Write programs that do one thing and do it well.
Write programs to work together.
Current directory is represented as " . ", parent directory is represented as " . . ". It allows to copy current/parent path to clipboard, view their properties, drop files on them.
To find file in current directory - quickly type several first characters of file name.
In Size View mode default sorting is by size on disk that takes into account NTFS compression, NTFS sparse files and disk cluster size. ~ symbol indicates that directory size calculation is in progress: 
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Context menu for current directory can be invoked by right clicking on file list view's background. In details mode context menu can be also invoked by right clicking on columns title bar. Third alternative to invoke context menu is to press Shift + F10 or Application key when no files are selected. |
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| It's possible to have several directories opened simultaneously.
Each directory is represented as tab forming Tabs Tree.
For better organization SurF can insert virtual tabs into the tree
(such as "Common Files" in the screenshot). Double clicking on virtual tab makes it real.
Startup directories' tabs are bold and browsing inside startup directory creates new tab. |
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Besides view icon, each tab can display three following icons:
- current file list operation is running in a background,
- changes monitoring is disabled for file list,
- checking for changes in subdirectories is enabled for file list.
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To select directory for new tab using keyboard press Ctrl + N ("New - QuickPath...").
In Search field you can type for example
csys32 to locate c:\windows\system32.
First letter should be a drive letter.
To search only subdirectories of current directory enter .(dot) as first character. For example, when file tab shows c:\1 typing .45 will find 2\3\4\5. The search is performed in a background. When a better path is found it replaces the current one. When the search is over the full path becomes bold. When no path was found and search is over a question mark is displayed. |
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To select directory for new tab using mouse invoke standard "Browse For Folder" dialog via "New - Browse..." toolbar button or menu item. If you have directory/file opened in another program or if you have path to directory/file as text string - copy it to Clipboard and create new tab via "New - from Clipboard" button or menu item.
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File list view can be opened in separate window using Tab - Detach menu item. Separate window can be returned to tab using Tab - Reattach menu item. |
This is an advanced feature that allows you, for example, to link CD drive letter U:\ to directory C:\CD - you will be able to access CD disks' contents browsing to C:\CD directory. Or you can link directory D:\Games to directory C:\Program Files\Games - you will be able to install games to C:\Program Files\Games directory with benefit that disk space for games will be used from disk D:\. NTFS doesn't support links to directories on network drives.
To create NTFS directory link in SurF: Copy source directory to clipboard (e.g. D:\Games), browse to link's parent directory (e.g. C:\Program Files) and select File - Paste NTFS link command. If you create or delete files in C:\Program Files\Games directory they will be created or deleted from D:\Games directory and vice versa.
| Using File - NTFS properties dialog you can verify presence of the link and delete it (also note link overlay icon in file list view). Deleting directory link using NTFS properties dialog guaranties that files in source directory (D:\Games) remain intact. If you try to delete link directory as usual directory then files from source directory may be deleted as well. |  |
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Windows 7 and Vista use several special directory links for backward compatibility. E.g. C:\Documents and Settings points to C:\Users and access rights prevents applications to list contents of C:\Documents and Settings. SurF detects these special directories and when you try to browse into C:\Documents and Settings it creates new tab for C:\Users. |
To create NTFS file link in SurF: Copy source file to clipboard (e.g. C:\Docs\readme.txt), browse to link's parent directory (e.g. C:\Favorites) and select File - Paste NTFS link command. To verify presence of file link you can use File - NTFS properties dialog (Number of links to file line). Also note link overlay icon in file list view.
This is an advanced feature that allows you to place links to file or directory from different locations. Symbolic link for directory behaves exactly as NTFS directory link plus it allows to create link to directory on network share. Symbolic link for file behaves more like NTFS directory link then like NTFS file link - if you delete original file all linked files become invalid. While NTFS file link works only within same disk drive, symbolic link for file allows to create link to file on different drive and on network share.
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To create NTFS symbolic link use File - Paste symbolic link command. Windows 7 or Vista required plus SurF should be running as administrator or under standard user with Create symbolic links privilege enabled. Using File - NTFS properties dialog you can verify presence of the link and delete it. |
NTFS alternate data streamsIt's possible to store in one physical file several "logical" files. For example, one file silverbullet-003.mp3 may contain "main" audio content and "additional" information indicating that it was downloaded from Internet.It's very easy to create test file with alternate data stream for yourself: type "echo my_data > test_file_name.txt:stream.txt" at command line. It will create seemingly empty "test_file_name.txt" file, but type "notepad test_file_name.txt:stream.txt" and you will see "additional" my_data contents. NTFS properties dialog allows you to see all alternate data streams for a file or directory. Contents preview column shows first 50 characters of stream text. To view all text or binary data from the stream Copy stream file name to clipboard and run your favorite viewer passing stream file name as command line parameter. |
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Search locations allows you to specify several directories (e.g. C:\ | D:\) or shell locations (e.g. My Computer | My Network Places\Entire Network) for starting search. File name masks accepts *.txt type masks, file name fragments such as win, Perl regular expressions such as win.*[\d] to match winhlp32.exe and winnt256.bmp. Masks can be combined using | or & symbols representing OR and AND operations (e.g. *.exe | *.bmp & win will match Prairie Wind.bmp and winhelp.exe). To exclude certain files use ! symbol: !*.dll & !*.exe. It is prohibited to use ! and space symbols in mask. File filters allows you to combine filter expressions using () | and & symbols. E.g. ((Modified > 7/21/2007 & Modified < 10/23/2007) | (Created > 7/21/2007 & Created < 10/23/2007)) & Attributes = Hidden will find hidden files modified or created between 7/21/2007 and 10/23/2007. Time string format allows you to omit seconds, minutes and whole time part. Special date strings Today and Yesterday can be used. Size modifiers KB, MB, GB and TB are available along with single letter equivalents (K, M, G and T). |
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Found files list supports shortcuts for copy, move, delete, properties and run operations plus New - from selection (Ctrl+D) shortcut. The list scrolls automatically during search if no files are selected. You can reorder columns by dragging.
| During search bold dots represent found and not yet processed directories (lighter dots are more recently found directories). Circles represent found and not yet processed files and displayed only when searching text. |
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Editing favorites and startup directories you can drag rows with mouse. To delete row - select it by Shift + Space or by clicking on row header and then press Delete key. Use F2 key to edit cells.
Producing pictures icons is a slow process so, some limitations based on picture file size apply. Default limitations can be changed using Pictures icons settings dialog - increase max file size to show icons for more pictures, decrease size to show files faster. These limitations apply only to views with Icons size 16, 32 and 48.
Initial settings are read from xml files in "settings" directory or from "settings\settings.srfs" file that you can create using Save settings menu item. When settings are changed using "Settings" menu, then these custom settings are stored in user's profile directory and override initial settings from "settings" directory. Exact directory for custom settings is unique for each user and program install path. Usually it looks like "c:\Documents and Settings\USER_NAME\Local Settings\Application Data\IsolatedStorage\...\AssemFiles".
You can override general settings from command line taking parameter names from settings.xml file:SurF.exe UseCustomColor=True CustomColor=ChartreuseTo backup/restore all settings or to transfer all settings from one computer to another use Save/Load settings menu items.
SurF.exe "C:\Program Files\SurF" C:\WINDOWS\Greenstone.bmpopens one tab for C:\Program Files\SurF and one tab for C:\WINDOWS with Greenstone.bmp file selected.
| Copy | Ctrl+Ins |
| Paste | Shift+Ins |
| Next tab | Ctrl+Tab |
| Browse to parent | Backspace |
| Context menu | Shift + F10 Application key |
Access to network sharesAfter you enter server name or IP in Network server dialog (e.g. sv or 192.168.1.33 or ::1) Select share dialog appears. Shares that you can't open look gray. You can select several shares to open at once.Reconnect as button allows you to select alternative account for remote access. Password that you enter for the account is not saved anywhere on disk and erased from memory immediately after remote connection is established. Connecting to Windows 9x computer with password protected share, select this share and check "Connect to selected share" before clicking Reconnect as. |
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