1. Total Commander: a programmable, extensible, feature-rich two-panel orthodox file manager<\/h3>\n
Total Commander<\/a> (TC) is more than just a two-panel orthodox file manager for Windows. It is a swiss army knife of computing utilities and is the first piece of software that I install on any Windows computer on which I’m working.1<\/a><\/sup> Total Commander, used well, is a force multiplier<\/a>. I’ve been using TC continuously since 2001. Over the years, I’ve put together a Total Commander Expansion Pack (lite and full)<\/a> for the TC platform that conforms to the tenets and further extends TC platform’s capabilities with tools I have found valuable. Both are pre-configured downloads to allow unpack and start using with minimum fuss (I use them when switching computers). Feel free to download and give them a try. Feedback or questions welcomed in the comments.<\/p>\n Total Commander Expansion Pack Winter 2024 – Toolbar View with Integrated Applications, Download from link<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n The goal of TC is to allow the user to perform a large number of file manipulation actions quickly and efficiently, without having to resort to the mouse. For proficient users, this keyboard orientation delivers unmatched efficiency. See Appendix A for TC’s history<\/a> and its author Christian Ghisler.<\/p>\n Total Commander, powerful two-panel orthodox file manager for Windows, by Christian Ghisler.<\/p><\/div>\n Total Commander Expansion Pack Winter 2024 – Toolbar View with Integrated Applications, Download from link<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n Total Commander’s core features, in 12 screens.<\/a><\/p>\n The expansion pack for TC includes the following additional softwares, configured for tight integration with TC. Furthermore, TC has been configured for maximum efficiency. Everything is fully portable, no changes to registry or windows, deleting the directory removes all changes cleanly.<\/p>\n <\/a> Utilities<\/strong><\/p>\n Larger programs integrated with TC but not included (you will have to install these yourself) (combined total 3.9GB)<\/strong><\/p>\n In this section we’ll look at some capabilities that take a little bit of explaining to exploit.<\/p>\n There are some Wiki Tutorials for TotCmd<\/a><\/p>\n TC Hammer is an iterator integrated into Total Commander. The value is that TC itself allows powerful and granular ways to filter files. TC Hammer then iterates over the files.<\/p>\n Example: Suppose you had a folder with 1000 images and you wanted to resize just Img800 to Img900. In Total Commander: Explanation:<\/p>\n With TC Hammer, you can write batch scripts of various types and complexities and simply pass them to TC Hammer to run on all files files in a folder to generate the output you need.<\/p>\n Without TC Hammer, you would have been mixing the complexities of the processing with the complexities of the shell looping. E.g. this would run ffmpeg to do some image transformations on every image in a given folder.<\/p>\n To test the above, you can use the following simple batch script:<\/p>\n For every nail there’s a hammer…<\/strong> (1) one selected file (%T%M if target pane, %P%N if source pane) Total Commander has fine grained filtering\/selection capabilities (RegEx or Wildcard selection, manual selection, selection by file type\/extension, substring). It also has many ways to act on the resulting filesets: (1) output to file, (2) output to clipboard, (3) iterate through the files directly.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n <\/a> There are two types of commands in Total Commander: built-in commands cm_something and user commands em_something Setting up a user command (em_something)<\/strong> Examples: Notes:<\/p>\n Chaining Commands Example<\/strong> Additional example<\/a><\/p>\n 4.3 Auto start programs when TC launches.<\/strong> <\/a> Add your command into the plugins\/WDX\/AutoRun.CFG<\/tt> file like so: For fresh installation only<\/strong> <\/a> <\/p>\n More:<\/strong><\/p>\n TC installs as shareware whose only limitation is a nag screen at startup. A lifetime license (37 EUR) entitles you to all future upgrades and no limit to installed CPUs (get the license once you find this has saved you hundreds of hours and support Christian Ghisler).<\/p>\n Installation Instructions<\/strong> (same for both): Total Commander: Why Explore when you can Command?<\/p><\/div>\n<\/ol>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n TC has a built in FTP application (Ctrl+F). Note – TC FTP client is not convenient for bulk downloading files from an FTP server (e.g. wordpress website) because for each file it will handshake the server and give credentials. The efficient way to do this is using ZIP or gzip on the server, and then FTP’ing the packed file. This requires using an SSH client<\/a> (such as TeraTerm or RealTerm), or using web interface provided by the web-hosting service or ISP.<\/p>\n For further articles in this series describing software tools I use in my day job as a mathematician in industry and in my spare time, to speed things up, explore, experiment, and build working prototypes fast: <\/em><\/p>\n
\nTenets of the TC approach: <\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mathscitech.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/tc_00_toolbar-800x206.png\")
<\/a>
\n2. Total Commander – Built-in Core Capabilities<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mathscitech.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/tc_02_home_screen_dark_mode_assad_menu-800x433.png\")
<\/a>\n
\n
<\/a>\n
\n3. Total Commander – Capabilities through Extension<\/h3>\n
\nThe Full TC Expansion pack<\/strong>
\nAs of Jan 1st, 2024, it contains:<\/p>\n\nPrimary Capabilities<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
\n4. Deep Dive into Selected Capabilities<\/h3>\n
4.1 TC Hammer: Using the Windows Shell to iterate an action through all the files in a TC pane<\/h4>\n
\nAs long as you have a program that can do the job on one file, you can you TC Hammer to efficiently loop through all files or the restricted files. You would use TC to make the selection, then Hammer simply iterates.<\/p>\n
\nTC HAMMER processes all files in a directory with a specified program using the following command.
\ncmd=cmd
\nparams=\/Q \/c “pushd “%P” & for %%f in (“%T”\\*) do “%P%N” %%f & pause”
\nInstructions: TC HAMMER: (ALL files in Target pane get processed with program selected in Source pane. Outputs to srcdir.)<\/p>\n\n
\n In this example, there are two commands, a pushd command and a for loop. The for loop in turn has two commands, the processing %P%N %%F and the pause. <\/p>\n\r\n\tfor %%f in (%targetdir%\\*.%intype%) do %srcdir%\\ffmpeg.exe -i %%f -vf scale=-1:480 %targetdir%\\%%~nf_small%%~xf\r\n<\/pre>\n
\r\n@echo off\r\n:: this batch script passes through the input file to the console AND appends to a single file\r\n:: used for testing TC Hammer\r\n:: AKE 2024-01-16---Tue---11:34\r\necho \"Appending...\" >> collect.txt\r\necho \"=============\" >> collect.txt\r\nset myfile=%1\r\necho myfile\r\ntype %myfile%\r\ntype %myfile% >> collect.txt\r\n<\/pre>\n
\nThe strength of TC is it’s versatility.
\nUsing the hammer concept above, once can readily create modified hammers that take as input the three main types of TC output:<\/p>\n
\n(2) a directory of files (%T if target, %P if source)
\n(3) a selection of files written to an output file (for a program to loop over)
\n(4) a selection of files copied to clipboard (for a program using Win32OLE to pull from clipboard)
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mathscitech.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/screenshot.2591.png\")
<\/a>
\n
\n4.2 Create user commands<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nList of built-in commands<\/a><\/p>\n
\nYou can create “user commands” for TC in a separate INI file call called usercmd.ini<\/tt>. This can include a) anything that you would run on the command line, b) any application you may run, in any configuration. These user commands can be made into menu items (see Language > WCmd_eng.mnu), buttons on the button bar (see Configure > Button Bar…), and associated with keyboard shortcuts (aka hotkeys) (see Configure > Options… > Misc, or using third party program UltraTC Hotkey Editor).<\/p>\n
\n
\n[em_startEverything]
\ncmd=%COMMANDER_PATH%\\plugins\\util_everything\\Everything.exe -first-instance
\nbutton=%COMMANDER_PATH%\\plugins\\util_everything\\Everything.exe
\nmenu=Start Everything (ultra fast desktop search engine)
\n[em_startLightScreen]
\ncmd=%COMMANDER_PATH%\\Lightscreen\\lightscreen.exe
\npath=%COMMANDER_PATH%\\Lightscreen\\
\nbutton=%COMMANDER_PATH%\\Lightscreen\\lightscreen.exe
\nmenu=Start Lightscreen (Ctrl+F10 to activate)
\n[em_startCalcute]
\ncmd=%COMMANDER_PATH%\\calcute\\Calcute.exe
\npath=%COMMANDER_PATH%\\Calcute\\
\nbutton=%COMMANDER_PATH%\\calcute\\Calcute.exe
\nmenu=Calcute (Ctrl+F12)
\n[em_cd]
\ncmd=cd
\nparam=?
\nmenu=Browse to Path
\n<\/code><\/p>\n\n
\nYou chain commands using , (comma) between commands. Commands can be either built-in or user-created.
\nYou can edit usercmd.ini while TC is open, making it easy to test on the fly.
\nYou can apply HotKeys to commands
\nThis gives a powerful structure for building capabilities from the bottom up.
\n
\n[em_opennb]
\n; Open left pane file in notepad
\nbutton=wcmicons.dll
\nparam=%P%N
\ncmd=notepad.exe
\n[em_advanceboth]
\n; Example of chained commands
\nbutton=wcmicons.dll
\ncmd=cm_FocusRight, cm_GotoNext, cm_FocusLeft, cm_GotoNext, cm_GotoNext, cm_GotoNext
\n[em_opennext]
\n; Example of sequential application of a user command
\nbutton=wcmicons.dll
\ncmd=cm_FocusLeft, cm_GotoNext, em_opennb
\n[em_test]
\n; Example of running something in a cmd window
\nbuttons=wcmicons.dll
\ncmd=cmd
\nparam=\/Q \/C \"pause\"
\nbuttons=wcmicons.dll
\n[em_test2]
\n; Example of executing the source element with the target element as argument
\ncmd=cmd
\nparam=\/Q \/C %P%N %T%M
\n[em_test3]
\n; Example of concatenating two shell commands and running both (\/K keeps window open after running)
\nbuttons=wcmicons.dll
\ncmd=cmd
\nparam=\/Q \/K echo Hello & echo World!
\n<\/code><\/p>\n
\n
\nNo more need to configure Windows to autostart applications (which is non-portable between workstations). Configure once in TC and add to any computer where you use TC. Uses AutoRun plugin<\/a>. <\/p>\n
\nSetting up AutoRun in Total Commander<\/strong>
\nThe AutoRun plugin<\/a> enables TC to launch programs or commands (including user-provided<\/a> commands), when the TC app launches. This ensures that key supporting applications are always available alongside TC (e.g. Everything for fast desktop search, Ultimate Calendar, Calcute, Deskpins, and AutoHotkey).<\/p>\n
\n
\n# ############# EXECUTE DURING TC OPENING ###############
\n# Calls a Windows shell command
\n# ShellExec notepad
\nCommandExec em_startEverything
\nCommandExec em_startAutoHotKey
\nCommandExec em_startLightscreen
\nCommandExec em_startCalcute
\nCommandExec em_startDeskPins
\nCommandExec em_startCalendar
\n<\/code><\/p>\n
\nIf you are installing AutoRun fresh, you will need to do the following steps. (If you are using the TC Expansion pack, this is already done for you.)
\nIn order to load plugin at Total Commander start, you should create the fictitious color scheme: <\/p>\n\n
\n
\n\n
AlternateUserIni=<\/code> and RedirectSection=<\/code> 0 (retain in wincmd.ini), 1 (read from alternate user ini), allows separating platform configuration settings from personal or session-specific information (recently used directories, files, search strings, etc.). Use these make your configurations more easily portable\/shareable.\n
\n\n
\n5. Getting Started with TC<\/h3>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n
\n
\nOnce the files have downloaded, Open Folder, then right click the file and select Extract All. Type destination c:\\ (Don’t worry, this will unpack it into c:\\totalcmd since all the files are contained in totalcmd folder.) (Note: TC can’t be running when you unpack it). When prompted by Windows, click OK to REPLACE files. This will copy over all of the customizations and over-write the latest version with an older version. Don’t worry, as soon as you start TC it will prompt you to automatically upgrade to the latest edition (which by the way you downloaded in Step 1, so you have it anyway). When prompted by TC, accept, on the website click Download, install 64-bit. Run, and this time choose “Replace existing Total Commander”. Done! You now have the latest TC extended to give you an even more powerful operating shell for Windows.<\/p>\n
\n6. Quicklinks & References<\/h3>\n
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mathscitech.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/screenshot.0749-300x116.png\")
<\/a>
\nAppendix A. Historical Background for TC<\/h3>\n
\n
\nAppendix B. Making an FTP Connection<\/h3>\n
\nYou will need to configure your connections (setups are stored in wx_ftp.ini).
\nConfiguration settings are:<\/p>\n\n
\n