|
|
Home | Switchboard | Unix Administration | Red Hat | TCP/IP Networks | Neoliberalism | Toxic Managers |
| (slightly skeptical) Educational society promoting "Back to basics" movement against IT overcomplexity and bastardization of classic Unix | |||||||
Revision 1.5.2; June 1, 2004
A lot of useful information about OFMs (Orthodox File Managers) can be found on the Softpanorama OFM Page. An OFM is a file manager that emulates, at least to some extent, Norton Commander. Total Commander is one of these. The newest version of Total Commander, at the time of writing, is 6.03a. If you're using an older one, it's a good idea to upgrade, since the newer versions contain new features, as well as bugfixes.
Note: Windows Commander has been renamed to Total Commander.
|
|
|
|
Total Commander is very configurable, and you should take advantage of this. Go through the entire Configuration dialog, and set it up the way you like it. If you don't understand what an option does, consult the manual. This may take you 15 minutes, but the program will work the way you want it afterwards. Some suggestions follow.
Think of the directories you use often, and add them to the directory menu. Do so by pressing Ctrl-D (or double-clicking on the path bar) and then choosing Configure. To make the directory menu more efficient, add shortcuts to the menus by including the ampersand (&) character before the shortcut letter. You'll add more directories later as you use it.
For example, to make the shortcut letter "E", you would make the title of the item "Drive &E", instead of "Drive E". This will make the item in the list and in the menu appear as "Drive E" (the letter E is underlined), which means that you can just press E to activate it. It's a good idea to try to map the left-hand keys first, since you will be pressing the D in Ctrl-D (which drops down the directory menu) with the left hand. "Ctrl-D,E" is a lot quicker to press than "Ctrl-D,I", since you have to press I with the right hand (or risk injuring your fingers).
Other Tips:
Total Commander's Start menu can be very useful for performing complex operations on selected files. For example, you can configure one-keypress virus scanning by adding an item to the Start menu and setting up a shortcut for it. The dialog that appears when you go to Start | Change Start Menu provides sufficient information to do this. Just substitute the values it specifies for where the filename would normally be.
The Total Commander button bar is also fully customizable. You can alter it in many different ways:
When using Total Commander, always remember that the keyboard is quicker than the mouse. At first, you may need to have the function key buttons in view to remember what each key does. Later on, however, you may realize that you don't need them, and hide them to save screen space.
When moving around the directories, use the arrow keys. You can move left and right as well as up and down. To switch to the "Brief" view, press Ctrl-F1. You may also use the Home/End/PageUp/PageDown navigation keys. The selection of files is done by either holding down shift while moving around, or pressing the spacebar when a cursor is over the file you want to select. When using the spacebar method on directories, the space they occupy will be shown in the status bar. You may also select large groups of files with the right mouse button.
Total Commander also supports browser-like back/forward navigation. The same shortcut keys - Alt-Left for back and Alt-Right for forward - apply here. You can also use the mouse with the toolbar buttons. Backspace will take you one directory level up.
Be sure to make use of the internal zip packer and unpacker. Press Alt-F5 to pack a group of files, and Alt-F9 to unpack them. You may also navigate inside of archives, including nested archives. Just select one and press Enter like always. This also works for other archives, such as RAR, ACE, CAB, and the self-extracting versions of these (Press Ctrl-PageDown to navigate inside of a self-extracting archive.)
If you need to do something via the menus, try to remember the shortcut key next time. If the menu item doesn't have a shortcut key, you can map one to your liking. Go to the Configuration dialog, and open the Misc tab. On the bottom, you'll see the Redefine hotkeys area. If you don't, you're probably using an older version - the feature was introduced in version 4.02. Remapping the keys may seem a bit awkward at first. You must first choose the key combination by checking the Control, Alt, and/or Shift buttons and choosing the key that goes with them from the selection box. Then, select the command you wish to map the key to. Finally, click the checkbox button to make the key binding take effect.
Selecting files is very easy. Just right-click a file to select it. Right-click again to deselect. You can also drag the right mouse button to select groups of files. Selection with the keyboard is very versatile. Here's a short list of shortcuts you should be familiar with (I only listed the most useful ones):
| Keystroke | Function |
|---|---|
| Spacebar | Select or deselect the file at the cursor. |
| -/- (number pad) | Select/deselect files using a mask you specify. |
| Ctrl -/- | Select/deselect all files. |
| Alt -/- | Select/deselect all files with the same extension. |
| * | Reverse selection. |
If you're a webmaster and have FTP access to your web server, updating your web page should be very simple. You can use Total Commander to easily synchronize the files on your computer with your web server. Just connect to the FTP server in one pane, and open the directory with the local copy of your files in the other pane. Now, press Shift-F2 to compare the two directories. All the files that are newer than the ones in the opposing directory are selected. If the file doesn't exist at all in the other pane, it is also selected. Now, go to the pane with the local files, and press F5 to copy all of the files that are not up to date. (March 31, 2000)
When renaming files, even when you press Shift-F6 or click the file twice, WinCmd uses the same algorithm as the REN command in DOS. This means that you can use the rename command to move files. For example, to move a file called file.ext one directory up, you can rename it to "..\file.ext". You can also specify a full path. For example, to move the same file to D:\, rename it to "D:\filename.ext". The idea is carried over to FTP - you can do the same thing. (May 09, 2000)
If you need to quickly move files from one computer to another, Total Commander is the ideal way, especially if the computers don't have network cards. Simply connect them with 8-bit crossed parallel cable and use Total Commander to move the files between them. This is supported under Total Commander 4.50 and newer, and the help file has detailed instructions. (July 07, 2000)
You can make file browsing a lot easier by using the Define colors by file type option. This is very useful if you often work with a particular kind of file. To use this feature, go to the Options dialog (Configuration | Options) and then switch to the Color tab. Click the Define colors by file type button; You'll have to check the checkbox next to it if it isn't already checked. Besides defining colors by a file's name, you can also define colors by the file's attributes, size, or other options. For example, you could define the colors so that files larger than a certain size are easily visible, or so that executable files are a different color. It's a good idea to make directories a different color, especially if you aren't using symbols (icons) so that they stand out in a directory listing. The possibilities are endless! (July 07, 2000)
Learn how to use the Multi-Rename Tool, a new feature in Total Commander 4.50. It can be very useful if you need to rename a large amount of files using the same rule. Select all the files you want to rename, and then press Ctrl-M. If you need help, press F1 for detailed documentation. (July 07, 2000)
Note: As of version 6.0, the default shortcut for the Multi-Rename tool has changed to Ctrl-M. With versions prior to 6.0, use Ctrl-T.
To quickly copy a file's name, press Shift-F6 and then Ctrl-C or Shift-Ins to copy its name. Press Escape to cancel the rename process. (January 06, 2000)
Starting with version 4.52, Total Commander includes an option to view the file panes vertically, instead of side-by-side horizontally. This is very useful when you need to look at a lot of files in the Full view. To use this feature, go to Show | Vertical Arrangement, or press Alt,W,V. Choose the menu again to turn it off. (January 22, 2000)
Total Commander 4.52 also includes a great command to view all files in a subdirectory. This is useful in many different situations, such as renaming a group of files that are distributed among a tree of directories. To use this feature, just press Ctrl-B. If you don't have version 4.52, you can duplicate this feature with the following steps:
This feature can also be used in conjunction with the Multi-Rename Tool. Be careful when using it, though, as it can take a very long time to list all of the files in a big tree, such as the root directory of a drive.(January 23, 2000)
Like any powerful tool, Total Commander won't work the way you want it right away. Until you use it a little and learn how it works, it may even seem a bit uncomfortable. But don't be discouraged, as the payoff is too great to ignore. You'll do all your file management a lot faster. An experienced person using Total Commander may seem like a magician to observers.
Copyright © 2000-2004 Ilya Gulko
| F1 | Help |
| F2 | Reread source window |
| F3, F4 | List files, Edit files |
| F4, F5 | Copy files, Rename or move files |
| F7 | Create directory |
| F8 | Delete files to recycle bin /delete directly - according to configuration (or Delete) |
| F9 | Activate menu above source window (left or right) |
| F10 | Activate left menu or deactivate menu |
| Alt-F1 | change left drive |
| Alt-F2 | change right drive |
| Alt-F3 | Use alternate (external or internal) viewer |
| Alt-Shift-F3 | Start Lister and load file with internal viewer (no plugins or multimedia) |
| Alt-F4 | Exit | Minimize (with option MinimizeOnClose in wincmd.ini) |
| Alt-F5 | Pack files |
| Alt-Shift-F5 | Move to archive |
| Alt-F6 | Unpack specified files from archive under cursor, or selected archives (use Alt-F9 on Windows 95) |
| Alt-F7 | Find |
| Alt-F8 | Opens the history list of the command line |
| Alt-F9 | Same as ALT-F6 (because ALT-F6 is broken on Windows 95) |
| Alt-Shift-F9 | Test archives |
| Alt-F10 | Opens a dialog box with the current directory tree |
| Alt-F11 | Opens left current directory bar (breadcrumb bar) |
| Alt-F12 | Opens right current directory bar (breadcrumb bar) |
| Alt-Shift-F11 | Focus the button bar to use it with the keyboard |
| Shift-F1 | Custom columns view menu |
| Shift-F2 | Compare file lists |
| Shift-F3 | List only file under cursor, when multiple files selected |
| Shift-F4 | Create new text file and load into editor |
| Shift-F5 | Copy files (with rename) in the same directory |
| Shift-Ctrl-F5 | Create shortcuts of the selected files |
| Shift-F6 | Rename files in the same directory |
| Shift-F8/Delete | Delete directly / delete to recycle bin - according to configuration |
| Shift-F10 | Show context menu |
| Shift-Esc | Minimizes Total Commander to an icon |
| Alt-Arrow left / Arrow right | Go to previous/next dir of already visited dirs |
| Alt-Arrow down | Open history list of already visited dirs (like the history list in a WWW browser) |
| Num - | Expand selection (configurable: just files or files and folders) |
| Num - | Shrink selection |
| Num * | Invert selection (also with shift, see link) |
| Num / | Restore selection |
| Shift-Num-[-] | Like Num -, but files and folders if Num - selects just files (and vice versa) |
| Shift-Num-- | Always removes the selection just from files (Num - from files and folders) |
| Shift-Num-* | Like Num *, but files and folders if Num * inverts selection of just files (and vice versa) |
| Ctrl-Num - | Select all (configurable: just files or files and folders) |
| Ctrl-Shift-Num - | Select all (files and folders if CTRL-Num - selects only files) |
| Ctrl-Num - | Deselect all (always files and folders) |
| Ctrl-Shift-Num - | Deselect all (always files, no folders) |
| Alt-Num - | Select all files with the same extension |
| Alt-Num - | Remove selection from files with the same extension |
| Ctrl-Page up | Change to parent directory (cd ..) , or Backspace |
| Ctrl-< | Jump to the root directory (most European keyboards) |
| Ctrl-\ | Jump to the root directory (US keyboard) |
| Ctrl-Page down | Open directory/archive (also self extracting .EXE archives) |
| Ctrl-Arrow left / Arrow right | Open directory/archive and display it in the target window. If the cursor is not on a directory name, or the other panel is active, then the current directory is displayed instead. |
| Ctrl-F1 | File display 'brief' (only file names) |
| Ctrl-Shift-F1 | Thumbnails view (preview pictures) |
| Ctrl-F2 | File display 'full' (all file details) |
| Ctrl-Shift-F2 | Comments view (new comments are created with Ctrl-Z) |
| Ctrl-F3 | Sort by name |
| Ctrl-F4 | Sort by extension |
| Ctrl-F5 | Sort by date/time |
| Ctrl-F6 | Sort by size |
| Ctrl-F7 | Unsorted |
| Ctrl-F8 | Display directory tree |
| Ctrl-Shift-F8 | Cycle through separate directory tree states: one tree, two trees, off |
| Ctrl-F9 | Print file under cursor using the associated program |
| Ctrl-F10 | Show all files |
| Ctrl-F11 | Show only programs |
| Ctrl-F12 | Show user defined files |
| Tab | Switch between left and right file list |
| Shift-Tab | Switch between current file list and separate tree (if enabled) |
| Insert | Select file or directory. |
| Space | Select file or directory (as INSERT). If SPACE is used on an unselected directory under the cursor, the contents in this directory are counted and the size is shown in the "full" view instead of the string . This can be disabled through 'Configuration' - 'Options' - 'Operation' - 'Selection with Space'. |
| Enter | Change directory / run program / run associated program / execute command line if not empty. If the source directory shows the contents of an archive, further information on the packed file is given. |
| Shift-Enter | 1. Runs command line / program under cursor with preceding command /c and leave the program's window open. Only works if NOCLOSE.PIF is in your Windows directory! 2. With ZIP files: use alternative choice of these (as chosen in Packer config): (Treat archives like directories <-> call associated program, i.e. winzip or quinzip) 3. In the list of last used dirs (History, Ctrl-D), open the directory on a new Tab. |
| Alt-Shift-Enter | The contents of all directories in the current directory are counted. The sizes of the directories are then shown in the "full" view instead of the string . Abort by holding down ESC key. |
| Alt-Enter | Show property sheet. |
| Ctrl-a | Select all |
| Ctrl-b | Directory branch: Show contents of current dir and all subdirs in one list |
| Ctrl-Shift-b | Selected directory branch: Show selected files, and all in selected subdirs |
| Ctrl-c | Copy files to clipboard |
| Ctrl-x | Cut files to clipboard |
| Ctrl-v | Paste from clipboard to current dir. |
| Ctrl-d | Open directory hotlist ('bookmarks') |
| Ctrl-f | Connect to FTP server |
| Ctrl-Shift-f | Disconnect from FTP server |
| Ctrl-i | Switch to target directory |
| Ctrl-l | Calculate occupied space (of the selected files) |
| Ctrl-m | Multi-Rename-Tool |
| Ctrl-Shift-m | Change FTP transfer mode |
| Ctrl-n | New FTP connection (enter URL or host address) |
| Ctrl-p | Copy current path to command line |
| Ctrl-q | Quick view panel instead of file window |
| Ctrl-r | Reread source directory |
| Ctrl-s | Open Quick Filter dialog and activate filter (deactivate with ESC or CTRL-F10) |
| Ctrl-Shift-s | Open Quick Filter dialog and reactivate last-used filter |
| Ctrl-t | Open new folder tab and activate it |
| Ctrl-Shift-t | Open new folder tab, but do not activate it |
| Ctrl-u | Exchange directories |
| Ctrl-Shift-u | Exchange directories and tabs |
| Ctrl-w | Close currently active tab |
| Ctrl-Shift-w | Close all open tabs |
| Ctrl-z | Edit file comment |
| Ctrl-Arrow up | Open dir under cursor in new tab |
| Ctrl-Shift-Arrow Up | Open dir under cursor in other window (new tab) |
| Ctrl-Tab/Ctrl-Shift-Tab | Jump to next tab / jump to previous tab |
| Ctrl-Alt-Letter | Quick search for a file name (starting with specified letters) in the current directory (Support hotkeys Ctrl-X, Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V and Ctrl-A; use Ctrl-S for search filter on/off) |
Society
Groupthink : Two Party System as Polyarchy : Corruption of Regulators : Bureaucracies : Understanding Micromanagers and Control Freaks : Toxic Managers : Harvard Mafia : Diplomatic Communication : Surviving a Bad Performance Review : Insufficient Retirement Funds as Immanent Problem of Neoliberal Regime : PseudoScience : Who Rules America : Neoliberalism : The Iron Law of Oligarchy : Libertarian Philosophy
Quotes
War and Peace : Skeptical Finance : John Kenneth Galbraith :Talleyrand : Oscar Wilde : Otto Von Bismarck : Keynes : George Carlin : Skeptics : Propaganda : SE quotes : Language Design and Programming Quotes : Random IT-related quotes : Somerset Maugham : Marcus Aurelius : Kurt Vonnegut : Eric Hoffer : Winston Churchill : Napoleon Bonaparte : Ambrose Bierce : Bernard Shaw : Mark Twain Quotes
Bulletin:
Vol 25, No.12 (December, 2013) Rational Fools vs. Efficient Crooks The efficient markets hypothesis : Political Skeptic Bulletin, 2013 : Unemployment Bulletin, 2010 : Vol 23, No.10 (October, 2011) An observation about corporate security departments : Slightly Skeptical Euromaydan Chronicles, June 2014 : Greenspan legacy bulletin, 2008 : Vol 25, No.10 (October, 2013) Cryptolocker Trojan (Win32/Crilock.A) : Vol 25, No.08 (August, 2013) Cloud providers as intelligence collection hubs : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2010 : Inequality Bulletin, 2009 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2008 : Copyleft Problems Bulletin, 2004 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2011 : Energy Bulletin, 2010 : Malware Protection Bulletin, 2010 : Vol 26, No.1 (January, 2013) Object-Oriented Cult : Political Skeptic Bulletin, 2011 : Vol 23, No.11 (November, 2011) Softpanorama classification of sysadmin horror stories : Vol 25, No.05 (May, 2013) Corporate bullshit as a communication method : Vol 25, No.06 (June, 2013) A Note on the Relationship of Brooks Law and Conway Law
History:
Fifty glorious years (1950-2000): the triumph of the US computer engineering : Donald Knuth : TAoCP and its Influence of Computer Science : Richard Stallman : Linus Torvalds : Larry Wall : John K. Ousterhout : CTSS : Multix OS Unix History : Unix shell history : VI editor : History of pipes concept : Solaris : MS DOS : Programming Languages History : PL/1 : Simula 67 : C : History of GCC development : Scripting Languages : Perl history : OS History : Mail : DNS : SSH : CPU Instruction Sets : SPARC systems 1987-2006 : Norton Commander : Norton Utilities : Norton Ghost : Frontpage history : Malware Defense History : GNU Screen : OSS early history
Classic books:
The Peter Principle : Parkinson Law : 1984 : The Mythical Man-Month : How to Solve It by George Polya : The Art of Computer Programming : The Elements of Programming Style : The Unix Hater’s Handbook : The Jargon file : The True Believer : Programming Pearls : The Good Soldier Svejk : The Power Elite
Most popular humor pages:
Manifest of the Softpanorama IT Slacker Society : Ten Commandments of the IT Slackers Society : Computer Humor Collection : BSD Logo Story : The Cuckoo's Egg : IT Slang : C++ Humor : ARE YOU A BBS ADDICT? : The Perl Purity Test : Object oriented programmers of all nations : Financial Humor : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2008 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2010 : The Most Comprehensive Collection of Editor-related Humor : Programming Language Humor : Goldman Sachs related humor : Greenspan humor : C Humor : Scripting Humor : Real Programmers Humor : Web Humor : GPL-related Humor : OFM Humor : Politically Incorrect Humor : IDS Humor : "Linux Sucks" Humor : Russian Musical Humor : Best Russian Programmer Humor : Microsoft plans to buy Catholic Church : Richard Stallman Related Humor : Admin Humor : Perl-related Humor : Linus Torvalds Related humor : PseudoScience Related Humor : Networking Humor : Shell Humor : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2011 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2012 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2013 : Java Humor : Software Engineering Humor : Sun Solaris Related Humor : Education Humor : IBM Humor : Assembler-related Humor : VIM Humor : Computer Viruses Humor : Bright tomorrow is rescheduled to a day after tomorrow : Classic Computer Humor
The Last but not Least Technology is dominated by two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage and those who manage what they do not understand ~Archibald Putt. Ph.D
Copyright © 1996-2021 by Softpanorama Society. www.softpanorama.org was initially created as a service to the (now defunct) UN Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP) without any remuneration. This document is an industrial compilation designed and created exclusively for educational use and is distributed under the Softpanorama Content License. Original materials copyright belong to respective owners. Quotes are made for educational purposes only in compliance with the fair use doctrine.
FAIR USE NOTICE This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to advance understanding of computer science, IT technology, economic, scientific, and social issues. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided by section 107 of the US Copyright Law according to which such material can be distributed without profit exclusively for research and educational purposes.
This is a Spartan WHYFF (We Help You For Free) site written by people for whom English is not a native language. Grammar and spelling errors should be expected. The site contain some broken links as it develops like a living tree...
|
|
You can use PayPal to to buy a cup of coffee for authors of this site |
Disclaimer:
The statements, views and opinions presented on this web page are those of the author (or referenced source) and are not endorsed by, nor do they necessarily reflect, the opinions of the Softpanorama society. We do not warrant the correctness of the information provided or its fitness for any purpose. The site uses AdSense so you need to be aware of Google privacy policy. You you do not want to be tracked by Google please disable Javascript for this site. This site is perfectly usable without Javascript.
Last modified: July, 28, 2019
