Plugins are Total Commander extensions written by ourselves or by third parties. Plugins enhance the functionality of Total Commander. There are 4 fundamental types of plugins:
1. Packer plugins
These are used to unpack specific file types, usually archive formats. Some packer plugins also support the creation of new archives of the supported type, and to modify existing archives. Examples are:
A plugin to
- pack/unpack bzip2 archives, a format similar to the built-in gzip.
- create a list of files in the selected directories. Useful to create catalogs of whole disks
- create a batch file for all selected files, e.g. for repeated batch-copying
2. File system plugins
File system plugins are used via the Network Neighborhood. They usually access a certain part of your PC which cannot be accessed via drive letters, or some remote system. Examples are:
A plugin to access
- a Windows CE or PocketPC device attached to your PC
- remote Web servers via HTTP, to download a whole list of files
- a mail server
3. Lister plugins
Lister plugins display special file types in the built-in lister as well as in the quick view panel (Ctrl+Q). Examples are:
A plugin to display
- DBF databases
- PDF files (Adobe's portable document format)
- source code for C, Pascal, Java etc. with syntax highlighting
4. Content plugins
Content plugins have several purposes: Searching for specific file properties and contents, displaying of these properties in file lists, and using them in the multi-rename tool to add them to the file name. Examples are:
- mp3 id-tags (Artist, Title, Album etc)
- digital photo information from JPEG files in EXIF format (aperture, exposure time, was the flash used etc)
- file attributes like creation time, program version number etc.
5. Additional languages
Additional languages like Russian, Chinese etc. are also available on our homepage. They can be installed like plugins via double click on the language ZIP file.
Where to find plugins?
Plugins approved by us can be found on our site www.ghisler.com under Addons - Plugins. New plugins are usually tested in our plugins forum, reachable via our homepage.
How to install a plugin?
Newer plugins can be installed automatically just by double clicking the plugin ZIP file. You will be asked where to put the plugin, and Total Commander does the rest.
In addition, each plugin contains a readme file with instructions. Usually plugins are installed like this: First, unpack the plugin to a directory, e.g. to c:\Totalcmd\Plugins . Then add the plugin to Total Commander:
- Go to Configuration - Options - Plugins and click on the button of the plugin type you want to install.
How to write your own plugin?
The plugins section on www.ghisler.com also contains a plugin writer's guide for each plugin type. There are also sample plugins with full source code, most written in C, some in Delphi.