Heads-up: dopus_fileinfo crashes and solution

Update: A workaround for this problem is included in Opus 9.1.1.8. See above.

Please see Heads-up: dopus_fileinfo crashes and solution if you're using the new CSV/RTF/Font/Postscript plugins and have found Opus crashes sometimes.

Hopefully the plugins will be easy to fix but I figure the mysterious crash may be causing problems for some people so it's worth giving everyone a heads-up on how to avoid it for now.

CSV/PS/Font/RTF plugins updated

There are new updates for Dinkelhopper's plugins: CSV, PostScript, Font viewers and RTF editor.

The updates fix problems when multiple copies of the same plugin were open at once and add some new features like auto-save in the RTF editor plugin.

To get the new versions head on over to the plugins area of the Resource Centre.

Enjoy! And, of course, thanks to Dinkelhopper for the hard work!

New plugin: RTF Viewer/Editor

Dinkelhopper has released another new plugin for Opus. This one lets you view and edit Rich Text Format files:

• RTF-Viewer (and Editor)

As with Dinkelhopper's other plugins, this one is for 32-bit users only.

(They are 32-bit only because they're written using the Delphi programming language which doesn't yet support 64-bit. Unfortunately, working around the problem with Delphi plugins and 64-bit would be quite complicated. I read that the new owners of Delphi plan to introduce 64-bit support later this year, however.)

Dinkelhopper's other plugins have also had a few updates since they were mentioned on this blog a few days ago. Keep an eye on their respective forum threads if you want to stay up to date with them.

As with when my MayaIFF plugin was new, it's normal for there to be a bunch of small updates for new plugins as people try different files on them and discover issues. I'm assuming people reading this blog prefer the traffic to be minimal (else they'd be reading the forum instead) so I won't post about every update until things settle down.

Windows 7's UAC whitelist is anti-competitive

I'd like to get on my soap box and alert you to what I think is a very bad thing in Windows 7:

• Windows 7's UAC whitelist is anti-competitive

Directory Opus version 9.1.1.7

Directory Opus version 9.1.1.7 - January 20th 2009

A free update for all Directory Opus 9 users is now available for download from GP Software.

Bugs fixed / minor changes:

• Fixed problem with drag & drop from Outlook to Opus.
  
• Fixed problem with drag & drop from ZIP and RAR files in Opus to system namespaces like the desktop.
  
• Fixed problem with file type system that could cause events like double-click to stop working if a file type event was defined with an empty function body.
  
• Fixed crash that could occur when decoding thumbnails in ID3v2.2 MP3 files.
  
• Fixed crash in Find that could occur when searching certain UTF-8 encoded files.
  
• Fixed crash that could occur when invoking some context menu handlers from an admin-mode Lister (under Vista only).
  
• The New -> Folder menu item now has a key sequence assigned.
  
• A command that combines Select ALL followed by Clipboard COPYNAMES now works correctly.
  
• Drop-down menus opened via the keyboard now ignore the position of the mouse cursor; previously if the mouse happened to be where the menu opened, the item under the mouse would be selected.
  
• Fixed problem in the Folder Tree with full-row selection when Folder Tree is locked.
  
• In Context Menus, a hidden shell item that ends a sub-menu no longer causes subsequent items to be displayed in the sub-menu incorrectly.
  
• Fixed problem with Rename Test mode that could cause Find & Replace values to be added to the Preview list.
  
• Advanced Selection using a location filter now works in Flat View and Collections.
  
• Fixed problem with Desktop Layouts context menu with layout names containing & characters.
  
• Fixed problem with top-docked toolbars not taking account of other app-bars on the left or right.
  

New Opus plugins: Font, Postscript and CSV viewers

Dinkelhopper has posted three new Opus viewer plugins to the Resource Centre:

• Postscript-Viewer (ps, eps)
  
• Font-Viewer (ttf, otf)
  
• CSV-Viewer (table form layout)

64-bit users should note that these plugins are 32-bit only, at least for now.

If you need alternatives that work with 64-bit:

• CSV can be shown through the ActiveX plugin if you have Excel installed. (May also work with OpenOffice.org instead of Excel.)
  
  Update: Not sure where my head was at when I wrote this... I don't think using ActiveX/Excel for CSV works very well as, from memory, you get an annoying format conversion dialog when you open the files. That would be why I didn't include .CSV in the default config of the ActiveX plugin.
  
  
• Postscript should be visible in the ActiveX plugin if you have Ghostscript installed and add the appropriate file extensions to the plugin:
  
  The Ghostscript installer includes a postscript viewer for Internet Explorer and the ActiveX + Preview + Office + Web plugin for Opus can be configured to take advantage of that. Go to Preferences - Plugins - Viewer Plugins, select the ActiveX + Preview + Office + Web plugin, click Configure, then add the .ps and .eps extensions under the Internet Explorer (32-bit) section. Those file extensions will then be displayed in the Opus viewer pane via IE.
  
  Update: Turns out this is incorrect. Ghostview does not provide a viewer that works in Internet Explorer, despite its webpage suggesting it does.
  
  
• Fonts can be viewed via the Font preview handler which comes installed with Vista. (This is via the ActiveX plugin as well but doesn't require any configuration to enable.)
  

Directory Opus version 9.1.1.6

Directory Opus version 9.1.1.6 - December 17th 2008

A free update for all Directory Opus 9 users is now available for download from GP Software.

Bugs fixed / minor changes:

• Fixed problem multiple-line functions that modify the file selection (e.g. by calling the Select command) - it was possible in some cases for the first file to be processed twice.
  
• The Compatibility Files feature now supports the Program Files (x86) folder in Vista/XP x64.
  
• The Go SWITCHPATH command now supports aliases. The SWITCHPATH argument now supports more than one alternative path, to enable cycling through as many paths as desired. E.g. Go C:\ SWITCHPATH D:\ E:\ F:\ would cycle through the C, D, E and F drives.
  
• Shift+F10 now correctly brings up the context menu in the Folder Tree.
  
• Fixed a problem where some images converted from TIFF to JPG would not be recognised in Photoshop.
  
• Fixed several problems with Drag & Drop in terms of the feedback cursor and behaviour on drop. The cursor you see should now correctly indicate the drop action in all cases.
  
• Drag & Drop from SmartFTP to Opus now works.
  
• Drag & Drop in List Mode now lets you scroll the list to the left or right by hovering at the edge of the window.
  
• Fixed a problem with the Viewer Plugin SDK where paletted images provided to Opus did not correctly respect their transparency settings.
  
• The Keep On Top function in the Lister window menu did not work correctly; fixed.
  
• In Thumbnails mode, selecting a file by pressing the space bar now updates the viewer pane correctly.
  
• The Copy EXTRACT HERE command now works correctly on folders as well as archives.
  
• Fixed a problem whereby input focus could be lost after deleting a folder if there was a text file viewed in the viewer pane.
  
• The Copy MOVEWHENSAME function did not work correctly between sub-directories under junction points.
  
• The command sequence {sourcepath|..|nopath} now correctly gives the name of the parent folder rather than the current folder.
  
• External commands run through the FAYT field (by typing >) now have their current directory set correctly.
  
• Ctrl+Home/End now works correctly in Power/Details mode.
  
• Fixed a problem with File Descriptions when used with files in a junction folder on a network drive.
  
• The Flat View setting in Lister Styles now works correctly.
  
• Fixed a problem where activating a style could create duplicate folder tabs in some cases.
  
• The Author and Keywords columns now work correctly with recent Office documents.
  
• Icon Sets stored in /dopusglobaldata are now correctly exported to USB.
  
• Icon mode range-selection points are now correctly updated when files are added or removed from the list.
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur if you dragged the Control Panel icon to a File Collection.
  
• If a folder is open in a Lister and that folder is moved, the Lister now automatically updates to show the new location.
  
• Button icon definitions now support environment variables.
  
• ActiveX plugin: Fix for SWF (etc.) files not displaying if viewed directly from UNC paths.
  
• Added support for Photoshop (PSD) CMYK and 8-bit indexed images.
  
• Fixed several minor cosmetic bugs.