Total Commander

Yes, I know about WDXGuideInLister, read on...

Look at plugins tcmediainfo, anytag, total7zip, tctorrent, xpiinfo, etc.
LinkInfo also comes to mind. Lister variants of all of these plugins are basically laying out text content which originated (or could have originated) from their WDX parts.

What I suggest is to add shortcut "8" to lister to be able to see WDX infos for a certain file quickly, and edit them comfortably. Of course user should be able to configure what fields to show (or even layout as in anytag or IIRC xpiinfo).

Benefits include:
1) The only way to get info on a file inside an archive is to list it, WDXs don't work - neither columns, nor hints.
2) Lister has MUCH more space in comparison to the Change attributes dialog - much easier to edit fields!
3) Saves plugin writers a lot of repeated work (already implemented by them at least 5 times!, e.g. tcmediainfo has an xml with 5 (!) scripted ways to view info about media files), which can be done once and for all.
4) Basically two plugins at the cost of one, e.g. no need to install anytag.wlx when you have anytag.wdx, or install linkinfo.wlx when you have shortcut.wdx!
5) No messing with other plugin type base directory (wdx in wlx and vice versa), => less often wrong dir suggested when installing new plugins.
6) Complete user control of what is shown for certain file type. Depending on implementation we may get e.g. ArchView plugin for 64bit for free (with two vertical progress bar designating compression percents).

That's indeed a very good idea!
I strongly support the basic concept and especially the point with files in archives, since I was hoping for such feature for WDX plugins for a long time, but it seems that it will never be implemented anyway.

The only difficulty I see:
What is the best way to tell TC which plug-in to use for which file type? For certain file types we have more than one plugin, so we'd need the possibility to make user presets, maybe to which you can quickly switch/cycle in the Lister window itself.

OK nice but why would you prefer an internal solution against a solution like WDXGuideInLister?

Lefteous wrote:OK nice but why would you prefer an internal solution against a solution like WDXGuideInLister?

Well, in TC 9 we got WDX field picker and a plugin field search in the front page.
Can't hurt to boost or promote TC's WDX capability even further while Christian is still at it.
And you could argue that the field picker wasn't even necessary, as we have things like super_wdx or the mentioned WDXGuideInLister.
Same for TC 9 view modes: why did Christian implement it when we had TwinKey before that?

The main point for me is the WDX edit suggestion, as this isn't possible with WDXGuideInLister, and the file attributes dialog is a pain indeed.

Lefteous wrote:OK nice but why would you prefer an internal solution against a solution like WDXGuideInLister?

5), 6), edit capability and the fact that WDXGuideInLister is 1) annoying when enabled, 2) doesn't autochoose the plugin.

milo1012 wrote:What is the best way to tell TC which plug-in to use for which file type? For certain file types we have more than one plugin, so we'd need the possibility to make user presets, maybe to which you can quickly switch/cycle in the Lister window itself.

For what file type - as already implemented in e.g. Custom Hints (exactly why I didn't ask for the feature to be at "4" hotkey as Lister detect strings are not suited for WDX). Which plugin - NOOO, which pluginS - for starters one can also use Custom Hints syntax and let the user set up, but the aim is to allow for more formatting. Also, yes, presets, as default view in tcmediainfo and anytag, can be shipped by plugin author or can be asked for by TC when installing plugin.

The only thing missing is the formatting code, everything else is basically already there.

Funny how I thought this would be an ingenious idea destined for crowd support

BTW the concept was already implemented as a standalone utility http://totalcmd.net/plugring/ContentAlt.html , but it doesn't support newer types of WDX fields, is x32 only and doesn't work in archives.

2XPEHOPE3KA

Funny how I thought this would be an ingenious idea destined for crowd support

The manipulation of advanced file attributes has been neglected since a long time, but it's not just TC. The same is true for many other general purpose programs as well. In more specialized apps the situation is a bit different though.
I guess the main question here is if there is an substantial amount of users who want to do this.
For your suggestion the question could also be if Lister is the right place - no it's not. Lister is for viewing. I think - if implemeted - it would have to be a special command or an improvement of the existing change file attr. dialog. Another discussed alternative would be an inline editor for displayed columns (which is at most a complementary solution).

doesn't work in archives

just like all content plugins.

I managed to find ContentAlt author and grabbed Delphi sources from him: https://yadi.sk/d/ym1yfXiNu8VWd