On technology and development

© 2009 Pål Andreassen (http://blog.codewrench.net/)

The WHS File Manager is an add-in for the Windows Home Server (WHS) console application. It is designed to install and run from within the WHS console application.

Updated for version 1.1.1.0 2009-05-16

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Dual pane file manager

The WHS File Manager features two panes that divide the screen into two parts. Initially both panes show the list of network shares defined on your server. This is the same list of shares you see when you access the server for a client pc by navigating through network neighborhood.

If you have once used Total Commander (or xplorer2) for Windows or Norton Commander for DOS you will quickly recognize the layout and functionality.

Why use the WHS File Manager and not just copy files via network neighborhood or a mapped drive from my local PC? Well, I move or copy files between shares on my server quite often and I find that having a dual pane setup is much faster and easier. It’s also both safer and easier than using remote desktop to the server.

Navigation and storage devices

On top of each pane (that shows a list of shares, folder or files) is the full path for the pane. As you go into different folders this path will change and reflect which share or folder you are listing the contents for. Each element (folder) of the path is a link you can click to quickly jump back to any parent folder (those who use Vista know what I’m talking about).

You can use your mouse and double-click on a share or folder to enter into it. You can also use the arrow keys (up/down) and enter if you prefer the keyboard. To go to the parent folder either double-click the folder named “..” or use the backspace key.

To operate the other pane it’s easiest to just click inside the other pane with your mouse. You can also use the TAB key to jump from the left pane to the right pane. Unfortunately due to technical issues you will need to press SHIFT + TAB to jump from the right pane back to the left pane. The active pane always has a white background while the inactive pane has a gray background.

If you have any removable drives attached to your server like CD/DVD or USB/Firewire/eSATA disk you will also be able to browse those disks. Simple click the drive letter you want to access in the top tool bar above each pane. To return to your server’s file shares click the butten labled WHS:\. If you add or remove devices while the file manager is running click the refresh button to the right to rescan for storage devices.

Selecting files

You can select files either with the mouse or the keyboard. Hold down CTRL while selecting to select multiple files one by one or hold down SHIFT to select a range of files. If you select a folder all files and child folders will also be operated on.

You can use pattern matching (wild chars) to select and deselect files as well. Press the + key to select files by pattern and – to deselect files. You can do multiple selects and deselects and you can even specify multiple patterns separated by a semi-colon:

e.g.

Click + and enter pattern *.jpg;*.png to select all files of type jpg or png. You can then click – and type Holiday*.* to deselect any files starting with Holiday.

Operations

Once you have a valid source in the active pane (you have selected one or more a files or folders) and you have a valid target in the other pane (a folder or share) the copy and move buttons in the middle are enabled.

Simply click the button for the action you want to perform and confirm. You can also drag files or folder from one pane to the other using your mouse. To copy you simply drag and drop the files. If you want to move the files hold down the SHIFT key while you release the mouse button.

In addition you can click F2 when you have selected a file or folder to rename it (or click twice, but not double click on the same file/folder). Press ESC to abort a rename.

Opening files

From version 1.0.1.0 you can open/execute files locally by double-clicking them (or pressing enter when a file is selected). Note that you will open the file locally on your computer and not the server. The file’s icon might therefore not indicate correctly which application that opens the file since the icons are from whatever application is associated with the file on the server. You can only open files stored in a network share (those listed when you click the WHS:\ button) and not removable media since they are not directly available from your local computer.

Short cut keys

F5   Copy
F6   Move
F8   New folder
DEL   Delete selected file(s) and folder(s)
+  Select files by pattern
-  Deselect files by pattern
Arrow up/down select item above or below
Enter  Go into folder
Backspace  Go to parent folder

Storage Information

Version 1.1.0.0 adds a new dialog to show server information like space usage, free space and server uptime.

License

This Add-In is available free of charge, for all users (private, organizations and companies). You can copy and share the Add-In (in MSI form) for free. The only restriction is that you cannot sell or otherwise charge for the product.

Icon-set used in the WHS File Manager is from http://www.visualpharm.com and is licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/

Installation

If you already have an older version of WHS File Manager installed please uninstall it via the WHS console first. Then copy the MSI file (download below) to \\myserver\software\addins\ (replace myserver with the name of your server) and install via the WHS console’s Add-Ins section under settings.

Usage tips

You can change sort order when viewing files by clicking the column header in the file list. Click to sort by name, type, size or date. Click once more to reverse the sort order. When you go to another folder the default ascending sort order is used again.

If you click inside a pane to give it focus you can start typing the name of a file to quickly find that file in the list.

Remember that each folder in the path located above the file lists are clickable.

Use the backspace key to quickly go to the parent folder.

Limitations

You cannot create, rename, delete, copy or move network shares. So when the panes are listing shares defined on your server all command buttons are disabled. You manage the shares on the “Shared Folders” tab in the WHS console.

I chose specifically to only show network shares and to access data though them. This is safer and the recommended way of accessing data on a Home Server. You could access drives directly like d:\shares\downloads instead of \\myserver\downloads but that might cause problems with the drive extender and is not recommended. That is why you cannot access the whole content of the C:\ and D:\ drives on your server.

The Home Server Console is basically a remote desktop viewer. This means that the Home Server Console is actually running on your home server and that just the user interface is sent to your computer. The Home Server Console acts sort of like a movie player that plays how the screen looks like on your server where the application is actually running. This is important to understand when using the File Manager. What you see in the File Manager is the files (and icons) how they look for the server. But when you double click to start a file the URL to the file (file://///myserver/sharename/filename.ext) is sent to your computer and the file manager have no control over which application opens the file or if it’s is opened at all. So consider this function sort of a beta.

I have noticed that opening media files (mp3, avi’s etc) do not work when VLC media player is the default program associated with these files types. Changing default program to another media player like Windows Media Player solves the problem.

Support

Since this is a free application the amount of support is somewhat limited. But I’ll try to help everyone and answer comments over at the WHS File Manager Add-In download page.

Version history

1.1.1.0
- Bugfix: Scrollbar on right pane was not visible.

1.1.0.0
- Fixed shortcut keys (F5, F6, F8 etc)
- Pattern matching for select and deselect of files
- New dialog for storage information and server uptime
- Revamped user interface to match the Home Server Console style

1.0.1.0
- Support for removable storage
- Support for opening files from the server (music, movies, documents etc)
- Fixed lots of bugs

1.0.0.5
- Does no longer show printers as shares
- Made current location of each pane to stand out more (easier to see)
- Made each folder in pane path (above panes) clickable for easy access to
any parent folder
- Fixed problem with caching of exe file icons (all exe files got same icon)
- Added support for sorting by clicking list headers
- Canceling a rename operation (clicking escape) does no longer give an error
- Changed default drag operation from move in 1.0.0.3 to copy.
- Removed a lot of the error messages and instead disable the command buttons when you have not selected and files.