A file manager or file browser is a
computer program
A computer program is a sequence or set of instructions in a programming language for a computer to execute. Computer programs are one component of software, which also includes documentation and other intangible components.
A computer program ...
that provides a
user interface
In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...
to manage
files and
folders. The most common
operations performed on files or groups of files include creating, opening (e.g.
viewing, playing, editing or
printing
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...
), renaming,
copying,
moving,
deleting and searching for files, as well as modifying
file attribute File attributes are a type of meta-data that describe and may modify how files and/or directories in a filesystem behave. Typical file attributes may, for example, indicate or specify whether a file is visible, modifiable, compressed, or encrypted. ...
s, properties and
file permissions
Most file systems include attributes of files and directories that control the ability of users to read, change, navigate, and execute the contents of the file system. In some cases, menu options or functions may be made visible or hidden dependin ...
.
Folders and files may be displayed in a
hierarchical tree based on their
directory structure
In computing, a directory structure is the way an operating system arranges files that are accessible to the user. Files are typically displayed in a hierarchical tree structure.
File names and extensions
A filename is a string used to uniquely ...
.
Features
File transfer
Graphical
Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...
file managers may support copying and moving of files through "
copy and paste
In human–computer interaction and user interface design, cut, copy, and paste are related commands that offer an interprocess communication technique for transferring data through a computer's user interface. The ''cut'' command removes ...
" and "cut and paste" respectively, as well as through
drag and drop
In computer graphical user interfaces, drag and drop is a pointing device gesture in which the user selects a virtual object by "grabbing" it and dragging it to a different location or onto another virtual object. In general, it can be used to ...
, and a separate menu for selecting the target path.
While transferring files, a file manager may show the source and destination directories, transfer progress in percentage and/or size, progress bar, name of the file currently being transferred, remaining and/or total number of files, numerical transfer rate, and graphical transfer rate. The ability to pause the file transfer allows temporarily granting other software full sequential read access while allowing to resume later without having to restart the file transfer.
Some file managers move multiple files by copying and deleting each selected file from the source individually, while others first copy all selected files, then delete them from the source afterwards, as described in .
Conflicting file names in a target directory may be handled through renaming, overwriting, or skipping. Renaming is typically numerical. Overwriting may be conditional, such as when the source file is newer or differs in size. Files could technically be compared with
checksums
A checksum is a small-sized block of data derived from another block of digital data for the purpose of detecting errors that may have been introduced during its transmission or storage. By themselves, checksums are often used to verify dat ...
, but that would require reading through the entire source and target files, which would slow down the process significantly on larger files.
User interface
Some file managers contain features analogous to
web browser
A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used o ...
s, including forward and back
navigational buttons, an address bar,
tabs, and a bookmark side bar.
Networking
Some file managers provide
network
Network, networking and networked may refer to:
Science and technology
* Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects
* Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks
Mathematics ...
connectivity via
protocols
Protocol may refer to:
Sociology and politics
* Protocol (politics), a formal agreement between nation states
* Protocol (diplomacy), the etiquette of diplomacy and affairs of state
* Etiquette, a code of personal behavior
Science and technology ...
, such as
FTP
The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and data ...
,
HTTP
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide We ...
,
NFS,
SMB or
WebDAV
WebDAV (Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning) is a set of extensions to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which allows user agents to collaboratively author contents ''directly'' in an HTTP web server by providing facilities for con ...
. This is achieved by allowing the user to browse for a
file server
In computing, a file server (or fileserver) is a computer attached to a network that provides a location for shared disk access, i.e. storage of computer files (such as text, image, sound, video) that can be accessed by the workstations that are ab ...
(connecting and accessing the server's file system like a local file system) or by providing its own full client implementations for file server protocols.
Directory editors
A term that the usage of ''file manager'' is ''directory editor''. An early directory editor,
DIRED
Dired (for Directory Editor) is a computer program for editing file system directories. It typically runs inside the Emacs text editor as a specialized mode, though standalone versions have been written. Dired was the file manager, or visual edi ...
, was developed circa 1974 at the
Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Stanford University has many centers and institutes dedicated to the study of various specific topics. These centers and institutes may be within a department, within a school but across departments, an independent laboratory, institute or center ...
by
Stan Kugell
Stan Kugell is an American investor, entrepreneur, inventor, and computer scientist. He is current or former director of over a dozen corporate and non-profit boards. He remains active advising technology entrepreneurs privately and as a Ment ...
.
A directory editor was written for
EXEC 8 Exec or EXEC may refer to:
* Executive officer, a person responsible for running an organization
* Executive producer, provides finance and guidance for the making of a commercial entertainment product
* A family of kit helicopters produced by Rot ...
at the University of Maryland, and was available to other users at that time. The term was used by other developers, including
Jay Lepreau
A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian ...
, who wrote the dired program in 1980, which ran on
BSD
The Berkeley Software Distribution or Berkeley Standard Distribution (BSD) is a discontinued operating system based on Research Unix, developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group (CSRG) at the University of California, Berk ...
. This was in turn inspired by an older program with the same name running on
TOPS-20
The TOPS-20 operating system by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) is a proprietary OS used on some of DEC's 36-bit mainframe computers. The Hardware Reference Manual was described as for "DECsystem-10/DECSYSTEM-20 Processor" (meaning the DEC PDP- ...
. Dired inspired other programs, including
dired
Dired (for Directory Editor) is a computer program for editing file system directories. It typically runs inside the Emacs text editor as a specialized mode, though standalone versions have been written. Dired was the file manager, or visual edi ...
, the editor script (for
emacs and similar editors), and ded.
File-list file manager
''File-list'' file managers are lesser known and older than orthodox file managers.
One such file manager was
neptune
Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...
. It ran on the
Xerox Alto
The Xerox Alto is a computer designed from its inception to support an operating system based on a graphical user interface (GUI), later using the desktop metaphor. The first machines were introduced on 1 March 1973, a decade before mass-market ...
in the 1973-1974 time frame.
It had some of the same features that would end up in orthodox file managers.
Another such file manager is flist, which was introduced sometime before 1980 on the
Conversational Monitor System
The Conversational Monitor System (CMS – originally: "Cambridge Monitor System") is a simple interactive computing, interactive single-user operating system. CMS was originally developed as part of IBM's CP/CMS operating system, which went ...
.
This is a variant of FULIST, which originated before late 1978, according to comments by its author, Theo Alkema.
The flist program provided a list of files in the user's minidisk,
and allowed sorting by any file attribute. The file attributes could be passed to scripts or function-key definitions, making it simple to use flist as part of
CMS EXEC
CMS EXEC, or EXEC, is an interpreted, command procedure control, computer scripting language used by the CMS EXEC Processor supplied with the IBM Virtual Machine/Conversational Monitor System (VM/CMS) operating system.
EXEC was written in 1966 b ...
,
EXEC 2
EXEC 2 is an interpreted, command procedure control, computer scripting language used by the EXEC 2 Processor originally supplied with the CMS component of the IBM Virtual Machine/System Product ( VM/SP) operating system.
Relation to EXEC
EXEC 2 ...
or
XEDIT
XEDIT is a visual editor for VM/CMS using block mode IBM 3270 terminals. (Line-mode terminals are also supported.)
XEDIT is much more line-oriented than modern PC and Unix editors. For example, XEDIT supports automatic line numbers, and ma ...
scripts.
This program ran only on IBM VM/SP CMS, but was the inspiration for other programs, including filelist (a script run via the
Xedit
XEDIT is a visual editor for VM/CMS using block mode IBM 3270 terminals. (Line-mode terminals are also supported.)
XEDIT is much more line-oriented than modern PC and Unix editors. For example, XEDIT supports automatic line numbers, and ma ...
editor), and programs running on other operating systems, including a program also called flist, which ran on
OpenVMS, and FULIST (from the name of the corresponding internal IBM program), which runs on Unix.
Orthodox file managers
![Midnight Commander 4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Midnight_Commander_4.7.0.9_on_Ubuntu_11.04.png)
Orthodox file managers (sometimes
abbreviated
An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...
to "OFM") or command-based file managers are text-menu based file managers, that commonly have three windows (two panels and one command line window). Orthodox file managers are one of the longest running families of file managers, preceding
graphical user interface
The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...
-based types. Developers create applications that duplicate and extend the manager that was introduced by
PathMinder
PathMinder is file manager software, or DOS shell originally designed for use under DOS disk operating systems. Published by Westlake Data Corporation of Austin, Texas, and designed by Albert Nurick and Brittain Fraley, it was first released on 3 ...
and
John Socha
John Socha-Leialoha (born 1958) is a software developer best known for creating Norton Commander, the first orthodox file manager. The original Norton Commander was written for DOS. Over the years, Socha's design for file management has been ...
's
Norton Commander
Norton Commander (NC) is a discontinued prototypical orthodox file manager (OFM), written by John Socha and released by Peter Norton Computing (later acquired in 1990 by the Symantec corporation). NC provides a text-based user interface for ...
for
DOS
DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems.
DOS may also refer to:
Computing
* Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel
* Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...
. The concept dates to the mid-1980s—PathMinder was released in 1984, and Norton Commander version 1.0 was released in 1986. Despite the age of this concept, file managers based on Norton Commander are actively developed, and dozens of implementations exist for DOS, Unix, and Microsoft Windows.
Nikolai Bezroukov
Nikolai Bezroukov is a Senior Internet Security Analyst at BASF Corporation and was member of Computer Science at Fairleigh Dickinson University ( New Jersey, United States). Also Webmaster of Open Source Software University, a volunteer techni ...
publishes his own set of criteria for an OFM standard (version 1.2 dated June 1997).
Features
An orthodox file manager typically has three windows. Two of the windows are called panels and are positioned symmetrically at the top of the screen. The third is the command line, which is essentially a minimized command (shell) window that can be expanded to full screen. Only one of the panels is active at a given time. The active panel contains the "file cursor". Panels are resizable and can be hidden. Files in the active panel serve as the source of file operations performed by the manager. For example, files can be copied or moved from the active panel to the location represented in the passive panel. This scheme is most effective for systems in which the keyboard is the primary or sole input device. The active panel shows information about the
current working directory
In computing, the working directory of a process is a directory of a hierarchical file system, if any, dynamically associated with each process. It is sometimes called the current working directory (CWD), e.g. the BSD getcwd function, or just ...
and the files that it contains. The passive (inactive) panel shows the content of the same or another directory (the default target for file operations). Users may customize the display of columns that show relevant file information. The active panel and passive panel can be switched (often by pressing the
tab key).
The following features describe the class of orthodox file managers.
* They present the user with a two-panel directory view with a command line below. Either panel may be selected to be active; the other becomes passive. The active panel becomes the working area for delete and rename operations, while the passive panel serves as a target for copy and move operations. Panels may be shrunk, exposing the terminal window hidden behind them. Normally, only the last line of the terminal window (the command line) is visible.
* They provide close integration with an underlying
OS shell via
command line
A command-line interpreter or command-line processor uses a command-line interface (CLI) to receive commands from a user in the form of lines of text. This provides a means of setting parameters for the environment, invoking executables and pro ...
, using the associated terminal window that permits viewing the results of executing shell commands entered on the command line (e.g., via Ctrl-O shortcut in Norton Commander).
* They provide the user with extensive keyboard shortcuts.
* The file manager frees the user from having to use the mouse.
* Users can create their own file associations and scripts that are invoked for certain file types and organize these scripts into a hierarchical tree (e.g., as a user script library or user menu).
* Users can extend the functionality of the manager via a so-called ''User menu'' or ''Start menu'' and extensions menu.
Other common features include:
* Information on the "active" and "passive" panels may be used for constructing commands on the command line. Examples include current file, path to left panel, path to right panel, etc.
* They provide a built-in viewer for (at least) the most basic file types.
* They have a built-in editor. In many cases, the editor can extract certain elements of the panels into the text being edited.
* Many support virtual file systems (
VFS) such as viewing compressed archives, or working with files via an FTP connection.
* They often have the word ''commander'' in the name, after
Norton Commander
Norton Commander (NC) is a discontinued prototypical orthodox file manager (OFM), written by John Socha and released by Peter Norton Computing (later acquired in 1990 by the Symantec corporation). NC provides a text-based user interface for ...
.
* Path: shows the source/destination location of the directory in use
* Information about directory size, disk usage and disk name (usually at the bottom of the panels)
* Panel with information about file name, extension, date and time of creation, last modification, and permissions (attributes).
* Info panel with the number of files in directory, and the sum of the sizes of selected files.
* Tabbed interface (usually in GUI file managers)
* Function keys: F1–F10 have all the same functions under all orthodox file managers. Examples: F5 always copies file(s) from the active to the inactive panel, while F6 moves the file.
Tabbed panels
The introduction of tabbed panels in some file managers (for example
Total Commander
__NOTOC__
Total Commander (formerly Windows Commander) is a shareware orthodox file manager for Windows, Windows Phone, Windows Mobile/Windows CE and Android, developed by Christian Ghisler. Originally coded using Delphi, latest Windows 64-b ...
) made it possible to manipulate more than one active and passive directory at a time.
Portability
Orthodox file managers are among the most portable file managers. Examples are available on almost any platform, with both command-line and graphical interfaces. This is unusual among command line managers in that something purporting to be a standard for the interface is published. They are also actively supported by developers. This makes it possible to do the same work on different platforms without much relearning of the interface.
Dual-pane managers
Sometimes they are called dual-pane managers, a term that is typically used for programs such as the Windows File Explorer (see below). But they have three panes including a command line pane below (or hidden behind) two symmetric panes. Furthermore, most of these programs allow using just one of the two larger panes with the second hidden. Some also add an item to the Context Menu in Windows to "Open two Explorers, side by side".
Notable ones include:
*
Altap Salamander
Altap Salamander (formerly known as ''Servant Salamander'') is a freeware orthodox file manager for Microsoft Windows, originally inspired by Norton Commander. In contrast to several other file managers, it has a ''context aware'' user interface h ...
*
Commander One
*
Demos Commander
Demos Commander (deco) is an orthodox file manager for Unix-like systems and a clone of Norton Commander. The project started by Sergey Vakulenko in 1989 while working at the DEMOS ISP (thus the name Demos Commander: ''deco'') and is considere ...
*
Directory Opus
*
DOS Navigator
DOS Navigator (DN) is an orthodox file manager for DOS, OS/2, and Windows.
Influence
DOS Navigator is an influential early implementation of orthodox file manager (OFM). By implementing three additional types of virtual file systems (VFS): XTr ...
(DN) and derivatives
*
Double Commander
Double Commander is a free and open-source multi-platform two-panel orthodox file manager that is inspired by the Microsoft Windows-only Total Commander.
Features
* Directories (all or only selected) can be compared and synchronized both ...
*
emelFM2
emelFM2 is an orthodox file manager which uses the GTK+ 2 widget toolkit for X11 on Unix-like operating systems. The default window layout is two filesystem directories in the left and right panes similar to that found in Norton Commander, a str ...
*
Far Manager
Far Manager (short for ''File and ARchive Manager'') is an orthodox file manager for Microsoft Windows and is a clone of Norton Commander. Far Manager uses the Win32 console and has a keyboard-oriented user interface (although limited mouse o ...
*
File Commander
File Commander is a text mode orthodox file manager for Microsoft Windows, OS/2 and Linux operating systems created and maintained by Brian Havard. It is an enhanced clone of Norton Commander, originally developed for OS/2 but ported to Micros ...
*
Fman
*
ForkLift
*
GNOME Commander
GNOME Commander is a 'two panel' graphical file manager for GNOME. It is built using the GTK+ toolkit and GVfs.
Features
* GNOME MIME types
* Network support through FTP, SFTP, SAMBA and WebDAV
* Context menu with bound the right click of ...
*
Krusader
Krusader is an advanced orthodox file manager for KDE and other desktops in the Unix world. It is similar to the console-based GNU Midnight Commander, GNOME Commander for the GNOME desktop environment, or Total Commander for Windows, all of w ...
*
Midnight Commander
GNU Midnight Commander (also known as mc, the command used to start it, and as mouseless commander in older versions) is a free cross-platform orthodox file manager. It was started by Miguel de Icaza in 1994 as a clone of the then-popular Nor ...
(MC)
*
muCommander
*
Norton Commander
Norton Commander (NC) is a discontinued prototypical orthodox file manager (OFM), written by John Socha and released by Peter Norton Computing (later acquired in 1990 by the Symantec corporation). NC provides a text-based user interface for ...
(NC)
*
PathMinder
PathMinder is file manager software, or DOS shell originally designed for use under DOS disk operating systems. Published by Westlake Data Corporation of Austin, Texas, and designed by Albert Nurick and Brittain Fraley, it was first released on 3 ...
*
Ranger
A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
*
SE-Explorer
*
Total Commander
__NOTOC__
Total Commander (formerly Windows Commander) is a shareware orthodox file manager for Windows, Windows Phone, Windows Mobile/Windows CE and Android, developed by Christian Ghisler. Originally coded using Delphi, latest Windows 64-b ...
*
Volkov Commander
Volkov Commander (VC) is a file manager for DOS inspired by the Norton Commander. Volkov Commander is purely written in assembly language, and is thus very small (less than 100 KB) and fast.
Volkov Commander was written by Vsevolod V. Volkov, a ...
(VC)
*
WinSCP
WinSCP (''Windows Secure Copy'') is a free and open-source SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), WebDAV, Amazon S3, and secure copy protocol (SCP) client for Microsoft Windows. Its main function is secure file transfer ...
*
XTree
XTree is a file manager program originally designed for use under DOS. It was published by Underwear Systems, later Executive Systems, Inc. (ESI) and first released on 1 April 1985, and became highly popular. The program uses a character-mode i ...
*
ZTreeWin
ZTreeWin, an orthodox file manager for Microsoft Windows, is a (heavily improved) clone of XTree. Like XTree, it logs (preloads) filenames and attributes into memory so that search and sort operations are extremely fast. By making use of the l ...
Navigational file manager
![Nemo 4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Nemo_4.0.6_screenshot.png)
A navigational file manager is a newer type of file manager. Since the advent of
GUIs, it has become the dominant type of file manager for desktop computers.
Typically, it has two panes, with the filesystem tree in the left pane and the contents of the current directory in the right pane. For macOS, the
Miller columns
Miller columns (also known as cascading lists) are a browsing/visualization technique that can be applied to tree structures. The columns allow multiple levels of the hierarchy to be open at once, and provide a visual representation of the curren ...
view in
Finder (originating in
NeXTStep
NeXTSTEP is a discontinued object-oriented, multitasking operating system based on the Mach kernel and the UNIX-derived BSD. It was developed by NeXT Computer in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was initially used for its range of propri ...
) is a variation on the navigational file manager theme.
Concepts
* The
window
A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent materia ...
displays the location currently being viewed.
* The location being viewed (the current directory) can be changed by the user by opening directories, pressing a ''back button'', typing a location, or using the additional pane with the navigation tree representing all or part of the filesystem.
*
Icons
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most c ...
represent files, programs, and directories.
The interface in a navigational file manager often resembles a
web browser
A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used o ...
, complete with ''back'' and ''forward'' buttons, and often ''reload'' buttons. Most also contain an address bar into which the file or directory path (or
URI Uri may refer to:
Places
* Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland
* Úri, a village and commune in Hungary
* Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province
* Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India
* Uri (island), an island off Malakula Islan ...
) can be typed.
Most navigational file managers have two panes, the left pane being a
tree view
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are u ...
of the filesystem. This means that unlike orthodox file managers, the two panes are asymmetrical in their content and use.
Selecting a directory in the Navigation pane on the left designates it as the current directory, displaying its contents in the Contents pane on the right. However, expanding (+) or collapsing (-) a portion of the tree without selecting a directory will not alter the contents of the right pane. The exception to this behavior applies when collapsing a parent of the current directory, in which case the selection is refocused on the collapsed parent directory, thus altering the list in the Contents pane.
The process of moving from one location to another need not open a new window. Several instances of the file manager can be opened simultaneously and communicate with each other via
drag-and-drop
In computer graphical user interfaces, drag and drop is a pointing device gesture in which the user selects a virtual object by "grabbing" it and dragging it to a different location or onto another virtual object. In general, it can be used to ...
and
clipboard
A clipboard is a thin, rigid board with a clip at the top for holding paper in place. A clipboard is typically used to support paper with one hand while writing on it with the other, especially when other writing surfaces are not available. Th ...
operations, so it is possible to view several directories simultaneously and perform cut-and paste operations between instances.
File operations are based on drag-and-drop and editor metaphors: users can select and copy files or directories onto the clipboard and then paste them in a different place in the filesystem or even in a different instance of the file manager.
Notable examples of navigational file managers include:
*
Directory Opus
*
Dolphin
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...
in
KDE
KDE is an international free software community that develops free and open-source software. As a central development hub, it provides tools and resources that allow collaborative work on this kind of software. Well-known products include the ...
*
DOS Shell
DOS Shell is a file manager that debuted in MS-DOS and PC DOS version 4.0, released in June 1988. It was discontinued in MS-DOS version 6.22, but remained part of the Supplemental Disk. The Supplemental Disk could be ordered or could be do ...
in
MS-DOS
MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...
/
PC DOS
PC or pc may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Player character or playable character, a fictional character controlled by a human player, usually in role-playing games or computer games
* '' Port Charles'', an American daytime TV soap opera
* ...
*
File Manager
A file manager or file browser is a computer program that provides a user interface to manage files and folders. The most common operations performed on files or groups of files include creating, opening (e.g. viewing, playing, editing or pr ...
in Windows
*
macOS Finder
*
Nautilus
The nautilus (, ) is a pelagic marine mollusc of the cephalopod family Nautilidae. The nautilus is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina.
It comprises six living species in ...
in
GNOME (default since v2.30)
*
File Explorer
File Explorer, previously known as Windows Explorer, is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface for accessing the f ...
(Windows Explorer)
*
PC Shell
PC Tools is a collection of software utilities for DOS developed by Central Point Software.
History of development
The original PC Tools package was first developed as a suite of utilities for DOS, released for retail in 1985 for $39.95.
W ...
in
PC Tools
*
ViewMAX
ViewMAX is a CUA-compliant file manager supplied with DR DOS versions 5.0 and 6.0. It is based on a cut-down runtime version of Digital Research's GEM/3 graphical user interface modified to run only a single statically built applicatio ...
in
DR DOS
DR-DOS (written as DR DOS, without a hyphen, in versions up to and including 6.0) is a disk operating system for IBM PC compatibles. Upon its introduction in 1988, it was the first DOS attempting to be compatible with IBM PC DOS and MS-D ...
*
XTree
XTree is a file manager program originally designed for use under DOS. It was published by Underwear Systems, later Executive Systems, Inc. (ESI) and first released on 1 April 1985, and became highly popular. The program uses a character-mode i ...
/
ZTreeWin
ZTreeWin, an orthodox file manager for Microsoft Windows, is a (heavily improved) clone of XTree. Like XTree, it logs (preloads) filenames and attributes into memory so that search and sort operations are extremely fast. By making use of the l ...
Spatial file manager
![Nautilus-spatial](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Nautilus-spatial.png)
Spatial file managers use a spatial
metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...
to represent
files and
directories
Directory may refer to:
* Directory (computing), or folder, a file system structure in which to store computer files
* Directory (OpenVMS command)
* Directory service, a software application for organizing information about a computer network's ...
as if they were actual physical objects. A spatial file manager imitates the way people interact with physical objects.
Some ideas behind the concept of a spatial file manager are:
# A single
window
A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent materia ...
represents each opened directory
# Each window is unambiguously and irrevocably tied to a particular directory.
# Stability: files, directories, and windows go where the user moves them, stay where the user puts them ("preserve their spatial state"), and retain all their other "physical" characteristics (such as size, shape, color and location).
# The same item can only be viewed in one window at a time.
As in navigational file managers, when a directory is opened, the
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
representing the directory changes—perhaps from an image showing a closed drawer to an opened one, perhaps the directory's icon turns into a silhouette filled with a pattern—and a new window is opened to represent that directory.
Examples of file managers that use a spatial metaphor to some extent include:
*
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
's
Finder 5 to 9
*
Konqueror
Konqueror is a free and open-source web browser and file manager that provides web access and file-viewer functionality for file systems (such as local files, files on a remote FTP server and files in a disk image). It forms a core part of t ...
has the option to turn into spatial mode
*
RISC OS
RISC OS is a computer operating system originally designed by Acorn Computers Ltd in Cambridge, England. First released in 1987, it was designed to run on the ARM chipset, which Acorn had designed concurrently for use in its new line of Archi ...
Filer
*
Amiga
Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...
's
Workbench
A workbench is a sturdy table at which manual work is done. They range from simple flat surfaces to very complex designs that may be considered tools in themselves. Workbenches vary in size from tiny jewellers benches to the huge benches used by ...
*
GNOME's
Nautilus
The nautilus (, ) is a pelagic marine mollusc of the cephalopod family Nautilidae. The nautilus is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina.
It comprises six living species in ...
from version 2.6 (default until 2.29, completely removed in 3.0)
*
MATE
Mate may refer to:
Science
* Mate, one of a pair of animals involved in:
** Mate choice, intersexual selection
** Mating
* Multi-antimicrobial extrusion protein, or MATE, an efflux transporter family of proteins
Person or title
* Friendship ...
's
Caja (though the default mode is navigational)
*
BeOS's
Tracker
*
Haiku
is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or s ...
's
Tracker
*
OS/2
OS/2 (Operating System/2) is a series of computer operating systems, initially created by Microsoft and IBM under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci. As a result of a feud between the two companies over how to position OS/2 ...
's
Workplace Shell
The Workplace Shell (WPS) is an object-oriented desktop shell (also called desktop environment) produced by IBM's Boca Raton development lab for OS/2 2.0. It is based on Common User Access and made a radical shift away from the Program Manager ...
*
Digital Research
Digital Research, Inc. (DR or DRI) was a company created by Gary Kildall to market and develop his CP/M operating system and related 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit systems like MP/M, Concurrent DOS, FlexOS, Multiuser DOS, DOS Plus, DR DOS and Gr ...
's
GEM
A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, a ...
(implemented in Atari TOS and as a somewhat reduced version for PCs)
* ROX-Filer file manager (
ROX Desktop
The ROX Desktop is a graphical desktop environment for the X Window System. It is based on the ROX-Filer which is a drag and drop spatial file manager. It is free software released under the GNU General Public License. The environment was in ...
)
*
E17 file manager
Dysfunctional spatial file managers:
*
Windows Explorer
File Explorer, previously known as Windows Explorer, is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface for accessing the file ...
in
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems. The first operating system in the 9x family, it is the successor to Windows 3.1x, and was released to manufacturi ...
was set as a spatial file manager model by default; because it also worked as a navigational file manager, directories could be opened in multiple windows, which made it fail all the above criteria. Later versions gradually abandoned the spatial model.
*
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
's
Finder in
macOS
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
was designed with a similar integration of spatial and navigational modes, meaning that the spatial mode did not actually work.
3D file managers
![Cubix 3D Filer Screenshot](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Cubix_3D_Filer_Screenshot.png)
Some projects have attempted to implement a
three-dimensional
Three-dimensional space (also: 3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called ''parameters'') are required to determine the position of an element (i.e., point). This is the informa ...
method of displaying files and directory structures. Three-dimensional file browsing has not become popular; the exact implementation tends to differ between projects, and there are no common standards to follow.
Examples of three-dimensional file managers include:
*
fsn, for
Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics, Inc. (stylized as SiliconGraphics before 1999, later rebranded SGI, historically known as Silicon Graphics Computer Systems or SGCS) was an American high-performance computing manufacturer, producing computer hardware and sof ...
'
IRIX systems, notably featured prominently in one scene from the film
Jurassic Park, as a representation of
Unix
Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and ot ...
systems.
*
File System Visualizer
File System Visualizer, also known as fsv, is a 3D file browser using OpenGL, written by Daniel Richard G. It is a clone of SGI's fsn file manager for IRIX systems, aimed to run on modern Linux and other Unix-like operating systems.
It is ca ...
, or fsv, an open-source clone of fsn for modern
Unix-like
A Unix-like (sometimes referred to as UN*X or *nix) operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Unix-li ...
systems.
* tdfsb,
tdfsb
/ref> an open-source 3D file browser, where one enters directories by flying into them (using WASD). Runs on Linux, FreeBSD and BeOS.
* BumpTop
BumpTop was a 3D desktop environment that simulates the normal behavior and physical properties of a real-world desk and enhances it with automatic tools to organize its contents. It is aimed at stylus interaction, making it more suitable for ta ...
, a file manager using a three-dimensional representation of a desktop with realistic physics, intended for use with a stylus and touchscreen
A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is ofte ...
.
* Real Desktop,[ product homepage] a desktop replacement with similarities to BumpTop.
* Cubix 3D Filer [ The Cubix Project Homepage] is a Windows file manager which organizes files according to different attributes.
* GopherVR
GopherVR is an enhanced Internet Gopher client that includes a 3D visualization tool for viewing resource collections as 3D scenes. It explored how people outside of formal research laboratories could use spatial metaphors to access information. Th ...
, a 3D visualisation of networked Gopher
Pocket gophers, commonly referred to simply as gophers, are burrowing rodents of the family Geomyidae. The roughly 41 speciesSearch results for "Geomyidae" on thASM Mammal Diversity Database are all endemic to North and Central America. They are ...
resources.
Web-based file managers
Web-based file managers are typically scripts written in either PHP
PHP is a general-purpose scripting language geared toward web development. It was originally created by Danish-Canadian programmer Rasmus Lerdorf in 1993 and released in 1995. The PHP reference implementation is now produced by The PHP Group. ...
, Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...
, Perl
Perl is a family of two high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming languages. "Perl" refers to Perl 5, but from 2000 to 2019 it also referred to its redesigned "sister language", Perl 6, before the latter's name was offic ...
, ASP or another server-side language
Server-side scripting is a technique used in web development which involves employing scripts on a web server which produces a response customized for each user's (client's) request to the website. The alternative is for the web server itsel ...
. When installed on a local server or on a remote server, they allow files and directories located there to be managed and edited, using a web browser, without the need for FTP Access.
More advanced, and usually commercially distributed, web-based file management scripts allow the administrator of the file manager to configure secure, individual user accounts, each with individual account permissions. Authorized users have access to documents stored on the server or in their individual user directories anytime, from anywhere, via a web browser.
A web-based file manager can serve as an organization's digital repository. For example, documents, digital media, publishing layouts, and presentations can be stored, managed, and shared between customers, suppliers, and remote workers, or just internally.
Web-based file managers are becoming increasingly popular due to the rise in popularity of dynamic web content management systems (CMS) and the need for non-technical website moderators to manage media on their websites powered by these platforms.
An example is net2ftp
net2ftp is a web based File Transfer Protocol (FTP) client, written in PHP.
Features
As well as offering standard FTP functions, net2ftp also offers a variety of features including archiving and extracting files and directories, and downloading a ...
, a PHP- and JavaScript-based FTP client.
File picker
Operating systems typically ship a ''file picker'', which allows specifying in which location to save a file (usually accessed through the "Save as" option in software), and where to open a file from. Sometimes, a folder is selected instead of a file or destination path.
Some file pickers also allow file management to some degree, such as searching, moving, copying, renaming, and copying the path to clipboard.
Some software might have a customized file picker.
See also
*Batch renaming
Batch renaming is a form of batch processing used to rename multiple computer files and folders in an automated fashion, in order to save time and reduce the amount of work involved. Some sort of software is required to do this. Such software can b ...
*Comparison of file managers
The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of notable file managers.
General information
, -
! rowspan="2" , XTree
, rowspan="2" , Jeffery C. Johnson
,
, 1985-04-01
, DOS
,
, 1992
, rowspan="2"
, r ...
*Disk space analyzer
A disk utility is a utility program that allows a user to perform various functions on a computer disk, such as disk partitioning and logical volume management, as well as multiple smaller tasks such as changing drive letters and other mount po ...
*Desktop metaphor
In computing, the desktop metaphor is an interface metaphor which is a set of unifying concepts used by graphical user interfaces to help users interact more easily with the computer. The desktop metaphor treats the computer monitor as if it is ...
*Spatial navigation In computing, spatial navigation is the ability to navigate between focusable elements, such as hyperlinks and form controls, within a structured document or user interface according to the spatial location.
This method is widely used in applicatio ...
References
External links
*
The Orthodox File Manager (OFM) Paradigm: The History of Development of Norton Commander
by Nikolai Bezroukov
Nikolai Bezroukov is a Senior Internet Security Analyst at BASF Corporation and was member of Computer Science at Fairleigh Dickinson University ( New Jersey, United States). Also Webmaster of Open Source Software University, a volunteer techni ...
, Softpanorama.org, 2009. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
Less is More: A rich functionality behind Spartan interface of Orthodox File Managers
by Nikolai Bezroukov
Nikolai Bezroukov is a Senior Internet Security Analyst at BASF Corporation and was member of Computer Science at Fairleigh Dickinson University ( New Jersey, United States). Also Webmaster of Open Source Software University, a volunteer techni ...
, Softpanorama.org, 2012. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
About the Finder
by John Siracusa, Ars Technica, 2003. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
The Spatial Way
by Colin Charles, 2004. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
Archived fro
on 2008-04-03. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
section 4.3.2.2.3 in Introduction to IBM/CMS, Users' Manual, Department of Computer Science, University of Regina
The University of Regina is a public university, public research university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the Unive ...
, Saskatchewan, Canada. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
{{DEFAULTSORT:File Manager
*
Utility software types