply to all folders, all FTP directories, local, networked or removable drives and ZIP archives. As well, you can override these default formats by creating specific formats for specific folders and individual FTP sites. You can also create ‘Defined’ formats to be used by name in other parts of Opus such as with Toolbar buttons. Advanced Folder Options also displays any special formats you have saved for specific folders.


The Opus Picture Viewer

Opus provides a fast and efficient integrated picture viewer, that supports most common image formats such as JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, IFF, etc. The Viewer can also support additional file formats by installing Viewer Plug-ins. It is invoked by the Opus command Show and has been set up for you as the eye icon in the default Toolbar.

Viewing images is simple: select an image or images in the Lister and click the View button in the default Toolbar. Or, if enabled from Preferences –Double-Click, simply double-click on the image. You may also drag an image or images and drop it on the View button. This last option is very useful if the image is on the Desktop or in a virtual folder where Opus commands do not function.

The Viewer supports a wide range of functions including changing the image size, rotating the image, full screen view and so on. These functions are available from the viewer menus and from the popup context menu over the image. If you have selected multiple images, the viewer allows you move quickly between the selected images and even view them as a slideshow.

The Viewer has an optional "control bar", a toolbar that appears at the bottom of the window. This provides quick access to commonly used functions (rotate, zoom, print, etc). The control bar can be turned on or off using the option in the View menu.

The File menu in the Viewer window contains commands that let you configure and view information about the current Viewer Plug-in, if any. From the File menu you can also move, copy or delete the current image file, and you can set the currently viewed image as your desktop wallpaper.


The Viewer Settings

•	Auto-size Viewer window

This adjusts the size of the display window to that of the image according to this setting. Otherwise, the viewer remembers its last size and position when you next open it regardless of the image size.

•	Cycle through images with mouse wheel

Activates the mouse wheel so that you may scroll easily through multiple images with the wheel instead of pressing the Space bar or the Next (or Last) buttons.

•	Frame image

This option causes the image display size to be reduced slightly and displayed within a black pixel frame. It can improve the visual appearance of the Viewer.

•	Generate Next / Previous list automatically on double-click

This option enables the automatic recognition of all images in the current folder. When you double-click on an image, Opus will create a list of all the current images in the current folder and make them available in the Viewer via the Next and Previous buttons.

•	Hide scrollbars

This option allows you to hide the scrollbars that normally appear if the image is too large for the window. If scrollbars are hidden you will need to use the left mouse button to scroll around the image (that is, the Scroll with left mouse button option should also be enabled).

•	Recycle viewer window

If this option is turned on, Directory Opus will attempt to use an existing Viewer window when you double-click on an image file rather than opening a new one.

•	Background color

This option lets you configure the background color of the Viewer. If you set this to Auto then Opus will pick a color automatically from the image.

•	Left mouse button

This option lets you configure the behavior of the Viewer when you click on the image with the left button. If set to Advance to next image, clicking the left mouse button will display the next image in the list. If set to Scroll image, and the image is larger than the viewer's window, this allows you to pan around the display by clicking and dragging in the image window with the left mouse button. Otherwise the left button performs a highlight action allowing you to copy a section of the image to the clipboard. Note you can always access the clipboard selection function by holding the Shift key when you click the left button.

•	Automatic slideshow

When multiple files are selected, the Viewer will show automatically each file in turn with the defined delay.

•	Randomize slideshow

Displays the images in the slideshow in random order.

•	Slideshow speed (seconds)

Lets you control the speed of the slideshow.


Viewer Plug-in System

Although Opus natively understands many common image file formats, its capabilities can be extended further using the Viewer plug-in system. This system lets third-party developers write plug-ins that extend the file viewing capability of Opus. An SDK which includes the source code to the TARGA (TGA) plug-in is available royalty free from the GPSoftware website.

Opus ships as standard with a number of plug-ins provided – more will be released by GPSoftware (and hopefully third parties!) in the future. The plug-ins currently provided are:

•	text.dll

Provides basic text- and hex-viewing capabilities. This plug-in is the "default" and is used as a fallback if no other plug-in is able to view a given file.

•	targa.dll

Displays TARGA (TGA) format image files

•	pcx.dll

Displays ZSoft Paintbrush (PCX) format image files

•	pdfactivex.dll

Displays Adobe Acrobat (PDF) documents. This PDF uses the ActiveX control provided by the free Adobe Acrobat Reader – if you do not have Acrobat Reader installed on your system, this plug-in will be unavailable.

•	pdftext.dll

Displays PDF documents in text-only form. You can use this plug-in to view the contents of PDF files even if you don’t have the Acrobat Reader plug-in installed.

•	mp3.dll

Displays and lets you edit the ID3 tags (both ID3v1 and ID3v2) of MP3 files. See the following section on the MP3 plug-in for more information.

•	pdqvp.dll

Utilizes the OutsideIn viewer technology from Stellent, Inc. These viewers are supplied with a number of third-party products including Powerdesk Professional (www.ontrack.com) and Quick View Plus (www.jasc.com). If you have these viewers installed on your computer, the pdqvp.dll plug-in can access them, letting you view the 200+ file formats supported by this technology from within Opus. See the pdqvp.pdf document that has been installed in your Directory Opus Viewers folder for more information on this plug-in.


Viewer Plugin Manager
Viewer Plug-in Manager

You can access the Viewer Plug-in Manager from the default Settings menu. The Viewer Plug-in Manager lets you configure your installed Viewer Plug-ins. From this dialog you can selectively enable or disable plug-ins, configure them and view information about them, and change the order in which they are invoked. For example, you may have two different plug-ins that can both handle a given type of file. Using the Plug-in Manager you could rearrange the plug-in order so that the plug-in you want to use for that file type is called first.


Text Viewer Plug-in

The text.dll Viewer plug-in lets you view text files, and also binary files in hex mode. It behaves as the "default catch-all" plug-in – the plug-in that is invoked if no other plug-in can handle the selected file.

From the Viewer Plug-in Manager you can configure the Text Viewer plug-in by selecting it and clicking the Configure button.

You can configure the font used in both text and hex modes. Note that the hex mode can be disabled if you never want to view files in this way. The Maximum file size for Viewer Pane option lets you configure the maximum file size that can be viewed in the Viewer Pane in a Lister.

When viewing a file in the text viewer, click the right mouse button to display the Viewer Pane context menu. From here you can toggle word-wrap on or off and switch from text to hex mode and back again.


MP3 Tag Editor

The mp3.dll Viewer plug-in lets you view and edit the most commonly used ID3 tags in MP3 files. To access the Tag Editor, simply open the Viewer Pane and select the MP3 file you wish to edit (or select the MP3 file and click the Show button to open the tag editor in the standalone viewer window).

The Tag Editor displays all the currently configured tags. To make changes, simply enter the information as desired and then click the Save button to update the MP3 file. The Undo button can be used to discard any changes you have made and revert to the original tag settings.

The drop-down arrow to the right of the filename field lets you show or hide the MP3 audio information (in this image it is displayed). When the audio information is displayed there are also "play" and "stop" buttons to let you listen to the currently selected file (you need to have Windows Media Player installed for this feature to work.)

The Tag Editor can also be configured by selecting its entry in the Plug-in Manager and clicking the Configure button. The options available are:

•	Add 'Edit Tags' option to MP3 context menu

If this option is enabled, Opus will add an ‘Edit Tags’ item to the context menu for MP3 files. Selecting this item will open the file in the Opus standalone Image Viewer.

•	Automatically save changes

If this option is enabled, changes to ID3 tags are automatically saved when the currently viewed file is closed (either by closing the Viewer Pane or by moving on to another file.)

•	Save ID3v1 tag as well

If this option is enabled, the information you supply will be saved in an ID3v1 tag as well as in ID3v2 format.

•	Copy tags from other MP3s by drag and drop

You can drop MP3 files onto the Tag Editor to copy tags into the currently viewed file. This option controls which tags are copied by default. If you drag and drop with the right mouse button, a popup menu is displayed that lets you override the default setting.


PD-QVP Viewer Plug-in

This plug-in utilizes the Outside In viewer technology from Stellent, Inc. This system of file viewers is supplied with a number of third-party products including Powerdesk and Quick View Plus. If you have these viewers installed on your computer, the pdqvp.dll plug-in can access them, letting you view the 200+ file formats supported by this technology from within Opus.

The PD-QVP Plug-in can be configured via the Plug-in Manager. From here, you can tell the plug-in where it can find the Outside In viewers. The first time the plug-in is invoked it will attempt to automatically locate the Outside In viewers (by looking for an installation of either Powerdesk or Quick View Plus, and using the most recent version of the viewers if both are found.) If, however, the attempt to automatically locate the viewers fails, you will need to use the Locate function to manually configure the viewer DLL location.

From the plug-in configuration dialog you can also access the Display, Printer and Clipboard configuration settings of the Outside In viewers themselves. These are not documented here – please refer to the documentation of either Powerdesk or Quick View Plus for more information.


The Opus File Filter System

Directory Opus has an exclusive file filter system, which is used in several parts of the program, including Find, Advanced File Selection and the Copy and Delete Filters.

The file filter system lets you match and identify files by a number of methods: name, size, date and time, attributes, type, etc, as well as by the contents of the files themselves.

File filters, no matter what they are used for, are configured through a common interface called the Advanced Filter Control.

The above image shows the default, or initial filter. This is initially created to give you a starting point from which to build your own filters, however it can be modified easily, or you may even create a new one from scratch.

Filters are like documents in some ways in that they can be saved to disk and re-loaded for later use. The toolbar at the top of the Advanced Filter Control area lets you do this. The New Filter (first) button clears the current filter completely – if you hold the Shift key down when you click it, however, it re-creates the default filter shown above. The Load Selection (second) button in the toolbar loads a filter from disk, and the Save Filter (third) button saves the contents of the current filter for later use.

You can use filters interchangeably (with supported functions): for example, a filter that you originally defined for use with the Find command can just as easily be used for Advanced File Selection when selecting for recursive copy operation.

A file filter consists of a list of matching commands, which define tests that Directory Opus applies to files and folders. If a file or folder passes all of the tests that a filter defines, it is said to have been matched by the filter.

You can define as many matching commands in a filter as you like. To add a matching command, click on the small plus button on the left of the filter control. The plus button that you click on determines where the new matching command will be inserted. If you click on the very last plus button in the filter, the new command will be added to the end. Similarly, click on a minus button to remove a matching command from the filter. Be careful though! There is no undo feature here, so it is often safer to simply disable a matching command by turning off the checkbox to the right of the minus button. In the above picture, all matching commands in the filter are disabled except for the very first. When a matching command is disabled, the filter ignores it completely – it is treated as if it wasn’t there at all. Note that you cannot edit a disabled matching command – you need to enable it first.

All the matching commands employ the use of special hidden field controls. These are normal Windows-style controls and are used to edit the contents of the matching commands, however they are normally hidden from display to enhance the readability of the filter. When you click on a field in a matching command, the control used to edit it is displayed and remains visible until you click somewhere else.

The matching commands are conjoined by the Boolean operations And and Or. To change which operation is in use, click the spot where the word And or Or currently appears. A drop-down list will appear letting you select the operation you desire. Most of the other hidden field controls work in the same way.

There are many different types of matching commands. The most common is Name, which lets you match a file by filename using wildcard pattern and regular expression matching. (See Appendix A for more details.) Often this will be the only command you need to use, however you can construct extremely powerful and complex filters by combining different types of matching commands.

When you add a matching command to the filter, it is initially set to Name. Changing the type of matching command is as easy as changing the conjunction ((Boolean Operator as shown above) – click on the current file characteristic, and a drop-down list will appear letting you select a different file characteristic to use.

A matching command can also be negated: for example, you may want to match all files that don’t match a particular wildcard pattern. The easiest way to do this is to define the matching command as if you did want it to match, and then change the match option from Match to No Match. Again, click on the current option and select the desired one from the drop-down list.

The matching commands that are available are as follows:

•	Attributes

Lets you match files and folders based on attributes (Read-only, Archived, Hidden and System). You can specify attributes that must be on and attributes that must be off for the filter to match. Any attributes that are not set in either the on or off fields are ignored.

•	Compare

Lets you compare files and folders for differences. This command is only available in filters used for the Advanced File Selection function. The comparison is performed between the source and destination folders. You can test for items that are the same, or items that differ by size, date or both.

•	Contains

Lets you test if files contain a given text string. You can search for a verbatim string of text, or enable the wildcards or regular expression options to enable pattern matching. You can also choose to only match whole words (words that are surrounded by spaces or punctuation), and select whether the search is case-sensitive or not.

You can use the / (forward slash) character to specify non-ASCII characters to search for in plain text and wildcard searches (but not regular expression). The following codes are valid:

//	Literal / character
/r	CR (carriage return)
/n	LF (linefeed)
/t	Tab
/xHH	Lets you specify an ASCII value in hex, e.g. /x2F
/DDD	Lets you specify an ASCII value in decimal, e.g. /123

•	Date

Lets you match files and folders based on their modification, creation or last access date. You can test for a specific date, or use a date range (for example, all files modified within the last week). Note that some file systems may not support the last access date.

•	Date/Time

This is similar to Date except that you can specify a time as well as a date, for more precise matching.

•	Filter

This lets you use another filter that you have previously created and saved to disk. This can be extremely useful: for example, you can define a complicated filter to match a specific set of files, and then refer to that filter in a second filter that also tests for additional characteristics.

•	MP3

This command lets you test for MP3 file attributes. You can select from Artist, Bit rate, Comment, Genre, Sample rate, Song length and Title, or you can search any field in the MP3 information area. For example, you could use this to automatically select all MP3 files with a bit rate greater than 160 kHz.

•	Name

Lets you match files and folders based on their filenames. You can search for an exact filename, or enable the wildcards or regular expression options to enable pattern matching.

•	Size

Lets you match files (not folders) based on their size. You can choose from greater than, less than or equal to. To test for files between two sizes (for example, greater than 5 KB and less than 20 KB), use two separate Size commands conjoined with And.

•	Subclause

This is a special matching command that lets you construct extremely complex filters. It takes the place of brackets in a mathematical equation. For example, match files where the size is greater than 5 KB and less than 20 KB, Or files where the size is greater than 50 KB and less than 100 KB would be represented using two subclauses as follows.

Subclause	Match

Size	Match	is greater than	5 KB

And	Size	Match	is less than	20 KB

Or	Subclause	Match

Size	Match	is greater than	50 KB

And	Size	Match	is less than	100 KB

•	Time

This command is similar to Date except you can match files and folders based on their time stamps rather than their date stamps.

•	Type

This command lets you match files based on their type. This is an alternative to using the Name command to specify a wildcard file extension. For example, instead of have a "Name *.txt" command, you can have a "Type Text Document" field. This can make the filter much easier to read.

You can also use the Type command in combination with the Subclause command to exclude folders from file operations using the Copy/Delete Filters. For example, if you wanted to copy everything except a folder called ‘Debug’, you would add the following command to the filter.

Subclause	No Match

Name	Match	Debug

And	Type	Match	Folders Only


Opus Find

Opus implements its own Find command which makes it easy to search for files of a given type or those which match defined patterns or contain specific information. Find has a Simple mode which is more like the traditional Explorer Find function. It also has an Advanced mode, which employs the extensive range of functions available via the Advanced Filter Control, to provide you with a very very powerful search capability.

The Find function operates in any real folder including local or networked drives and ZIP files. Since they are not controlled by Opus, Find is not available in true virtual folders such as My Computer etc. Find can also search multiple hard drives (you can either select the drives you wish to search, or you can choose to search all local drives automatically.)

This image shows the simple mode for the Opus FIND command after a search with the results displayed in the Find Window at the bottom of the display.

This image shows the Advanced mode of the Opus FIND command.

The Find Window presents several sections. The top section (1) defines the starting folder for the find operation as well as several self-explanatory options. The initial starting folder is taken as the current folder from where find was invoked but can be changed by browsing for a different folder or one or more drives. Section (2) defines the parameters for the search. In Simple mode, you can enter a filename wildcard pattern, search for text within files, and specify file type, size and date parameters. In Advanced mode, you may select from a wide range of options in the same manner (described in Chapter 9 – The Opus File Filter System) as well as the Copy and Delete Filters. The bottom section (3) display the results of the search if enabled via the Show Results in Find window option in (1). Alternatively the results will be displayed in the Output Window. This display behaves in a manner similar to that of a Lister with selectable columns and popup context menus. Also shown above are (A) the column title menu, (B) the file context menu and (C) the default context menu. Files may be selected and dragged out of this window as normal. From the file context menu you may open the folder containing the selected file in a new Lister, perform a variety of file actions including Open, Cut & Copy (to Clipboard), Delete and Rename or display the Properties of the file. Other popup menus are shown above.


Using the Advanced File Filter in Find

With the power of Opus’s extensive Advanced Filter Control functions, you can search for simple file name matches or define extended search parameters. See the previous chapter for details on how to use The Opus File Filter System.

For example, the image above shows a typical search which is made simple in the Opus Advanced File Filter but may not even be possible with other search facilities. The requirement was to find all the GIF or JPEG images in a FrontPage Web graphics folder which had been added or changed in the last 13 days. This needed to look for all files with the extension ‘jpg’ or ‘gif’ which had been created or modified during that period. For sanity it also need to ignore the contents of any special folders used by FrontPage for administrative tasks, that is, to not look inside folders beginning with an underscore. The search criteria were set to:

Name 	Match 	*.(jpg|gif)

And 	Date 	Match 	modified within 13 days

And 	SubClause 	No Match

Name 	Match 	_*

And	Type 	No Match 	Folders Only.

Remember that in the similar manner, the Advanced Filter Control functions can be used with the Select command for selecting files within a Lister and also with the recursive Copy and Delete filters.


The Opus Output Window

Opus provides a special place to display the results of various functions. This is called the Opus Output Window. It displays the following data:

•	Find

Displays the result of Find command searches unless these have been directed to the Find Window itself.

•	Undo

Displays a list of the last 10 undoable file operations performed by Opus. From here you may select one or more items and click the Undo button. Opus will attempt to reverse the action if possible. Note that not all actions can be undone.

•	Log

If Logging has been enabled from Preferences – Logging, displays the Log Page of your file operations. This can prove indispensable for tracking file operations – especially if you did not intend to perform a specific function.. For example, you may need to find out what has happened to files that you have accidentally dropped in the wrong folder or accidentally deleted!

•	Test

Shows the result of testing difficult or complicated pattern matching for the Rename command.

•	FTP

If enabled from Preferences – FTP, displays the FTP Page session log for an FTP connection.

Dragging the Output Window around the screen

There is an option in Preferences - Miscellaneous to allow the Output Window to dock with the edge of the screen. If this option is enabled, dragging the Output Window near the top or bottom edges of the screen will cause it to automatically dock – hold down the Shift key to override this behavior. If the Output Window docks you can undock it again by dragging the grab bar away from the edge of the screen, or use the Undock command in the context menu.


Opus FTP

Directory Opus 6 includes a powerful, multi-threaded FTP engine. When you use FTP via Opus, you do not need to worry about the peculiarities of the FTP protocol itself or learn any special commands. All of this is seamlessly integrated into the program and you can quickly and easily connect to a remote FTP sites through a traditional Opus file Lister.

Opus FTP allows you to access files and folders as if they were on a local hard drive, and almost all the normal Opus actions and commands will function as you are used to. You can copy to and from the remote site, delete files, rename files, change the attributes of files, double-click a file to view or read it, and so on. You can even use the Viewer Pane to view files on the FTP site without downloading them first! Of course, your ability to perform some functions such as delete, etc, will depend on whether you have the appropriate permission from the remote site

Directory Opus uses the TCP/IP stack provided by your Operating System. It is assumed that this is installed and operating correctly and that you are connected to the Internet. Problems with TCP/IP and the connection are beyond the scope and responsibility of Directory Opus.

Connecting to an FTP Site

Directory Opus provides a Quick Connect command for you to access new FTP sites as well as a full-featured address book for repeated access to your favorite sites. These commands are available from the FTP menu in the default menu. Alternatively, you can directly enter a valid FTP URL into the path filed of an existing Lister. The URL format is defined in RFC 1738 and is of the form:

FTP://<user>:<password>@<host>:<port>/<url-path>

In the address book, the connection parameters and other details can be extensively tailored to match the characteristics of a given FTP site. See Preferences – FTP for further details.

• You can drag FTP sites out of the address book to create a shortcut on the Desktop. Double-clicking on the shortcut will open the site in a new Lister and dropping external files on to a Desktop FTP shortcut will connect to that site and transfer the file(s).

Connections

When you connect to an FTP site, Opus initially opens a single control connection to the designated site for the current or a new Lister. Opus uses this connection to obtain directory listings and perform file functions. You can open as many remote sites at the one time as you wish, but each Lister will open its own, new connection to the site in the current Lister.

Normally, the initial connection will be used for all activities such as reading directory contents, transferring files and so on. However, because FTP is a blocking protocol, a connection can only perform one action at a time. With traditional FTP programs, if you are copying files, you cannot perform another action until the copy finishes. With Opus, this is not so. To prevent blocking of the Lister, Opus uses an internal connection arbiter which ensures that access to the site is always available when needed. This will invisibly spawn new connections if the current connection is busy. For example, if you start copying files then change directories while the copy is underway, a new connection will be established with the site to read the directory and perform subsequent commands. Such background connections are automatically closed when the task they are performing has completed. This mechanism ensures that a remote FTP directory behaves just like a folder on a local drive.

Binary or ASCII File Transfers

By default, Opus uses a binary transfer method when transferring files between your local drive and a remote server. This ensures the integrity of the data. File contents are never altered during the transfer.

You may need to transfer text type files such as htm, html, asp, C source or scripting files for web servers etc between your local machine and a remote server which is not running Windows. Sometimes it may be required to adjust the EOL (line termination) of the text to account for the difference in file formats between UNIX and MS-DOS. In such cases, you can tell Opus to transfer the files in a special ASCII mode which automatically adjusts the EOL termination. Consult the administrator of the remote server if in doubt.

Or, you can choose Automatic setting whereby Opus will look up the file type from the ASCII Identification List and select between Binary and ASCII as required.

WARNING: If in doubt, always use Binary mode. Do not set ASCII mode for binary files - they will be corrupted by the conversion process.

Closing FTP Connections

You do not have to specifically close an FTP connection. Simply close the Lister or change the Lister path to a local folder, or connect to another FTP site, and Opus will close the existing connection and tidy up behind you. If you leave a connection open for an extended period, it will usually timeout from inactivity after approximately two minutes, unless you have enabled the Keep connection alive option from FTP Preferences.

FTP Directory Cache

The directory contents of the remote folders are fully cached so they do not need to be reread each time. This speeds up access to directories you have visited previously in the session. Directory caches for a given site are preserved by Opus as long as there is at least one connection remaining to the site. When the last connection to a given site is closed, all directory caches are flushed from the system.

File Dates

Many FTP programs only support the restricted time and date formats provided by the original UNIX LS command. Opus fully supports the FTP protocol extensions which allow the display and preservation of the true file date and time (including seconds) of remote files. Opus will also attempt to set the correct file dates for all transferred files. These advanced functions are most commonly seen with SERV-U FTP servers. Whether these extended features are available on a given site depends on the capabilities of the remote FTP server.

Moving Files

On a remote FTP site, you can move files between directories just as you do with a local drive. Either use the Copy MOVE command, Cut and Paste functions, or drag selected files and drop them onto a sub-directory. The move action can also be performed by using the Rename command if the new name is in another directory.

Resume File Transfers

The Opus 6 FTP system provides a handy resume feature which can be useful if you have a slow or unreliable connection, or have to disconnect in the middle of a transfer.

All you need to do is re-establish the connection at some later time and locate the same file - it doesn't have to be in the same place as long as it has the same name as the original. Then, simply select the file you wish to resume, make sure the original partial file is in the destination Lister and click the Copy button. A dialog will appear giving you several options. You may skip or replace the whole file as usual, or resume to receive (or send) the rest of the file. This dialog automatically appears whenever you attempt to copy a file to or from an Opus Lister when a file with an identical name already exists and the source file is larger than the destination file.

• Unfortunately, not all FTP sites support the resume operation.  This depends on the remote operating system.  Some such as WindowsNT4 do, but they resume from byte 0!

Site-to-Site Transfers

Although rarely implemented in other FTP programs, Directory Opus has always supported the transfer of files directly between two remote FTP servers. This is known as site-to-site transfer. Although it is done in full compliance with the FTP protocol, it is not supported by all FTP servers (or most likely has not been enabled). Site-to-site transfers can be a great advantage if you have to maintain remote FTP sites!

If the servers you use do not support this ability, you can select to turn off this behavior for specific sites from the FTP site preferences. In this case, Opus will automatically perform the file transfer instead by downloading the file to your computer first then uploading it to the destination site.


Predefined Commands

Directory Opus has two different command sets, the Raw Command set and the Predefined Command set. The Opus Raw Commands, described fully in a later section of this manual, are the actual commands that Directory Opus understands, and most accept one or more arguments that are used to modify their behavior to accomplish the desired function.

The predefined command set can be thought of as pseudo-commands, commands that are a simple alias to a more complex function built from the raw command set. The predefined commands are those that are displayed in the Customize window, and can be added to Toolbars and menus using drag and drop.

When you drag and drop a command from Customize to a Toolbar to create a new button, the function of the new button is actually set to the underlying raw command, with the appropriate parameters automatically defined. Most of the time you do not need to know anything about the raw command set – the predefined command set provides commands to access almost all of the functionality of Directory Opus.

There are two main types of Directory Opus commands – action and dynamic:

•	Action commands are those commands that actually do something – copy or delete a file, create a new folder, etc.

•	Dynamic commands, by contrast, are used to add dynamically generated action commands to Toolbars or menus. An example of a dynamic command is the Drive Buttons command described below. When you add a Drive Buttons command to a Toolbar, it is replaced dynamically with a set of buttons corresponding to the disk drives in your system. You can then click on one of the dynamically added buttons to actually read the contents of that disk into the current Lister. You can think of dynamic commands as placeholders – they are never used directly, but instead mark the place in a Toolbar where action commands will appear when the program is in use.

For example, [image] in Customize mode may turn into [image] in normal use.

The predefined commands are grouped in the Customize window into several categories, intended to make it easier to find the particular command you want. When a predefined command is listed below, the equivalent raw command and arguments are also shown following the command name in color.


All Commands

The All Commands category is not a category in itself; rather it gives you a single list of all the predefined commands from which to choose from. If you know the name of a predefined command but can’t remember which category it appears in, you can find it in the All Commands list in alphabetical order.


Default Menus

The Default Menus category lets you access the Directory Opus default menus and Toolbars. For example, if you had modified your default Lister menu and wanted to restore the default File menu while leaving all other menus as they are, you can drag the Default File Menu command from this category and drop it into a Toolbar.


Edit

The Edit category provides commands that normally appear in the Edit menu of Directory Opus. This includes commands having to do with clipboard functionality (Copy, Cut, Paste), file selection (Select All, etc) and the undo commands.

•	Copy	Clipboard COPY

This command copies all currently selected files and folders in the active Lister to the clipboard. The files on the clipboard can then be pasted into another folder using the Paste command.

•	Cut	Clipboard CUT

This command is similar to the Copy command, except that when the files are pasted into another folder, the original files are deleted. That is, this command in conjunction with Paste performs a Move rather than a Copy. Note that when you Cut files, the files are not actually deleted until they are pasted into a new location.

•	Paste	Clipboard PASTE

This command pastes files and folders that are currently on the clipboard into the active Lister. If the files that are on the clipboard were put there by a Cut command rather than a Copy command, the original files will be deleted.

If the clipboard does not contain files but instead contains an image, the Paste command will write that image to the active Lister as a file called Clipboard Image.bmp. Similarly, text on the clipboard will be written to a text file called Clipboard Text.txt.

•	Paste Shortcut 	Clipboard PASTESHORTCUT

This command pastes shortcuts to the files that are on the clipboard into the active Lister. Shortcuts are small files that refer to the original files – the original files themselves are not moved or copied by this function.

•	Read Only	Set READONLY=Toggle

This command is used within ZIP files to toggle the ‘read-only’ status for that ZIP file. This is not the same as the ‘read-only’ file attribute – it is an internal flag that Directory Opus maintains. When a ZIP file is set internally as read-only, it can not be modified from within Directory Opus. You can use the Open ZIP files as read-only by default flag in Preferences to cause all ZIP files to be set to ‘read-only’ when they are first accessed.

•	Reselect	Select RESELECT

This command reselects all files and folders in the active Lister which were unselected by the operation of the previous command. For example, if you select five files in the current Lister and copy them somewhere, the files will no longer be selected. Selecting the Reselect command would cause them to be reselected.

•	Select Advanced	Select ADVANCED

This command opens the Advanced Selection dialog. Directory Opus has two ‘wildcard’-based selection modes. The simple mode allows you to type a single wildcard pattern (or regular expression) to select files in the active Lister by filename. The advanced mode offers a full expression-based command system for file selection, supporting selection by file contents and attributes as well as by filename.

•	Select All	Select ALL

This command simply selects all files and folders in the active Lister.

•	Select Field

This command adds a text entry field (with drop-down history list) to a toolbar that lets you enter a wildcard pattern to immediately select files and folders in the current Lister. It is equivalent to using the Select Wild command without displaying the file selection dialog.

•	Select Invert	Select INVERT

This command inverts the selection of all files and folders in the active Lister. That is, files that are currently selected are unselected, and vice versa.

•	Select None	Select NONE

This command deselects all files and folders in the active Lister.

•	Select Wild 	Select

This command opens the file selection dialog. The dialog has two modes, simple and advanced, and when you use this command to open it, it is opened in the mode it was last used in.

•	Undo	Undo

This command attempts to undo the last action that you performed. Directory Opus remembers the last ten actions that you perform that are undoable. When you undo an action, it is removed from the ‘undo list’, and so the next time you invoke the undo command the second-last undo command will be undone.

Most basic file commands can be undone; for example, Copy, Create Folder, Rename, etc. The effects of the Delete command can also be undone provided the files were deleted to the Windows Recycle Bin. There is an option in the File Operations section of Preferences to enable the use of the Recycle Bin.

•	Undo List	Undo LIST

This is a dynamic command that adds a list of all currently undoable actions to the Toolbar or menu. You can select one of the dynamically added items to undo a specific item in the undo list.

•	Undo Menu 	Undo LISTMENU

This is the same as the Undo List command, except that the list of undoable actions is shown in a popup submenu rather than in the Toolbar or menu itself.

•	Undo Page	Undo PAGE

This command opens the Output Window to display the Undo page, where you can see the list of all currently undoable actions and selectively undo them (or undo them all!)


File

The File category provides commands that normally appear in the File menu of Directory Opus.

•	Close Lister 	Close

This command closes the active Lister. Directory Opus itself is left running.

•	Exit 	Close PROGRAM

This command exits Directory Opus. All open Listers and other windows are automatically closed when you select the Exit command.

•	Find	Find

This command opens the Find function which can be used to search for files and folders by name, contents and attributes. The Find function is described in greater detail in Chapter 10.

•	Open New Lister	Go NEW

This command opens a brand new Lister. The folder initially shown in the Lister depends on the settings in the Lister Defaults section of Preferences. The new Lister is opened immediately under the mouse pointer for easy access.

•	Set As Destination	Set STATE=Source

This command sets the active Lister into source mode. This means that it will act as the source for any file commands involving two Listers (e.g. Copy or Move). A Lister is also set to source mode automatically when you click on any file or folder, or on the status bar at the bottom of the window.

•	Set As Source 	Set STATE=Dest

This command sets the active Lister into destination mode. This means it will act as the destination for any file commands involving two Listers (e.g. Copy or Move).


File Commands

The File Commands are the workhorse of Directory Opus. They are commands that operate directly on the files or folders, letting you copy, move, delete or rename them. They are what make Directory Opus a file manager. Most file commands act within the context of the currently active source Lister and on the selected files or folders within that Lister. Some commands, like Copy or Move require both a source and a destination Lister. If there is no destination Lister available when you select one of these commands, you will be prompted to select the destination folder for the function.

•	Add To ZIP	Copy ADDTOZIP

This command lets you add all selected files and folders to a new or existing ZIP file. It displays the Add to ZIP dialog box letting you choose a ZIP file to add the selected files to, and set compression/password parameters. It is equivalent to the Add to ZIP… file context menu comment.

•	Copy As	Copy As

This command copies all selected files and folders in the active Lister to the destination. The difference between this command and the Copy File command is that Copy As lets you give new names to the copied files automatically. During the copy process, you will be prompted to enter a new name for each file or folder that is copied.

You will notice that there are two text fields in the Copy As dialog. The top field shows the original name of the file and the bottom field is where you can enter a new filename. However, you can also use this function to perform batch renames of the copied files, by entering an asterisk to replace a section of the name.

This would cause all copied files that end in .jpg to be automatically renamed to end with –picture.jpg. For example, a file called dh2-panorama.jpg would be copied as dh2-panorama-picture.jpg.

•	Copy File	Copy

This command copies all selected files and folders in the source Lister to the destination. If any folders are selected to be copied, the setting of the Copy Filter will determine which files are copied. By default, the attributes and timestamps of files are preserved when they are copied – you can override this behavior from the File Operations section of Preferences.

Directory Opus has special handling when you are trying to copy over existing DLL, EXE or OCX files that are locked or in use by another process. In this instance, Opus will detect that the file is in use and will offer to defer the copy process until the system is restarted. If you choose to do this Opus copies the file to a temporary folder, and then next time you restart the system the file will be automatically copied to its intended destination. You can view and cancel deferred file copies (before restarting) through the Undo system.

Directory Opus supports the Windows XP CD burning system. When you attempt to copy a file to a writeable CD, Opus copies the file to the CD burning staging folder automatically. If you do not wish to use the Windows XP CD burning system, you can turn off this support from the Reading Folders section of Preferences.

•	Create Folder 	CreateFolder

This command lets you create a new folder in the current Lister. You can enter multiple path levels separated by \ to create sub-folders automatically. If you select the Read new folder automatically option, Directory Opus will automatically read the newly created folder into the current Lister.

•	Delete	Delete

This command deletes all selected files and folders in the active Lister. If you have the Delete using Windows Recycle Bin option turned on in the File Operations section of Preferences, the files will be moved to the Recycle Bin instead of being permanently deleted. Files that have been moved to the Recycle Bin can be recovered later using the Undo function or by manually browsing to the Recycle Bin.

Note that even with the Recycle Bin option turned on, files can not always be recycled successfully. For example, files on network drives or removable media like floppy disks can not be moved to the Recycle Bin. In this case, you will be warned that the files are going to be permanently deleted.

If any folders are selected to be deleted, the setting of the Delete Filter will determine which files are deleted.

•	Duplicate	Copy DUPLICATE

This command is similar to the Copy As command, except that the selected files are copied back to the source folder rather than to a different destination folder.

•	Email Files	Copy SENDMAIL

This command opens your default email client and sends all selected files as an attachment to a new email message. This command is subject to the Use MAPI setting in the Miscellaneous / Internet Settings section of Preferences.

•	Extract	Copy EXTRACT

This command is similar to the Copy command, except it is only designed for use with folders or ZIP files. It copies the contents of the selected folder or ZIP file to be copied to the destination folder, rather than the folder or ZIP file itself.

For example, say you have a ZIP file called test.zip containing a file called My Document.txt. If you select the test.zip file and run the Extract command on it, the file My Document.txt will be extracted from it and copied to the destination folder. This function provides a quick way to extract the contents of a ZIP file or folder without having to enter it and copy the contents out manually.

•	Get Sizes	GetSizes

Ordinarily, only files have a size displayed in the Lister. This command operates on all selected folders in the active Lister, and makes Directory Opus calculate their size. The size that is displayed is the total size of all files within each folder, and is not necessarily representative of the amount of disk space used by the folder. If a folder contains no files at all, its size will be shown as empty.

If a folder already has a size displayed for it (if you have automatic sizing turned on the Reading Folders section of Preferences), you can use the Get Sizes command to recalculate the size manually.

•	Join	Join

The Join command lets you join together multiple files into one big file. It is mainly used when you have a file that has been split into multiple parts (i.e. for transmission via email) and you wish to recombine the parts.

When you run the Join command, all selected files in the active Lister are automatically added to the list of files to join. However, you can add more files to this list using the Add button in the Join dialog, or drag and drop files from another Lister to the Join window. You can also use drag and drop or the Move buttons to change the order of files within the join list. You also need to specify the name of the output file (the joined file).

Often files that have been split have also been uuencoded for reliable transmission via email systems. If the files you are recombining have been encoded in this way, select the UUDecode option to automatically decode the joined file.

•	Move As	Copy MOVE AS

The Move As command works like the Copy As command, except that the files and folders are moved instead of copied. This means that after the files are copied to the destination, the original files are deleted.

•	Move File	Copy MOVE

This command is similar to the Copy File command, except that selected files and folders are moved instead of copied.

•	New ZIP Folder	CreateFolder ZIP

This command lets you create a new ZIP file. ZIP files are similar to folders in many ways except their contents are compressed, meaning they often take up much less space than normal folders. They are especially useful for sending multiple files via email.

•	Play	Play

This command uses the built-in sound player to play all selected sound files in the active Lister. The built-in sound player is a simple utility designed to play a sound without the possible overhead of loading an external player. It supports the WAV format as well as any other sound files for which there is a system codec installed.

The Play window displays some basic information on the sound currently being played, and has four controls which, from left to right, are Restart, Stop, Play and a slider which lets you select the position within the file to begin playing from. The Close Play window when finished option causes the Play window to be automatically closed when the sound finishes playing. If you turn this option off, the Play window will remain open after the sound finishes allowing you to play the sound again if you desire.

•	Print	Print

This command prints all selected files to the printer that you select. Directory Opus can natively print only the picture formats that it understands (JPEG, GIF, ILBM, etc). However, using system-defined print handlers it can print many other types of file. For example, when you select a text file and choose the Print command, the system-defined print handler, which is set by default to Notepad, is automatically invoked to print the selected file.

Under Windows XP, the Print command invokes the system Photo Printing Wizard when you select recognized image files to print. The Wizard is also invoked when you select Print with no files selected.

•	Properties	Properties

This command displays the standard system Properties dialog for all selected files and folders. It is the equivalent of right clicking on a file and choosing Properties from the context menu.

•	Rename	Rename

This command allows you to change the names of all selected files and folders. You can rename files one by one, or use wildcards to perform a batch rename.

The batch rename is similar in functionality to the wildcard rename used in the Copy As and Move As functions, however it also offers the use of find and replace, case modification, regular expressions and a special test mode.

Case modification lets you automatically modify the capitalization of selected files. You can choose from All Upper-case, All Lower-case, Capitalize First Word, Capitalize All Words, Upper-case Extension and Lower-case Extension.

If you have Regular expressions turned off, you can still use a single asterisk wildcard to batch rename files as described above for the Copy As command. Alternatively, you can activate the Find and replace mode. With this option turned on, the Rename function acts like a Find & Replace function in a word processor. Enter the text within the filename that you wish to search for in the old name field, and the text you wish to replace it with in the new name field. Any files whose filenames do not contain the text you enter will not be modified.

With the regular expression option turned on, you can use full regular expression syntax (see the Appendix) to completely control the rename process. The Rename dialog has a drop-down history list of your past regular expression renames.

The Automatically rename if new filename exists flag can be used in conjunction with batch rename to automatically avoid clashes with existing files. Files to be renamed automatically have a number appended to the new name if a file by that name already exists.

The Test mode option lets you test whether a wildcard or regular expression rename would produce the desired results. With this option turned on, no files are actually renamed. Rather, the results of the command are displayed in the Test page of the Opus Output Window, letting you see the effect of the command before actually performing the rename.

If the results are as you desired you can then turn off the Test mode option and perform the rename for real. Or, you can revise the old and new name parameters and test the rename again with new settings.

The Rename files in selected sub-folders lets you automatically rename all files in selected sub-folders. This only makes sense with a case modification, wildcard or regular expression rename. We suggest you use the Test mode to verify the results of the rename before using this option.

•	Set Attributes	SetAttr

The Set Attributes command lets you modify the attributes and timestamps of all selected files and folders. The attributes you can modify are Read Only (file can not be deleted or modified), Archive (file is marked for backup), Hidden (file is not normally displayed) and System (file is a system file). You can also set the creation and last modified time to a specific date and time.

If you turn on the Make the same changes to files within selected folders option, all files within selected folders will also be modified. This operation is recursive. You can also use an optional filter to control which files are modified – without a filter, all files are changed by default.

•	Set Description	SetAttr DESCRIPTION

You can use this command to enter your own descriptions for files and folders. Because Windows does not support user-entered descriptions for files, Directory Opus records this information in its own hidden data file. The descriptions you enter are displayed in the Description column in Listers.

•	Shortcut	Copy MAKESHORTCUT

This command makes shortcuts in the destination folder of all selected files and folders in the source Lister. Shortcuts are small files that refer to the original files – the original files themselves are not copied by this function.

•	Show	Show

This command uses the built-in viewer to display all selected files in the active Lister. The built-in viewer is designed to let you view various types of files including images, text and other file formats as supported by the optional Viewer plug-in system. It allows you to view files quickly without the possible overhead of loading an external viewer or editor. Directory Opus natively supports most common graphics formats including JPEG, GIF, TIF, PNG, ILBM, PSD, Windows Bitmap, WMF and EMF as well as the Amiga Icon format (.info).

•	Split	Split

This command is the companion to the Join command, and lets you split a single file into multiple, smaller parts. It also allows you to uuencode the split files for transmission via email. Split operates on the first selected file in the active Lister. You need to specify the output folder for the split files, as well as the chunk size. You can select from one of the predefined chunk sizes or enter your own chunk size in bytes. The split files automatically have a numerical prefix appended indicating their order.

•	Update All	Copy UPDATEALL

This function is used to update files, for example from your local computer to a network drive or FTP site. It operates on all selected files in the active Lister, however the only files that will actually be copied to the destination folder are those files that:

•	do not exist already in the destination, or

•	do exist in the destination but are different from the files in the source

Files that do not meet either of these two criteria are not copied. This is a useful way, for example, to update your web site on a remote FTP server without transferring files unnecessarily.

A file is defined as being different if its timestamp or size has changed – the contents of the file itself are not compared.

Note that you must select all files that you wish to update in the source Lister before running this command.

•	Update Existing	Copy UPDATEEXISTING

This function is very similar to the Update All command, except that files in the destination folder are only updated if they already exist and are different to the source files. Files that do not already exist in the destination are not copied.

•	ZIP and Email Files	Copy SENDMAIL ADDTOZIP

This command combines the Add to ZIP and the Email Files in one. It displays the Add to ZIP dialog box that lets you enter a filename to ZIP all selected files, and then sends the resulting ZIP file as an attachment to a new email message using your default email client.


Go

The Go commands are commands to do with the current folder displayed in a Lister. They let you change between folders, move to a specific folder or the parent of the current folder, and access the History, Recent and Favorites lists.

•	Connect Network Drive	Go CONNECT

This command displays the system dialog that allows you to (dis) connect to, or (un) Map, a network drive to a drive letter.

•	Disconnect Network Drive	Go DISCONNECT

This command displays the system dialog that allows you to disconnect from a network drive.

•	Drive Buttons	Go DRIVEBUTTONS

This is a dynamic command which adds buttons to a Toolbar, corresponding to the disk drives you have in your system. You can then click on these buttons to read those disks into the active Lister.

•	Favorites Add	Favorites ADD

This command adds the folder currently displayed in the active Lister to the Favorites list.

•	Favorites Edit	Favorites EDIT

This command opens the Preferences editor and displays the Favorites List automatically.

•	Favorites List	Favorites

This is a dynamic command that generates a list of your favorite folders. The Favorites list can be edited in the in Preferences.

•	Favorites Menu	Favorites

This command is the same as the Favorites List command above except that the Favorites list is displayed in a popup submenu rather than in the Toolbar or menu itself.

•	Favorites Menu (Dual Display)	Set DUAL=Toggle
 	Favorites OPENINDUAL
 	Favorites OPENINDUAL SMART

This command defines a menu button - a button that acts like a normal button when clicked, but also has an arrow which, when clicked, opens a drop-down menu.

Clicking the button itself will toggle the active Lister between single- and dual-file display modes. If you click the arrow portion of the button, a drop-down menu will appear which displays your Favorites list, followed by any Smart Favorites. Selecting an item from the Favorites list will set the Lister into dual-file display mode (if it is not in this mode already), and then open the folder in the opposite file display.

•	Favorites Smart	Favorites SMART

This is a dynamic command that generates a list of your Smart Favorites.

•	Favorites Smart Menu	Favorites SMART

This command is the same as Favorites Smart except that the Smart Favorites list is displayed in a popup submenu rather than in the Toolbar or menu itself.

•	FTP Quick Connect	Go FTP

This command opens the FTP Quick Connect window, which lets you connect to an arbitrary FTP site and specify login details without having to first enter the FTP site in the Address Book.

The recall button (blue arrow) to the right of the FTP host field lets you quickly retrieve the details of the last FTP site you connected to.

•	FTP Site List	Go FTPSITELIST

This is a dynamic command that generates a list of your defined FTP sites. The FTP Address Book can be edited via the FTP section of the Preferences.

•	FTP Site Menu	Go FTPSITELIST

This command is the same as the FTP Site List command except that the FTP site list is displayed in a popup submenu rather than in the Toolbar or menu itself.

•	Go Back	Go BACK

As you move around folders in a Lister, Directory Opus keeps a list of where you have been (the History List). This is different from the Recent List, because it is maintained on a per-Lister basis rather than globally for the whole system.

The Go Back command lets you quickly move back to the previously visited folder. As well as remembering the folders you have visited, Directory Opus also remembers which files and folders were selected, so that when you move back to a previous folder, the selection state is automatically restored.

•	Go Back (Drop-down List)	Go BACK; Go BACKLIST

This command defines a menu button that gives you the Go Back function on the button itself, and a dynamically generated list of previously visited folders on the drop-down menu portion of the button.

If you click the button itself, you will move back to the previous folder in the History List. If you select a folder from the drop-down list, you will move directly to that folder without having to traverse all the history items in between.

•	Go Forward	Go FORWARD

Similar to the Go Back command, this command lets you move to the next folder in the History List.

•	Go Forward (Drop-down List) 	Go FORWARD; Go FORWARDLIST

This is similar to the Go Back (Drop-down List) command except that it moves to the next folder in the History List rather than the previous one. The dynamically generated list is of all folders in the History List that come after the current folder instead of before.

•	Go To My Computer	Go /mycomputer

This command takes you to the My Computer folder in the system namespace.

•	Go To My Documents Folder 	Go /mydocuments

This command takes you quickly to your My Documents folder.

•	Go To Network Neighborhood	Go /network

This command quickly takes you to the Network Neighborhood folder in the system namespace (note that under Windows 2000 this folder is known as My Network Places).

•	Go To Root	Go ROOT

This command takes you to the root of the current folder. This command is only applicable if the current folder displayed in the Lister is a filesystem folder. For example, the root of C:\Program Files\GPSoftware\Directory Opus is C:\

•	Go To The Desktop	Go /desktop

This command takes you to the Desktop folder.

•	Go To The Recycle Bin	Go /trash

This command quickly takes you to the system Recycle Bin folder.

•	Go To The Start Menu	Go /start

This command takes you to the folder used to store the Start Menu. It is the equivalent of selecting the Advanced option from the Start Menu Programs tab of the system Taskbar Properties dialog.

•	Go To The Startup Folder	Go /startup

This command takes you to the folder (usually a subfolder of the Start Menu) used to store shortcuts for programs automatically run on system startup.

•	Go Up	Go UP

This command takes you to the parent of the currently displayed folder in the active Lister.

•	Path Field

This is a dynamic command that adds a path field control to the Toolbar in which you place it. A path field is a text entry field that lets you enter a path manually. When you enter a path and press the enter key, the Lister will change to display that path.

•	Path Field (Favorites List)

This is similar to the Path Field command, except that the path field added also has a drop-down Favorites List attached to it. This contains a list of your defined Favorite folders.

•	Path Field (Folder Tree)

This is similar to the Path Field command, except that the path field has a drop-down Folder Tree attached to it. This is a cut-down Folder Tree, which shows only the top couple of levels of the system namespace, and the path leading to the current folder. It enables you to quickly see where in the file system you are and to move back to parent folders easily.

•	Path Field (Recent List)

This is similar to the Path Field command, except that the path field also has a drop-down Recent List attached to it. This contains a list of your recently visited folders (this list is maintained globally and is not Lister-specific).

•	Recent List	Recent

This is a dynamic command that generates a list of your recently visited folders. This list is maintained globally and is not specific to the current Lister. You can enable or disable the Recent List functionality and configure the maximum size of the list from the Recent List section in Preferences.

•	Recent List Clear	Recent CLEAR

This command clears the Recent List.

•	Recent Menu	Recent

This command is similar to the Recent List command except that the list of folders generated is displayed in a popup submenu instead of in the Toolbar or menu itself.

•	Swap Source/Destination	Go SWAP

This command swaps the current source and destination folders. If the current Lister is in dual display mode, the left and right file displays will be swapped. Otherwise, the folder in the current Lister will be swapped with the folder in the destination Lister.


Help

The Help commands usually appear in the Help menu of a Lister, and are used to display program information and to gain access to the online help system.

•	About	Help ABOUT

This command displays the Directory Opus About screen, which contains information about the current version of the program, copyright and contact details for technical support, as well as your registration details (or expiry date in case of an evaluation registration).

•	Contents	Help

This command accesses the online help system and displays the contents page.

•	Help Topics	Help TOPICS

This command accesses the online help system and displays the topics or table of contents page.


Miscellaneous

The Miscellaneous commands are commands that do not easily fit into any other category.

•	Change Default Printer	Print DEFAULTLIST

This is a dynamic command that generates buttons for each of your installed printers. Clicking on one of these buttons sets that printer as the default. You can also drag and drop files onto these buttons to print a file directly to a given printer.

•	CLI	CLI

This command opens the Directory Opus CLI (command-line interpreter) interface. This is a very simple keyboard interface to the Directory Opus command set. It lets you enter commands and have them run immediately without having to set up Toolbar buttons first. You will not normally need to use this function.

•	Command Field

This command adds a text entry field (with drop-down history list) to a toolbar that lets you enter a command string (either an Opus internal command or the name of an external program) that is executed immediately. For example, you could enter a command like rename *.txt *.doc if you wanted to rename all .txt files in the current Lister to .doc files without going through the Rename dialog.

•	DOS Prompt Here	CLI DOSPROMPT

This command opens a DOS prompt window, with the current directory set to the source directory in the current Lister.

•	Marker – All Menus	Marker MENU=All

The Marker command is a dynamic command that lets Directory Opus display Toolbar buttons and menu items that are added dynamically by third-party namespace extensions. For example, an FTP namespace extension may add buttons to the Toolbar to switch between ASCII and Binary transfer modes.

Windows Explorer allows a third-party namespace extension to totally replace the Toolbar and menu contents. However, Directory Opus gives full control to the user over the state of the Toolbars, and therefore the Marker commands are necessary to gain access to these dynamically added functions.

The Marker command is a placeholder that tells Directory Opus where to insert the appropriate namespace-added functions.

The Marker – All Menus command marks the spot where all namespace-added menu items are to be displayed.

•	Marker – Edit Menu	Marker MENU=Edit

This command marks the spot where any items added to the standard Edit menu by the namespace are displayed.

•	Marker – File Context Menu	Filetype CONTEXTMENU

This command marks the spot where items defined by the system for the context menu of the selected files or folders are added.

•	Marker – File Menu	Marker MENU=File

This command marks the point where any items added by the namespace to the standard File menu are displayed.

•	Marker – Help Menu	Marker MENU=Help

This command marks the spot where items added to the standard Help menu by the namespace are displayed.

•	Marker – Lister Context Menu 	Filetype CONTEXTMENU=Directory\Background

This command marks the spot where items defined by the system for the context menu for the current folder are added.

•	Marker – Other Menu	Marker MENU =Other

This command marks the spot where menu items defined by the namespace that are not contained in any of the standard menus are displayed.

•	Marker – Toolbar	Marker TOOLBAR

This command identifies where buttons added by the namespace to the Toolbar are displayed (note that you can put a Toolbar marker in a menu and vice versa – in Directory Opus, menus and Toolbars are interchangeable).

•	Marker – Tools Menu	Marker MENU=Tools

This command marks the spot where menu items defined by a namespace extension for the standard Tools menu are to be displayed.

•	Marker – View Menu	Marker MENU=View

This command marks the point where menu items defined by a namespace extension for the standard View menu are to be displayed.

•	Print Folder	Print FOLDER

This command opens the Print Folder dialog which lets you print the contents of a folder to the printer or to a disk file.

The Print Folder dialog opens with the folder visible in the current Lister as the one selected to print, however you can use the Browse button to select a different folder. You can also choose to print the contents of sub-folders and (optionally) define a filter which controls which files are printed.

The Destination can be a printer, a disk-based file or the clipboard. The Format section lets you configure which information columns are printed and how wide they are. You can also choose the font to use.


New

The items available in the New category are not commands – instead, they let you create empty Toolbar buttons via drag and drop. You can then define the button commands yourself using the Command Editor. You can also create empty Toolbar buttons by right-clicking on the Toolbar in Customize mode and selecting the appropriate item from the New context menu.

•	New Button

This creates a brand new button, with no function defined. You need to fill out the function and set the name and (optionally) ToolTip (label) and icon settings for the button.

•	New Menu

This creates a brand new menu that you can add your own items to.

•	New Menu Button

This creates a new button which also has an arrow that opens a drop-down submenu. You can define the function for the button part and also add your own items to the submenu.


Settings

The Settings commands provide access to and control over to the Preferences settings. They let you access the Preferences, Customize and other user-configuration sections of Directory Opus.

•	Copy Filter	Set COPYFILTER=Toggle

This command lets you toggle the state of the Copy Filter. The state of this can also be set from the File Operations section in Preferences.

•	Customize	Prefs CUSTOMIZE

This command opens the Customize window and puts Directory Opus into Customize mode, allowing you to edit your Toolbars and menus.

•	Delete Filter	Set DELFILTER=Toggle

This command lets you toggle the state of the Delete Filter. The state of this can also be set from the File Operations section in Preferences.

•	Enable Sounds	Set SOUNDS=Toggle

This command lets you toggle Directory Opus sound effects on or off without having to go through the Sounds section in Preferences.

•	File Filter	Set FILTERS=Toggle

This command lets you toggle the states of both the Copy Filter and the Delete Filter Preferences options.

•	Filetypes	Prefs FILETYPES

This command opens the File Type Editor, which lets you see and modify the system file type associations.

•	FTP Add To Site List	Prefs ADDFTPSITE

This command adds the currently open FTP site to the FTP Address Book.

•	FTP ASCII Transfer Mode	Set FTPMODE=ASCII

This command sets the transfer mode for the current FTP connection to ASCII.

•	FTP Auto Transfer Mode	Set FTPMODE=AUTO

This command sets the transfer mode for the current FTP connection to Auto.

•	FTP Binary Transfer Mode	Set FTPMODE=Binary

This command sets the transfer mode for the current FTP connection to Binary.

•	FTP Edit Site List	Prefs FTPSITES

This command opens the Preferences dialog and goes automatically to the FTP section.

•	Preferences	Prefs

This command opens the Preferences window, where most of the user-configurable options in Directory Opus can be found. Preferences opens to the last page used.

•	Saved Layouts – Edit	Prefs LAYOUTEDIT

This command opens the Preferences dialog and automatically takes you to the Lister Layouts section.

•	Saved Layouts – List	Prefs LAYOUTLIST

This is a dynamic command that generates a list of all saved Lister Layouts. This allows you to select the Layout you wish to load without having to go through Preferences.

•	Saved Layouts – Load	Prefs LAYOUT=<name>

This command lets you load a specific saved Lister Layout. If you add this command to a Toolbar you then need to edit the button and specify the actual name of the Layout to load.

•	Saved Preferences List	Prefs IMPORTLIST

This is a dynamic command that generates a list of all exported Preferences files. This allows you to select the set of Preferences you wish to load without having to use the Preference Management section in Preferences.

•	Saved Preferences Menu	Prefs IMPORTLIST

This is the same as the Saved Preferences List command except that the list of exported Preferences files is displayed in a popup submenu instead of in the Toolbar or menu itself.

•	Toolbar List	Toolbar LIST

This is a dynamic command that generates a list of all defined Toolbars. You can turn Toolbars on or off by selecting one from this list.

•	Viewer Plugin List	Show PLUGINLIST

This is a dynamic command that generates a list of the currently installed Viewer Plug-ins, that lets you view the About information for each plug-in and, if supported by the plug-in, configure it as well.


User

The User command category is initially empty. This category contains commands that you can define yourself. You can build a new command out of existing Directory Opus commands, using external programs, or a combination of both.

The advantage of this is that it lets you define a simple alias (command name) for what might be a very complicated command. You can then add this command to Toolbars or menus without having to recreate the details of the command.

Another use is to make future modifications to the command easy. For example, say you have created a User command to load a paint program to edit the currently selected file. If, later on, you want to change to using a new paint program, you only have to modify the definition of the User command. Any Toolbar buttons or menu items that use this command will automatically be updated to use the new command definition.

User-defined commands can have a command template similar to the Raw Command set. Use the Template field in the Command Editor to specify the template. Then, you need to insert special codes into the function definition to indicate where parameters from the command line are to be inserted.

For example, consider the following user-defined command:

Command:	Edit
Template:	NAME
Function:	Notepad &NAME&

A button that made use of this user-defined command might have the following function:

Function: 	Edit {f}

The function definition for the User command uses the &<parameter>& terminology to specify that a parameter from the command line is to be inserted into the function definition. In the above example, the NAME parameter in the command template is inserted into the function definition where the &NAME& code appears.

The {f} parameter in the second function would take the name of the selected file and pass that as the value of the NAME parameter through to the user command, which would then open the file in Notepad.

Boolean (yes/no) parameters can specify the values that are used for yes or no values. By default a boolean parameter passes 1 if the switch is given on the command line, and 0 if not. Using the &<parameter>:<yesval>:<noval>& parameter in the function definition you can specify the values that are used for yes or no choices.

To create a new User Command, click the Add button, or right-click on the command list and choose Add from the context menu. If someone sends you an already configured command as a .dcf exported command file, you can add it to the list by dragging the file and dropping it on the command list. If someone sends you an already configured command in text format (for example, in an email message), copy it to the clipboard, and then paste it into the User command list by right-clicking and choosing Paste from the context menu. Similarly, you can export your own User commands to give to other people by right-clicking on them and choosing either Copy or Export.


View

The View commands are commands to do with the display of the Lister, including commands to switch between single- and dual-file display modes, turn the Folder Tree on or off, change the current view mode, etc.

•	Dual File Display	Set DUAL=Toggle

This command toggles the active Lister between single- and dual-file display modes.

•	Filmstrip Mode	Set LAYOUT=Filmstrip

This command toggles the Lister in and out of Filmstrip mode. Filmstrip mode is a special mode designed for viewing pictures, and consists of a single file display in thumbnails mode, with the Viewer Pane activated.

•	Folder Formats List	Properties FORMATLIST

This is a dynamic command that generates a list of Defined Folder Formats. You can configure these with the Folder Options function. If you select a format from this list, the current folder will be automatically redisplayed using those settings.

•	Folder Formats Menu	Properties FORMATLIST

This command is similar to the Folder Formats List command except the list of Formats is displayed in a popup submenu instead of in the Toolbar or menu itself.

•	Folder Options	Properties FOLDEROPTIONS

This command displays the Folder Options dialog for the current folder. This lets you modify the display of the current folder and optionally save it to make it the default display for this folder. You can also configure your Defined formats which are displayed by the Folder Formats List and associated commands.

•	Folder Options List	Properties FOLDEROPTIONS
 	Properties FORMATLIST

This is a menu button which opens the Folder Options  dialog when you click the button itself. The arrow opens a drop-down menu which contains a dynamically generated list of your Defined Folder Formats. You can select a Format from this list to automatically redisplay the current format using those settings.

•	Folder Properties	Properties LISTER

This command displays the system Properties dialog for the current folder in the active Lister. This is the equivalent of using the Go Up command to go back to the parent of the current folder and then selecting Properties for the folder itself.

•	Folder Tree	Set TREE=Toggle

This command toggles the Folder Tree display for the current Lister on or off.

•	FTP Site Properties	Properties FTPSITE

This command displays the Properties dialog for the currently connected FTP site. This lets you modify parameters for the current connection. You can also choose to have the changes stored in the FTP Address Book and therefore made permanent for this FTP site.

•	Hide Files Field

This command adds a text entry field (with drop-down history list) to a toolbar that lets you enter a wildcard pattern to immediately hide files in the current Lister. It is equivalent to editing the Hide Files Filter through Folder Options.

•	Hide Folders Field

This command is similar to Hide Files Field (above) except that it is used to hide folders in the current Lister rather than files.

•	Output Window	Set OUTPUT=Toggle

This command toggles the display of the Output Window.

•	Refresh	Go REFRESH

This command refreshes the display of the current folder in the active Lister.

•	Refresh All	Go REFRESH=All

This command refreshes the display of both folders (in a dual-file display Lister) and the Folder Tree (if open).

•	Refresh Both	Go REFRESH=Both

This command refreshes the display of both folders in a dual-file display Lister.

•	Refresh Tree	Go REFRESH=Tree

This command refreshes the display of the Folder Tree.

•	Show Files Field

This command adds a text entry field (with drop-down history list) to a toolbar that lets you enter a wildcard pattern to immediately show files in the current Lister (only files that match the pattern will be displayed). It is equivalent to editing the Show Files Filter through Folder Options.

•	Show Folders Field

This command is the same as Show Files Field (above) except that the wildcard pattern is used to show folders rather than files. This command is the same as Show Files Field (above) except that the wildcard pattern is used to show folders rather than files.

•	View As Large Icons	Set VIEW=LargeIcons

This command sets the view mode of the active Lister to Large Icons.

•	View As Small Icons	Set VIEW=SmallIcons

This command sets the view mode of the active Lister to Small Icons.

•	View In Details Mode	Set VIEW=Details

This command sets the view mode of the active Lister to Details.

•	View In List Mode	Set VIEW=List

This command sets the view mode of the active Lister to List.

•	View In Power Mode	Set VIEW=Power

This command sets the view mode of the active Lister to the special Directory Opus Power Mode.

•	View In Thumbnails Mode	Set View=Thumbnails

This command sets the view mode of the active Lister to the special Directory Opus Thumbnails Mode (this may not be available for some folders).

•	View Mode Cycle	Set View=Cycle

This command defines a menu button that lets you cycle through the available view modes for the current Lister. Clicking the arrow displays a drop-down menu that lets you select the view mode directly.

•	Viewer Pane	Set VIEWPANE=Toggle

This command is used to turn the Viewer Pane on or off in the current Lister.


Opus Raw Commands

The raw command set is the underlying set of commands upon which all of the predefined commands are based. It consists of a small set of core commands, most of which take a diverse array of parameters which gives rise to the multiplicity of functions available in Directory Opus.

Internally, all Toolbar buttons are represented in terms of the raw command set. When you drag a predefined command from the Customize window and drop it on a Toolbar, it is converted to the appropriate raw command with the necessary parameters defined. You can then edit the new button and add, modify or delete those parameters to further customize the command as you wish. Using the New Button function you can even add an empty button to a Toolbar which you can define to run any function you wish using the raw command set.

Most raw commands have a template which defines the parameters that the commands accept. The template is of the form:

<Option [<Qualifiers>]>,<Option [<Qualifiers>]>, …

Options in the template are separated by commas. Options can be followed by optional parameters called Qualifiers. The list below shows the various qualifiers that options may use. You do not enter the qualifier when you are using an option – it exists simply to indicate the type of the option.

/S  Switch. Indicates a binary switch qualifier. The switch will be set if the option appears in the command-line.

/O  Switch with optional arguments. The same as /S but takes optional arguments where the default action can be modified. For example, Copy takes an option UPDATEEXISTING, which may have none, size or date as a qualifying parameter.

/K  Keyword. This means that the option will not be accepted unless the keyword appears. For example if the template is "Name/K", then unless "Name=<string>" or "Name <string>" appears in the command line, Name will not be accepted.

/A  Required. This keyword or a value for it must be supplied, or else the entire command line will be invalid.

/M  Multiple strings. This means the argument will take any number of strings. Any arguments not considered to be part of another option will be added to this option.

If no qualifier is provided then the option will be filled by any text not matching another option. For example, the command Filetype takes an option, ACTION, which may be one of either drop, dropshift, dropctrl, dropalt, dblclk, dblclkshift, dblclkctrl, or dblclkalt. Thus you may say either ACTION=drop or just use parameter drop by itself.

Quite often you can combine multiple options within the same command, especially switch options indicated by the /S parameter. The documentation below describes the situations where this makes sense.


CLI

This command opens the Directory Opus CLI (command-line interpreter) interface. This is a very simple keyboard interface to the Directory Opus command set. It lets you enter commands and have them run immediately without having to set up Toolbar buttons first. You will not normally need to use this.

The CLI command can also be used to open a DOS prompt box with the current directory set to the path of the active Lister. The command template is:

DOSPROMPT/O[<here>, selfolder]

•	DOSPROMPT=here (or DOSPROMPT with no parameters) opens a DOS prompt which CDs to the path of the active Lister.

•	DOSPROMPT=selfolder opens a DOS prompt which CDs to the currently selected sub-folder in the active Lister.


Clipboard

The Clipboard command performs Clipboard-related functions. This command requires exactly one option to be specified on the command line. The command template is:

COPY/S, CUT/S, PASTE/S, PASTESHORTCUT/S, COPYNAMES/O[<full>, nopaths, url, hash, hash2], FROMFOCUS/S

•	COPY/S: With this option specified the Clipboard command copies all currently selected files and folders in the active Lister to the clipboard. The files on the clipboard can then be pasted into another folder using the Clipboard PASTE command.

•	CUT/S: This option is similar to the COPY option, except that when the files are pasted into another folder, the original files are deleted. Note that when you Cut files, the files are not actually deleted until they are pasted into a new location.

•	PASTE/S: The Clipboard PASTE command pastes files and folders that are currently on the clipboard into the active Lister. If the files that are on the clipboard were put there by a Cut command rather than a Copy command, the original files will be deleted.

•	PASTESHORTCUT/S: This option pastes shortcuts to the files that are on the clipboard into the active Lister. Shortcuts are small files that refer to the original files – the original files themselves are not moved or copied when this option is specified.

•	COPYNAMES/O: This option copies the names of all selected files to the clipboard in ASCII  text. It does not copy the files themselves. By default the full pathnames are copied but if you specify nopaths then only the names of the files are copied. If you specify url, the filenames will be copied as if they are URLs. You can also specify hash or hash2 to copy the MD5 checksums of the selected files to the clipboard. The output of hash is more readable, whereas hash2 outputs in a format compatible with the MD5Sum program.

•	FROMFOCUS/S: With this option specified, the Clipboard command will act on whichever window within the Lister has input focus. Normally it only acts on the source file display, however using this switch it can be made to work on the Folder Tree to copy or cut folders when the tree has input focus.


Close

The Close command is used to close Listers, exit the program or shutdown the entire system. The default behavior of the command, with no options specified on the command line, is to close the active Lister. The command template is:

PROGRAM/S, ALLLISTERS/S, SYSTEM/O[<logoff>, restart, shutdown, poweroff, force, forceifhung], AT/K, IN/K, WHENFINISHED/S, QUIET/S, CANCEL/S, TOGGLE/S

•	PROGRAM/S: With this option specified the Close command closes the Directory Opus program. All currently open Listers and other windows are automatically closed.

•	ALLLISTERS/S: The Close ALLLISTERS command closes all currently open Listers. The program itself is left running.

•	SYSTEM/O: The SYSTEM switch lets you shutdown the system from an Opus button The options for CLOSE SYSTEM are:

•	logoff: This is the default action and will log the current user off the system

•	restart: This restarts (reboots) the system

•	shutdown: This shuts the system down (depending on your system, this may also power off the computer, or it may display the "Your computer is now safe to be shutdown" screen)

•	poweroff: This shuts the system down and powers off the computer (you need an ATX-compatible motherboard and power-supply for the computer to be powered off)

•	force: Use this in addition to the other options to force the system to shutdown even if some programs are not responding (note: the system will shutdown immediately and you may lose unsaved data)

•	forceifhung: This is only available under Windows 2000 or later, and it works the same as the force option but only if there are any non-responding programs. Otherwise, the shutdown proceeds as normal.

•	AT/K: Used with the SYSTEM switch, this allows you to schedule an automatic shutdown of your system at a given time. The time must be specified in HH:MM:SS format using a 24 hour clock. If the time you specify is less than the current time, it will be taken to refer to the next day. When the time you specify is reached, a 10 second countdown timer is displayed before the system is shutdown.

•	IN/K: Similar to the AT switch, this lets you schedule an automatic shutdown after a given period of time. The time must be specified in HH:MM:SS format (or MM:SS or just SS).

•	WHENFINISHED/S: This lets you schedule an automatic shutdown when all outstanding functions have completed. For example, when you are downloading a large amount of data via FTP, you could use this to have the computer automatically shutdown when the download is complete. Note that if there are currently no functions executing, the shutdown will be triggered immediately!

•	QUIET/S: Normally when the SYSTEM switch is used, a confirmation dialog is displayed giving you a chance to cancel the shutdown. Using the QUIET switch prevents this dialog from being shown.

•	CANCEL/S: You can use this switch to cancel a previously-scheduled auto-shutdown.

•	TOGGLE/S: Use this switch in conjunction with the scheduled-shutdown options to toggle scheduled shutdown on or off. If used in a toolbar or menu it causes the button to appear checked or highlighted when a shutdown is scheduled and unchecked when not. For example:

Close SYSTEM=poweroff,force WHENFINISHED QUIET TOGGLE


Copy

The Copy command handles file copying and moving functions. The default behavior of the command, with no options specified on the command line, is to copy all selected files and folders in the active Lister to the destination folder. The command template is:

FILE/M,MOVE/S, AS/O, HERE/S, DUPLICATE/S, MOVEWHENSAME/S, RENAMEWHENSAME/S, MAKESHORTCUT/S, FILTER/O[<always>, shift, alt, ctrl], EXTRACT/O[<top>, sub, checkout], ZIP/O[<all>,single], UPDATEALL/S, UPDATEEXISTING/O[<both>, size, date], UPDATETOLERANCE/K/N, ADDTOZIP/S, TO/K, SENDMAIL/O, NOZIPBATCH/S, SENDTO/K, BURNCD/S, INSTALLFONT/S

•	FILE/M/F: This lets you specify the name of the file (or files) to copy

•	MOVE/S: With the MOVE option specified, the Copy command moves all selected files and folders to the destination instead of copying them.

•	AS/O: This option causes the Copy function to ask for new file names. You can use this option by itself (in which case the files are copied with new names), or in conjunction with the MOVE option, in which case the files are moved with new names. If you specify AS by itself you will be prompted for the new file name(s), however you can specify the new name (or a wildcard pattern) directly using AS=<name>.

•	HERE/S: With this option set, the Copy command uses the source Lister as destination as well. It is used in conjunction with the MAKESHORTCUT and EXTRACT options. For example, Copy MAKESHORTCUT HERE causes the shortcuts to be placed in the same folder as the source files rather than in the destination folder.

•	DUPLICATE/S: The DUPLICATE option is used by itself, and causes the selected files to be duplicated in the same folder. You will be asked for new names automatically for each file (and you can use wildcards to do batch duplication).

•	MOVEWHENSAME/S: This option modifies the default behavior of the Copy command. If the destination folder is on the same physical device as the source folder, the selected files are automatically moved to the destination rather than copied. It is mainly used in the default drag and drop function to emulate the behavior of Explorer.

•	RENAMEWHENSAME/S: This option modifies the behavior of the Copy command when the files you are copying already exist in the destination folder. Usually attempting to copy a file over an existing file produces a ‘Replace this file?’ confirmation dialog. With this option specified, the copied files are automatically given new names so they do not clash with existing files.

•	MAKESHORTCUT/S: With this option specified, the Copy command does not copy the selected files and folders – instead, it creates shortcuts to them in the destination folder. You can modify this behavior with the HERE option to cause the shortcut to be created in the source folder.

•	FILTER/O[<always>,shift,alt,ctrl]: This option lets you specify a filter to be used for the copy or move without having to turn the Copy Filter option on through Preferences. For example, you could set up a button where the left button function copied files normally, and the right button function prompted you for a filter every time.

When the FILTER option is given by itself you will be prompted every time to define a filter for the copy. If one of the optional keywords is given as the value for the FILTER option, you will only be prompted to define a filter if the appropriate key is held down when the function is selected. For example, FILTER=shift means that you would be asked to define a filter if the Shift key is held down, otherwise no filter will be used.

You can also specify the name of a predefined filter as the value of the FILTER option. For example, Copy FILTER=testfilter would use a predefined filter called testfilter as the filter, and you would not be prompted to define one.

•	EXTRACT/O[<top>,sub,checkout]: This option is mainly used for extracting files from ZIP files, but also operates on folders. It modifies the default behavior of the Copy command. When specified, the contents of the selected ZIP files are copied to the destination, rather than the ZIP files themselves. If you specify EXTRACT=sub the contents are extracted to a new subfolder in the destination. For example, the contents of the file test.zip would be extracted to a new subfolder called test in the destination folder.

The behavior of this option can be modified with the HERE switch, which causes the contents to be extracted to the source folder rather than the destination.

If you specify EXTRACT=checkout the entire contents of the ZIP file are automatically extracted to a temporary folder, and then the temporary folder is displayed in a new Lister.

•	ZIP/O[<all>,single]: This option provides a quick way to ZIP a single file or folder to the destination folder. For example, if a folder called Pictures was selected, the Copy ZIP command would ZIP this folder to a new ZIP file in the destination folder called Pictures.zip.

If more than one file is selected, then by default all selected files are zipped to a single ZIP file that uses the name of the first selected file. However, if you specify ZIP=single, then each selected file is zipped in turn to its own ZIP file.

•	UPDATEALL/S: This option is used to update files, for example from your local computer to a network drive or FTP site. The only files that will actually be copied to the destination folder are those files that:

a)	do not exist already in the destination, or

b)	do exist in the destination but are different to the files in the source.

Files that do not meet either of these two criteria are not copied. This is a useful way, for example, to update your web site on a remote FTP server without transferring files unnecessarily.

A file is defined as being different if its timestamp or size has changed – the contents of the file itself are not compared.

•	UPDATEEXISTING/O[<both>,size,date]: This option is very similar to the UPDATEALL option, except that files in the destination folder are only updated if they already exist and are different from the source files. Files that do not already exist in the destination are not copied. By default Opus checks both file size and date to determine which files are different, however you can limit this test to either size or date by specifying the option on the command line.

•	UPDATETOLERANCE/N/K: This option lets you specify the number of seconds tolerance that Opus uses when comparing files for the UPDATEALL and UPDATEEXISTING functions. The default tolerance is one second, meaning that files are treated as being the same (and therefore will not be updated) if their timestamps are within plus or minus one second. This is to accommodate file updates between systems with different time resolutions (for example, Windows 98 has a two second time resolution whereas Windows 2000 is accurate to one second or even less). Set UPDATETOLERANCE=0 if you want file times to have to match exactly, or to a larger number to make the test even more tolerant of time differences.

•	ADDTOZIP/S: This option adds all selected files and folders to a ZIP file. It is similar to the ZIP option except that Directory Opus will prompt for the ZIP file name and location, and compression/password parameters. This command yields the same result as right-clicking on several files and choosing Add To Zip... from the context menu.

•	TO/K: This option lets you specify the destination path of the copy operation. For example, you could set up a Copy button that always copied the selected files to a specific folder rather than the destination Lister. TO=ask causes Opus to prompt for a destination path even if there is already a destination Lister. TO=ask$ can be used in a multi-command function so that you are only asked for the path once even if there are multiple COPY commands specified.

•	SENDMAIL/O: This command lets you send the currently selected files as email attachments using your default email client. You can optionally specify the recipient’s email address as a parameter to the COPY SENDMAIL command, however this only works if the Use MAPI option is enabled in the Miscellaneous /Internet Settings section of Preferences. SENDMAIL can be used on its own or in conjunction with the ZIP and ADDTOZIP options.

•	NOZIPBATCH/S: This option disables the ZIP batch extract and add modes for the duration of this function only.

•	SENDTO/K: This option lets you set up a button to activate a ‘Send To’ menu item for selected without actually going to the context menu. For example, you could have a button to automatically activate the ‘Send To -> Web Publishing Wizard’ function. The value for the SENDTO option must be the name of the actual file in the system ‘SendTo’ folder. For example,

Copy SENDTO="Web Publishing Wizard"

•	BURNCD/S: This option is only supported under Windows XP, and lets you invoke the system CD Burning Wizard.

•	INSTALLFONT/S: This flag lets you install fonts. For example, you could add the command Copy INSTALLFONT to the context menu for font files (.ttf, .ttc, .fon and .fnt). Then, you could select this command to automatically copy the font files to the Windows Fonts folder and add them to the system.

Even without this flag, Opus will automatically detect if you are copy font files to the Windows Fonts folder and will add them to the system for you.


CreateFolder

The CreateFolder command is used to create new folders and ZIP files. With no options specified, you are prompted to enter the name of the folder to create. The folder is created in the source Lister. The command template is:

NAME, ZIP/S, INLINE/S, READAUTO/O[<yes>, no, dual]

•	NAME: The NAME option can be used to specify the name of the folder to create. If this is given, you are not prompted to enter the folder name. This is a default option, meaning that you do not need to specify the NAME keyword – any text other than another option will be used as the value for this option.

•	ZIP/S: With this option specified, Directory Opus creates a new ZIP file rather than a new folder. You can also use this in conjunction with the NAME option.

•	INLINE/S: When this option is specified, CreateFolder behaves like the Windows Explorer New Folder command. That is the folder is created immediately using a default name, and then inline renaming is activated, allowing you to edit its name.

•	READAUTO/O: Specifying this option lets you set the default state of the Read new folder automatically flag in the CreateFolder dialog. When READAUTO is specified by itself or with the yes parameter, the newly created folder will be automatically read into the current Lister. Specifying READAUTO=no disables the automatic reading of the new folder. READAUTO=dual will read the newly created folder into the opposite display in a dual-file display Lister.


Delete

The Delete command is used to delete files and folders. It can attempt to send files to the Windows Recycle Bin, and can also permanently delete files. When used with no options, the default behavior is to delete all selected files and folders in the source Lister. Depending on the current Preferences settings, this may involve attempting to use the Recycle Bin. The command template is:

FILE/M, ALL/S, QUIET/S, FORCE/S, RECYCLE/S, NORECYCLE/S, SHIFT/S, FILTER/O[<always>, shift, alt, ctrl], FROMFOCUS/S

•	FILE/M: You can specify filenames for the FILE option. Without this option specified, all selected files and folders in the source Lister will be deleted.

•	ALL/S: This option modifies the behavior of the Delete command, causing it to override the settings in the File Operations section of Preferences concerning warnings shown before each file and/or folder.

•	QUIET/S: This option causes the delete to be carried out without first prompting for confirmation from the user. It also suppresses the display of any errors that may occur during the delete procedure.

•	FORCE/S: This option causes any files that are marked as Read Only to be automatically deleted, instead of displaying an error message and giving you the option of clearing the read only attribute.

•	RECYCLE/S: This option will always attempt to send the files to the Windows Recycle Bin. It overrides the setting in the File Operations section of Preferences.

•	NORECYCLE/S: This option will never attempt to use the Windows Recycle Bin, but instead will permanently delete the files. It overrides the setting in the File Operations section of Preferences.

•	SHIFT/S: This option causes Directory Opus to emulate the behavior of Explore. If this option is specified, and the Shift key is held down when the Delete function is selected, the behavior of the function changes from the default, depending upon the Windows Recycle Bin setting in Preferences.

With the Recycle Bin enabled, holding down the Shift key acts as if the Recycle Bin option is not turned on. With the Recycle Bin turned off, holding down the Shift key acts as if the ALL and FORCE options are specified. In either case, if the Shift key is not held down when the Delete function is selected, the SHIFT option has no effect.

•	FILTER/O[<always>,shift,alt,ctrl]: This option lets you specify a filter to be used for the delete function without having to turn the Delete Filter option on through Preferences. For example, you could set up a button where the left button function deleted files normally, and the right button function prompted you for a filter every time.

When the FILTER option is given by itself you will be prompted every time to define a filter for the delete. If one of the optional keywords is given as the value for the FILTER option, you will only be prompted to define a filter if the appropriate key is held down when the function is selected. For example, FILTER=shift means that you would asked to define a filter if the Shift key is held down, otherwise no filter will be used.

You can also specify the name of a predefined filter as the value of the FILTER option. For example, Delete FILTER=testfilter would use a predefined filter called testfilter as the filter, and you would not be prompted to define one.

•	FROMFOCUS/S: This switch tells Directory Opus to use whichever window in the Lister has input focus as its source. Normally the Delete function will operate on the source file display. Specifying FROMFOCUS lets you delete from the Folder Tree when it has input focus.


Favorites

The Favorites command handles operations involved the user-defined Favorites List, as well as the SmartFavorites™ system. When used by itself with no options, it behaves as a dynamic command and generates a list of your Favorite Folders to be displayed in the Toolbar or menu it is used in. The command template is:

PATH, ADD/S, EDIT/S, SMART/O, NEW/S, OPENINDUAL/S, SHOWICONS/S

•	PATH: The PATH option has two uses. The first (and most useful) is to act as a simple filter for the dynamic nature of the function when generating a Favorites List. If you specify a value for the PATH option, only folders in the Favorites List that match the value you specify are added to the dynamic list. For example, Favorites C: would cause only favorite folders beginning with C: to be displayed.

The PATH option can also be used in conjunction with the ADD option to specify the name of the folder to add to the Favorites List.

•	ADD/S: The ADD option adds a new folder to your Favorites List. By default, the folder currently displayed in the active Lister is added to the list. If you have specified a value for the PATH option, however, that path is added to the Favorites List instead.

•	EDIT/S: This option causes the Preferences window to be opened, and the Favorites section automatically displayed.

•	SMART/O: With this option specified, Favorites is a dynamic command that generates a list of your Smart Favorites (folders automatically added by the SmartFavorites™ system). This option takes an optional value which specifies the maximum number of Smart Favorites to display; for example, Favorites SMART=10.

•	NEW/S: This switch modifies the behavior of the Favorites command when it is acting as a dynamic command (either with no other options specified, or with the SMART parameter given). It causes a new Lister to be opened when the user selects a folder from the Favorites List, rather than opening the folder in the current Lister.

•	OPENINDUAL/S: This switch is similar to the NEW option, except that it causes the folder to be read into the opposite file display of a dual-file display Lister. The Lister is automatically set into dual-file display mode if it is not already.

•	SHOWICONS/S: The SHOWICONS switch modifies the behavior of the Favorites command when it is acting as a dynamic command. It causes icons to be displayed in the generated list of Favorites folders. Without this switch, only the folder names are shown.


Filetype

The Filetype command is used to trigger and control file type-related functions. This function has no effect if no options are specified. The command template is as follows:

ACTION, FILE/M, CONTEXTMENU/O, CONTEXTOPTIONS/K, NEW/K, OPENWITHMENU/S, CONTEXTFORCE/S

•	ACTION: Specify this option to trigger a file type-defined event. For example, you could set up a button that emulates a drag and drop or double-click event. The actual action performed depends upon the type of file involved and the functions defined through the file types system.

The events available are open, explore, find, print, drop, dropshift, dropctrl, dropalt, dblclk, dblclkshift, dblclkctrl, dblclkalt, mdblclk, mdblclkalt, mdblclkshift and mdblclkctrl.

•	FILE/M: This option can be used to specify the file(s) that the file type action is performed upon. If not specified, all selected files in the active Lister will be used.

•	CONTEXTMENU/O: This option acts as a dynamic command and is used to add system context menu entries to Opus menus and Toolbars. When no value is supplied for this option, the context menu items for all selected files and folders are added. Alternatively, you can specify the name of a registry key to add context menu entries for. The most common value given for this will be CONTEXTMENU=Directory\Background, which is the registry key that defines the context menu for folder backgrounds (shown when you right-click in a blank area of a Lister). You can also specify the CLSID of a shell extension, for example CONTEXTMENU={E9FE4040-3C93-11D4-8006-00201860E88A} would add items from the Directory Opus Zip context menu extension.

•	CONTEXTOPTIONS/K: This option is used to modify the behavior of the CONTEXTMENU option. Currently it only has an effect when the value of CONTEXTMENU is Directory\Background. One of the standard context menu items added by this is the ShellNew menu (which lets you create new files of various types). Using the CONTEXTOPTIONS option you can specify items to include or exclude in the ShellNew menu.

The value of the CONTEXTOPTIONS option has its own command template, which is INCLUDE/K, EXCLUDE/K. Because this is a ‘template within a template’, the value of the CONTEXTOPTIONS option must be enclosed in quotation marks.

For example,

Filetype CONTEXTMENU=Directory\Background CONTEXTOPTIONS="EXCLUDE=.bmp,.zip"

In this example, the options to create new Bitmap files and new ZIP files would be excluded from the ShellNew menu. You can also use EXCLUDE=* to totally disable the ShellNew menu.

•	NEW/K: The NEW option is used to automatically create a new file of a certain type. It emulates the behavior of the ShellNew menu (described above). The new file is created in the active Lister.

For example, Filetype NEW=.zip would create a new ZIP file in the active Lister. Only files that have a ShellNew registry entry defined for them can be created in this manner.

•	OPENWITHMENU/S: This option is used to display the system ‘Open With’ menu in a context menu.

•	CONTEXTFORCE/S: This option can be used in conjunction with the CONTEXTMENU option. It allows you to override the Preferences setting that disables Windows context menu items.


Find

This command initiates the Directory Opus Find function, which lets you search for files and folders based on filename, attributes and file contents. The Find function can be automated to some extent using the command template:

NAME, CONTAINING/K, FILTER/S, IN/K/A, RECURSE/O[<yes>,no]

•	NAME: Use this parameter to specify a filename to search for, To automate the Find function, you must specify both the NAME and the folder to search in using the IN parameter. The value of NAME can also be the name of a pre-defined filter – in this case, you must also specify the FILTER switch.

•	CONTAINING/K: This option can be used to specify text to search for. It is only used if the FILTER switch is not given (that is, for a Simple search rather than an Advanced one).

•	FILTER/S: Specify this to indicate that NAME is the name of a pre-defined filter.

•	IN/K/A: Used to specify the folder in which to search for files. You can also specify multiple drives separated by commas (e.g. C:, D:,E:.) If this parameter is given without the NAME parameter, it sets the starting point for the Find dialog but does not automatically begin searching

•	RECURSE/O: Specify RECURSE to search within sub-folders, and RECURSE=no to only search the folder specified. If this option is not given, the default setting will be used.


GetSizes

Ordinarily, only files have a size displayed in the Lister. This command operates on all selected folders in the active Lister, and makes Directory Opus calculate their size. The size that is displayed is the total size of all files within each folder, and is not necessarily representative of the amount of disk space used by the folder. If a folder contains no files at all, its size will be shown as empty.

If a folder already has a size displayed for it, you can use the GetSizes command to recalculate the size manually.

This command has one parameter:

•	NODESELECT/S: If this switch is specified, the GetSizes command will not deselect the folders after calculating their sizes. This switch only works if the Postpone file deselection until end of function option is turned on in Preferences.


Go

The Go command is used to control the current folder displayed in a Lister. It lets you change between folders, move to a specific folder or the parent of the current folder, and access the history, Recent and Favorites lists. With no options specified the Go command has no effect. The command template is:

PATH, BACK/S, FORWARD/S, BACKLIST/S, FORWARDLIST/S, UP/S, ROOT/O[<normal>, collapse], CURRENT/S, NEW/O, OPENINDUAL/S, REFRESH/O[<current>, tree, both, all, source, viewpane], PATHENTRY/S, DRIVEBUTTONS/O[<all>, fixed, network, cdrom, removable, ramdisk, labels, noletters, multifunc], FTPSITE/K, FTPSITELIST/O, FTP/S, USER/K, CONNECT/S, DISCONNECT/S, FTPSITEICONS/S, OPENINLEFT/S, OPENINRIGHT/S, OPENINDEST/S, SWAP/S, DESTPATH/S, DUALPATH/K, EXPANDTREE/S

•	PATH: The PATH option allows you to specify the path to go to. You can enter a physical path here, the name of an FTP Address Book entry, or an alias for a special system folder. If the path you specify contains spaces, you should enclose it with quotation marks. For example,

Go "c:\my documents\my letters\july 2000\"

The system folder aliases understood by the PATH option are as follows:

/admintools	The administration tools folder for the current user (W2K only)
/altstartup	The user’s non-localized Startup program group
/appdata	Application data storage folder
/commonadmintools	The administration tools folder common to all users (W2K only)
/commonaltstartup	Non-localized Startup program group common to all users (NT only)
/commonappdata	Application data folder common to all users (NT only)
/commondesktopdir	Desktop folder  common to all users (Windows NT)
/commondocuments	The documents folder common to all users (NT only)
/commonfavorites	Favorites folder common to all users (Windows NT)
/commonstartmenu	Start menu folder common to all users (Windows NT)
/commonstartup	Startup folder common to all users (Windows NT)
/commonprogramfiles	The program files folder common to all users (NT only)
/commonprograms	Programs folder common to all users (Windows NT)
/commontemplates	The template folder common to all users (NT only)
/controls	The Control Panel
/cookies	Folder used to store Internet cookies
/default	Same as /initial or /last depending on Preferences setting
/defaultright	Same as /initialright or /lastright depending on Preferences setting
/desktop	The Desktop, the root of the namespace
/desktopdir	The physical folder containing Desktop items
/favorites	Your personal Favorites folder
/fonts	Your Fonts folder
/history	Folder used to store Internet History items
/home	The Directory Opus program folder
/initial	The "initial" path set in Preferences for the left-hand file display
/initialright	The "initial" path set in Preferences for the right-hand file display
/internetcache	Folder used to cache Temporary Internet Files
/last	The "last closed Lister" path (for the left-hand file display)
/lastright	The "last closed Lister" path for the right-hand file display
/localappdata	Local Application Data storage folder
/mycomputer	My Computer
/mydocuments	Your personal data folder (My Documents)
/mypictures	Your personal picture folder (My Pictures)
/nethood	The physical folder containing My Network Places links
/network	Network Neighborhood (My Network Places in W2K)
/printers	Printers folder
/printhood	Folder that stores Printer links
/profile	The current user’s profile folder
/programfiles	The Program Files folder (only under W2K or later)
/programs	The folder containing your program groups
/recent	Folder containing your most recently used documents
/sendto	Folder that contains Send To menu items
/start	The folder containing your Start Menu items
/startup	Folder containing programs that are run on startup
/system	The Windows System folder
/temp	The Windows temporary folder
/templates	Personal Templates folder
/trash	The Recycle Bin
/windows	The main Windows folder

To go to a site in the FTP Address Book, specify the entry name preceded by an @ character. For example,

Go @gpsoftware

•	BACK/S: The BACK option is used to go backwards in the folder history list for the current folder. This is maintained on a per-folder basis, not globally like the recent list.

•	FORWARD/S: This option moves forwards in the folder history list (Note that you must move backwards before you can move forwards).

•	BACKLIST/S: This option acts as a dynamic command and generates a list of all folders before the current one in the history list.

•	FORWARDLIST/S: This option acts as a dynamic command and generates a list of all folders following this one in the history list.

•	UP/S: The Go UP command reads the parent of the current folder in the active Lister.

•	ROOT/O: This option reads the root folder of the active Lister. It only has an effect if the current folder displayed is a file system folder. If you specify ROOT=collapse, the current drive’s branch in the Folder Tree will be automatically collapsed as well.

•	CURRENT/S: This option is used to refer to the current folder displayed in the active Lister. It is only used in conjunction with the NEW and OPENINDUAL options. For example, Go CURRENT NEW would open a new Lister showing the same folder as the current Lister.

•	NEW/O: This switch can be used in conjunction with most other Go options. It causes the folder in question to be displayed in a new Lister rather in the current Lister. It can be used with the PATH, UP, ROOT, CURRENT, DRIVEBUTTONS, FTPSITE, FTPSITELIST and FTP options.

You can optionally specify the position, size and state of the new Lister using parameters to the NEW command. The format is GO NEW <x>,<y>,<w>,<h>,<state>. All arguments are optional but to specify a later argument you must include the commas for the previous ones. For example, to open a new Lister of size 800x600 but keep the default position, you would specify GO NEW ,,800,600. The <state> argument lets you specify the window state and can be either maximize, minimize or normal. You can also specify the Lister state with the keywords source and dest. Additionally, you can configure the tree, dual display mode and the Viewer Pane with the keywords tree, notree, dual, dualhorz, nodual, viewpane, and noviewpane.

•	OPENINDUAL/S: This option is similar to the NEW option, except the new folder is read into the opposite file display in a dual-file display Lister. If the current Lister is not in dual-file display mode, it is automatically set to that mode.

•	REFRESH/O[<current>, tree, both, all, source, viewpane]: The REFRESH option is used to re-read and redisplay the folder in the active Lister. With no value defined for this option, only the current folder is refreshed. The tree option causes the Folder Tree to be refreshed (if displayed). The both option causes both file displays of a dual-file display Lister to be refreshed. The all value refreshes both file displays and the Folder Tree. The source value refreshes the source file display and the Folder Tree, but not the destination file display. The viewpane option causes the image currently previewed in the Viewer Pane to be refreshed.

•	PATHENTRY/S: The Go PATHENTRY command causes a hidden text field to be displayed at the bottom of the active Lister, allowing you to type in a folder path to read. This function is most useful when assigned to a hotkey, as it allows you to change folders in a Lister without using the mouse at all.

•	DRIVEBUTTONS/O[<all>, fixed, network, cdrom, removable, ramdisk, labels, noletters,
multifunc]: The DRIVEBUTTONS option acts as a dynamic command that adds buttons representing all disk drives present in your system. With no value defined for this option, a button is added for every disk drive present. Alternatively, you can specify a combination of the values shown above to specify what type of drives buttons should be added for. For example, Go DRIVEBUTTONS=fixed,cdrom would add buttons only for fixed disks (hard drives) and cdroms. By default, the drive buttons that are created use the drive letter as their label. If you specify the labels keyword, the drive label will also be used. In conjunction with labels, you can specify noletters to remove the drive letters from the label. Finally, the multifunc option causes the drive buttons to be three-button buttons with OPENINLEFT, OPENINRIGHT and NEW as the three functions.

•	FTPSITE/K: This option lets you connect to an FTP site that has been configured in the FTP Address Book. The FTP site must be specified by name – if the FTP site is in a subfolder of the Address Book you must include the complete path of the entry. For example, Go FTPSITE=Public\Microsoft. This is equivalent to Go @Public\Microsoft.

•	FTPSITELIST/O: This option acts as a dynamic command and generates a list of all the FTP sites you have defined in your FTP Address Book. The optional value for this option lets you filter FTP sites based on the site name prefix. For example, Go FTPSITELIST=Public would only display FTP sites beginning with the string Public (as in the previous example for FTPSITE). If no value is specified for this option, all FTP sites are displayed.

•	FTP/S: The Go FTP command opens the FTP Quick Connect dialog, enabling you to manually connect to an FTP site that may not have been entered into the FTP Address Book.

•	USER/K: The USER option is used in conjunction with the special system folder aliases used by the PATH option. It allows you to specify an alternative user for the system folder (for those system folders that support per-user configuration). For example, Go /desktopdir USER="Fred Bloggs" would read the Desktop folder for the user called Fred Bloggs rather than the current user. Of course this will only be successful if you have the appropriate access permissions.

•	CONNECT/S: The CONNECT option displays the system dialog that allows you to connect to (or map) a network drive.

•	DISCONNECT/S: This option displays the system dialog that allows you to disconnect from a mapped network drive.

•	FTPSITEICONS/S: The FTPSITEICONS option is used in conjunction with the FTPSITELIST option. When specified, the list of FTP sites that is generated includes default icons for the FTP site entries.

•	OPENINLEFT/S: The specified folder will be read into the left-hand file display of a dual-file display Lister, irrespective of the current source file display. Can also be used with ROOT and UP.

•	OPENINRIGHT/S: The specified folder will be read into the right-hand file display of a dual-file display Lister, irrespective of the current source file display. Can also be used with ROOT and UP.

•	OPENINDEST/S: The specified folder will be read into the destination file display instead of the source.

•	SWAP/S: The folders displayed in the current source and destination will be swapped.

•	DESTPATH/S: This lets you read the current destination path into the source Lister.

•	DUALPATH/K: This lets you specify a path to read into the destination file display of a dual-display Lister. Using the PATH option, you can therefore read paths into both file displays simultaneously.

•	EXPANDTREE/S: Automatically expands the Folder Tree to display the contents of the new folder.


Help

The Help command is used to display program information and to gain access to the online help system. When used by itself, the default behavior is to access the online help system and display the contents page. The command template for this command is:

TOPICS/S, ABOUT/S, CHECKUPDATE/O

•	TOPIC/S: This option modifies the default behavior of this command and displays the topics or table of contents page of the online help system.

•	ABOUT/S: This command displays the Directory Opus About screen, which contains information about the current version of the program, copyright and contact details for technical support, as well as your registration details (or expiry date in case of an evaluation registration).

•	CHECKUPDATE/O: This command activates the automatic check for a new version of Directory Opus. You will be prompted to establish an Internet connection if one is not already present.


Join

The Join command lets you join together multiple files into a single larger file. It is mainly used when you have a file that has been split into multiple parts, say for transmission via email, and you wish to recombine the parts. When used with no options, this command displays the Join dialog and automatically adds the names of all selected files in the active Lister to the join list.

The command template is:

FROM/M, TO/K

•	FROM/M: This option lets you specify the files to join. You can specify as many filenames as you like.

•	TO/K: This option lets you specify the name of the output file.


Marker

The Marker command is a dynamic command that lets Directory Opus display Toolbar buttons and menu items that are added dynamically by third-party namespace extensions. For example, an FTP namespace extension may add buttons to the Toolbar to switch between ASCII and Binary transfer modes.

Windows Explorer allows a third-party namespace extension to totally replace the Toolbar and menu contents. However, Directory Opus gives full control to the user over the state of the Toolbars, and therefore the Marker commands are necessary to gain access to these dynamically added functions.

The Marker command is a placeholder that tells Directory Opus where to insert the appropriate namespace-added functions. The command template for this command is:

TOOLBAR/S, MENU/K, ID/K/N

•	TOOLBAR/S: If this option is specified, the command marks the spot where Namespace-specific buttons added to the standard Toolbar will be displayed.

•	MENU/K: If this option is specified, the command marks the spot where Namespace-specific menu items will be displayed. You must specify the name of the menu in question from the following choices: File, Edit, View, Tools, Help, Other and All.

•	ID/K/N: This option lets you send a Namespace-specific command direct to the Namespace folder currently displayed in the active Lister. You need to know the exact command ID that the Namespace uses – ordinarily you will never use this option directly.


Play

This command uses the built-in sound player to play all selected sound files in the active Lister. The built-in sound player is a simple utility designed to play a sound quickly without the possible overhead of loading an external player. It supports WAV format sounds as well as any other sound files for which there is a system codec installed. Also see Predefined Commands.

The command template is:

FILE, QUIET/S

•	FILE: Use this to specify the name of the file to play

•	QUIET/S: Plays the specified sound without displaying the Play dialog.


Prefs

The Prefs command lets you access the Directory Opus configuration system. When used without any options, this command opens the Preferences editor. The command template for this command is:

FILETYPES/S, CUSTOMIZE/S, LAYOUT/K, LAYOUTCLOSELISTERS/O[<default>,yes,no], LAYOUTLIST/S, LAYOUTEDIT/S, ADDFTPSITE/S, FTPSITES/S, IMPORT/O, IMPORTFLAGS/K[<all>, toolbars, formats, ftp, hotkeys, layouts, misc, faves, sounds, commands, quiet], IMPORTLIST/S, EXPORT/S, KEYS/S, TOOLBARS/S, ADDBACKGROUND/S

•	FILETYPE/S: This option opens the File Type Editor to configure your file type associations.

•	CUSTOMIZE/S: This option opens the Customize window to configure your Toolbars and menus.

•	LAYOUT/K: This option lets you load a predefined Lister Layout. The name of the Layout to load must be given as the value of this option, for example Prefs LAYOUT=DualLister

•	LAYOUTCLOSELISTERS/O[<default>,yes,no]: This option is used in conjunction with the LAYOUT option and lets you control whether existing Listers are closed or left open when you load a new Lister Layout.

•	LAYOUTLIST/S: The Prefs LAYOUTLIST command is a dynamic command that generates a list of your predefined Lister Layouts. You can also use the LAYOUTCLOSELISTERS option in conjunction with this command to control whether or not existing Listers are closed when a new layout is chosen from the generated list.

•	LAYOUTEDIT/S: This option opens the Preferences editor and displays the Lister Layouts section automatically.

•	ADDFTPSITE/S: This option adds the currently connected FTP site to the FTP Address Book.

•	FTPSITE/S: This option opens the Preferences editor and displays the FTP section.

•	IMPORT/O: This option is used to import a previously exported set of Preferences. If you do not specify the name of a Preferences file as the value of the IMPORT option, you will be asked to select one.

•	IMPORTFLAGS/K[<all>, toolbars, formats, ftp, hotkeys, layouts, misc, faves, sounds,  commands, quiet]: This option can be used to modify the behavior of the IMPORT option. It lets you specify the Preferences sections that are imported from the exported file. By default, all Preferences sections are imported. For example, Prefs IMPORT=Colorful IMPORTFLAGS=toolbars,misc,sounds would import only the Toolbars, Miscellaneous and Sounds sections of the Preferences file. You can also add the quiet option which causes the Preferences to be imported without displaying any of the usual confirmation messages.

•	IMPORTLIST/S: This option acts as a dynamic command and generates a list of your exported Preferences files. Selecting an item from this list will import the specified set of Preferences. You can use the IMPORTFLAGS option in conjunction with IMPORTLIST to control which Preferences sections are affected.

•	EXPORT/S: This option is used to export the current Preferences to a file. You will be prompted for the name of the Preferences file to save to.

•	KEY/S: This option opens the Customize - Keys section of Customize.

•	TOOLBAR/S: This option opens the Customize - Toolbars section of Customize.

•	ADDBACKGROUND/S: This option causes all selected files to be added to the Defined Images list in the Images / Backgrounds section of Preferences. It is designed to be used in the context menu for image files.


Print

This command lets you print files and folders. When used without any options, it prints all currently selected files in the active Lister. Directory Opus can natively print only the picture formats that it understands (JPEG, GIF, ILBM, etc). However, using system-defined print handlers it can print many other types of files. For example, when you select a text file and choose the Print command, the system-defined print handler, which is set by default to Notepad, is automatically invoked to print the selected file.

Under Windows XP, running the Print command with no files selected, or with only graphics files selected, will invoke the system Photo Printing Wizard.

The command template for this command is:

FOLDER/O [<all>, selected], SETDEFAULT/K, DEFAULTLIST/S, TO/K

•	FOLDER/O[<all>, selected]: When you specify the FOLDER option, the Print command initiates the Print Folder function which lets you print folder listings to the printer or to a disk file.The default behavior is to print all files in the current folder in the active Lister, however if you set the value of the FOLDER option to selected, only the selected files in the current folder are printed.

•	SETDEFAULT/K: This option can be used to change the default printer. Specify the name of the printer as it appears in the Printers Control Panel (make sure you enclose the name in quotation marks if it contains spaces)

•	DEFAULTLIST/S: This acts as a dynamic command to generate buttons for each of the printers that are installed on the system. Clicking one of the buttons sets that printer as the default. You can also drop documents on the printer buttons to print files directly to a given printer.

•	TO/K: Use this option to specify the printer to print selected files to, overriding the default printer setting. Specify the name of the printer as it appears in the Printers Control Panel (make sure you enclose the name in quotation marks if it contains spaces). A Print button with the TO option specified can also have documents dropped on it to print the files to the specified printer.


Properties

The Properties command lets you access the system Properties dialogs for files and folders. When used with no options, it displays the Properties dialog for all selected files and folders (if more than one file is selected, a special combined Properties dialog is shown). The command template for this command is:

SINGLE/S, LISTER/S, FOLDEROPTIONS/O, FTPSITE/S, ROTATE/K, FORMATLIST/S, FROMFOCUS/S, SETWALLPAPER/O[<default>, center, tile, stretch, menu]

•	SINGLE/S: The SINGLE option modifies the default behavior of the Properties command. Normally when multiple files are selected, a single combined Properties dialog is shown for all files. However, if the SINGLE option is specified, a separate Properties dialog will be displayed for each selected file or folder.

•	LISTER/S: This option displays the system Properties dialog for the folder currently displayed in the active Lister.

•	FOLDEROPTIONS/O: This option displays the Folder Options for the current folder. This option can take an optional value which is a number from 0 to 3 representing the initial page in the Folder Options editor to display.

•	FTPSITE/S: This option displays the Site Properties dialog for the currently connected FTP site.

•	ROTATE/K: This option is used to rotate the display of thumbnails in the active Lister. The value is a number from 0 to 359 and represents the number of degrees to rotate the selected thumbnails. The files themselves are not modified – it is only the thumbnail display that is affected.

This option can also take the string menu as a value. If this is specified, it acts as a dynamic command and adds a Rotate submenu if any thumbnails are displayed. This is used on the default file context menu – if there are no thumbnails selected the Rotate option is hidden.

•	FORMATLIST/S: This option acts as a dynamic command that generates a list of Defined Folder Formats. You can configure these with the Folder Options function. If you select a format from this list, the current folder will be automatically redisplayed using those settings.

•	FROMFOCUS/S: This switch tells Opus to use whichever window within the Lister has input focus as its source. This lets you view the Properties page for the current selection in the Folder Tree when it has input focus, and for the selected files in the file display otherwise.

•	SETWALLPAPER/O: This option sets the selected image file as the system Desktop Wallpaper image. Any image file format that Directory Opus supports can be used with this command. You can specify the optional center, tile or stretch parameters to specify the wallpaper settings. Specifying menu as the value of this option produces a pop-up menu with Center, Tile and Stretch options displayed. This is most useful in context menus; for example, add the following command to the context menu for Recognized Images:

Properties SETWALLPAPER=menu


Recent

This command is used to display and control the global list of recently visited folders. When used with no options it acts as a dynamic command that generates a list of recent folders. Selecting one of the folders in this list will read that folder into the active Lister. The command template for this command is:

PATH, CLEAR/S, NEW/S, OPENINDUAL/S, SHOWICONS/S

•	PATH: This option modifies the default behavior of the Recent command and acts as a filter to control the Recent folders displayed in the generated list. For example, Recent C: would display only those Recent folders beginning with C:.

•	CLEAR/S: This option clears the Recent folder list.

•	NEW/S: This switch modifies the behavior of the Recent command when it is acting as a dynamic command. It causes a new Lister to be opened when the user selects a folder from the Recent List, rather than opening the folder in the current Lister.

•	OPENINDUAL/S: This switch is similar to the NEW option, except that it causes the folder to be read into the opposite file display of a dual-file display Lister. The Lister is automatically set into dual-file display mode if it is not already.

•	SHOWICONS/S: The SHOWICONS switch modifies the behavior of the Recent command when it is acting as a dynamic command. It causes icons to be displayed in the generated list of Recent folders. Without this switch, only the folder names are shown.


Rename

This command is used to change the names of selected files and folders. When used with no options it displays a dialog prompting for a new name for each file in turn. You can use wildcards and regular expression syntax to perform batch renames. The command template for this command is:

FROM, PATTERN/K, TO, REGEXP/S, INLINE/O, CASE/K[upper, lower, firstword, allwords, extupper, extlower], RECURSE/S, AUTORENAME/S, FINDREP/S

•	FROM: This option lets you specify the name of the file to rename. If not specified, the selected files and folders in the active Lister are used. You can specify a standard wildcard pattern for this, but regular expression or find-and-replace patterns must be given with the PATTERN argument.

•	PATTERN: This option lets you specify the wildcard pattern to be used for the rename. Use this if you are performing a regular expression or find-and-replace rename.

•	TO: This option lets you specify the new name of the file being renamed. It is only used in conjunction with the FROM and/or PATTERN options.

•	REGEXP/S: Set this option to specify regular expression syntax when renaming. It is only used in conjunction with the PATTERN option.

•	INLINE/O: This option triggers inline rename mode in the active Lister. If no value is given for this option, the item in the Lister with focus will be set into rename mode. Alternatively, you can specify the name of the item in the current Lister to begin inline rename on.

•	CASE/K: This option controls the case modification process. Use one of the supported keywords to modify the capitalization of all selected files and folders.

•	RECURSE/S: This option lets you make the rename operation recursive. In this mode, all files in all selected sub-folders will have the same wildcard/case modification rename performed on them.

•	AUTORENAME/S: If this flag is set, and the new name of a file clashes with an existing file, the new filename is automatically modified (by adding an incrementing number to the end) to make it unique.

•	FINDREP/S: Set this option to specify find-and-replace renaming. It is only used in conjunction with the PATTERN option.

• Directory Opus allows you to rename files within ZIP files as normal. However, the ZIP file format does not natively support rename, so Opus implements this "behind the scenes" by extracting the file to a temporary location, renaming it and then adding it back to the ZIP file. Depending on the size of the file that you are renaming, this may be fairly slow. It is not possible to rename sub-folders within ZIP files.


Select

This command is used to select and deselect files and folders in the active Lister. When used by itself with no options, it displays the file selection dialog (in either simple or advanced mode, depending on how it was last used). The command template for this command is:

PATTERN, ALL/S, ALLFILES/S, ALLDIRS/S, NONE/S, INVERT/S, RESELECT/S, SIMPLE/S, ADVANCED/S, FILTER/S, HIDESEL/S, HIDEUNSEL/S, SHOWHIDDEN/S, DESELECT/S, NOPATTERN/S

•	PATTERN: Use this option to select files based on a wildcard pattern without displaying the file selection dialog. For example, Select *.gif would automatically select all files ending in .gif in the active Lister.

•	ALL/S: The ALL option selects all files and folders in the active Lister.

•	ALLFILES/S: The ALLFILES option selects all files (but not folders) in the active Lister.

•	ALLDIRS/S: This option selects all folders (but not files) in the active Lister.

•	NONE/S: This option deselects all files and folders in the active Lister.

•	INVERT/S: This option inverts the current selection status of all files and folders in the active Lister.

•	RESELECT/S: This option reselects all files and folders that were deselected by the execution of the previous command.

•	SIMPLE/S: This option displays the file selection dialog in simple mode.

•	ADVANCED/S: This option displays the file selection dialog in advanced mode.

•	FILTER/S: This option performs file selection based on a previously saved filter. The name of the filter must be specified as the value of the PATTERN option. For example, Select MyFilter FILTER.

•	HIDESEL/S: This option causes all files selected by the Select command to be hidden (removed from the Lister display). You can use this in conjunction with the PATTERN option to perform a wildcard selection at the same time, or with the NOPATTERN option to simply hide all currently selected files.

•	HIDEUNSEL/S: This option is similar to the HIDESEL option, except that files that are not selected are hidden.

•	SHOWHIDDEN/S: This option reveals any files in the Lister that have previously been hidden with the HIDESEL or HIDEUNSEL options.

•	DESELECT/S: This option is used in conjunction with the PATTERN option. Any files matching the wildcard are deselected instead of being selected.

•	NOPATTERN/S: This option is used in conjunction with the HIDESEL and HIDEUNSEL options. It lets you hide files without having to perform a pattern match at the same time.


Set

The Set command is used to dynamically modify several settings, for both the active Lister and the program as a whole. The function does nothing when no options are specified. The command template for this command is:

VIEW/K [LargeIcons, SmallIcons, List, Details, Power, Thumbnails, Tiles, Cycle], STATE/K[Source, Dest], TREE/K[On, Off, Toggle], DUAL/K[On, Off, Toggle, Horiz, Vert, ToggleLayout], COPYFILTER/K[On, Off, Toggle], DELFILTER/K[On, Off, Toggle], FILTERS/K[On, Off, Toggle], OUTPUT/K[On, Off, Toggle], LISTERCMD/K[Minimize, Maximize, Restore, ShowAll, MinimizeAll, TileH, TileV, Cascade], FORMAT/K, SORTBY/K, SORTNUMERIC/K[On, Off, Toggle], SORTNUMERICTAIL/K[On, Off, Toggle], SORTREVERSE/K[On, Off, Toggle], SORTWORDS/K[On, Off, Toggle], SORTORDER/K[Folders, Files, Mixed, Cycle], COLUMNS/K, COLUMNSADD/K, COLUMNSREMOVE/K, COLUMNSTOGGLE/K, SOUNDS/K[On, Off, Toggle], VIEWPANE/K[On, Off, Toggle, Horiz, Vert, ToggleLayout], VIEWPANESIZE/K, FTPMODE/K[ASCII, Binary, Auto], HIDE/S, LISTERSIZE/K, READONLY/K[On, Off, Toggle], SHOWFILTERFILENAME/O, SHOWFILTERATTR/O, SHOWFILTERFOLDERS/O, HIDEFILTERFILENAME/O, HIDEFILTERATTR/O, HIDEFILTERFOLDERS/O, LAYOUT/K[Remember, Restore, Filmstrip], FILESFROMDROPONLY/S

•	VIEW/K [LargeIcons, SmallIcons, List, Details, Power, Thumbnails, Tiles, Cycle]: This option is used to change the current display mode of the active Lister. You must specify one of the available modes as the value of this option. You can also use the Cycle option to cycle through the available display modes. The Tiles option is only available under Windows XP, and currently only works in system virtual folders like the Desktop.

•	STATE/K [Source, Dest]: This option is used to change the current state of the active Lister. You must specify either Source or Dest as the value of this option.

•	TREE/K [On, Off, Toggle]: This option is used to turn the Folder Tree in the active Lister on or off.

•	DUAL/K [On, Off, Toggle, Horiz, Vert, ToggleLayout]: This option is used to change the active Lister between single- and dual-file display modes. On, Off, and Toggle are used to switch between single and dual modes. The Horiz, Vert and ToggleLayout options are used to switch the dual-file display mode between horizontal and vertical layout.

•	COPYFILTER/K [On, Off, Toggle]: This option is used to control the state of the Copy Filter. Using this command can be easier than modifying this option through the File Operations page in Preferences.

•	DELFILTER/K [On, Off, Toggle]: This option is used to control the state of the Delete Filter.

•	FILTERS/K [On, Off, Toggle]: This option is used to control the state of both the Copy and Delete Filters.

•	OUTPUT/K [On, Off, Toggle]: This option is used to turn the Output Window on or off.

•	LISTERCMD/K [Minimize, Maximize, Restore, ShowAll, MinimizeAll, TileH, TileV, Cascade]: This option is used to perform a Lister management command. Minimize, Maximize and Restore let you modify the window state of the active Lister. ShowAll makes all open Listers display themselves if they are minimized or behind another window. MinimizeAll causes all open Listers to be minimized. TileH, TileV and Cascade are used to automatically arrange open Listers on the screen.

•	FORMAT/K: This option is used to change the display of the current Lister to use a previously Defined Path Format. These can be configured through the Folder Options function.

•	SORTBY/K: This option lets you change the sort field for the current Lister. You must specify the column keyboard representing the field you wish to sort on. You can also specify sortlist, which acts as a dynamic command that generates a list of the current fields displayed in the Lister, letting you easily change the current sort order.

•	SORTNUMERIC/K[On, Off, Toggle]: This lets you change the state of the Numeric name head sorting option for the current Lister.

•	SORTNUMERICTAIL/K[On, Off, Toggle]: This lets you change the state of the Numeric name tail sorting option for the current Lister.

•	SORTREVERSE/K[On, Off, Toggle]: This lets you change the state of the Reverse order sorting option for the current Lister.

•	SORTWORDS/K[On, Off, Toggle]: Changes the state of the Word sort sorting option for the current Lister.

•	SORTORDER/K[Folders, Files, Mixed, Cycle]: Changes the sort order in the current Lister. Choose from Folders (folders listed first), Files (files listed first) and Mixed (folders and files intermixed). You can also specify Cycle to cycle through the available modes.

•	COLUMNS/K: This lets you change the information fields that are displayed in Power/Details mode in the current Lister. You can specify multiple column keywords separated by commas. This option replaces all current columns with those that you specify. See below for a list of the column keywords.

•	COLUMNSADD/K: This lets you add information fields to the current Lister. You can specify multiple column keywords separated by commas. The fields you specify will be added after any existing fields. By default the fields are added to the end of the current display, however you can specify the position of each field by appending (x) to the column keyword, where x is the desired position. E.g., Set COLUMNSADD=dest(3)

•	COLUMNSREMOVE/K: This lets you remove information fields from the current Lister. If the fields you specify are currently displayed in the Lister, they will be removed.

•	COLUMNSTOGGLE/K: This lets you turn the specified columns on and off in the current Lister. If the columns that you specify are all currently displayed, they will be removed. Otherwise, any specified columns that are not currently displayed will be added to the Lister. The column keywords can optionally be followed by a position setting in the same manner as COLUMNSADD.

•	SOUNDS/K[On, Off, Toggle]: This lets you turn Directory Opus sound effects on or off.

•	VIEWPANE/K[On, Off, Toggle, Horiz, Vert, ToggleLayout]: This command lets you control the Lister Viewer Pane. You can turn it on or off or toggle its state. You can also modify its layout – either horizontal or vertical.

•	VIEWPANESIZE/K: This lets you change the size of the Viewer Pane in the current Lister. The value given is a percentage of the total size of the Lister. You can specify two sizes separated by a comma, in which case this command will toggle the Viewer Pane between the two sizes. For example, SET VIEWPANESIZE=50,25 would toggle the Viewer Pane between 50% of the Lister width and 25% of the Lister width (or height if the Viewer Pane was set to horizontal layout).

•	FTPMODE/K[ASCII, Binary, Auto]: This lets you change the transfer mode for the current FTP connection. You can choose from ASCII, Binary and Auto modes.

•	HIDE/S: This switch is used in conjunction with other Set parameters – it does nothing on its own. It causes Directory Opus to hide from the toolbar any button that ordinarily would be disabled because the function was not available. For example, HIDE in conjunction with the FTPMODE option would cause the button to be removed from the display when not in an FTP folder.

•	LISTERSIZE/K: This command lets you change the physical size of the current Lister. It takes one or two parameters, being the width and height, separated by commas. If you only want to change one dimension, do not supply the other one. You can also change the size incrementally by specifying delta values using + or -.

•	READONLY/K[On, Off, Toggle]: This lets you set the read only state of the current ZIP file.

•	SHOWFILTERFILENAME/O: This modifies the Show Filter – Filename setting for the current Lister.

•	SHOWFILTERATTR/O: This modifies the Show Filter – Attributes setting for the current Lister.

•	SHOWFILTERFOLDERS/O: This modifies the Show Filter – Folders setting for the current Lister.

•	HIDEFILTERFILENAME/O: This modifies the Hide Filter – Filename setting for the current Lister.

•	HIDEFILTERATTR/O: This modifies the Hide Filter – Attributes setting for the current Lister.

•	HIDEFILTERFOLDERS/O: This modifies the Hide Filter – Folders setting for the current Lister.

•	LAYOUT/K[Remember, Restore, Filmstrip]: With the remember parameter, this option causes the Lister to store its current "layout". Layout in this instance refers to the appearance of the Lister itself (tree state and size, file display state and size, viewer pane state and size) and should not be confused with the Lister Layouts system.

If you have previously remembered the Lister layout with the set layout=remember command, you can use the restore command to automatically return the Lister to that arrangement. For example, you could have a button that called remember and then used other SET command parameters to turn the tree off, put the Lister into dual file display mode, etc. You could then have another button that called restore to instantly return the Lister to its prior appearance.

The filmstrip parameter toggles Filmstrip mode on or off. You can also use set layout="filmstrip=on" to turn the mode on and set layout="filmstrip=off" to turn the mode off rather than toggling (make sure you include the quotation marks in these cases).

•	FILESFROMDROPONLY/S: . If you add the command Set FILESFROMDROPONLY to a button that launches an external program and uses %1 or {f} or similar to pass filenames to that program, it will prevent the function from picking up selected files from the source Lister. Instead, drag and drop will be the only way to pass files to that function.

The Set command lets you string multiple switches together to change more than one thing at once. For example,

Set COLUMNSADD=name,size SORTBY=size SORTREVERSE=on

The COLUMNS and SORTFIELD switches for Set all use column keywords to refer to the Lister information fields. These are the columns that are also available in Folder Options. The keywords that are recognized are shown in the following table:-

Category	Column	Keyword
Document	Author	author
	Category	category
	Comments	comments
	Pages	pages
	Subject	subject
	Title	title
General	Age (relative)	daterel
	Attributes	attr
	Date (accessed)	accesseddate
	Date (created)	createddate
	Date (modified)	modifieddate
	Date/time (accessed)	accessed
	Date/time (created)	created
	Date/time (modified)	modified
	Description	desc
	Extension	ext
	MD5 checksum	md5sum
	Owner	owner
	Size (auto)	sizeauto
	Size (bytes)	size
	Size (KB)	sizekb
	Size (relative)	sizerel
	Time (accessed)	accessedtime
	Time (created)	createdtime
	Time (modified)	modifiedtime
	Type	type
Image	Aperture value	apertureval
	Bit depth	picdepth
	Camera make	cameramake
	Camera model	cameramodel
	Dimensions	picsize
	Exposure bias	exposurebias
	Exposure program	exposureprogram
	Exposure time	exposuretime
	Flash	flash
	F-Number	fnumber
	Focal length	focallength
	Height	picheight
	Resolution (X)	picresx
	Metering mode	meteringmode
	Resolution (Y)	picresy
	Sensitivity	isorating
	Shooting time	shootingtime
	Shutter speed	shutterspeed
	Subject distance	subjectdistance
	White balance	whitebalance
	Width	picwidth
Music	Album	mp3album
	Artist	mp3artist
	Bit rate	mp3bitrate
	Genre	mp3genre
	Mode	mp3mode
	Music comment	mp3comment
	Music info	mp3info
	Music title	mp3title
	Music type	mp3type
	Sample rate	mp3samplerate
	Song length	mp3songlength
	Track Number	mp3track
	Year	mp3year
Version	Company Name	companyname
	Copyright	copyright
	Module Description	moddesc
	Module Version	modversion
	Product Name	prodname
	Product Version	prodversion

The SORTFIELD switch also recognizes the following synonyms to set sort order (in the case where multiple display fields are sorted the same): modified, created, accessed, size, date.

• The MD5 Checksum column calculates and displays the MD5 checksum (hash value) of all files in the current folder. Because calculating the checksum may take a significant amount of time, it is disabled by default for files exceeding 5000kb in size. If you wish to increase this limit, set the following registry value to the desired limit in kilobytes (or set to 0 to have no limit at all):

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\GPSoftware\Directory Opus\Config\User
 	(DWORD) MaxHashSize = <limit>


SetAttr

The SetAttr command lets you modify the attributes, timestamps and descriptions of all selected files and folders. The attributes you can modify are Read Only (file can not be deleted or modified), Archive (file is marked for backup), Hidden (file is not normally displayed) and System (file is a system file). You can also set the creation and last modified time to a specific date and time. The default behavior of this command if no options are specified is to display the Set Attributes dialog. However, you can automate the procedure by specifying options to define which attributes and timestamps to modify. The command template for this function is:

ATTR/K, SETATTR/K, CLEARATTR/K, TOGGLEATTR/K, MODIFIED/K, CREATED/K, RECURSE/S, FILTER/K, DESCRIPTION/O

•	ATTR/K: This option lets you specify absolute attributes to change selected files to. The value string can consist of the letters r (read only), a (archived), h (hidden), s (system) or n (normal). For example, SetAttr ATTR=hs would set all selected file attributes to hidden and system.

•	SETATTR/K: This option lets you specify attributes to turn on in selected files. This has the effect of ‘adding’ attributes to those already set. It will not turn any existing attributes off.

•	CLEARATTR/K: This option lets you specify attributes to turn off in selected files. Only the attributes specified will be turned off; other attributes will not be changed.

•	TOGGLEATTR/K: This option lets you specify attributes to toggle on or off in selected files. The attributes you specify will be turned on if they are currently on, and vice versa.

•	MODIFIED/K: This option lets you specify the date to set for the last modified time for selected files. You can specify the value now which means the current time and date, or you can specify a specific date only. The date specified must be in the form YYYYMMDD, for example SetAttr MODIFIED=20010922

•	CREATED/K: This option lets you specify the date to set for the creation time for selected files.

•	RECURSE/S: If you specify this option, the changes you have specified will be made recursively to all files within any selected subfolders.

•	FILTER/K: This option lets you specify the name of a previously saved filter to use in conjunction with the RECURSE option.

•	DESCRIPTION/O: This option can be used to add your own descriptions to files and folders. When DESCRIPTION is given by itself, Opus displays a dialog letting you enter a description for selected files. You can also specify the description string as the value for this option, in which case no dialog is shown.


Show

This command uses the built-in picture viewer display all selected picture files in the active Lister. The built-in picture viewer is a simple utility designed to let you view a picture quickly without the possible overhead of loading an external viewer or editor. Directory Opus supports the common graphics formats of JPEG, GIF, TIF, PNG, ILBM, PSD, BMP, WMF and EMF as well as the Amiga Icon format (.info). Using the Viewer Plug-in system it is possible to extend the viewing capabilities to include other file types. The command template for this function is:

FILE/F, PLUGINLIST/S, PLUGINCONFIG/K, PLUGINABOUT/K, USEEXISTING/S, PLUGIN/K, PLUGINDISABLE/O[<toggle>,enable,disable], PLUGINMANAGER/S

•	FILE/F: This lets you specify the name of the file to view

•	PLUGINLIST/S: This option acts as a dynamic command to generate a drop-down list of the currently installed Viewer Plug-ins.

•	PLUGINCONFIG/K: This option will display the configuration dialog for the specified Viewer Plug-in (if supported).

•	PLUGINABOUT/K: This option will display the About information for the specified Viewer Plug-in (if supported).

•	USEEXISTING/S: If you specify this switch, Directory Opus will attempt to locate and use an existing picture viewer instead of opening a new one. For example, configure the dblclk action for the Recognized Images file type to Show USEEXISTING.

•	PLUGIN/S: This option forces Directory Opus to use the specified plug-in to view the show. You can use this to override the default plug-in for the type of file you are trying to view. For example, a button with the command Show PLUGIN=text would force the text viewer plug-in to be used. This lets you view as hex, for example, an image file that otherwise would have been displayed as a picture.

•	PLUGINDISABLE/O: Use this option in conjunction with the PLUGIN parameter to enable or disable a Viewer Plug-in.

•	PLUGINMANAGER/S: Displays the Viewer Plugin Manager window, which lets you enable, disable, configure and rearrange the order of your installed plug-ins.

See the section on The Opus Picture Viewer for more information.


Split

This command is the companion to the Join command, and lets you split a single file into multiple, smaller parts. It also allows you to uuencode the split files for transmission via email. Split operates on the first selected file in the active Lister. You need to specify the output folder for the split files, as well as the chunk size. You can select from one of the predefined chunk sizes or enter your own chunk size in bytes. The split files automatically have a numerical prefix appended indicating their order. There are no options for this command.


Toolbar

The Toolbar command is used to provide access to your stored Toolbars without going through the Customize dialog. The command template is as follows:

NAME, STATE/K[<top>, bottom, left, right, center, viewpane, tree, float], CLOSE/S, TOGGLE/S, LIST/S

•	NAME: Specifies the name of the Toolbar, as saved in the Directory Opus Buttons folder. You do not need to specify the .dop filename extension. The default action of this command when a name is specified is to open that Toolbar unless it is already open.

•	STATE/K: This switch can be used with the NAME parameter to specify the state of the Toolbar when it is opened. The states top, bottom, left and right refer to the top, bottom, left and right edges of the Lister. The center state describes the position between the two displays of a dual-file display Lister. The viewpane state describes the position between the Lister Viewer Pane and the file display. The tree state describes the position between the Folder Tree and the file display. The float state describes a floating Toolbar. If the Toolbar is not currently open, you can set its state to any of these options when you open it. If the Toolbar is already open, you can only use the STATE parameter to switch it from floating to non-floating and vice versa.

•	CLOSE/S: Use this switch in conjunction with the NAME parameter to close a currently open Toolbar.

•	TOGGLE/S: Use this switch in conjunction with the NAME parameter to toggle a toolbar on or off.

•	LIST/S: This is a dynamic command that generates a list of your saved Toolbars and lets you turn them on or off.


Undo

The Undo command provides access to the Directory Opus undo system. This lets you undo many file actions that you have made, including copies, renames and deletes (if the Recycle Bin has been used). When used by itself, with no options specified, this command undoes the last performed file command. The command template for this command is:

PAGE/S, LIST/S, LISTMENU/S, ITEM/K

•	PAGE/S: The PAGE option opens the Output Window and displays the Undo page, where you can see the list of undoable actions and selectively undo them.

•	LIST/S: This option acts as a dynamic command and generates a list of all undoable actions. You can select an item from this list to undo a specific action without having to undo all actions in the list.

•	LISTMENU/S: This option is the same as the LIST option except that the undo items are displayed in a popup submenu rather than in the Toolbar or menu itself. If there are no undoable items, the submenu is not displayed at all.

•	ITEM/K: This option lets you undo a specific action in the Undo list. You must specify the action number to undo.


External Command Control Codes

When Directory Opus launches an external application program from a Toolbar button or menu item, the command definition can include special control sequences which tell Opus to insert specific information into the command line.

The control sequences generally take the form of one or more characters surrounded by {braces}. There is always at least one synonym for a control sequence that performs the same function. For example, all control sequences have a short and a long form that can be used interchangeably. The short form requires less typing and produces a smaller function definition, while the long form is more descriptive and may make the function more understandable.

Symbol	Description	Symbol	Description
f	file path	O	all files
!	not required	*s	short
$	required	s	source
o	file	d	destination
F	all files and paths	R	dialog
A legend of the symbols used for the short control sequences.

Several commands or prefixes have special meaning within an Opus function definition and can be used to modify the way external programs are launched.

You can use the cd command to change the ‘start in’ or ‘working folder’ of an external program. Use cd {sourcepath} to automatically set the ‘start in’ folder of an external program to the current path in the source Lister.

You can use the runmode command to change the ‘Run’ state of the program. This command takes a single parameter, either min, max or hide to specify a minimized, maximized or hidden main window – if not given, the program is started in normal mode. Please note that not all programs will support this setting. You should only set the runmode to hide if you are sure of what you are doing – it is most useful for hiding the otherwise brief flash of a DOS window when running a DOS program.

When you define a function to run an external program, you can prefix the program name with the string sync: to cause it to be started synchronously. This lets you start multiple programs in order.

Functions that are defined as MS-DOS Batch Functions are run as if they were batch (.bat) files. Because of the way the Windows batch file processor works, calling external batch files from an Opus batch function would not automatically work correctly. To overcome this, Opus automatically prefixes external batch files with the call command to ensure they are run correctly. If you wish to override this behavior you can prefix the name of the batch file with nocall:

You can use the ddeexec, ddeapp and ddetopic commands to create a function that executes a DDE conversation with another application. For example, to create a button that opens a picture in ACDSee using DDE you would define the following instructions:

ddeexec  [open("%1")]

ddeapp   ACDSee\

ddetopic System

"C:\Program Files\ACD Systems\ACDSee\ACDSee.exe" /dde

Control Sequence	Meaning
{filepath} {f!} %1 %2 %L	Directory Opus inserts the name of the first selected file or folder in the active Lister. The filename is in long filename format and is supplied with the full path. The %1, %2 and %L sequences are compatible with Explorer. If there is no selected file in the active Lister, this control sequence is omitted. This code and all others that return the name of a file or files can take an optional flag which allows you to strip or replace the filename extension. For example, {filepath|noext} strips the filename extension from the filename returned {filepath|ext=tmp} replaces the filename extension with .tmp
{filepath$} {f}	The same as {filepath}, except that there must be a selected file in the active Lister or else the function will not be run.
{file} {o!}	This control sequence inserts the name of the first selected file or folder in the active Lister. The filename is in long filename format, but does not contain the full path – only the filename itself is supplied. If there is no selected file in the active Lister, this control sequence is omitted.
{file$} {o}	The same as {file}, except that there must be a selected file in the active Lister or else the function will not be run.
{allfilepath} {F!} %*	This control sequence inserts the name of all selected files and folders in the active Lister. The filenames are supplied in long filename format with the full path included. If a filename contains a space it is automatically enclosed with quotation marks. The filenames are separated by spaces. The %* control sequence is compatible with Explorer. If there are no selected files in the active Lister, this control sequence is omitted.
{allfilepath$} {F}	The same as {allfilepath}, except that there must be at least one selected file in the active Lister or else the function will not be run.
{allfile} {O!}	This is the same as {allfilepath} except that the filenames do not include the full path – only the filenames themselves are supplied.
{allfile$} {O}	The same as {allfile}, except that there must be at least one selected file in the active Lister or else the function will not be run.
{filepathshort} {fs!}	This is the same as {filepath} except that the filename is supplied in short filename format. This is useful for running 16 bit programs
{filepathshort$} {fs}	The same as {filepath$} except that the filename is supplied in short filename format.
{fileshort} {os!}	The same as {file} except that the filename is supplied in short filename format.
{fileshort$} {os}	The same as {file$} except that the filename is supplied in short filename format.
{allfilepathshort} {Fs!}	The same as {allfilepath} except that the filenames are supplied in short filename format.
{allfilepathshort$} {Fs}	The same as {allfilepath$} except that the filenames are supplied in short filename format.
{allfileshort} {Os!}	The same as {allfile} except that the filenames are supplied in short filename format.
{allfileshort$} {Os}	The same as {allfile$} except that the filenames are supplied in short filename format.
{filepathdest} {fd!}	The same as {filepath} except that the filenames come from the destination Lister rather than the source.
{filepathdest$} {fd}	The same as {filepath$} except that the filenames from the destination Lister rather than the source.
{filedest} {od!}	The same as {file} but with filenames from the destination Lister.
{filedest$} {od}	The same as {file$} but with filenames from the destination Lister.
{allfilepathdest} {Fd!}	The same as {allfilepath} but with filenames from the destination Lister.
{allfilepathdest$} {Fd}	The same as {allfilepath$} but with filenames from the destination Lister.
{allfiledest} {Od!}	The same as {allfile} but with filenames from the destination Lister.
{allfiledest$} {Od}	The same as {allfile$} but with filenames from the destination Lister.
{filepathshortdest} {fsd!}	The same as {filepathshort} but with filenames from the destination Lister.
{filepathshortdest$} {fsd}	The same as {filepathshort$} but with filenames from the destination Lister.
{fileshortdest} {osd!}	The same as {fileshort} but with filenames from the destination Lister.
{fileshortdest$} {osd}	The same as {fileshort$} but with filenames from the destination Lister.
{allfilepathshortdest} {Fsd!}	The same as {allfilepathshort} but with filenames from the destination Lister.
{allfilepathshortdest$} {Fsd}	The same as {allfilepathshort$} but with filenames from the destination Lister.
{allfileshortdest} {Osd!}	The same as {allfileshort} but with filenames from the destination Lister.
{allfileshortdest$} {Osd}	The same as {allfileshort$} but with filenames from the destination Lister.
{sourcepath} {s!}	This control sequence inserts the path of the folder in the source Lister. The path is supplied in long filename format. If there is no valid source Lister, this control sequence is omitted.
{sourcepath$} {s}	The same as {sourcepath} except that if there is no valid source Lister the function will not be run.
{destpath} {d!}	This control sequence inserts the path of the folder in the destination Lister (or, in the case of a dual file-display Lister, the destination file display). If there is no valid destination path, this control sequence is omitted.
{destpath$} {d}	The same as {destpath} except that if there is no valid destination path the function will not be run.
{sourcepathshort} {ss!}	The same as {sourcepath} except that the path is supplied in short filename format.
{sourcepathshort$} {ss}	The same as {sourcepath$} except that the path is supplied in short filename format.
{destpathshort} {ds!}	The same as {destpath} except that the path is supplied in short filename format
{destpathshort$} {ds}	The same as {destpath$} except that the path is supplied in short filename format.
{dlgopen} {Rf}	This control sequence causes Directory Opus to display an Open File dialog, letting you select a file. The name of the selected file is then inserted into the function. You can also optionally supply the title string for the file dialog and a default value for the filename. This is done using the vertical bar inside the control sequence itself. For example, {dlgopen|Select filename|dopus.txt} This would use Select filename as the dialog title, and the default filename would be dopus.txt.
{dlgmulti} {Rm}	The same as {dlgopen} except that the Open File dialog supports multiple file selection.
{dlgsave} {RF}	The same as {dlgopen} except that the dialog that is displayed is a Save File dialog.
{dlgfolder} {Rd}	The same as {dlgopen} except that the dialog that is displayed is a Browse For Folder dialog.
{dlgstring} {Rs}	This control sequence causes Directory Opus to display a dialog prompting you to enter a text string. The entered string is then inserted into the function. This also supports the specifying of dialog title and default string using vertical bars as shown in the example for {dlgopen}.
The dialog control codes listed above can also be used in conjunction with internal Opus commands. For example, you could have a function like Set SHOWFILTERFILENAME={dlgstring|Enter file pattern to show files} to display a dialog letting you enter a show pattern.


Status Bar Control Sequences

Directory Opus allows you to totally configure the information displayed on the status bar at the bottom of each Lister. The status bar text is configured using special control sequences that tell Directory Opus to insert information into the status bar display. The control sequences consist of various characters enclosed with {braces}. Usually the information displayed describes the state of the current Lister, or in the case of a dual-file display Lister, the source file display. However, using additional codes you can display information simultaneously for both the left- and right-hand (or top and bottom) file displays in a dual-file display Lister.

Type	Seq	Description
Selected folders Displays the number of selected folders.	{sd} {sdD} {sdL} {sdR}	Selected folders in the current/source Lister Selected folders in the destination file display Selected folders in the left-hand file display Selected folders in the right-hand file display
Selected files Displays the number of selected files.	{sf} {sfD} {sfL} {sfR}	Selected files in the current/source Lister Selected files in the destination file display Selected files in the left-hand file display Selected files in the right-hand file display
Selected items Displays number of selected items (both files and folders).	{si} {siD} {siL} {siR}	Selected items in the current/source Lister Selected items in the destination file display Selected items in the left-hand file display Selected items in the right-hand file display
Selected bytes Displays the total byte size of all selected files and folders. Displayed as either the number of bytes (the b or default option), or in bytes, Kb, Mb or Gb automatically depending on the size (the a option).	{sb} {sba} {sbDb} {sbDa} {sbLb} {sbLa} {sbRb} {sbRa}	Selected bytes in the current/source Lister (bytes) Selected bytes in the current/source Lister (automatic)  Selected bytes in the destination file display (bytes) Selected bytes in the destination file display (automatic) Selected bytes in the left-hand file display (bytes) Selected bytes in the left-hand file display (automatic) Selected bytes in the right-hand file display (bytes) Selected bytes in the right-hand file display (automatic)
Selected file bytes Displays the total byte size of all selected files only.	{sbf} {sbfa} {sbfDb} {sbfDa} {sbfLb} {sbfLa} {sbfRb} {sbfRa}	Selected file bytes in the current/source Lister (bytes) Selected file bytes in the current/source Lister (automatic) Selected file bytes in the destination file display (bytes) Selected file bytes in the destination file display (automatic) Selected file bytes in the left-hand file display (bytes) Selected file bytes in the left-hand file display (automatic) Selected file bytes in the right-hand file display (bytes) Selected file bytes in the right-hand file display (automatic)
Selected folder bytes Displays the total byte size of all selected folders only.	{sbd} {sbda} {sbdDb} {sbdDa} {sbdLb} {sbdLa} {sbdRb} {sbdRa}	Selected folder bytes in the current/source Lister (bytes) Selected folder bytes in the current/source Lister (auto) Selected folder bytes in the destination file display (bytes) Selected folder bytes in the destination file display (auto) Selected folder bytes in the left-hand file display (bytes) Selected folder bytes in the left-hand file display (auto) Selected folder bytes in the right-hand file display (bytes) Selected folder bytes in the right-hand file display (auto)
Total folders Displays the total number of folders.	{td} {tdD} {tdL} {tdR}	Total number of folders in the current/source Lister Total number of folders in the destination file display Total number of folders in the left-hand file display Total number of folders in the right-hand file display
Total files Displays the total number of files.	{tf} {tfD} {tfL} {tfR}	Total number of files in the current/source Lister Total number of files in the destination file display Total number of files in the left-hand file display Total number of files in the right-hand file display
Total items Displays the total number of items (both files and folders).	{ti} {tiD} {tiL} {tiR}	Total number of items in the current/source Lister Total number of items in the destination file display Total number of items in the left-hand file display Total number of items in the right-hand file display
Total bytes Displays the total byte size of all files and folders. Displayed as either the number of bytes (the b or default option), or in bytes, Kb, Mb or Gb automatically depending on the size (the a option).	{tb} {tba} {tbDb} {tbDa} {tbLb} {tbLa} {tbRb} {tbRa}	Total bytes in the current/source Lister (bytes) Total bytes in the current/source Lister (automatic) Total bytes in the destination file display (bytes) Total bytes in the destination file display (automatic) Total bytes in the left-hand file display (bytes) Total bytes in the left-hand file display (automatic) Total bytes in the right-hand file display (bytes) Total bytes in the right-hand file display (automatic)
Total file bytes Displays the total byte size of all files only.	{tbf} {tbfa} {tbfDb} {tbfDa} {tbfLb} {tbfLa} {tbfRb} {tbfRa}	Total file bytes in the current/source Lister (bytes) Total file bytes in the current/source Lister (automatic) Total file bytes in the destination file display (bytes) Total file bytes in the destination file display (automatic) Total file bytes in the left-hand file display (bytes) Total file bytes in the left-hand file display (automatic) Total file bytes in the right-hand file display (bytes) Total file bytes in the right-hand file display (automatic)
Total folder bytes Displays the total byte size of all folders only.	{tbd} {tbda} {tbdDb} {tbdDa} {tbdLb} {tbdLa} {tbdRb} {tbdRa}	Total folder bytes in the current/source Lister (bytes) Total folder bytes in the current/source Lister (automatic) Total folder bytes in the destination file display (bytes) Total folder bytes in the destination file display (automatic) Total folder bytes in the left-hand file display (bytes) Total folder bytes in the left-hand file display (automatic) Total folder bytes in the right-hand file display (bytes) Total folder bytes in the right-hand file display (automatic)
Hidden items Displays the total number of items that have been hidden by a filter or by the Select command.	{hi} {hiD} {hiL} {hiR}	Number of hidden items in the current/source Lister Number of hidden items in the destination file display Number of hidden items in the left-hand file display Number of hidden items in the right-hand file display
Hidden bytes Displays the total byte size of files and folders that have been hidden by a filter or by the Select command. Displayed as either the number of bytes (the b or default option), or in bytes, Kb, Mb or Gb automatically depending on the size (the a option).	{hb} {hba} {hbDb} {hbDa} {hbLb} {hbLa} {hbRb} {hbRa}	Hidden bytes in the current/source Lister (bytes) Hidden bytes in the current/source Lister (automatic) Hidden bytes in the destination file display (bytes) Hidden bytes in the destination file display (automatic) Hidden bytes in the left-hand file display (bytes) Hidden bytes in the left-hand file display (automatic) Hidden bytes in the right-hand file display (bytes) Hidden bytes in the right-hand file display (automatic)
Hidden file bytes Displays the total byte size of hidden files only.	{hbf} {hbfa} {hbfDb} {hbfDa} {hbfLb} {hbfLa} {hbfRb} {hbfRa}	Hidden file bytes in the current/source Lister (bytes) Hidden file bytes in the current/source Lister (automatic) Hidden file bytes in the destination file display (bytes) Hidden file bytes in the destination file display (automatic) Hidden file bytes in the left-hand file display (bytes) Hidden file bytes in the left-hand file display (automatic) Hidden file bytes in the right-hand file display (bytes) Hidden file bytes in the right-hand file display (automatic)
Hidden folder bytes Displays the total byte size of hidden folders only.	{hbd} {hbda} {hbdDb} {hbdDa} {hbdLb} {hbdLa} {hbdRb} {hbdRa}	Hidden folder bytes in the current/source Lister (bytes) Hidden folder bytes in the current/source Lister (automatic) Hidden folder bytes in the destination file display (bytes) Hidden folder bytes in the destination file display (automatic) Hidden folder bytes in the left-hand file display (bytes) Hidden folder bytes in the left-hand file display (automatic) Hidden folder bytes in the right-hand file display (bytes) Hidden folder bytes in the right-hand file display (automatic)
Lister state Displays the current state of the Lister (source, destination, off, or dual-file display).	{ls}	Displays the current state of the Lister
Disk space free Displays the amount of free space on the current disk. Displays either as the number of bytes, or in bytes, Kb, Mb or Gb automatically depending on the size.	{dfb} {dfa} {dfDb} {dfDa} {dfLb} {dfLa} {dfRb} {dfRa}	Disk space free in the current/source Lister (bytes) Disk space free in the current/source Lister (automatic) Disk space free in the destination file display (bytes) Disk space free in the destination file display (automatic) Disk space free in the left-hand file display (bytes) Disk space free in the left-hand file display (automatic) Disk space free in the right-hand file display (bytes) Disk space free in the right-hand file display (automatic)
Disk space used Displays the amount of used space on the current disk.	{dub} {dua} {duDb} {duDa} {duLb} {duLa} {duRb} {duRa}	Disk space used in the current/source Lister (bytes) Disk space used in the current/source Lister (automatic) Disk space used in the destination file display (bytes) Disk space used in the destination file display (automatic) Disk space used in the left-hand file display (bytes) Disk space used in the left-hand file display (automatic) Disk space used in the right-hand file display (bytes) Disk space used in the right-hand file display (automatic)
Disk space total Displays the total amount of space on the current disk (both used and free).	{dtb} {dta} {dtDb} {dtDa} {dtLb} {dtLa} {dtRb} {dtRa}	Total disk space in the current/source Lister (bytes) Total disk space in the current/source Lister (automatic) Total disk space in the destination file display (bytes) Total disk space in the destination file display (automatic) Total disk space in the left-hand file display (bytes) Total disk space in the left-hand file display (automatic) Total disk space in the right-hand file display (bytes) Total disk space in the right-hand file display (automatic)
Percentage of disk space free Displays the amount of free disk space as a percentage.	{pf} {pfD} {pfL} {pfR}	Percentage of disk space free in the current/source Lister Percentage of disk space free in the destination file display Percentage of disk space free in the left-hand file display Percentage of disk space free in the right-hand file display
Percentage of disk space used Displays the amount of used disk space as a percentage.	{pu} {puD} {puL} {puR}	Percentage of disk space used in the current/source Lister Percentage of disk space used in the destination file display Percentage of disk space used in the left-hand file display Percentage of disk space used in the right-hand file display
Total song length Displays the total length of all songs in the current folder.	{tmp3}	Note that you need to have at least one of the song columns displayed in the Lister for this to work.
Selected song length Displays the total length of all selected songs in the current folder.	{smp3}	Note that you need to have at least one of the song columns displayed in the Lister for this to work.
Hide section if zero This code does not display anything itself, rather it is used to mark a section of the status bar to be hidden if the value of the codes within the hidden section is zero.	{h!}	For example, {h!}Hidden items: {hi}{h!} only displays the Hidden items string if the value of {hi} is not zero, that is, there are hidden items in the current Lister. You must place a {h!} at the beginning and at the end of the section to conditionally hide. You can also include control sequences within the {h!} sequence itself, to test the value of a control sequence without actually displaying the value. For example, {h!{si}}Some items selected{h!} would only display the text Some items selected if the value of the {si} code was not zero, however the value of {si} would not actually be displayed.
Hide section if not zero This code does not display anything itself, rather it is used to mark a section of the status bar to be hidden if the value of the codes within the hidden section is not zero.	{h?}	This is similar to {h!} except the test is for not zero rather than zero. For example, {h?{si}}{ti} object(s){h!} would display the xx object(s) string only if there were no selected items ({si} is zero). If {si} was not zero, the string would not be displayed. Examine the Sample status bar strings provided in the Lister Display section of Preferences for more examples of how the hidden section codes can be used.
Pad to percentage of total space This code is used to pad a status bar section to a percentage of the total width of the status bar.	{padX}	X is a value from 1 to 100. If this code appears in a status bar section, that section will be padded to a size relative to the total width of the status bar. For example, {pad50} sets a section width to 50% of the total width of the Lister.
Pad to percentage of remaining space This code is used to pad a status bar section to a percentage of the remaining width of the status bar.	{rpadX}	X is a value from 1 to 100. Status Bar sections are evaluated from left to right. When the {rpad} code appears in a status bar section, that section will be padded to a size relative to the remaining space in the status bar.
Pad to width of Folder Tree This code sets the width of a status bar section to the same as the width of the Folder Tree.	{wtree}	If this code appears in a status bar section, the section is set to the same width as the Folder Tree (if enabled) in the current Lister.
Pad to width of left-hand file display This code sets the width of a status bar section to the same as the width of the left-hand file display.	{wleft}	If this code appears in a status bar section, the section is set to the same width as the left-hand file display (if the current Lister is in dual-file display mode).
Pad to right-edge of Folder Tree	{rtree}	If this code appears in a status bar section, the section is padded so that the right-hand edge of the section is aligned with the right-hand edge of the Folder Tree (if enabled) in the current Lister.
Pad to right-edge of left-hand file display	{rleft}	If this code appears in a status bar section, the section is padded so that the right-hand edge of the section is aligned with the right-hand edge of the left-hand file display (if the current Lister is in dual-file display mode).
Format lock control This code lets you add the Format lock control to the status bar.	{fl}	The format lock is a control that can be added to the status bar which lets you lock the current format in the Lister. When locked, the format will not be automatically changed by saved Folder Options when changing between folders.


Pattern Matching Syntax

The native Opus pattern matching system is extensive, easy to learn, and good for all but the most complicated pattern matching demands. It provides some of the ability of regular expression patterns but is far easier to use! Here are the available tokens:

Chars	Example	Description
#	#x	The following x character or expression is repeated 0 or more times.
?	?	Item matching a single non-NUL character.
|	a|b|c	Matches one of multiple strings.
~	~x	This expression matches if the item x doesn't match.
()	(a)	Parenthesis allows you to combine separate expressions.
[]	[a-z]	Matches a single character out of the set.
[~]	[~a-z]	Matches a single non-NUL character not in the set.
‘	'c	Escapes the following character.
*	*	Same as #? but optional.
Here are a few examples:

Pattern	Matches
#? or *	All files.
*.jpg	Files with the .jpg extension.
*abc*	Files containing ‘abc’.
*.(cpp|c|hpp|h)	Files with extensions cpp, c, hpp or h.
image[0-9]*	Files starting with ‘image’ followed by a digit 0-9.


Regular Expression Syntax

For cases where you wish to match simple patterns we recommend the native Opus pattern matching system. However, for more complicated sequences, full regular expression pattern matching is available in many Opus dialogs.

Normally, when you search for a sub-string in a string, the match should be exact. So if we search for a sub-string "abc" then the string being searched should contain these exact letters in the same sequence for a match to be found. We can extend this kind of search to a case insensitive search where the sub-string "abc" will find strings like "Abc", "ABC" etc. That is, the case is ignored but the sequence of the letters should be exactly the same. Sometimes, a case insensitive search is also not enough. For example, if we want to search for numeric digit, then we basically end up searching for each digit independently. This is where regular expressions can be helpful.

Regular expressions are text patterns that are used for string matching. Regular expressions are strings that contain a mix of plain text and special characters or tokens to indicate what kind of matching to do. Here's a very brief tutorial on using regular expressions

Suppose we are looking for a numeric digit then the regular expression we would search for is "[0-9]". The brackets indicate that the character being compared should match any one of the characters enclosed within the bracket. The dash (-) between 0 and 9 indicates that it is a range from 0 to 9. Therefore, this regular expression will match any character between 0 and 9, that is, any digit. If we want to search for a special character literally we must use a backslash before the special character. For example, the single character regular expression "\*" matches a single asterisk. The special characters are briefly described below.

Chars	Description
^	Beginning of the string. The expression "^A" will match an ‘A’ only at the beginning of the string.
^	The caret (^) immediately following the left-bracket ([) has a different meaning. It is used to exclude the remaining characters within brackets from matching the target string. The expression "[^0-9]" indicates that the target character should not be a digit.
$	The dollar sign ($) will match the end of the string. The expression "abc$" will match the sub-string "abc" only if it is at the end of the string.
|	The alternation character (|) allows either expression on its side to match the target string. The expression "a|b" will match ‘a’ as well as ‘b’.
.	The dot (.) will match any character.
*	The asterisk (*) indicates that the character to the left of the asterisk in the expression should match 0 or more times.
+	The plus (+) is similar to asterisk but there should be at least one match of the character to the left of the + sign in the expression.
?	The question mark (?) matches the character to its left 0 or 1 times.
()	The parenthesis affects the order of pattern evaluation and also serves as a tagged expression that can be used when replacing the matched sub-string with another expression.
[]	Brackets ([ and ]) enclosing a set of characters indicates that any of the enclosed characters may match the target character.
\	The backslash character in the search string escapes any of the above characters. For example, "\." (slash dot) means search for a dot character.

The parenthesis, besides affecting the evaluation order of the regular expression, also serves as tagged expression which is something like a temporary memory. This memory can then be used when we want to replace the found expression with a new expression. In the replace expression you can specify an ‘&’ character which represents the sub-string found in the match expression. For example, if the sub-string that matched the regular expression was "ABCD", then a replace expression of "xyz&xyz" would generate the string "xyzABCDxyz". The replace expression can also be expressed using a tagged expression such as "\0",for example,"xyz\0xyz". The "\0" indicates a tagged expression representing the entire sub-string that was matched. Similarly we can have other tagged expression represented by "\1", "\2" for the progressively matched strings. Note that although the tagged expression 0 is always defined, the tagged expressions 1, 2 etc. are only defined if the regular expression used in the search had enough sets of parenthesis. Here are few examples.

String	Search	Replace	Result
Mr.jpg	(Mr)(\..*)	\1s\2	Mrs.jpg
abc	(a)b(c)	&-\1-\2	abc-a-c
bcd	(a|b)c*d	&-\1	bcd-b
abcde	(.*)c(.*)	&-\1-\2	abcde-ab-de
cde	(ab|cd)e	&-\1	cde-cd

Note that regular expressions are always case sensitive.


Raw Commands Reference Tables

Command	Option	Description
CLI	<default>	Opens CLI window
	DOSPROMPT/O	default - Opens a DOS prompt, CD to the current source Lister here – Open a DOS prompt, CD to the selected sub-folder
Clipboard	<default>	<none>
	COPY/S	Copy selected files to clipboard
	CUT/S	Cut selected files
	PASTE/S	Paste clipboard contents to current source Lister
	PASTESHORTCUT/S	Paste a shortcut to clipboard contents
	COPYNAME/O	default – Copy the names of selected files to the clipboard nopaths – Copy filenames only without paths url – Copy filenames as URLs hash – Copy filenames and MD5 checksums hash2 – Same as hash but formats the text to be compatible with the md5sum program
	FROMFOCUS/S	Operate on the object with input focus (Folder Tree or file display) rather than only the source file display
Close	<default>	Close the current Lister
	PROGRAM/S	Close the program (exit)
	ALLLISTER/S	Close all Listers
	SYSTEM/S	default – logoff the current user restart – restart the system shutdown – shut the system down poweroff – shut down and power off force – force immediate shut down or restart forceifhung – force if there are non-responding programs (only under Win2K or greater)
	AT/K	Auto-shutdown at the specified time (hh:mm:ss)
	IN/K	Auto-shutdown after the specified period (hh:mm:ss)
	WHENFINISHED/S	Auto-shutdown when all functions have completed
	QUIET/S	Disable confirmation prompt
	CANCEL/S	Cancel previously scheduled shutdown
	TOGGLE/S	Toggle auto-shutdown on and off
Copy	<default>	Copy files
	FILE/M	Specify the files to copy or move
	MOVE/S	Move files
	AS/O	default - Changes the names of the copied / moved files by asking for new names <name> - change name of copied file to specified name or wildcard pattern
	HERE/S	Used with MAKESHORTCUT and EXTRACT options, uses the source folder as the destination
	DUPLICATE/S	Copy to same location
	MOVEWHENSAME/S	When source/dest are same disks, move files instead of copy
	RENAMEWHENSAME/S	Automatically rename copied files if source/dest are same folder
	MAKESHORTCUT/S	Make a shortcut to source files in destination
	FILTER/O	default – always ask to filter files shift, alt, ctrl – ask to filter if key held down Or specify the name of a filter
	EXTRACT/O	default – if copying a folder or ZIP file, extract contents to the destination Lister sub – extract ZIP file contents to a sub-folder with the same name in destination Lister checkout – auto-extract entire ZIP file contents to a temporary folder and read into new Lister
	UPDATEALL/S	Copy all files that are newer or don’t exist
	UPDATEEXISTING/O	default - Copy all files that are newer and already exist size – only copy if size is different date – only copy if date is different
	UPDATETOLERANCE/N/K	Specify the tolerance for different date testing in seconds
	ZIP/O	default - ZIP all selected files to a single file in the destination single – ZIP all selected files, each file goes into its own ZIP file in the destination
	ADDTOZIP/S	Add all selected files to a ZIP file, prompt for the ZIP file name and parameters
	TO/K	Specify the destination path for the copied/moved files
	SENDMAIL/O	Send selected files as email attachments (use alone or with ZIP/ADDTOZIP functions)
	NOZIPBATCH/S	Disables the ZIP batch add and extract modes
	SENDTO/K	Equivalent to selecting ‘Send To’ from the context menu for selected files. The value supplied must be the name of the item in the system SendTo folder.
	BURNCD/S	Invokes the Windows XP CD Burning Wizard.
	INSTALLFONT/S	Automatically install font files
CreateFolder	<default>	Prompts for name of folder to create in current Lister
	NAME	Name of folder to create
	ZIP/S	Name of ZIP folder to create
	INLINE/S	Create new folder with default name then enter inline rename automatically
	READAUTO/O	default – automatically read the newly created folder into the current Lister no – don’t automatically read the new folder dual – automatically read into dual file-display
Delete	<default>	Delete all selected files/folders
	FILE/M	Names of files to delete
	ALL/S	Delete all files without prompting for each
	QUIET/S	Don’t prompt to begin delete, and don’t show errors
	FORCE/S	Force files that are delete-protected to be deleted
	RECYCLE/S	Delete to Recycle Bin (overrides Preferences setting)
	NORECYCLE/S	Don’t delete to Recycle Bin (overrides Preferences setting)
	SHIFT/S	Mimics Explorer when you click delete with Shift held down – if ‘use Recycle Bin’ option is on in Preferences, files are not deleted to Recycle Bin; if ‘use Recycle Bin’ option is not on in Preferences, acts as if ALL and FORCE had been specified (note: this argument must be specified AND the Shift key must actually be held down)
	FILTER/O	Filter options, same as for COPY default – always ask to filter files shift, alt, ctrl – ask to filter if key held down Or specify the name of a filter
	FROMFOCUS/S	Delete selected items from window with input focus (either Folder Tree or file display) rather than the source file display only
Favorites	<default>	Generates list of favorite folders
	PATH	With the ADD flag, specifies a path to add to Favorites list. Without the ADD flag, specifies a partial string to match the Favorites list to (e.g., specify C: and only folders containing C: will be displayed in the favorites list)
	ADD/S	Add current folder to Favorites, if PATH is specified adds that path instead of current
	EDIT/S	Edit Favorites list (opens Preferences)
	SMART/O	Generates list of SmartFavorites™ in menus; if you specify a number as an optional parameter, that is the number of SmartFavorites™ to display; default is 10
	NEW/S	Favorites are opened in a new Lister
	OPENINDUAL/S	Favorites are opened in dual file display mode
	SHOWICONS/S	Displays icons for generated Favorites list
FileType	<default>	<none>
	ACTION	Specifies the file type action to perform – drop, dropshift, dropctrl, dropalt, dblclk, dblclkshift, dblclkctrl, dblclkalt
	FILE/M/F	Files to perform file type actions on (if not specified, performed on all selected files in current Lister)
	CONTEXTMENU/O	Used to add system context menu entries to Opus menus and Toolbars. With no parameters, all context menu entries will be displayed; otherwise, specify the CLSID of a specific context menu extension to invoke.
	CONTEXTOPTIONS/K	Options
	NEW/K	Create a new file of the specified type (from ShellNew menu)
	OPENWITHMENU/S	Display the ‘Open With’ submenu for the selected file (only Windows ME or 2000 or better)
	CONTEXTFORCE/S	Use this switch in conjunction with the CONTEXTMENU/O parameter to force context menu items to be displayed even if Windows context menus have been disabled in Opus Preferences.
Find	<default>	Bring up the Find File dialog
	NAME	Initiate Find for specified filename (or saved Filter with FILTER switch set)
	CONTAINING/K	Search for files containing text (used with NAME)
	FILTER/S	Initiates Advanced Find using saved Filter
	IN/K/A	Specify folder or drives to search within
	RECURSE/O	default - Search within sub-folders no – Don’t search sub-folders
GetSizes	<default>	Calculate sizes of selected folders, or all folders if none selected
	NODESELECT/S	Does not deselect folders after calculating sizes. Only works if the Postpone file deselection option is enabled in Preferences.
Go	<default>	<none>
	PATH	Path to go to in the current Lister. Can specify an FTP site in the address book using @sitename
	CURRENT/S	Read the current path, use in conjunction with the OPENWITHxxx flags to duplicate the current path in another Lister or file display
	DESTPATH/S	Read the current destination path into the source Lister
	DUALPATH/K	Specify a second path to read into the destination file display at the same time
	EXPANDTREE/S	Automatically expands the Folder Tree to display the contents of the new folder
	BACK/S	Go back in History in current Lister
	FORWARD/S	Go forward in History in current Lister
	BACKLIST/S	Used to generate ‘back’ History list in the menus
	FORWARDLIST/S	Used to generate ‘forward’ history list in the menus
	UP/S	Go up (parent folder)
	ROOT/O	default - Go to root of current folder collapse – Go to root of current folder and collapse Tree
	NEW/O	Open in new Lister You can specify position and size of the new Lister with Go NEW=x,y,w,h Additional keywords to modify the new Lister are min, max, norm, source, dest, tree, notree, dual, dualhorz, nodual, viewpane, noviewpane
	OPENINDUAL/S	Open in the ‘other’ file display (switches Lister to dual mode if not already)
	OPENINLEFT/S	Open in the left-hand file display
	OPENINRIGHT/S	Open in the right-hand file display
	OPENINDEST/S	Open in the destination file display or Lister
	REFRESH/O	default - refresh current folder tree – refresh the Folder Tree both – refresh both file displays in a dual display Lister all – refresh both file displays and the tree source – refresh source file display and the tree
	SWAP/S	Swap folders displayed in source and destination Listers or file displays
	DRIVEBUTTONS/O	Add drive buttons to Toolbars/menus default – all drive buttons fixed, network, cdrom, removable, ramdisk – specify drives by type. labels  - display drive label in button noletters – remove drive letter from drive label multifunc – create buttons with three-button functions Multiple parameters permitted separated by commas but no spaces.
	FTPSITE/K	Go to an FTP site (Address Book name)
	FTPSITELIST/O	default: Generates FTP site list in menus <xxxx> : Filter list by folder
	FTPSITEICONS/S	Gives icons to FTP sites added when used in conjunction with FTPSITELIST
	FTP/S	FTP Quick Connect
	USER/K	Go to the specified user’s folder  (e.g. GO /desktop user=fred)
	CONNECT/S	Connect to a network drive
	DISCONNECT/S	Disconnect from a network drive
Help	<default>	Brings up help main page
	ABOUT/S	Shows About dialog
	TOPIC/S	Help index
	CHECKUPDATE/O	Check for new program version
Join	<default>	Join selected files (shows dialog)
	FROM/M/F	Files to join
	TO/K	File to join to
Marker	<default>	<None>
	TOOLBAR/S	Marks place for system namespace Toolbar buttons
	MENU/K	Marks place for system namespace menu. Qualifiers are File, Edit, View, Tools, Help, Other, All
Play	FILE	Plays all selected files (one after another), or the specified filename.
	QUIET/S	Does not display the Play dialog while playing the sound.
Prefs	<default>	Opens up the Preferences
	FILETYPES/S	Opens the File Type Editor
	CUSTOMIZE/S	Opens the Customize dialog
	LAYOUT/K	Load specified Lister layout
	LAYOUTCLOSELISTERS/O	default – when loading a new layout, closes existing Listers when based on the Preferences settings yes – closes existing Listers no – doesn’t close existing Listers
	LAYOUTLIST/S	Generates list of layouts for use in menus, etc
	LAYOUTEDIT/S	Takes you to the Layout page in Preferences
	ADDFTPSITE/S	Add current FTP site to FTP Site List (in Preferences)
	FTPSITE/S	Brings up FTP Site List (in Preferences)
	IMPORT/O	Import by name a previously exported Preferences file
	IMPORTFLAGS/K	Flags controlling the import, default is to import everything, otherwise a combination of docks, formats, ftp, hotkeys, layouts, misc, recent. Also quiet can be used to suppress warning dialogs.
	IMPORTLIST/S	Generates a list of exported Preferences files
	EXPORT/S	Initiate Export of current Preferences settings
	KEYS/S	Open the Customize dialog and go direct to the Keys page
	TOOLBARS/S	Open the Customize dialog and go direct to the Toolbars page
	ADDBACKGROUND/S	Add the selected files to the Defined Images list in the Images section of Preferences
Properties	<default>	Properties of selected files
	SINGLE/S	When multiple files are selected, this option causes an individual Properties window to be opened for each file. The default behavior is for a ‘combined’ properties window (same as Explorer)
	LISTER/S	Show properties for current Lister (Folder Properties)
	FOLDEROPTIONS/O	Show Folder Options for current Lister (optional argument is the page number to go to in the dialog)
	FTPSITE/S	Properties for current FTP site
	FORMATLIST/S	Displays a list of predefined Folder Formats
	ROTATE/K	Rotate currently selected thumbnail images by given amount (degrees). Any degree amount can be specified (although 0, 90, 180 and 270 are the most common). You can also specify menu to display a Rotate submenu.
	FROMFOCUS/S	Use the window with input focus as the source (folder tree or file display) rather than just the current source file display
	SETWALLPAPER/O	default – Set currently selected image file as the desktop wallpaper center, tile, stretch – Set image file as the desktop wallpaper using the specified settings menu – Display a Set Wallpaper submenu
Print	<default>	Print selected files (supported graphics formats, or files with a registered print handler). Under Windows XP, image files will be passed to the system Photo Printing Wizard.
	FOLDER/O	default - Print folder contents (printdir) selected – Print only selected files)
	SETDEFAULT/K	Sets the specified printer as the default printer
	DEFAULTLIST/S	Generates buttons for each installed printer letting you change the default printer
	TO/K	Print files to the specified printer
Recent	<default>	Generates list of recently visited folders
	PATH	A partial string to match the recent list to (e.g., specify C: and only folders containing C: will be displayed in the recent list)
	CLEAR/S	Clears the recent list
	NEW/S	Recent folders are opened in a new Lister
	OPENINDUAL/S	Recent folders are opened in dual file display mode
	SHOWICONS/S	Displays icons for recent list in menus
Rename	<default>	Rename selected files, prompt for new and old names
	FROM/F	Files to rename or rename pattern
	PATTERN/K	Specify a rename pattern for the source files
	TO	New file name or rename pattern
	REGEXP/S	Use regular expression
	INLINE/O	Activate inline rename for currently focused item
	CASE/K	upper – make all upper-case lower – make all lower-case firstword – capitalize first word allwords – capitalize all words extupper – upper-case extension extlower – lower-case extension
	RECURSE/S	Rename all files within selected sub-folders that match the wildcard pattern
	AUTORENAME/S	Automatically rename files when new names clash
	FINDREP/S	Use Find and Replace mode
Select	<default>	Show file selection dialog (either simple or advanced)
	PATTERN	Specify a wild card pattern to select files on
	ALL/S	Select all files and folders
	ALLFILES/S	Select all files
	ALLDIRS/S	Select all folders
	NONE/S	Select none
	INVERT/S	Invert selection state
	RESELECT/S	Reselect files used in last function
	SIMPLE/S	Show simple file selection dialog
	ADVANCED/S	Show advanced file selection dialog
	FILTER/S	The PATTERN specified is actually the name of a predefined filter to use
	HIDESEL/S	Hide files that are selected
	HIDEUNSEL/S	Hide files that are not selected
	SHOWHIDDEN/S	Reveal previously hidden files
	DESELECT/S	Deselect matching files instead of selecting them
	NOPATTERN/S	Used with HIDESEL and HIDEUNSEL to hide selected/unselected files immediately without bringing up the Selection dialog
Set	<default>	<none>
	VIEW/K	Switch view mode; options are LargeIcons, SmallIcons, List, Details, Power, Thumbnails, or Cycle. Under Windows XP can also specify Tiles although this is only available in system namespaces.
	STATE/K	Change Lister state, options are Source, Dest
	TREE/K	Turn Folder Tree on or off; options are On, Off, Toggle
	DUAL/K	Turn dual display on or off, options are On, Off, Toggle, Horiz, Vert, ToggleLayout
	COPYFILTER/K	Set the default state of the copy filter; options are On, Off, Toggle
	DELFILTER/K	Set the default state of the delete filter; options are On, Off, Toggle
	FILTERS/K	Set the default state of both the copy and delete filters, options are On, Off, Toggle
	LISTERCMD/K	Minimize – minimize current Lister Maximize – maximize current Lister Restore – restore current Lister ShowAll - show all Listers MinimizeAll - minimize all Listers TileH - tile horizontally TileV - tile vertically Cascade – cascade
	OUTPUT/K	Turn output window on or off; options are On, Off, Toggle
	FORMAT/K	Switch to a predefined folder format
	SORTBY/K	Change sort field in current Lister
	SORTNUMERIC/K	Change the numeric name head sorting flag for the current Lister, options are On, Off, Toggle.
	SORTNUMERICTAIL/K	Change the numeric name tail sorting flag for the current Lister, options are On, Off, Toggle.
	SORTREVERSE/K	Change the reverse order flag for the current Lister, options are On, Off, Toggle.
	SORTWORDS/K	Change the word sorting flag for the current Lister, options are On, Off, Toggle.
	SORTORDER/K	Change the sort order (mixing) setting for the current Lister; options are Folders (folders first), Files (files first), Mixed (files and folders intermixed) and Cycle (cycle through available modes)
	COLUMNS/K	Set the information field columns that are displayed in the current Lister
	COLUMNSADD/K	Add columns to the current Lister
	COLUMNSREMOVE/K	Remove columns from the current Lister
	COLUMNSTOGGLE/K	Toggle columns on or off in the current Lister
	SOUNDS/K	Turn Opus sound effects on or off, options are On, Off, Toggle.
	VIEWPANE/K	Turn the Lister Viewer Pane on or off, options are On, Off, Toggle. Additionally change the Viewer Pane orientation with the Horiz, Vert, ToggleLayout options.
	VIEWPANESIZE/K	Set the size of the Viewer Pane as a percentage of Lister size. Specify two sizes separated by commas to toggle between the two.
	FTPMODE/K	Change the transfer mode for the current FTP connection. Options are ASCII, Binary, Auto.
	HIDE/S	Use in conjunction with other options to hide buttons that are not applicable instead of disabling them
	LISTERSIZE/K	Change the size of the current lister. Specify as w,h and use + or – for deltas instead of absolute changes.
	READONLY/K	Change the read only flag for the current ZIP file, options are On, Off, Toggle.
	SHOWFILTERFILENAME/O	Specify the show files filter wildcard pattern for the current Lister
	SHOWFILTERFILEATTR/O	Specify the show files filter attribute settings pattern for the current Lister; options are RAHSEC.
	SHOWFILTERFOLDERS/O	Specify the show folders filter wildcard pattern for the current Lister
	HIDEFILTERFILENAME/O	Specify the hide files filter wildcard pattern for the current Lister
	HIDEFILTERFILEATTR/O	Specify the hide files filter attribute settings pattern for the current Lister; options are RAHSEC.
	HIDEFILTERFOLDERS/O	Specify the hide folders filter wildcard pattern for the current Lister
	LAYOUT/K	Remember – remember the layout of the current Lister Restore – restore the previously remembered layout of the current Lister Filmstrip – toggle filmstrip mode on or off
	FILESFROMDROPONLY/S	Specify this flag to prevent an external function from taking selected files from the source Lister
SetAttr	<default>	Brings up the Set Time & Attributes dialog for selected files
	ATTR/K	Specify absolute attribute setting for selected files (hsar); e.g. ATTR=ar
	SETATTR/K	Specify attributes to turn on for selected files
	CLEARATTR/K	Specify attributes to turn off for selected files
	MODIFIED/K	Date and time to set last modified time to
	CREATED/K	Set creation date and time
	RECURSE/S	Set time & attributes within selected folders
	FILTER/K	The name of a pre-existing filter to use
	DESCRIPTION/O	default – Display dialog allowing you to enter a description for selected files <description> - Set description of selected files to supplied string
Show	<default>	Attempt to show selected pictures with the Opus Viewer
	FILE	Specify the name of the file to show
	PLUGINLIST/S	Dynamic command to generate a list of installed Viewer Plug-ins
	PLUGINCONFIG/K	Configure the specified plug-in
	PLUGINABOUT/K	Show About information for the specified plug-in
	USEEXISTING/S	Use an existing viewer if available
	NOUSEEXISTING/S	Don’t use an existing viewer
	PLUGIN/K	Force show to use the specified plug-in
	PLUGINDISABLE/O	Used with the PLUGIN parameter to enable or disable a Viewer Plug-in. default – toggle plug-in on or off enable – enable plug-in disable – disable plug-in
	PLUGINMANAGER/S	Displays the Viewer Plugin Manager window
Split	<default>	Split selected files (shows dialog)
Undo	<default>	Undo the last action if it is undoable, otherwise does nothing
	LIST/S	Generate list of undoable actions
	PAGE/S	Show Undo page in the Output Window
	LISTMENU/S	Pop-down list of undoable actions
	ITEM/K	Undo a specified item in the undo list (by number)


Displays a selection of images available for internal Opus commands and allows you to select the primary image.


Displays a selection of images available for internal Opus commands and allows you to select the secondary image.


Shows an icon image in the button.


Activates a second mouse-over image displayed when you move the mouse over the button.


Selects between showing a large or small image in the button. This setting is local to this button and can be overridden by a global setting in the Toolbar section in Customize.


The name to be displayed for this object.


Shows the text label in the button according to the following setting. This setting is local to this button and can be overridden by a global setting in the Toolbar section in Customize.


Controls where the text for the button label is displayed if activated.


Enter your input in this field.


The popup tooltip to be displayed when the mouse hovers over this object.


Defines the shortcut key or Hotkey to activate this button if any. Simply activate this field and press the key or key combination desired. You may use any combination of any single key including function keys edit keys, keypad keys or normal keys either alone or in combination with qualifier keys including Shift, Ctrl, Alt, and Windows keys.


Defines the shortcut key or Hotkey to activate this button if any. Simply activate this field and press the key or key combination desired. You may use any combination of any single key including function keys edit keys, keypad keys or normal keys either alone or in combination with qualifier keys including Shift, Ctrl, Alt, and Windows keys.


Clears any defined HotKey combination.


Displays the Opus command function and any arguments or the application program selected for the button.


Browse for an application program to run from this button.


Sets the home or program folder when launching an application.


Browse for a folder.


Choose an item from the list.


Enter your input in this field.


Check your desired options.


Override the default color for this button with a color of your choice.


Check your desired options.


When a Lister window is activated with a mouse click in the file area, this option allows immediate selection of a file which was clicked. Otherwise, the first click will simply activate the Lister as the Source and a second click will be required to select a specific file. You may find it inconvenient to have the file selected automatically when you activate the Lister. If so, un-check this option.


This option enables automatic docking of individual single file display Listers. When you drag the title bar of a single file display Lister over the title bar of another, Opus will automatically join or 'dock' the two Listers to form a single Lister with a dual file display.  You may separate a dual file display by dragging the title bar of one file display out of the window, and you may also swap left and right hand side displays by dragging the title bar of one display horizontally to the opposite side. Alternatively, when not enabled, Listers will not dock and dual file displays cannot be swapped or separated.


Enables depth pins in the Lister title bar. The pin changes the priority used to depth arranging the window to which it is attached as follows:-

 Off - come to the top when active unless another window has a higher priority.

 Middle - come to the top when active and stay on top of all other Opus windows with lower priority.

 Top - Always stay on top of all other system windows which are not top-layer windows.

Warning: Pins can be very useful in some cases but by changing the default behavior of the window display you may lose other windows behind a top layer window.


When switching an existing Lister into dual file display mode, set the new file display to Source mode. Otherwise the new file display opens in Destination mode.


Activates a special mode for the Opus Zoom gadget [image] in the Lister window title bar. By default, the Zoom gadget provides two different sizes for the Lister window and allows you to swap between them. This option changes the behavior of the Zoom gadget. Instead of swapping between the two sizes it reduces the Lister to a small footprint showing only the title bar.  Holding down the Shift key when selecting the Zoom gadget inverts the defined behavior.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Changes the display to perform alpha-blending of the background color for selected files and folders. Note: This is only recommended for users with faster CPUs under W2K/XP.


Enables the quick navigation buttons when the mouse is moved to the left or right edge of the Lister file display. Clicking the left or right mouse button over this button allows you to quickly move between folders. On the left hand side, choices are GO BACK or GO UP, on the right hand side the choices are GO FORWARD or GO UP.


Choose an item from the list.


Delay before slide-out navigation buttons appear in milliseconds.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


By default, each Lister has its own footprint which allows you to minimize / maximize the Lister or access other functions from the popup menu. However, if you open many Listers, the footprints can become distracting. This control selects whether the footprints for Listers are shown in the task bar.


If footprints are turned off, you can select to show a footprint only when the Lister is minimized. This minimizes the clutter of excessive footprints but gives you access to the minimized Listers through the footprint. If this setting is OFF, a Lister is minimized to a window title at the bottom of the screen.


When in dual file display mode, Opus shows an inner title bar and border for each display. By default this extra border is not used for single file displays. Select this option to enable this in all modes.


Normally, a single file display Lister indicates its source or destination status by coloring its title bar. If you wish to turn off this behavior, you can do so with this option.


Check your desired options.


Lists the fonts available in the system.


Choose an item from the list.


Lists the sizes available for the selected font.


Closes this dialog and accepts any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog and discards any changes.


Asks if you wish to delete the selected files before starting the delete process.


Asks if you wish to delete the selected file before each file it is deleted.


Asks if you wish to delete the selected folder before each folder it is deleted


Counts the files in all selected folders before starting the delete. This will slow the delete process but allows you to see the exact number of files and folders plus the total byte count before any file are deleted.


Files can be marked as read-only to prevent them being accidentally deleted. This option overrides this check and deletes such files automatically. It can be useful if you wish to recursively delete a large number of files and folders, some of which may have read-only attributes set.


Opus can delete to the Windows Recycle Bin or can delete the files immediately. If you delete to the Recycle Bin you can recover (undo) the files at a later date unless you have subsequently emptied the Recycle Bin. Choose the required setting. WARNING: Files NOT sent to the Recycle Bin cannot be recovered and are lost permanently.


Activate the Opus File Filter when deleting files from the current and selected folders. This allows you to selectively delete only those files from the current and selected folders which match a given set of criteria. For example, you may wish to recursively delete only files which have changed after a certain date, or which are of a specific type such as .jpg etc.


Opens the Windows Recycle Bin in a new Lister.


Allows you configure the properties of the Windows Recycle Bin.


Empties the Windows Recycle Bin.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Displays a list of the Favorite locations you have defined as well as any SmartFavorites which have been automatically added by Opus. Use the buttons on the right to organize your Favorites in the order you require.


Adds the current Source Lister path or a selected path to the Favorites list.


Deletes the selected Favorite from the list.


Allows you to rename the selected Favorite.


Creates a new folder in the Favorites list.


Moves the selected Favorite up in the list.


Moves the selected Favorite down in the list.


Imports Favorites from the Windows/Internet Explorer system files. You may selectively import file and folder shortcuts, FTP links, HTML and other links into the current folder or a sub-folder of your choice.


Sorts the list into alphabetical (lexical) descending order.


Displays the path to the Favorite.


Browse for a new path for the selected Favorite.


Displays a list of the areas in the Opus Lister display which you may configure. Select the item then adjust the colors and text as required.


Select the desired color for this item.


Select the desired color for this item.


Select the desired color for this item.


Allows you to select the desired font from a displayed list.


Displays a preview of what an Active Lister will look like with these settings.


Displays a preview of what the Folder Tree will look like with these settings.


Displays a preview of what an Inactive Lister will look like with these settings.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Check your desired options.


Normally, when you drag a file from a Lister and drop into another Lister, the file is simply copied into the folder showing in the Lister. If you drop the file on a sub-folder within the Lister, this option enables file to be copied directly to that sub-folder.  Even if this option is not enabled, you may still drop the file directly into the sub-folder by holding down a qualifier key when you drop the file.


Asks you to confirm the action before overwriting one file with another of the same name.


Files stored on a CD-ROM have the read-only attribute set. This will normally be preserved by Opus when you copy the file. To automatically clear the read-only attribute when a file is copied, set this option.


Before the copy operation starts, recursively count all the files in the selected folders. This allows you to see the total number of files and folders plus the total byte count in the progress display when copying files. Alternatively, Opus will count only the files and folders selected in the current folder.


Clears the archive ('A') attribute on the copied files after they have been copied.


Clears the archive ('A') attribute on original (source) files after they have been successfully copied.


Sets the R A H S attributes of the copied file to match those of the source file.


Sets the time and date stamps of the copied file to match those of the source file.


While the copy is in progress, Opus can display a simple progress display or an extended one showing the byte count, transfer speeds and other information. Select from the list below those locations where you wish to show the extended display.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Activate the Opus File Filter when copying files from the current folder and any selected folders. This allows you to recursively copy only those files in the selected folders which match a given set of criteria. For example, you may wish to copy only files which have changed after a certain date, or which are of a specific type.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


The Read-only attribute is often used to safeguard important files which you do not wish to accidentally overwrite. This option specifically asks you to confirm the action before overwriting a file whose Read-only attribute is set.


Sets the description or comment field of the copied file to match that of the source file.


Enter your input in this field.


Replace:	    Overwrites the current file with the new file.

Replace All: Overwrite the current and all selected files which match the criteria above.


Skip:	Skips the current file and move on to the next selection if any.

Skip All:	Skips the current and all files which match the criteria above.


Abandons the file copy.


Resume:	    If the selected file exists in the remote directory and is smaller than the file being copied, attempts to resumes an aborted or partial transfer by starting from where you left off.

Resume All: If any of the selected files exist in the remote directory, match the above criteria and are smaller than the files being copied, attempts to resume all transfers.


Check your desired options.


Ignores any changes you have made since entering Customize and restores all objects to their original states.


Accepts the changes made and close the Customize dialogs.


Displays a list of the categories for the Opus command sets.


Displays the specific list of Opus commands in this Category.


Creates a new user command and displays the Command Editor ready to edit the command. A user command is a special custom object which can be made to perform one or more of the standard Opus commands or even run external applications. This means you can set up a series of actions in this one command under a given name then use this named command in any Toolbar buttons, filetypes or anywhere a standard Opus command is used.


Displays the Command Editor where you may edit the command functions for the selected item.


Deletes the selected custom user command.


Displays a list of available (defined) Toolbars. An item which is checked is active and is currently displayed in the system. It may either be free floating or attached to the Listers as defined in the adjacent section. Listers inherit all active non-floated Toolbars.


Create a new blank Toolbar.


Allows you to rename the selected Toolbar.


Deletes the selected Toolbar from the Opus system list. WARNING: This also physically deletes the Toolbar file. It cannot be recovered!


Allows you to import Opus Toolbars from locations other than the Buttons folder in the program installation directory.


Allows you to export the selected Opus Toolbar to an external location.


Save the current state of the Toolbar. That is, whether it is attached to a Lister or free floating.


Use a plain color instead of an image for the Toolbar background. The chosen color is shown in the adjacent item.


Choose the color to be used for the Toolbar background.


Use the defined image instead of a color the Toolbar background. The image name is shown in the adjacent field.


Choose the image to be used for the Toolbar background.


Allows you to select whether to tile, stretch or share the image in the Toolbar. A shared image is displayed as if the image were mapped over the whole Lister display with the Toolbar showing a window into the image.


Selects how to display the optional icon images for the Opus buttons in the selected Toolbar, either always on, always off, or default to the setting as defined in the button itself.


Selects the size of the icon image for the Opus buttons in the Toolbar, either large, small, or default to the size as defined in the button itself.


Selects how to display the label text for the Opus buttons in the Toolbar, either always on, always off, or to default to the setting defined in the button itself


Selects the color used to display the label text.


Selects the font to be used to display label text.


Choose the font from those available in the system.


Floats the selected Toolbar out of the Listers.


Display the Toolbar with a normal window title and border.


Adjust the buttons to be of equal size.


Sets the depth arrangement for the Toolbar. The pin changes the priority used to depth arranging the Toolbar with respect to other windows on the screen as follows:-

 Off - come to the top when active unless another window has a higher priority.

 Middle - come to the top when active and stay on top of all other Opus windows with lower priority.

 Top - Always stay on top of all other system windows which are not top-layer windows.

Warning: Pins can be very useful in some circumstance but by changing the default behavior of the window display you may lose other windows behind a top layer window.


When a Toolbar is docked with the top, bottom or side of the Desktop display, automatically hide it until you move the mouse over the area.


Adjust any button separators to be compatible with a vertical Toolbar.


Creates a copy of the highlighted Toolbar.


Use the same background image for all sub-menus. This allows you to create more complete backgrounds for extended menu systems.


Define the color to be used for the label text.


Remembers the path, mode and size of the last Lister when it is closed and re-opens it in the same state when a new Lister is opened. A new Lister opens relative to the mouse unless open at last position is specified below.


Open a new Lister with a single file display.


Open a new Lister as a dual file display split vertically.


Open a new Lister as a dual file display split horizontally.


Includes the Folder Tree on the left hand side of the Lister when a new Lister is opened.


Sets the default width of a new Lister in pixels.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Sets the default height of a new Lister in pixels.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Allows you to ignore Virtual folders such as Control Panel, Printers, etc. Usually you will not want to remember these since you were not performing a file related activity.


Open the new Lister in the same position as when it was closed. Otherwise, a new Lister opens relative to the mouse.


When a new Lister is opened, choose the initial configuration form the options below.


Includes the Viewer pane on the right hand side of the Lister when a new Lister is opened.


One the new Lister in Maximized state.


Defines how files are selected when they match the criteria in the filter arguments. Choose between:-

 Select matching files

 Deselect matching files

 Hide matching items.


When the filter is applied, hides items which do not match the criteria below. If items have been hidden, refresh the Lister (F5) to re-display the full unfiltered list of files.


Defines the filter equation. For details see

  Opus File Filter System

  Pattern Matching Syntax

  Regular Expression Syntax


Swaps to simple filter selection mode.


Performs the selection of files based on the criteria above and close the dialog.


Closes this dialog without selecting any files.


Performs the selection of files based on the criteria above but does not close the dialog.


Displays a list of the currently defined shortcut keys used in the current Opus configuration. This includes Opus Hotkeys and all shortcut keys used in the currently active Toolbars. The actual location of the key is also shown. Note: If a Toolbar is not active, any shortcut keys defined therein will not be displayed.


Creates a new Hokey.


Deletes the selected Hokey


Allows you to edit the selected Hokey.


Shows the key or key combination used as the selected shortcut key. To change the key, activate this control and simply press the desired key or key combination. You may use any combination of qualifier keys (Shift, Ctrl, Alt or Windows keys) PLUS any other single key including function keys, edit keys and numeric keypad keys.


Closes this dialog without saving any changes you have made.


Enter the string to search for.


Searches file type extension for the above text.


Searches file type descriptions for the above text.


Searches the file type content type for the above text.


Searches the program associated with a file type for a match with the above text.


Find the first file type which matches these criteria.


Find the next file type in sequence which matches these criteria if any.


Closes this dialog.


Selects a new icon image to be used for this file type.


Enter your input in this field.


Choose an item from the list.


Adds a new extension to be matched by this file type.


Deletes the current extension matched by this file type.


Selects the content type from the list.


Creates a new item of the selected type.


Edits the selected item.


Deletes the selected item.


Sets the selected action as the default action for this file type. In Windows, this is performed when you double-click on the file. In Opus, it is performed when you double-click on a file unless you have specifically defined an Opus Double-Click event for this file type.


Enables Windows Quick View support for this file type. This adds Quick View to the Windows context menu for all files of this type. Not available under Windows 2000.


If a file of this type is run from a remote FTP site, asks you before opening a file of this type.


Choose an item from the list.


The defined action for this file type.


The type of action to perform.


Enter your input in this field.


Browse for an application to launch for this action.


Enter your input in this field.


Enter your input in this field.


Enter your input in this field.


Enter your input in this field.


Enter your input in this field.


Check your desired options.


Sets these attributes in the selected files.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Clears these attributes in the selected files.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Sets the creation time of the selected files to the following values.


Changes the setting to the current system time and date.


Sets the last modified time of the selected files to the following values.


Changes the setting to the current system time and date.


Apply the above changes to all files within the selected sub-folders.


Use the following filter or Advanced filter to selectively access files.


Enter a wildcard pattern or the name of the advanced filter file to use as the filter criteria. Possible wildcards are *,#, ?, |, (), [], ~ or single quote.

See Also

  Pattern Matching Syntax


Displays the Filter dialog to allow you to define a set of criteria for the filter.


Closes this dialog and applies any changes you have made to all the selected files.


Closes this dialog and discard any changes.


The name of the file to be split.


The folder in which to create the sub-files.


Browse for a folder.


Defines the maximum size for each sub-file. Select the size which fits your requirements or leave at automatic.


UUEncode the individual files after they have been created. This facilitates sending them via email or other ASCII transfer methods.


Displays the current filename or filename pattern to match. You may use a simple pattern which allows a single asterisk wildcard or full regular expression syntax. For example, to add the prefix "Old" to all your JPG files, enter a simple pattern "*.JPG" in the old name field and "Old*.JPG" in the new name field. Alternatively, you may use full regular expression syntax for the match (old name) field and the replace (new name) field. If in doubt on what patterns to use, turn on Test mode to see what would happen with different patterns before committing the action for real. Also remember that you can always reverse rename actions with the Opus Undo function.

See Also

  Regular Expression Syntax


Displays the replacement filename, or the filename pattern if wildcard asterisk or regular expression syntax is used.  If in doubt on what patterns to use, turn on Test mode to see what would happen with different patterns before committing the action for real. Also remember that you can always reverse rename actions with the Opus Undo function.

See Also

  Regular Expression Syntax


Activates full regular expression syntax for the old (match) and new (replace) name fields. If in doubt on what patterns to use, turn on Test mode to see what would happen with different patterns before committing the action for real. Also remember that you can always reverse rename actions with the Opus Undo function.

See Also

  Regular Expression Syntax


Performs the rename function or test.


Skips this file and moves to the next selected file if any.


Abandons the rename sequence and closes the dialog.


Activates Opus Test Mode which displays the impending results of the rename action in the Opus Output Window but does not perform the actual rename. This allows you to test a pattern or regular expression syntax before committing the action.


Change the capitalization of the new name according to the following settings.


Select the desired effect.


If sub-folders are selected, perform the rename functions recursively in files in the sub-folders.


This option can be used in conjunction with batch rename to automatically avoid clashes with existing files. Files to be renamed automatically have a number appended to the new name if a file by that name already exists.


If you have Regular expressions turned off, you can still use a single asterisk wildcard to batch rename files. Alternatively, you can activate the Find and replace mode. With this option turned on, the Rename function acts like a Find & Replace function in a word processor. Enter the text within the filename that you wish to search for in the old name field, and the text you wish to replace it with in the new name field. Any files whose filenames do not contain the text you enter will not be modified.


Enter your input in this field.


Click this button to make your choice.


Closes this dialog and accepts any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog and cancels this operation.


Sets the transfer mode when copying files to Binary. This setting is the native mode for FTP transfer and ensures that all files are transferred intact with no change or modification.  When Binary mode is enabled, resume file transfers are valid.


Restores the settings of this section to the system defaults.


DOpus FTP recognizes most common FTP servers and automatically adjusts the commands sent to the server to obtain a listing of the current directory. In some rare cases this may fail. The FTP Log for will show the details. In some cases you may be able to obtain a correct listing by adjusting the actual LIST command sent to the server from below.


Enter the FTP LIST command and any arguments to be sent to the server. By default DOpus uses LIST -alF, or LIST, depending on the type of the server.

CARE: This is an advanced function. Entering an incorrect command can cause errors in the directory listing or even failure.


When ASCII mode is enabled, resume file transfers are not necessarily valid. Use resume with care!

WARNING: This must only be used to transfer text based files. Transferring binary files using ASCII mode will result in corruption of the data.


Sets the transfer mode when copying files to Binary. This setting is the native mode for FTP transfer and ensures that all files are transferred intact with no change or modification.  When Binary mode is enabled, resume file transfers are valid.


Opus will automatically adjust the  transfer mode when copying files of different types.  Binary mode is used by default unless the file type is defined in the list of ASCII Identification List of files. When ASCII mode is selected automatically, resume file transfers are not necessarily valid. Use resume with care!

WARNING: Transferring binary files using ASCII mode will result in corruption of the data.


List of files or file pattern to match for automatic selection of ASCII transfer mode.


Enter a new filename or pattern in this field, then select Add.


Add the item above the the list.


Delete the selected item from the list.


Takes the settings for this section from those defined in the Default Settings in the FTP Site list.


DOpus FTP recognizes most common FTP servers and automatically adjusts the commands sent to the server to obtain a listing of the current directory. In some rare cases this may fail. The FTP Log for will show the details. In some cases you may be able to obtain a correct listing by adjusting the actual LIST command sent to the server from below.


Enter the FTP LIST command and any arguments to be sent to the server. By default DOpus uses LIST -alF, or LIST, depending on the type of the server.

CARE: This is an advanced function. Entering an incorrect command can cause errors in the directory listing or even failure.


Takes the settings for this section from those defined in the Default Settings in the FTP Site list.


Sets the transfer mode when copying files to ASCII. This setting can be used when transferring text based files between different computer systems. It modifies the files for the differences in line termination (LF or CRLF) between file formats used under Windows and Unix Operating Systems. When ASCII mode is enabled, resume file transfers are not necessarily valid. Use resume with care!

WARNING: This must only be used to transfer text based files. Transferring binary files using ASCII mode will result in corruption of the data.


Sets the transfer mode when copying files to Binary. This setting is the native mode for FTP transfer and ensures that all files are transferred intact with no change or modification.  When Binary mode is enabled, resume file transfers are valid.


Opus will automatically adjust the  transfer mode when copying files of different types.  Binary mode is used by default unless the file type is defined in the list of ASCII Identification List of files. When ASCII mode is selected automatically, resume file transfers are not necessarily valid. Use resume with care!

WARNING: Transferring binary files using ASCII mode will result in corruption of the data.


Displays your Favorites as a folder in the Folder Tree.


Displays your Smart Favorites as a folder in the Folder Tree.


Displays your Recent List as a folder in the Folder Tree.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Automatically expand the top level MyComputer branch in the Folder Tree.


Automatically expands branches in the Folder Tree when you drag a file over the branch node.


Activates the internal Opus ZIP handling engine.


Makes Opus the default ZIP handler. If activated, this allows Opus to override any other ZIP handling system installed on your computer and open all ZIP files as virtual folders in Opus.


Adds ZIP folders to the Folder tree and displays them as virtual folders.


Adds this context menu if Opus ZIP handling is active.


Adds this context menu if Opus ZIP handling is active.


Adds the Opus ZIP context menus as a single popup menu rather then two separate items.


With this feature enabled Opus can auto-extract the entire contents of a ZIP file whenever files of a certain type within that ZIP file are double-clicked. This can be crucial for, example, installation or setup programs which may require several ancillary files as well as the actual Setup.exe file.


Enables the auto-extract functionality when you double-click on a ZIP file. If this option is disabled, the only way to access auto-extract is via the right-button context menu of a file. Auto-extract can be enabled on any double-click of a file or only when a specified qualifier key is held down.


Select none or the qualifier key to be used with double-click to enable the auto-extract feature.


When enabled, Opus will ask on a double-click whether you wish to perform auto-extract or not.


Lets you configure which filename patterns will trigger the auto-extract on double-click feature. This list is not needed if you only wish to access auto-extract via the right button context menu - in this case, any file can be auto-extracted. However, on double-click only files whose names match the patterns given here are auto-extracted.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Check if the archive contains the time zone information from the generating computer. If so, adjust file times to compensate for time zones.


Displays a dialog asking for extra information each time you copy files into a ZIP folder.


Tells Opus to automatically treat all ZIP files as read-only This prevents you accidentally changing the contents of the ZIP file. In this mode, if you wish to make changes to a ZIP file you will need to enable writing using the SET READONLY command


Opus ZIP handling can store the time zone information from the computer which created the ZIP file. This allows you to transfer files across time zones and preserve the absolute file dates and times. This setting adds the timezone information as a comment to the ZIP file.


Adjusts the compression level used by the Opus ZIP engine. The higher the compression level the longer it will take to add or extract files from the archive


Drag the slider to select your preferred value


Check your desired options. See ZIP settings in Opus Preferences for details

  ZIP Files


# This is usually only required in certain cases where you have files of the same name but in different sub-directories in a ZIP archive. The ZIP format imposes some restrictions on the way files are deleted from archives. Opus can overcome this limitation with this setting which increases the speed of deletion, but can be less reliable in reporting errors that may occur.

See Also

  ZIP File


Enables the use of ZIP batch mode when extracting from ZIP files. Like the other batch modes, this can result in a dramatic increase in speed. The disadvantages are mainly to do with error handling (it is not possible to identify individual files that have failed during the extract operation).

See ZIP settings in Opus Preferences for further details

  ZIP Files


Uses a temporary file when copying to ZIP files instead of writing directly to the ZIP file itself. This provides extra safety. If some operation fails, the original ZIP file will have been preserved. Copying files to or extracting files from a ZIP archive will be slower when using a temporary file.


Uses a temporary folder when handling ZIP files from removable media. This often means better performance because of less access to the often slower removable media


Browse for the path of a temporary folder to use when processing ZIP files. By default, Opus uses the defined Windows TEMP directory.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


On startup, do not open any Listers.


On startup, open a default Lister as defined in the next section.


On startup, re-open the Lister or Listers that were open when the program last shutdown.


Allows you to ignore Virtual folders such as Control Panel, Printers, etc. Usually you will not want to remember these since you were not performing a file related activity.


On startup, open the Layout specified.


Choose a Layout form the list of previously defined Layouts.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Contacts the GPSoftware web site to check for newer versions of DOpus according to the following schedule.


Choose an schedule from the list.


Immediately contact the GPSoftware web site and check for newer versions of DOpus.


If required, use the following proxy server settings to establish a connection to the Internet.


Enter your proxy server's name or IP address.


Enter your proxy server's port number.


When sending files via EMail from Opus commands, use Windows MAPI functions instead of the system default mail server.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Hides the scroll bars in the Viewer Pane.


Allows you to scroll around a large image inn the Viewer Pane by clicking and dragging with the left mouse button.


Choose the background color for pictures.


Sets the background color of the image automatically from the image itself.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Opus will automatically reread the file and update the display in the viewer pane if the file changes.


Add an inner frame around the image.


Show the control toolbar bar at the bottom of the Viewer pane.


Click this button to make your choice.


Closes this dialog and saves any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog without saving any changes you have made.


Click this button to make your choice.


Closes this dialog and saves any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog without saving any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog and saves any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog without saving any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog and saves any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog without saving any changes you have made.


Choose an item from the list.


Choose an item from the list.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Choose an item from the list.


Select your preferred option.


Select your preferred option.


Select your preferred option.


Choose an item from the list.


Enter your input in this field.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Choose an item from the list.


Choose an item from the list.


Enter your input in this field.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Choose an item from the list.


Choose an item from the list.


Enter your input in this field.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Enter your input in this field.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Closes this dialog and saves any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog without saving any changes you have made.


Click this button to make your choice.


Closes this dialog and saves any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog without saving any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog and saves any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog without saving any changes you have made.


Click this button to make your choice.


Closes this dialog and saves any changes you have made.


Choose an item from the list.


Check your desired options.


Click this button to make your choice.


Closes this dialog and saves any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog without saving any changes you have made.


When a directory is read, this option tells Opus to calculate and display the size of each sub-folder automatically according to this setting. This is a background thread independent of the Lister. With this option turned off, you may display selected folder sizes at any time by an ALT-double-click on the folder or by using the GetSizes command.


Choose an item from the list.


This prevents DOpus from querying the individual file for an icon. For most file types you will not see a difference since the icon is defined in the registry on global file type basis and does not change from file to file. However, for files like .EXEs, which contain their own icon, you should see that a generic icon is used in place. Highly recommended for network drives.

This option is designed not to replace all icons with the same image, but to make it possible to disable the querying of files for their icons which can slow down the display speed on networks or other slow devices.


Choose an item from the list.


This option tells Opus to treat system Virtual folders (such as the Desktop) which have a physical location as real folders and enable the full Opus command set. Otherwise, the commands available in the Virtual folder will be supplied by the operating system, not by Opus.


If support for the Windows XP CD writing system is enabled, this option controls whether Opus uses its own display when viewing the contents of writeable CDs, or the system virtual folder. If this option is enabled, then Opus will always display the virtual folder for writeable CDs rather than using its own display modes.

 If turned off, Opus will only display the virtual folder if the CD is empty, or Opus is operating in Explorer replacement mode, and the Lister was invoked automatically by Windows (for example, in response to you clicking the "There are files waiting to be written to the CD" bubble.)


Click this button to make your choice.


Click this button to make your choice.


This option causes folder shortcuts to be treated for the purpose of sorting as if they were real folders rather than files.


This option lets you enable or disable Opus support for the Windows XP CD writing system. You may wish to disable this if you are using third-party CD writing software.


Select the initial folder where to start the search.


Also searches files in sub-folders when looking for matching files. Otherwise, just the files in the selected folder will be searched.


Includes ZIP files when searching for matching files.


Clears the results of previous find commands before displaying any new results.


Shows the results of the Find operation in the window below or in the Opus Output Window.


Defines the filter equation. For details see

  The Opus File Filter System

  Pattern Matching Syntax

  Regular Expression Syntax


Perform the find function according the defined criteria.


Close the Find dialog.


Choose multiple volumes to search.


Activates the Opus File Logging system which records the file actions defined below.


Sets the maximum number of events to keep in the log.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Displays the file event log in the Opus Output Window.


Log the standard file events including copy, move and delete.


Log the ALL file events as shown below.


Select your preferred option.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Displays the categories of the Opus Preference system. Select the item to access the properties on the right.


Closes Preferences and saves any changes you have made.


Closes Preferences and discards any changes you have made.


Immediately applies the changes you have made to Preferences but does not close the dialog.


Shows the list of Opus pop-up context menus. You may edit these menus to add your own favorite programs or Opus commands.


Browse for an Opus Toolbar to use as the selected Opus pop-up menu.


Shows or Hides the selected menu.


Restores the selected menu to the state when you entered Customize.


Restores the selected menu to the Opus system default values.


Shows a list of images pre-defined for use as backgrounds in various Opus objects. The Standard Image definitions are provided for easy reference as placeholders elsewhere in the Opus system. Alternatively you may add your own.


Adds a new image to the pre-defined list.


Removes the selected image from the list or clears a pre-defined Opus image definition.


Browse for an image to be used for the selected Opus Standard Image.


Uses the selected color for this definition instead of an image.


Selects the color to be used as a background in place of the selected image.


Select one of the pre-defined images to use as background in the Status Bar at the bottom of the Lister


If the image is set to be drawn as a Shared image in the object, tells Opus to tile or stretch the image to fit the available area as required.


Defines whether to tile or stretch the image if it is smaller than the available area or share it over multiple objects in the Lister display.


Defines whether to tile or stretch the image if it is smaller than the available area or share it over multiple objects in the Lister display.


Select one of the pre-defined images to use as the background in the file displays.


Defines whether to tile or stretch the image if it is smaller than the available area or share it over multiple objects in the Lister display.


Select one of the pre-defined images to use as the background in the Folder Tree.


Defines whether to tile or stretch the image if it is smaller than the available area or share it over multiple objects in the Lister display.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Select one of the pre-defined images to use as the background in the Viewer Pane.


Drag the slider to select your preferred value.


Encrypt the archive with a password.


Enter your password for this archive.


Safety check for your typing!


Re-enter the password to verify your typing.


Do not show the password in plain text.


Closes this dialog and saves any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog without saving any changes you have made.


Extract this file from the archive.


Selects the width of the thumbnail in pixels.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Selects the height of the thumbnail in pixels.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Adjust sizes to create a square thumbnail.


Defines the background color to be used to fill the thumbnail background and the surrounding area if the thumbnail is smaller than the defined area.


Instead of displaying the full colored image, restricts the number of colors used to gray scale of 256. This provides for faster thumbnail display when handling images with large numbers of colors such as those from digital cameras.


Displays the file type icon for the associated program for registered file types or a default icon if not.


By default, Opus displays an icon showing the type of file. However, if the file type has not been registered in the system and associated with a given program, then a default icon is used. This option disables the default icon.


Thumbnails are normally decoded and shown progressively only when made visible in the Lister window. This option loads ALL thumbnail images automatically to give a faster display when scrolling around a Lister containing many thumbnails.


Opus can display icons drawn for the Amiga computer system. This allows you to choose the default palette to be used to map the icon images. These icons are useful as Toolbar icons since there are thousands of these available from public domain sources such as AmiNet.


Amiga icon images often do not have a surrounding border. This option adds a border.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Natively, Opus understands only file types for common image types such as GIF, JPEG, BMP etc. This option tells Opus to ask the Operating System to display a thumbnail image for files it does not understand. This is useful for thumbnails from files such as HTML, WORD documents etc. Alternatively, Opus will display a blank thumbnail.


Allows for better performance on multi-processor systems when generating thumbnails by using multiple threads to decode multiple images at the same time. When enabled, Opus creates N+1 threads to read thumbnails, where N is the number of CPUs in the machine.


Plays AVI movie files as thumbnails. This only applies to the common AVI format as supported by the system codec. If does not function for mpeg or other movies types.   When not selected, Opus will attempt to display the first frame of the animation in the thumbnail image if possible.

Note:  AVI files may be locked whilst they are being displayed in thumbnails mode. If so, they may not be deleted or edited.


Enables sounds for all Opus events as defined below.


Displays a list of Opus events for which sounds are available. A sound file has been defined for the event when it is shown in bold text.


Browse for a sound file for the selected event.


Clears the sound file for the selected event.


Shows the system properties of the sound file for the selected event.


Plays the selected sound.


Stops playing the selected sound.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


 button to make your choice.


Adds extra menu items for New Lister and Opus Preferences to the right mouse button context menu on the system Desktop.


Adds an Opus lightbulb icon to the Taskbar Status Area or system tray menu. This allows you to quickly access the Opus Tray menus by a right click of the mouse over the icon. The menus are defined in the Tray Icon Menu from Customize.


Adds an extra menu, Open in DOpus, to the right mouse button context menu of all folders. This means that from Windows Explorer or the Desktop you can quickly open the folder in a new Opus Lister.


By default, Windows allows external programs to add items to the context menu of all or selected file types. After you have installed a number of programs these can be distracting. This option hides these items and only displays specific Opus menus as defined by the Opus file type system. If you hold down the Shift key when you bring up the context menu, Opus will override this setting to perform the action opposite to that set.


Makes Opus the default handler for all folders. It allows Opus to act as a Windows Explorer Replacement.  For example, when set, opening a folder on the Desktop from the Open menu or by a double-click, or displaying Control Panel from the settings menu etc will open the folder in Opus instead of Explorer.


Makes Opus the default handler for all FTP sites. Accessing a path such as FTP:// will activate Opus and display the site in an Opus Lister.


Runs Opus automatically when you boot the computer. This allows Opus to be ready immediately when you need it. Opus can be set to open quietly and just add an icon to the tray menu or can be set to open Listers or complete Layouts in defined locations.


Display the Opus introductory window or splash screen whenever Opus is first started. This provides quick access to the main Opus functions while you are learning the program.


Allows the Opus Output Window to be docked with the top or bottom of the Desktop screen. Simply drag the Output Window by the title bar to the desired area to lock it into place. Holding the Shift key while dragging the window overrides this option and allows you to position the Output Window at the edge of the display without docking if so desired.


For debugging purposes opens a dos window to report certain conditions.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Add shortcut icons for DOpus Preferences and Customize the System Control Panel for quick access.


Opus will attempt to complete a partially entered path as defined by the following.


Choose an item from the list.


Only complete paths for local drives.


Opus normally shows a progress window when performing actions. For actions which take only a few moments this can be intrusive. This option prevents the display of such windows for actions which complete in less than 800ms or as defined below.


Functions in Opus are performed independently of the Lister itself. By default, once the Lister has dispatched the function, Opus deselects all the selected files. This can be unwanted if the action is likely to fail. This option delays the deselection until the function has completed. Note however, if you access the Lister before the function returns, the files will NOT be deselected at all.


Displays the percentage complete for the current action in the progress title bar.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Windows uses a file extension of .lnk for shortcuts to files. By default Opus displays all file extensions. This option hides these file extensions for shortcuts.


When displaying an icon for a shortcut, Opus can optionally overlay a small image of an arrow to distinguish between shortcuts and normal files or folders.


Opus creates the new name for a shortcut as "Shortcut to <name of file>". This setting alters this behavior. Select the argument to be used to create the new name in the field adjacent.


Selects the argument to be used to create the new name for a shortcut. By default, this is Shortcut to %1


Selects the argument to be used to create the new name for a shortcut if that name already exists. By default, this is Shortcut (%2) to %1


Selects the argument to be used to create the new name for a shortcut if that name already exists. By default, this is Shortcut (%2) to %1


Defines the delay in milliseconds before Opus displays progress indicators for file operations.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


By default, Opus automatically adds new and modified files to the file list in sorted order. Other programs such as Windows Explorer adds such files to the end of the list. Turn this option off to emulate Explorer.


DOpus will automatically rename shortcuts if that name already exists. For example shortcut to foo,  shortcut (2) to foo,  shortcut (3) to foo etc.

Turn this behavior off if you wish to overwrite the old shortcut.


If the new name you give to a file is already in use, Opus can automatically modify the new name until it is unique. To enable this, turn on this option.


When a folder is displayed in a Lister, Opus ordinarily uses "file notification" to detect changes to that folder that occur outside of Opus (for example, in Explorer).This can, however, result in reduced performance during extended file operations, particularly for networked devices. If you turn this option off, Opus will no longer monitor network folders for file changes (except those made by Opus itself.)


A list of the previously saved Opus Lister Layouts.


Saves the current Layout of Opus Listers under a given name.


Loads a previously saved Layout.


Allows you to rename the selected Layout.


Deletes the selected Layout.


By default, Opus leaves the current Listers open when opening a new Layout. This Option closes all current Listers before opening a new Layout.


Displays a preview of the approximate position of each Lister in the selected Layout on the monitor screen. It includes multiple monitors if supported in the system.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Sets these attributes in the selected files if you have permission to do so.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Clears these attributes in the selected files if you have permission to do so.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Check your desired options.


Apply the above changes to all files within the selected sub-folders.


Use the following filter or Advanced filter to selectively access files.


Enter a wildcard pattern or the name of the advanced filter file to use as the filter criteria. Possible wildcards are *,#, ?, |, (), [], ~ or single quote.

See Also

  Pattern Matching Syntax


Displays the Filter dialog to allow you to define a set of criteria for the filter.


Closes this dialog and apply the changes you have made to all the selected files.


Closes this dialog and discard any changes.


If supported by the remote server, sets the file date/ time of the selected files to the following values.


Changes the setting to the current system time and date.


Displays the list of defined FTP Sites. Functions including cut, copy, paste, create new folder, create shortcut are available from the context menu over an individual site entry. You may also drag a site entry out of this list and drop it on the Desktop to create a shortcut.


Creates a new FTP site entry. Extra functions including cut, copy, paste, create new folder, create shortcut are available from the context menu over an individual site entry. You may also drag a site entry out of the list and drop it on the Desktop to create a shortcut.


Deletes the selected FTP site entry.


Click this button to make your choice.


Click this button to make your choice.


Takes the settings for this section from those defined in the Default Settings in the FTP Site list.


Restores the settings of this section to the system defaults.


Displays intermediate progress windows during login and read directory functions.


Unix systems often have extra files beginning with a dot. This option hides such files in the Lister.


Displays the informative messages provided by the remote server when you enter a directory. These are displayed in the Opus Output Window under the FTP Log associated with this Site entry.


Displays the informative messages provided when you first connect to a remote server. These are displayed in the Opus Output Window under the FTP Log associated with this Site entry.


Unix systems often have links to files and directories. Usually Opus will be able to work out whether these are to files or directories. Unknown links can be treated as either. Select the desired option. By default, they are treated as links to directories.


Directories on FTP server are often accessed through relative links so the path to the directory may not be an absolute path. This option adjusts for a logical parent directory.


Takes the settings for this section from those defined in the Default Settings in the FTP Site list.


Displays a session log of responses from the remote server in the Opus Output Window FTP Log.


Shows both commands and responses plus other information in the session log.


Displays the session log, if any, in the FTP #1 section of the Opus Output Window.


Displays the session log, if any, in the FTP #2 section of the Opus Output Window.


Your chosen name for this Site.


The IP or host address of the remote FTP server.


The port number used for FTP on the remote server. By default, this is port 21.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Logs in as an anonymous user or uses the defined user name and password below.


Your user name on the remote FTP server.


Your password on the remote FTP server.


Opus attempts to CD to this directory when it first connects to the remote server. Leave blank to access the default FTP root directory for the server. If you select to remember the last accessed directory (Network Settings), Opus updates this field with the current directory path when you close the connection to the site.


Opus can adjust the reported file dates for the time zone of the remote server. This time zone information is also used when transferring files to and from the remote site. NOTE: Opus will attempt to set the file dates when you copy files to a remote site but this action is not supported by all FTP servers.


Selects the time zone offset in hours ahead of UTC (GMT). For example, Paris is UTC +1, US Eastern Time is UTC -5.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Takes the settings for this section from those defined in the Default Settings in the FTP Site list.


Many FTP servers provide index files containing short descriptions of files and directory contents. This option attempts to download recognized files automatically and display this information in the Description field of the files in the Lister.


Restricts the size of the index file to be downloaded automatically. If the size if greater than defined, Opus will use the setting below to decide what action should be taken.


Defines the maximum size for automatic download of the index file.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Selects the action to be taken if the index file is greater than defined above. Either ignore or ask before download.


Takes the settings for this section from those defined in the Default Settings in the FTP Site list.


Restores the settings of this section to the system defaults.


Many FTP servers provide index files containing short descriptions of files and directory contents. This option attempts to download recognized files automatically and display this information in the Description field of the files in the Lister.


Restricts the size of the index file to be downloaded automatically. If the size if greater than defined, Opus will use the setting below to decide what action should be taken.


Defines the maximum size for automatic download of the index file.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Selects the action to be taken if the index file is greater than defined above. Either ignore or ask before download.


Defines the names of the index files which Opus will recognize. If found, the highest priority file will be downloaded automatically according to the settings above.


Enter or change the name of index file for the selected item above.


Adds the defined name to the list of recognized files.


Deletes the selected name from the Match list.


Defines the names of the index files which Opus will ignore.


Enter or change the name of index file for the selected item above.


Adds the defined name to the list of files to ignore.


Deletes the selected name from the Ignore list.


Select the starting byte position in the index file where the file name description information is stored.


Takes the settings for this section from those defined in the Default Settings in the FTP Site list.


Restores the settings of this section to the system defaults.


Some FTP servers allow special filenames beginning with a space character. Such files are often not displayed by many FTP clients but Opus displays such files if this option is selected.


Remembers the last directory accessed. When you disconnect from the remote server, the current directory will be transferred to the Initial Directory field of the Site entry and Opus will attempt to CD to this path when you next connect to this site.


Forces Opus to re-read the remote directory after you have copied a file. This ensures that the Lister display is always synchronized with the remote directory contents. This option is slower but preserves the integrity of the directory listing.


Enable this option if the remote server is behind a firewall. Transfer of data from a remote server can either use active connections (PORT mode), where Opus tells the remote site to connect to a specific data port on your machine, or passive connections (PASV mode) where Opus asks the server to supply a data port. If your computer or the server is behind a firewall, you may not be able to establish an active data connection. When using Windows ICS connection sharing on a local network, you may also find that active mode does not function reliably resulting in timeouts on PORT commands.  Passive mode is selected as the default.


The network timeout in seconds. Usually leave at the default value unless you have excessive timeouts on connections. In such cases, you may be better to try PASV mode connections.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Takes the settings for this section from those defined in the Default Settings in the FTP Site list.


If Opus cannot connect to a server, it reties the connection up to this number of times before abandoning the attempt.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


The delay in seconds between retries.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


If the connection is lost, Opus attempts to reconnect to the server automatically.


Most FTP servers will close the connection after a period of inactivity of approximately 2-5 minutes. This attempts to keep the connection alive by sending default packets every so often. This is not supported by some FTP servers. NOTE: Such behavior can block the site from other users and can be viewed as anti-social. It is a better practice to connect to the site, perform the desired functions then disconnect, rather than attempt to keep the link alive for long periods.


The delay between sending keep alive packets.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Opus supports the transfer of files directly between two remote FTP servers. This is known as Site-Site transfer. Unfortunately, not all servers support this. If this option is enabled, Opus attempts to DOWNLOAD files from this site directly to the other. If not enabled, Opus will download the data to your local computer first and then upload it to the other site - a much slower process.


Takes the settings for this section from those defined in the Default Settings in the FTP Site list.


Opus supports the transfer of files directly between two remote FTP servers. This is known as Site-Site transfer. Unfortunately, not all servers support this. If this option is enabled, Opus attempts to UPLOAD files to this site directly from the other. If not enabled, Opus will download the data to your local computer first and then upload it to the other site - a much slower process.


Takes the settings for this section from those defined in the Default Settings in the FTP Site list.


Restores the settings of this section to the system defaults.


Plays a sound if a login to an FTP server is successful but takes longer than the Activation time. Sounds are defined in Opus Preferences and must be enabled.


Do not play the sound if the action took less than this time.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Plays a sound if the login to an FTP server fails and takes longer than the Activation time. Sounds are defined in Opus Preferences and must be enabled.


Do not play the sound if the action took less than this time.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Plays a sound if an FTP copy is successful but took longer than the Activation time. Sounds are defined in Opus Preferences and must be enabled.


Do not play the sound if the action took less than this time.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Plays a sound if an FTP file copy fails but took longer than the Activation time. Sounds are defined in Opus Preferences and must be enabled.


Do not play the sound if the action took less than this time.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Plays a sound if an error is reported for an FTP command. Sounds are defined in Opus Preferences and must be enabled.


Enter your input in this field.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Plays a sound if the connection to the FTP server is lost. Sounds are defined in Opus Preferences and must be enabled.


Enter your input in this field.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Plays a sound if a timeout occurs with an FTP command. Sounds are defined in Opus Preferences and must be enabled.


Enter your input in this field.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Restores the settings of this section to the system defaults.


Defines the password to be used when using an anonymous login to an FTP server.


Connect to the FTP server via a (local) proxy server as defined below.


Defines the type of FTP proxy server in use on your local network.


The IP or host address of the local FTP Proxy server.


The port used by the local FTP Proxy server.


The user name to login to the local FTP proxy server if required.


The password required to login to the local FTP proxy server if required.


Some proxy servers support a login such as username<delimiter>host etc. This field defines the delimiter character. By default this is set as the character @.


Passwords in Opus FTP sites lists can be hidden or shown in plain text. This allows passwords to be show in plain text.


The global password allows you to change hidden Opus FTP Site settings. If set, this is required before other passwords may be shown in plain text. By default the default password is set to "password"


By default, Opus will remember the password from the last connected FTP site and redisplay the details in the Quick Connect dialog to allows rapid access to the site. Alternatively, turn this setting off if you wish to preserve security of your last accessed site from others using this commuter.


Defines the size of the FTP log file in Kilobytes.


By default, the FTP Log is recorded only when the Output Window is open. This option tells Opus to always record the FTP log whether the Output Window is open or not.


Choose the font to be used for the FTP log.


Closes this dialog and saves any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog without saving any changes you have made.


When enabled, adjusts the size of the display window to that of image according to the following settings. Otherwise, the viewer remembers its last size and position when you next open it irrespective of the image size.


Choose your selection.


When multiple files are selected, the viewer will show each file in turn automatically with the delay as set below.


Defines the delay between individual images in the sideshow.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Closes this dialog and any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog without saving any changes you have made.


Displays images in the slide show in random order.


Sets the background color of the image.


Sets the background color of the image automatically from the image itself.


This options enables the automatic loading of all pictures in the current folder. When you double-click on a picture, Opus will create a list of all the current pictures in the current folder and make them available in the Viewer via the Back and Next buttons.


Activates the mouse wheel to cycle through multiple images in a folder.


Hides the scroll bars to give more space when viewing images.


Add an inner frame around the image (if it is smaller than the screen size).


If this option is turned on, Directory Opus will attempt to use an existing viewer window when you double-click on an image file rather than opening a new one. (Note: The Show command has special flags of NOUSEEXISTING which disables this behavior, and USEEXISTING  which enforces this behavior).


Select the action when you click the left mouse button over the image in the Viewer.


Downloads this file to the destination Lister or path.


File information plus any description supplied by this directory's index file.


Sets the Unix protection bit 0x0400 for the file, if you have permission.


Sets the Unix protection bit 0x0200 for the file, if you have permission


Sets the Unix protection bit 0x0100 for the file, if you have permission.


Sets the Unix protection bit 0x0040 for the file, if you have permission.


Sets the Unix protection bit 0x0020 for the file, if you have permission.


Sets the Unix protection bit 0x0010 for the file, if you have permission.


Sets the Unix protection bit 0x004 for the file, if you have permission.


Sets the Unix protection bit 0x002 for the file, if you have permission.


Sets the Unix protection bit 0x001 for the file, if you have permission.


Tells Opus to keep a history of the most recent folders accessed. This is available in the Recent List command which by default is at the bottom of the Go menu in the default Lister menu Toolbar.


Defines the maximum number of folder paths to keep in the history.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Often you will traverse folders to reach a final path. By default, if the Recent List is enabled, Opus keeps the full history of all folders accessed. This tells Opus to remember only those important folders where you performed a specific action on a file such as copy, delete, rename etc and ignore folders where no action took place.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Selects whether to include system namespaces (Virtual Folders) in the list of Recent files.


Enter your input in this field.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Enable the Opus SmartFavorites (tm) system.  This is a system where Opus monitors the actions performed in each folder and automatically adds the most popular folders to the Opus Favorites list when the folder records sufficient activity above the threshold defined in the section below.


The maximum number of folders to display in the SmartFavorites list.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


The number of points a folder must record to be considered for the SmartFavorites list. Points are recorded on a Lister action not a file-by-file basis so only one set of points is scored by a folder irrespective of the number of files selected when an action is performed.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


The maximum number of folders to monitor for SmartFavorite activity. This is the pool from which the top set of SmartFavorites are chosen.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Often folders are temporary, have been deleted, or are generally no longer available in the system. Opus can check for these on startup and automatically delete them from the SmartFavorite system.


Number of points recorded when files are copied to the clipboard from this folder.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Number of points recorded when files are cut to the clipboard from this folder.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Number of points recorded when files are copied from this folder.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Number of points recorded when files are copied to this folder.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Number of points recorded when a new folder is created in this folder.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Number of points recorded when files are deleted from this folder.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Number of points recorded when you double-click on a file or folder in this folder.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Number of points recorded when a GetSizes command is performed on folders in this folder.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Number of points recorded when files are joined or split in this folder.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Number of points recorded when files are moved from this folder.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Number of points recorded when files are moved into this folder.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Number of points recorded when files are pasted into this folder.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Number of points recorded when files are renamed in this folder.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Number of points recorded when external programs are run (launched) from this folder.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Number of points recorded when you change the attributes of files in this folder.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Number of points recorded when you show any picture files (with SHOW in the Opus viewer) or play any sound files (with the PLAY command) from this folder.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Number of points recorded when you display the files in this folder in thumbnail mode.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Number of points recorded when you transit this folder on the way to another path.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Opens a new Opus Lister when you double-click the left mouse button on a clear area of the Desktop.


Opens a pre-defined Opus Layout of Listers when you double-click the left mouse button on a clear area of the Desktop.


Selects the Layout to open from those recorded within Opus.


Closes any open Listers before opening a new Layout.


When using an Active Desktop, many system events are handled directly by Windows. This setting allows Opus to detect a double-click on the Desktop even if it is in Active Desktop mode.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Execute this defined User command when you double-click the left mouse button on a clear area of the Desktop.


Select a User command from those previously defined from Customize


Login as an anonymous user or with the user name and password as defined below.


Recalls the details from the last closed connection.


The port number used for FTP on the remote site. By default, this is port 21.


Login as an anonymous user or with the defined user name and password below.


Your user name on the remote FTP server.


Your password on the remote FTP server.


Opus attempts to CD to this directory when it first connects to the remote server. Leave blank to access the default FTP root directory for the server.


Closes this dialog and attempt to connect to the server.


Closes this dialog without saving any changes you have made.


Apply any changes to this site for use with this session only. When you disconnect this session or close the Lister all changes will be discarded.


Apply any changes for use with this session and permanently update the site preferences.


Closes this dialog and saves any changes according the setting above.


Apply any changes according the setting above but do not close the dialog.


Closes this dialog and discard any changes you have made.


Performs the export of Opus preferences.


Performs the Import of previously saved Opus preferences. You may import the full set of preferences or just certain sections. For example you can just import the FTP list or the Layouts etc.


Restores ALL preference settings to what they were when you entered the Preferences section.


Restores ALL preference settings to the Opus system default values. This does not affect FTP sites nor Favorite lists.


Free floating Toolbars can me moved to any position on the Desktop. This allows them to be docked with the top, bottom or sides of the Desktop when the Toolbar is moved to the edge of the display. Holding down the Shift key when moving the Toolbar will reverse the defined behavior.


Activates the display of an informative pop-up help text (called a Tooltip) for all Toolbars buttons.


Shows any shortcut keys defined for the button in the Tooltip text.


You may set the free-floating state of individual Toolbars from their individual settings in Customize. This automatically saves this state of the Toolbar when you close the Toolbar or exit Opus. It is useful if you have dragged a Toolbar out of or into a Lister and not specifically saved its state.


Defines the horizontal spacing in pixels between each button in a Toolbar.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Defines the vertical spacing in pixels between each button in a Toolbar.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Changes the type of highlighting used to display mouse overs in menus. Windows style is blue highlighting, Opus style uses a 3d border.


Tells Opus to animate the display of the menus according to the setting shown. Note the ghosted state indicates 'use the setting as defined in your Windows system settings'.


Tells Opus to display the menus using a drop shadow.


Follow the current Visual Style or Theme set in your current XP interface when displaying Toolbar buttons.


Select the horizontal padding.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Select the vertical padding.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Displays a list of the file types defined for the Windows system.


Allows you to edit the selected file type.


Defines a new file type.


Creates a new file type using a copy of the selected file type.


Deletes the selected file type.


Finds a file type which matches given criteria.


Your user name for the remote FTP server.


Your password for the remote FTP server.


Closes this dialog and attempts to connect to the remote server.


Closes this dialog and abandons the attempt to connect to the server.


Enter your input in this field.


Permanently saves the password for this site in the site configuration (if any) after a successful connection.


Login as an anonymous user or use the defined user name and password below.


Applies this format to the current Lister and closes this dialog.


Closes this dialog and discards any changes you have made to the current Lister format.


Applies this format to the current Lister but does not close the dialog.


Display a list of the unused fields (columns) which may be used in the Lister file display.


Moves the selected item from the Available list to the Displayed list.


Removes the selected item from the Displayed list.


Moves the selected item up in the order of fields to be displayed. This moves the field column to the left in the Lister display


Moves the selected item down the order of fields to be displayed. This moves the field column to the right in the Lister display


Display the list of the fields (columns) currently used in the Lister file display.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Choose an item from the list.


Defines the column by which the Lister display will be sorted. Select from one of the available column fields in the display.


Reverses the order of the sort.


Sorts numbers numerically rather than alphabetically. This ensures that files beginning with numbers will sort in their correct order. For example, 1, 2, 10 would be sorted in this order rather than 1, 10, 2.


Displays all folders before files.


Displays all files before folders.


Displays files and folders intermixed as defined by the sort order.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


By default, Opus uses a traditional string sort which sorts items on the ASCII value of the character. This is usually more logical when sorting lists of files. Some programs such as Windows Explorer, use a word sort. This treats hyphens and apostrophes differently than it treats other symbols that are not alphanumeric. It ensures that words such as "coop" and "co-op" stay together within a sorted list. Choose the option according to your preference. (Note that the default string sort uses lexicographic order which may vary with non-English languages.)


Similar to Numeric name head sorting, except it applies to filenames that end rather than begin with numbers.


Only show files which match this pattern. Possible wildcards are *,#, ?, |, (), [], ~ or single quote.

See Also

  Pattern Matching Syntax


Only show files with these attributes.


Only show files with these attributes.


Only show files with these attributes


Only show files with these attributes.


Selectively hide files which match this pattern. Possible wildcards are *,#, ?, |, (), [], ~ or single quote.

See Also

  Pattern Matching Syntax


Selectively hide files with these attributes.


Selectively hide files with these attributes.


Selectively hide files with these attributes.


Selectively hide files with these attributes.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Only show files with these attributes.


Only show files with these attributes.


Selectively hide files with these attributes.


Selectively hide files with these attributes.


Only show folders which match this pattern. Possible wildcards are *,#, ?, |, (), [], ~ or single quote.

See Also

  Pattern Matching Syntax


Selectively hide folders which match this pattern. Possible wildcards are *,#, ?, |, (), [], ~ or single quote. Entering an asterisk (*) will hide all folders.

See Also

  Pattern Matching Syntax


When a directory is read, the folder sizes are calculated and displayed in the Lister according to this setting.


Selects the View Mode to display files and folders in the Lister. Select from traditional Windows views, Opus Power mode or Opus thumbnails.


Automatically adjusts the size of the columns to fit the widest field.


By default, Opus displays the full file name including the extension. This hides the file extensions.


If files are stored in UPPERCASE format (as is done with some DOS based filenames), this modifies the name according to the settings below.


Select your preferred option.


Select your preferred option.


By default, the date/ time fields do not display the seconds value of the time. This displays seconds for all such fields.


If a folder does not have a defined Lister format, it will normally be displayed using the Default Lister format. This tells Opus to use the current format for any sub-folders. Note: If the lock gadget in the Status Bar is closed, Opus will always use the current format to display folders contents.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


When an extension column is selected in the Lister format, shows a <dir> suffix for folders. This allows for more accurate sorting of when using a separate extension field.


DOpus can display familiar names for dates within the last week. These include today, yesterday, Monday etc.


Selects the default folder path to be used as the initial folder for the primary (Source) Lister display


Erases the default path.


Choose the folder path from the highest-ranking SmartFavorites folder.


Selects the default folder path to be used as the initial folder for the secondary (Destination) Lister display in a dual filed Lister.


Erases the default path.


Uses the same folder path for the secondary Lister as used for the primary file display.


Chooses the folder path from the highest-ranking SmartFavorites folder.


If the initial path of a new Lister is set to a folder on a CD-ROM, do not automatically read its contents.  This can be useful in preventing the delays resulting from attempting to access a CD-ROM which is no longer mounted on your computer.


If the initial path of a new Lister is set to a folder on a floppy drive or other removable media, do not automatically read its contents.


If the initial path of a new Lister is set to a folder on an FTP Site, do not automatically read its contents. If this option is not set, Opus will attempt to connect to the site and read the initial directory.


If the initial path of a new Lister is set to a folder on a networked drive, do not automatically read its contents.  This can be useful to prevent delays if the network drive is no longer connected to your computer.


If one of the above selected types is defined as the initial folder of a new Lister, ask me before attempting to access the path.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Allows you to adjust the behavior of left mouse button Opus Power mode.


Allows you to select what happens when you drag and drop files using the left mouse button in Opus Power mode.


Allows you to adjust the behavior of right mouse button in Opus Power mode.


Allows you to select what happens when you drag and drop files using right mouse button in Opus Power mode.


Allows you to adjust the behavior of middle mouse button, if any, in Opus Power mode. Note: With three button mice, the middle button is often controlled by an external driver and is not available for Opus use.


Allows you to select what happens when you drag and drop files using the middle mouse button in Opus Power mode.  Note: With three button mice, the middle button is often controlled by an external driver and is not available for Opus use.


Automatically displays the associated file type icon on the left of the filename.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


You can select multiple files by first selecting one file then, with a qualifier key held down, selecting a file some distance away. All files between the first and second selection points will be highlighted. This setting allows you to configure the qualifier key used for the range selection process. Select either Shift, Ctrl or Alt key.

Note that in default Power mode, if you have selected assorted files, you may pick up all selected files in one action so as to drag them etc by holding down SHIFT PLUS Ctrl keys when you click in the Lister to drag the files.


Choose an item from the list.


Allows you to drag out just a single file from the Lister if multiple files have already been selected.


Show the selected highlight over the full row rather than just the file name (as in the default Details mode).


Show the selected highlight over the full row rather than just the file name.


Shows the current arguments used to display the status bar at the bottom of the Lister.


Displays the available codes for the status bar arguments.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Shows an example of how the status bar will be displayed using the arguments above.


Displays predefined samples for configuring the status bar arguments.


Display different status bar text when List is in Dual file display mode.


Prints the listing of the folder contents to the defined destination and closes this dialog.


Closes this dialog.


Browse for the desired folder.


Recursively includes all sub-folders in the listing.


Use the selected filter to selectively display the folder contents.


Enter a wildcard pattern the name of the advanced filter file to use as the filter criteria. Possible wildcards are *,#, ?, |, (), [], ~ or single quote.


Displays the Filter dialog to allow you to define a set of criteria for the filter.


Outputs the listing to the defined printer.


Selects the required printer from those available on this system.


Displays the configuration dialog for this printer.


Outputs the listing as a text file under the defined name.


Browse for a file.


Displays the current format to be used to display the folder contents.


Edits the current format to be used to display the folder contents.


If you have edited the format, this is not automatically accepted as the current format to be used for the listing. This sets the listing format to use the current format as shown.


Resets the displayed format from the current format being used for the listing.


Selects the font to be used for the printed listing.


Outputs the listing as as text to the clipboard.


Closes this dialog and saves any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog without saving any changes you have made.


Defines the filter equation. For details see

  The Opus File Filter System

  Pattern Matching Syntax

  Regular Expression Syntax


After this function has completed, turns off the filter for all subsequent file functions.


Immediately performs the filter action above and selects all files which match the criteria above.


Immediately performs the file function but ignores the defined filer for this operation.


Closes this dialog and applies the filter as above.


Closes this dialog and abandons the current action.


Enter your input in this field.


Enter your input in this field.


Closes this dialog and saves any changes you have made.


Skip the rename for this specific file and move on to the next selection, if any.


Abort the rename process and close the dialog.


Name of the ZIP file.


Browse for the ZIP file.


Drag the slider to select your preferred value


Encrypt the archive with a password.


Enter your password for this archive.


Safety check for your typing!


Re-enter the password to verify your typing.


Do not show the password in plain text.


Closes this dialog and saves any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog without saving any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog and saves any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog without saving any changes you have made.


Hotkeys can be either local to Opus and will only work when Opus is active, or, can be System-wide and always available unless overridden by a specific application.


The name you wish to give to this Hotkey.


A text string describing the action of the key.


Defines the shortcut key or Hotkey to activate this button if any. Simply activate this field and press the key or key combination desired. You may use any combination of any single key including function keys edit keys, keypad keys or normal keys either alone or in combination with qualifier keys including Shift, Ctrl, Alt, and Windows keys


Displays the Opus command function and any arguments or the application program selected for the button.


Browse for an application file.


Sets the home or program folder when launching an application.


Click this button to make your choice.


Parameters to the application.


Enter your input in this field.


Mark as an MSDOS batch function for special handling.


Play the sound.


Stop playing the sound


Rewind the play counter to the start.


Drag the slider to select the position from where to start playing the sound.


Play the next sound file.


Play the previous sound file


Stop playing the sound and close the dialog.


Closes the window after playing the sound. If you wish to manually control the player, turn this setting off. Changing this setting puts the player in manual mode for the session so it will not close automatically.


Opens a new Opus Lister when you double-click the left mouse button on the Opus lightbulb icon in the system tray.


Opens a pre-defined Opus Layout of Listers when you double-click the left mouse button on the Opus lightbulb icon in the system tray.


Selects the Layout to open from those recorded within Opus.


Closes any open Listers before opening a new Layout.


When you double-click the left mouse button on the Opus lightbulb icon in the system tray, execute this defined User command.


Select a User command from those previously defined from Customize.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


When you double-click on a file, Opus attempts to open the file with the program associated with this type of file in the system file types. If the type is not registered, Opus examines the file to check if it is plain ASCII text and opens it in the default text viewer if so.


Defines the text viewer to be used to show ASCII text files. This is set to Notepad by default.


Browse for a text viewer application.


Opus will use its internal PLAY command play to WAV sound files instead of the system defined media player.


Opus will use its internal picture viewer to show all image types it recognizes. These include GIF, JPG, IFF, PNG, BMP and more. This setting will override any program associated with this type of file in the system file types. If Opus cannot recognize the file, it will call the associated program for this image type.


Restores the settings to what they were when you entered this section.


Restores the settings in this section to the Opus system defaults.


Enables the local caching of downloaded FTP files.


The time to keep temporary files. After this time the file will be automatically deleted.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Enables the local caching of files within ZIP archives.


The time to keep temporary files. After this time the file will be automatically deleted.


Use the arrows to select your preferred value.


Choose an item from the list.


The Viewer Plugin Manager lets you configure your installed Viewer Plug-ins. From here you can selectively enable or disable plug-ins, configure them and view information about them, and change the order in which they are called. For example, if you have two different plug-ins that can both handle a given type of file, you can rearrange the plug-in order so that the one you want to use for that file type is called first.


Displays details of the selected plug-in.


Configure specific options which may be available for the selected plug-in.


Moves the selected plug-in up the priority list. If you have two different plug-ins that can both handle a given type of file, you can rearrange the plug-in order so that the one you want to use for that file type is called first.


Moves the selected plug-in down the priority list. If you have two different plug-ins that can both handle a given type of file, you can rearrange the plug-in order so that the one you want to use for that file type is called first.


Enable the selected plug-in.


Disable the selected plug-in.


Refresh the plug-in list. (Reread the Viewers folder if you have added new plug-ins.)


Closes this dialog and saves any changes you have made.


Closes this dialog without saving any changes you have made.