Quick View Plus and Opus

Quick View Plus (QVP) is a product which can view hundreds of file formats without the need for any additional software. For example, it can display Microsoft Word or Corel Word Perfect documents without having either program installed.

Quick View Plus 11 includes a preview handler that works within Directory Opus (and newer versions of Windows Explorer and Outlook).

Simply installing Quick View Plus 11 Standard (or above) will add its viewing abilities to Directory Opus if you are on Windows Vista, Windows 7 or above.

Notes & Caveats (correct at the time of writing, September 2010):

• Windows XP: Quick View Plus 11 does not install its preview handler on Windows XP, although it may do if you have Outlook 2007 installed (this has not been tested).
  
• 64-bit: Avantstar, who make Quick View Plus, do not officially support using it on 64-bit versions of Windows; however, from brief testing it appears to work fine.
  
• QVP editions: Quick View Plus 11 comes in two editions: Standard and Professional. The Standard edition is all you need if you just wish to view files within Directory Opus.
  
• QVP Trial version: The current Quick View Plus trial version does not correctly install its preview handler, meaning it will not work within Directory Opus. Avantstar are aware and will hopefully fix this in the future. The problem does not affect the full version of Quick View Plus. You can still use the trial version's standalone QVP application to test how well it views certain files.

(Thanks to Michael Kenward, Jon Potter and Avantstar themselves for their help discovering the info above. Thanks also to Ron Hirsch whose quest for a way to view Word Perfect files in 64-bit Opus led us here.)

Directory Opus version 9.5.5.1 (Beta)

This is an Opus Beta release only. If you aren't comfortable running the very latest version of Opus then you may like to wait for the next stable/public release.

To download the new beta version, visit the Directory Opus 9.5.5.1 thread.

Bugs fixed / minor changes:

• Fix for the 'Open in Directory Opus' folder context menu item not working in Windows 7 if Explorer Replacement mode was disabled in some cases. This also fixes the 'Open folder to view files in Directory Opus' AutoPlay option if Explorer Replacement mode disabled.
  
• Fixed crash when using the Print Folder command without any printers installed (or with print service disabled).
  
• Fixed problem that prevented custom Folder Colors from working reliably in the tree.
  
• Fix for FTP sites that claim to support UTF-8 but return non-UTF-8 encoded directory listings.

Directory Opus version 9.5.5.0

Directory Opus version 9.5.5.0 - August 27th 2010

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

Direct Downloads:
Directory Opus x86 (32 bit)
Directory Opus x64 (64 bit)

Bugs fixed / minor changes:

• Fixed dialog font issue on Japanese systems.
  
• Fix for bug on x64 systems that could prevent the Smart Favorites being saved correctly if Opus was still running on system shutdown.
  
• Fixed inconsistent sorting of network drives in the Folder Tree.
  
• Fix for TGA plugin being too strict and failing to display some images.
  
• Fixed occasional crash in the Preferences Filter page.
  
• Fix for 'Open With' not setting the correct current directory when used on a network drive.
  
• FTP – Fixed issue with supporting Resume for servers that fail FEAT response.

How to change the language Opus uses

For other FAQs, go to the Opus Resource Centre FAQ list.

Below are three alternative ways to change the language of your Directory Opus installation.

The second and third methods involve running commands. Those commands can be pasted into the Start -> Run box (Windows XP) or into the Start Menu search field (Windows Vista and above) or into a command prompt (any Windows version).

Obviously, if you have installed Opus to a non-standard location then you will need to adjust the commands to match.

1. Via Preferences (the usual, simple way)
   
   In Opus, go to Settings -> Preferences / Display / Language and select another language from the list.
   
   (In older versions of Opus, it was under Miscellaneous rather than Display.)
   
   Of course, doing that may be difficult if Opus is running in a language you do not understand. :-) However, don't worry:
   
   • You can type >Prefs into the main Opus window to open the Preferences window, in case you cannot work out what the menus say.
     
     
   • As of Opus 10.0.3.2, you can type the name of your language (or any of the supported languages, for that matter) into the filter at the bottom-left of the Preferences window and Opus will automatically find the languages page for you.
   
   If those easy methods don't do it for you, here are some alternatives...
   
   
2. Command to open Preferences
   
   Jump directly to the Language page of Preferences by running this command:
   
   

   "C:\Program Files\GPSoftware\Directory Opus\dopusrt.exe" /cmd Prefs PAGE=Language

3. Command to change language
   
   Alternatively, you can tell Opus to switch to a specific language via the command line.
   
   Before doing this you must fully exit Opus. (Closing all the windows isn't enough, by default. See How to Exit Directory Opus.)
   
   After exiting, run this command:
   
   

   "C:\Program Files\GPSoftware\Directory Opus\dopus.exe" language=english

   Go to C:\Program Files\GPSoftware\Directory Opus\Language to see which languages/names are available. (Do not include the .dll part of the filenames.)
   
   

How to move the Opus thumbnail cache

New FAQ: How to move the thumbnail cache

Directory Opus version 9.5.4.0

Directory Opus version 9.5.4.0 - June 3rd 2010

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

Bugs fixed / minor changes:

• Added move_netshare_semantics advanced Preferences option to work around a problem moving folders caused by PGP Netshare.
  
• Added support for transparent (alpha-channel) TIFF images (both 8-bit and 16-bit images).
  
• Added tiff_assume_alpha advanced Preferences flag to force alpha on TIFF images which have a 4th channel but don't specify its meaning.
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur if you dragged a file over a sub-folder on an ftp site, and hovered there while a copy to that same site was in progress.
  
• Fixed a problem when trying to inline-rename a file or folder whose original name contained an environment variable.
  
• Fixed a problem with the @set command directive that would stop {dlgstring} working correctly with {file} as the default value unless prefixed with @runonce.
  
• The timestamp of a file with NTFS ADS properties is now correctly preserved when the file is copied.
  
• ActiveX: Prevents the Syntax-Colored Source preview handler from handling .url files by default. If that handler is installed the plugin will still send .url files to a web browser unless explicitly configured not to.
  
• Fixed a problem that could cause a crash when editing the defined filter in the Print Folder dialog.
  
• Fixed a problem that caused the Folder Tree to fail to expand the Desktop branch with a particular combination of settings.
  
• The FILTER argument for the Print FOLDER command now works correctly.
  
• If two or more single file-display Listers were open, the Go DUALPATH command used to cause the folder in the destination Lister to change, instead of setting the source Lister into dual-display mode.
  
• Improved support for the Recorded TV start menu link in Windows 7.
  
• The Rename command could not move files when the source folder was a file collection.
  
• If a rename script fails, the rename operation is now aborted.

Directory Opus version 9.5.3.2 (Beta)

This is an Opus Beta release only. If you aren't comfortable running the very latest version of Opus then you may like to wait for the next stable/public release.

To download the new beta version, visit the Directory Opus 9.5.3.2 thread.

Bugs fixed / minor changes:

• Added move_netshare_semantics advanced Preferences option to work around a problem moving folders caused by PGP Netshare.
  
• Fixed a problem when trying to inline-rename a file or folder whose original name contains an environment variable.
  
• Fixed a problem with the @set command directive that would stop {dlgstring} working correctly with {file} as the default value unless prefixed with @runonce.
  
• The timestamp of a file with NTFS ADS properties is now correctly preserved when the file is copied.
  
• ActiveX: Prevents the Syntax-Colored Source preview handler from handling .url files by default. If that handler is installed the plugin will still send .url files to a web browser unless explicitly configured not to.
  
• Now supports alpha channels from 16-bit TIFF images.
  
• Added tiff_assume_alpha advanced Preferences flag to force alpha on TIFF images which have a 4th channel but don't specify its meaning.