MC V17 EARLY PREVIEW

[Mathias (Author)]

Version 17 is not ready for stable release anytime soon, But it already has a lot of new things that need testing

Not everything added to v17 might be included in the final release.
v17 contain many MAJOR rewrites and new addition.

• File Tags/Labels and comments system
• Folder Specific settings
• New Keyboard customization system
• Total rewrite of List/Grid UI component used for File List view, FolderTree view, Most List/Grid UI componets. Without this rewrite all the 3 items above would not be possible
• MultiFileViewer can now show CSV/Parquet files as data in a grid. and if it is CSV it can be edited and modified and saved backed
• Some extension in MC can now be developed using .Net/C#
• Checksum extension now support Blake3 checksum algorithm

This is a early preview. Since it is a early preview it is time locked. and will stop to work after sep-30. (but a new updated version will be out.. )
However it will not be possible to auto update this version until in reached beta. there might be more 16.x releases with fixes before this is officially out

Since this is early preview. NOW is the time to come with feedback you want something to change. How a features with file tags or folder specific settings works or something like that.

Since this preview is developed separately from v16.x, When a new preview is released, it might not have all the fixes or addition that 16.x has. Right not V17 Preview has everything 16.2 build 3205 has. (I think)

Read more and see images here
https://multicommander.com/Articles/multicommander-v17-preview-1

Download portable version here (64bit only)
https://multicommander.com/files/updates/preview/MultiCommander_x64_Portable_(17.0.0.3400).zip

[Jungle]

It starts then hangs forever. I manually set log level to debug but didn't see any suspicious. At first start MC asked to choose the language and Look'n'Feel. Now it just hangs every launch. Task Manager shows 0% CPU. No antivirus alerts.

Win11 x64

[Matthias515566]

I don’t really like that the keyboard shortcuts no longer work. It feels a bit too “early” to me.

And I couldn’t notice any change in the scrolling behavior, except that it’s harder to follow the scrolling with your eyes. How about smooth scrolling?

Which are the new modules that I need to remove from the modules.xml file to get rid of the following error message?

“1 Extension/Modules was invalid and could not be loaded.
This can happen after a failed upgrade or with external modules that need to be updated separately.”

[Mathias (Author)]

It starts then hangs forever. I manually set log level to debug but didn't see any suspicious. At first start MC asked to choose the language and Look'n'Feel. Now it just hangs every launch. Task Manager shows 0% CPU. No antivirus alerts.

Win11 x64

Strange. 0% then it waits for something, I have Tested on many different setup , no issue.
anything in the app log ? how far did it come ?

[Mathias (Author)]

I don’t really like that the keyboard shortcuts no longer work. It feels a bit too “early” to me.

And I couldn’t notice any change in the scrolling behavior, except that it’s harder to follow the scrolling with your eyes. How about smooth scrolling?

Which are the new modules that I need to remove from the modules.xml file to get rid of the following error message?

“1 Extension/Modules was invalid and could not be loaded.
This can happen after a failed upgrade or with external modules that need to be updated separately.”

Its called early preview for a reason.. What keyboard shortcut does not work anymore ? Can you please be more specific so I can replicate that

Whats wrong with scrolling?, I see no difference from before.. Smooth scrolling will probably noy be added since that would slow down and eat lots and lots of cpu (Refresh everything, move 1 px down  redraw everything and so on.. ..)

In App Log you see what module failed to load..  what module failed ? they should all load in the preview.  missmatch of version normally only happens if you upgrade and some modules failed to upgrade or something.

[Matthias515566]

What keyboard shortcut does not work anymore ?

The custom keyboard shortcuts from the old v16.2 configuration no longer work with v17.

Whats wrong with scrolling?

Sorry, my mistake. I read something about "Total rewrite of List/Grid UI component" and thought that would improve the scrolling behavior. But I'm also happy with the old scrolling behavior. At least it works without any delay. Smooth scrolling is btw supported by the GPU, not the CPU.

In App Log you see what module failed to load..  what module failed

Sorry, I reinstalled v16.2, and now I’m getting the quoted error message there as well. So it must be a new module causing the error message, since the config files have always remained the same.

In App Log you see what module failed to load..

Thanks, I figured out which modules were causing it and removed them from modules.xml.

I don’t think I can really help with testing, because I usually test software by using it for my work.

[Mathias (Author)]

What keyboard shortcut does not work anymore ?

The custom keyboard shortcuts from the old v16.2 configuration no longer work with v17.

Totally rewritten how shortcuts works. so old config file does not load. New format

Whats wrong with scrolling?

Sorry, my mistake. I read something about "Total rewrite of List/Grid UI component" and thought that would improve the scrolling behavior. But I'm also happy with the old scrolling behavior. At least it works without any delay. Smooth scrolling is btw supported by the GPU, not the CPU.

Scrolling have never been an issue. Well smooth scrolling is made easier with GPU but not free. But problem is that desktop application like this is using old GDI/win32 UI, and that is not GPU accelerated.
It would require MC to update entire UI framework to use WinUI/WPF or some other Accelerated UI framework. But that is not on the table.

[Mathias (Author)]

Sorry, I reinstalled v16.2, and now I’m getting the quoted error message there as well. So it must be a new module causing the error message, since the config files have always remained the same.
I don’t think I can really help with testing, because I usually test software by using it for my work.

What is quoted errors message ?

That why this is released as portable only. not meant to replace your normal version. It mean to run side by side.. specially since it has expiration date built in.

But not sure if anything in this version ever will be inserted into the main line.

[Matthias515566]

Totally rewritten how shortcuts works. so old config file does not load. New format

Would it be possible, once beta status is reached, to convert the old custom keyboard shortcuts to the new format during setup?

[Mathias (Author)]

Totally rewritten how shortcuts works. so old config file does not load. New format

Would it be possible, once beta status is reached, to convert the old custom keyboard shortcuts to the new format during setup?

Probably not. would be to much work to make it re-map everything automatically. since they work totally different

[Jungle]

Ok. On one PC it works. So far I've only taken a look at file tags. Inconvenient.

1. One can quickly set some file tag but can't remove it. Using a context menu is a waste of time. I think at least standard tags should be togglable via toolbar.

2. I've tried to bind a hotkey to the Tags dialog (not the File Tag management dialog, but the "Tags" dialog invokable via context menu), but didn't found it. I've found 3 tags actions: Manage tags (invokes File Tag manager dialog), Tags (toggles toolbar; absolutely unclear name and description) and Assign File Tag (don't understand how it works).

I have no idea whether it is possible to use multiscript or internal commands to toggle tags, but it should be.

Please, update menu item names and descriptions. A lot of duplicates and unclear meanings (see pics)

[Mathias (Author)]

Tags/Labels using the toolbar  you can  Click - Tag selected files,  Shift+Click  - UnTag selected ,,  Ctrl+Click Toggle tag on selected.
With Right click on the tag in the toolbar. you can also select to filter on the tag

They are also in the popup, but under MultiCommader > Tag >
That is not a good place. To many step. But not sure where to place that yet. They cant be in the normal shell menu. Maybe only show a tag popup if ctrl is hold while showing context menu, or something.. not sure yet. right now toolbar is the way to use them.

Yes button editor and command editor where you select internal commands will need to change to support the new "category" name for the commands, Like that the new Keyboard customization dialog have. It will then be possible to filter and view them better. But first Keyboard stuff need to be more finalized.

MultiScript commands for tags are coming. Not added yet.