AB Commander is a powerful yet easy to use file management tool for computers running the Windows Vista or Windows XP operating systems. It lets you manage your files and folders easier and faster, using the convenient double-panel framework (pioneered in Norton Commander), while maintaining close integration with the standard Windows user interface.

With AB Commander you can:

Work with two folders at the same time, side by side

The main window of AB Commander hosts two panels, independently displaying the contents of folders of your computer, just like the built-in Windows Explorer does. Each panel may be used to browse all folders, both virtual and real ones, located on local or remote drives. Having two independent panels is especially convenient when copying or moving files, enabling you to see the contents of the source and destination folders.

Quickly navigate your computer and network

AB Commander offers several powerful means of navigation between folders: the Favorites list, the Most Recently Visited Folders (History) lists, the pop-up Folder Tree window that lets you browse the whole hierarchy of folders, the Drive bar and Drive menu, and more.

Customize the appearance and functionality to suit your personal working style.

AB Commander offers various ways of customizing the look and feel of the listings shown in the panels according to your preferences: single- or double-click activation, full row selection, underlining the hot or cold items, etc..

Directly manipulate files and folders

AB Commander offers commands to directly manipulate files and folders (copy, move, rename, delete, and more.) Unlike the built-in commands offered by Windows Explorer (which are still available and supported), AB Commander's commands do not involve the use of the clipboard. So now you can work with files in a direct and straightforward way.

Split and merge files

The built-in file splitter lets you split large files into smaller segments and then merge them back with ease.

Quickly preview images

The built-in image viewer lets you quickly preview image file, or see several images as a slide show.

Quickly edit text files

AB Commander includes a full-featured text editor that you can use to quickly view and edit text files. You can use the built-in text editor or set up your favorite text processor as the external Quick Editor to be used by AB Commander.

Compare and synchronize files and folders

If you often move files between your desktop computer and a laptop, you will appreciate the commands to compare and synchronize folders.

Launch programs from the command prompt

The command prompt lets you quickly run programs that accept command-line arguments. AB Commander saves you time by allowing you to insert the names or full paths of the selected file objects directly into the command prompt.

Monitor the resources of your computer

Status bar indicators show various pieces of useful information, such as the current load of the RAM (Random Access Memory), free space left on the current drive, the current date and/or time, etc. You can control which indicators are displayed.

Use the traditional methods of file management

While providing new means to work with your files and folders, AB Commander fully supports the traditional tools and commands offered by the Windows user interface, such as the right-click accessible shortcut menus, the panel toolbars that let you copy, cut, and paste files via the clipboard (just like Windows Explorer does), drag-and-drop operations, etc.

Manage files on your network

AB Commander may be used both on a single machine and on a network. Each user can configure and use AB Commander independently on the others.

... and more!

If you have not done so yet, visit our web site now and download a free no-strings-attached-no-obligation installation file of AB Commander and see for yourself how AB Commander can be of use to you:

• http://www.winability.com/
• http://www.winability.net/
• http://www.winability-software.com/

Version 6.96 (January 5, 2008)

• The Image Preview command can now display the PNG and TIFF files.

• An option to embed an auto-incrementing counter into the file names has been added to the Rename command.

• The Store/Restore Columns commands have been added to the Panel menu.

• An option to display the path of the active folder on the title of the AB Commander window has been added.

• Several other minor improvements and corrections have been made.

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Version 6.95 (June 16, 2007)

• A problem has been corrected that caused an extra folder to be selected in the passive panel when starting AB Commander.

• A problem has been corrected that produced an invalid settings file when exporting the settings that contained the double quotes and some other special characters.

• A problem has been corrected that prevented the context menu for the Zip folders to appear on Windows Server and Windows x64 systems after the update KB921398 has been applied to the system via Windows Update.

• The Restart as Administrator/as Standard User commands no longer appear on the menu if the User Account Control of Windows Vista is disabled, or if the user has no "split" token.

• Several other minor improvements and corrections have been made.

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Version 6.94 (April 15, 2007)

• The Startup page has been added to the Options dialog box, to give you a better control of how to start AB Comander.

• For Windows Vista only: You can now press the SHIFT and CTRL keys while running a program from within AB Commander to start that program as administrator.

• For Windows Vista only: The Restart as Administrator/as Standard User command has been implemented, to make you able to restart AB Commander with the full administrator or standart user rights, as needed.

• A problem has been corrected that caused the Synchronize command not to work properly in some situations.

• Several other minor improvements and corrections have been made.

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Version 6.93 (January 25, 2007)

• Compatibility with Windows Vista has been implemented.

• A new option to add the keyboard shortcuts to the History and Favorites menus has been added.

• Some visual options (animated icon, popup indicators) have been eliminated. (Windows XP and Vista provide enough visual options to allow us retire ours).

• The Allow quick rename option, if cleared, no longer blocks the rename commands initiated via the F2 key or context menu.

• Several other minor improvements and corrections have been made.

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Version 6.92 (August 20, 2006)

• A solution to the compatibility problem with the hot fix KB921398 for Windows XP distributed by Microsoft via Windows Update service that caused the shortcut menu not to appear when you right-click on a Zip file has been implemented. If you experience this problem, enable the Show alternative shortcut menu for Zip files option.

• Support for computers with multiple monitors has been improved.

• An option to never check for the software updates has been added.

• Several other minor improvements and corrections have been made.

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Version 6.91 (July 31, 2006)

• A problem with the Rename command has been corrected that caused the "Nothing to do" message to appear incorrectly in some situations.

• Several other minor improvements and corrections have been made.

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Version 6.9 (May 26, 2006)

• Options to enable an alternative drag-and-drop protocol or even disable the drag-and-drop operations within AB Commander.

• An option to prompt the user to run a new instance or switch to the already running instance of AB Commander.

• An option to open folders with AB Commander instead of Windows Explorer.

• New buttons added to the toolbars to quickly navigate to the Desktop and My Computer folders, and to open a command prompt window.

• The Copy, Move, and Delete commands can now be used with the compressed (Zip) folders, in addition to the "real" file folders.

• Several other minor improvements and corrections have been made.

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Version 6.8 (March 5, 2006)

• The x64 Edition of AB Commander for Windows x64 has been released.

• A new option "Ignore time differences less than ... seconds" has been added to the Compare and Synchronize commands.

• A new option "Refresh panels after each file operation" has been added.

• The automatic check for updates has been implemented.

• The Server Busy window no longer appears when performing lengthy operations.

• Several other minor improvements and corrections have been made.

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Version 6.7 (December 20, 2004)

• The Millennium Edition of AB Commander has been renamed to "Classic Edition" and it now supports Windows Me/98/98SE only.

• The User's Guide has been rewritten from scratch and is in the HtmlHelp format now.

• A new option "Ignore Daylight Savings time differences" has been added to the Compare and Synchronize commands.

• You can now compare files not only by the time of their last modification, but also by their size.

• You can now use the Split and Merge commands to split and merge files larger than 2GB.

• A new command Find File Differences has been implemented, that you can use to determine how any two files are different from each other.

• A new option Autoresize columns has been added that you can use to allow the columns of the file panels to automatically adjust as you navigate to different folders.

• You can now change the orientation of images from landscape to portrait and back while viewing them with the Image Preview command.

• A problem has been corrected that prevented the Drive bar from switching to the virtual or RAM drives.

• The Jump and Go to commands on the Folder menu now expand environment variables.

• You can now try out a tip without closing the The Tip of the Day window.

• The "Stop/Resume icon animation" command has been added to the system menu of the main window.

• You can now use the "Split Vertically" and "Split Horizontally" buttons on the menu bar of the main window to adjust the split ratio to 50-50.

• The resizing indicators are now displayed in the corners of the resizable windows.

• Several other minor improvements made and problems corrected.

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Version 6.6 (December 4, 2003)

• Each panel now has its own drive bar, in addition to the main drive bar that was available in the previous version of AB Commander.

• The Synchronize command has been enhanced to work with files and folder located in the root Desktop folder.

• A problem with the Synchronize command has been fixed that caused the identical files last modified while the Daylight savings time was in effect to appear out of synch when synchronizing them between NTFS and FAT volumes and while the Daylight savings time was not in effect;

• A problem has been fixed that caused only the last subfolder of a zip file to be displayed in the panel title bar when browsing a zip file with subfolders;

• A problem has been fixed that caused the panel filters not to get applied automatically when the program was started;

• Several other minor enhancements and corrections have been made.

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Version 6.5 (November 1, 2003)

• A new software installer with a more attractive user interface is used in this release;

• Two new toolbar buttons have been added for the Swap Panels and Select All commands;

• You can now delete items from the history lists (by pressing the Del key while the unwanted item is highlighted) of most dialog boxes including Filter, Select, etc.;

• A problem has been corrected that prevented the Tools - Folder Options command from working properly on Windows Server 2003 systems;

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Version 6.4 (September 1, 2003)

• Two new options (Delete orphan files from subfolders and Skip preview this time only) for the Synchronize command have been added;

• The List command has been enhanced: you can now select which columns to include in the list;

• The Organize Favorites command has been enhanced: you can now make the commands of the Favorites list set a folder not only for the active panel, but also for the passive one, so that you could use just one command to set both the active and passive panels to the pre-defined folders. You can also assign labels to the items of the Favorites menu, which would be used to display the items on the Favorites menu;

• A problem has been fixed that caused an application error in ABCMDR.EXE module under some circumstances;

• A problem has been fixed that caused a brief flicker of the panel background when changing folders and a custom background color was used;

• A problem has been fixed that sometimes caused AB Commander not to start when some other application was running;

• A problem with the internal Quick Editor has been fixed that caused it not to prompt to save changes to a file when the file was open over the network and the target computer was off line at the time of closing Quick Editor;

• A problem has been fixed that caused an application error in the BROWSEUI.DLL file when typing commands in the command prompt of AB Commander ME, when used on Windows 98 without the latest system updates;

• A new command added: Invert Selection;

• An option to add the Open with AB Commander command to the Windows shortcut menu for file folders has been added;

• The Forward command line to the previous instance option has been added, that gives more flexibility to the Allow single instance only option;

• A new restriction has been added, that lets you specify the alternative root path for the second panel;

• You can now define your own custom colors for the text and background of the panels;

• Several other minor enhancements and corrections have been made.

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For the list of changes made in the versions prior to 6.4, please contact our customer support.

The first version of this software was released on April 23, 1998, under the name Singularity.

• Login to Windows as the administrator, or as a power user. If you login as a regular or limited user, you may not be able to install or use this software.

• To begin the installation, simply run the installation file. If you do not have the installation file, please visit our web site to download the latest version:

  http://www.winability.com/download/

• Note that if you have a previous version of this software already installed on your computer, the installation utility may prompt you to restart the computer, in order to be able to replace the files currently in use by Windows.

• The installation program will walk you through the process of setting up AB Commander. You will be prompted to read and accept the End User License Agreement, and to select the installation options such as the folder where to copy the files.

• After you press the Finish button, the installation program will copy the files into the specified folder and configure Windows for using AB Commander.

• IMPORTANT: Make a backup copy of the installation file of AB Commander that you have downloaded from our web site, as well as a copy of the message with your license key, on a floppy or other removable disk, because if you ever need to reinstall the software, you will need both, the installation file and your licensing information to install the program in the fully-licensed mode. It's not enough to store the files on your hard disk, because when (not if) it crashes, you will lose the files. (Yes, hard disks do crash, believe us!) We provide for download from our web site the latest versions of the installation files only. When we release an updated version, we remove the older version from the download area, so the installation file with the version that you have purchased may not be available for download in the future. Remember, it's your responsibility to backup your important files! If you do misplace your license key or the installation file that we no longer offer for download, please use this link to order a replacement:

  http://www.winability.com/lost_file_or_key/

You can use AB Commander for the first 30 days FREE OF CHARGE, with no strings attached and absolutely no obligation to purchase anything!

During the 30 Free Days the operation of the software is not limited in any way, it is 100% functional. We make the software work without limitations so you can have a real look at it and decide whether or not it fits your needs. The only difference in the operation of the software during the free days is the Welcome screen that may be shown when you start AB Commander:

Please remember that AB Commander is NOT free or public domain software. It is free for the first 30 days only. If you want to use the software after that, you must either purchase a license for continued use of the program, or uninstall AB Commander from your computer. For the complete terms of use, please refer to file License.txt that is installed along with other files of AB Commander.

Related topics:

• How to purchase a license for continued use of AB Commander
• How to enter your License key

We accept all major credit cards, and we also offer many other payment options: USPS and International Money Orders, American Express Money Orders, wire and bank transfers, WesternUnion and MoneyGram transfers, and more.

Simply visit one of our web sites listed below, click on the Purchase or Buy Now link, and it will take you directly to our secure online store, where you can see the latest pricing and discount information, our money-back guarantee, privacy policy, and other related information:

• http://www.winability.com/
• http://www.winability.net/
• http://www.winability-software.com/

We provide free upgrades to the updated versions of the same product that we may release within one year from the date of your purchase. For example, if you have purchased your license in March 2010, you may use that license key for all updated versions of the same product that we may release during the next year, up to March 2011 (both minor and major upgrades are covered by this offer). In other words, within one year after the purchase you get all upgrades to the product free of any charges.

After that, if you would like to upgrade to a newer version, you will be able to do so after purchasing a discounted upgrade license. (Of course, you are in no way obligated to upgrade to the new versions: you may continue using the version that you have purchased for as long as you like, if it works for you well enough, without paying any additional upgrade fees!)

Please visit our web sites for the latest information:

• http://www.winability.com/
• http://www.winability.net/
• http://www.winability-software.com/

AB Commander can check for the updates for you, either manually or automatically:

You can choose how often you want AB Commander to remind you to check for the updates (daily, weekly, monthly, or never). You can also set up AB Commander to check for the updates automatically, without asking you.

Note that you may need to configure your firewall, anti-virus, and/or anti-spyware software to allow AB Commander to connect to the Internet, otherwise it may not be able to receive the information about the updates.

Related topics:

• FREE upgrades for one year!
• How to purchase a license for continued use of AB Commander
• How to enter your License key

We provide free online support to the licensed customers through our web site. The prospective customers evaluating the software are welcome to use our support area, too. Before requesting technical or customer support, however, please check out this manual, it may already contains the answer to your question. In particular, be sure to look through the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section of this guide.

Please DO NOT send us email messages, because due to the spam, worms, and spyware problems the reliability of email has diminished greatly in the last few years. The email messages that you send us often do not arrive, and if they do, our replies are often get blocked by your anti-spam or anti-virus software, causing frustration and unnecessary delays in communication.

Please visit our web site to request technical or customer support:

• http://www.winability.com/support/

The main window hosts two panels, each displaying the contents of a folder, as if there were two Windows Explorer windows placed next to each other:

You can arrange the panels so that they are tiled vertically or horizontally, using the commands on the Panel menu, or the split buttons on the main menu bar. You can change the distribution of the available space between panels by using the mouse to dragging the split bar that separates them.

At any given moment, one of the panels is in the active state, while the other one is in the passive state. The active panel is indicated by a distinct color of its title bar. The active panel accepts the input from the keyboard. Most commands available in the menu and toolbar are also applied to the active panel.

You can change the active/passive state of the panels by pressing the Tab key, or simply by clicking with the mouse anywhere in the panel you want to become active.

As you can see on the illustration above, AB Commander has three toolbars: the main one and also two panel toolbars, one for each panel. You can customize each toolbar independently on the others. You can use all three toolbars or only some of them: if a button appears on more than one toolbar, its effect would be the same, no matter which toolbar you would use. The only difference would be that if you click a button on the main toolbar, the appropriate command would be applied to the currently active window, but if you click a button on a panel toolbar, that would activate the panel first and apply the command to that panel.

Besides the toolbars, AB Commander also offers three drive bars, the main one and two panel drive bars. They operate in the same way as the toolbars, except that you can press the drive bar buttons to quickly switch to a different drive of your computer.

The bottom part of the main window of AB Commander displays the status bar. Its left portion contains the command prompt that you can use to quickly launch programs that accept command line switches. The right portion of the status bar is used for various indicators.

To manage your files and folders efficiently, it's important to be able to quickly navigate to different folders of your computer. AB Commander offers various tools designed to speed up and simplify the navigation:

Drive bars

Drive bars are convenient tools that let you quickly display the current folder of any drive your computer has access to:

AB Commander offers three drive bars: the main drive bar that belongs to the main frame window, and two panel drive bars, one for each panel. The functionality of each drive bar is identical. You may find that using the panel drive bars is more convenient than the main drive bar, because you can activate a panel and change its folder to a different drive with just one mouse click. With the main drive bar, you have to fist activate the panel (if it's not active), before using the buttons on the drive bar.

Of course, you don't have to keep all three drive bars visible on the screen, you can hide those you don't use:

To hide or display the main drive bar, choose the Drive bar - Show command from the View menu. To hide or display a panel drive bar, choose the Drive bar command from the Panel menu. You can also click any button on the drive bar with the alternative (usually, right) mouse button, and choose the appropriate command from the menu shown.

You can also drag the drive bar with the mouse to any place on the screen.

As you move the mouse pointer over the buttons on the drive bar, the current drive labels are shown in the tooltips for each button. In addition, the full path to the current folder for the drive is displayed on the status bar (provided that the Show descriptions of commands option is turned on).

To display the current folder of a drive in the active panel, simply click the appropriate button on the drive bar with the left button of the mouse. If you press the Alt key and then click on a button (while the Alt key is pressed), the root folder of the appropriate drive is displayed instead of the current folder. Clicking on a button while the Shift key is pressed makes the passive panel (instead of the active one) display the current folder of the drive. Finally, clicking on a button while pressing both Alt and Shift keys simultaneously displays the root folder of the drive in the passive panel.

Drive menu

Drive menu is another convenient tool that lets you quickly display the current folder of any drive your computer can access.

You can display the drive menu for the active panel using the Folder - Drive command (available also on the panel control menu and as a toolbar button).

You may also find it convenient to use the Alt+F1 and Alt+F2 keys: Alt+F1 displays the drive menu for the first panel (the left or the top one, depending on the way you split the panels); Alt+F2 displays the drive menu for the second (right or bottom) panel.

Network menu

Network menu is a tool that lets you quickly display the contents of the Network Neighborhood folder and quickly navigate to a computer on your network.

You can display the Network menu for the active panel using the Folder - Network command (available also on the panel control menu and as a toolbar button).

You may also find it convenient to use the Ctrl+F1 and Ctrl+F2 keys: Ctrl+F1 displays the Network menu for the first panel (the left or the top one, depending on the way you split the panels); Ctrl+F2 displays the Network menu for the second (right or bottom) panel.

Favorites

You can add the folders you visit often to the Favorites list maintained by AB Commander, by using the Folders - Favorites command. Then you will be able to quickly go to those folders by selecting them from the Favorites list.

You can use the Organize Favorites to modify the items of the Favorites list: you can assign labels to the items, and also make the items set not only the active, but also the passive folder.

Note that although the Favorites list maintained by AB Commander works in almost the same way as the Favorite places feature of Windows Explorer, their contents is completely independent on each other: the changes you make to one of them do not impact the other.

Folder History lists

AB Commander maintains the history lists (also known as the Most Recently Visited Folders lists) that keep track of folders you previously displayed in each of the panels. Whenever you display a contents of a folder in a panel, its full path is added to the history list, at the current position. If you subsequently decide to go to that folder again, you can do so by displaying the history list for that panel and choosing the folder from this list.

You can display the history list for the active panel using the History command on the Folder menu (available also on the panel control menu and as a toolbar button, both on the panel toolbars and on the main toolbar). The current folder is shown in the list using the bold typeface.

You can also use the Previous and Next commands on the Folder menu to quickly move from one folder to another, according to their positions in the history list.

The default setting for maximum size of each list is 20 items, but you can change this setting to any number between 1 and 100, using the View - Options command.

Folder Tree

The Folder Tree window lets you browse the hierarchy of folders of your computer. You can display this window by choosing the Tree command on the Folder menu.

Unlike Windows Explorer, AB Commander lets you control the auto-synchronize mode of the Folder Tree window. For more information on using the Folder Tree window, click here.

AB Commander provides a wide range of commands to make you able to manage your files and folders easily and effectively:

Use the commands of the Folder menu to browse the folders, and see the contents of the folders in the panels. Remember that each panel may display different folder, so that, for example, you can visually compare the contents of two different folders.

Use the commands of the Command menu to copy, move, delete, etc. files and folders displayed in the panels. The files selected in the active panel usually become the source of the operation, and the folder displayed in the passive panel serves as the destination. For example, if you want to copy some files from one folder to another, you would simply display the destination folder in the passive panel, and select the files you want to copy in the active panel. Then, when you choose the Copy command, it would already be set up to copy the files between the folders you want.

Use the commands of the Prompt menu to insert the file names into the command prompt of AB Commander. You can also type the commands into the command prompt directly.

Use the commands of the View menu to customize the appearance of AB Commander to suit your needs. You can, for example, change the font size used to display file listings, colors, show or hide the toolbar, etc.

Use the commands of the Tools menu to perform such commands as Quick Edit: simply select the file which contents you want to see, and choose this command to open it with the Quick Editor.

Use the commands of the Panel menu to customize the appearance of the file panels. You can also use the Set Filter command to limit the set of objects displayed in the panels according to various rules.

Finally, the commands of the Help menu let you display the User's Guide for AB Commander, enter you license key into the program, visit the technical support area at our web site, and so on.

If you have a digital camera or a camcorder, you have probably noticed that when you import your digital images or movies to your computer, more often than not the importing software chooses not very descriptive names for the files, for example:

Would not it be beter to give your digital images the names of your choosing, like Thanksgiving dinner of 2007 - 1.JPG, Thanksgiving dinner of 2007 - 2.JPG, and so on, that better describe what the images are all about?

With AB Commander, you can use the Rename command to quickly rename many files in one step, giving them more descriptive names that make sense to you rather than to your digital camera software.

To do that, first use AB Commander to navigate to the folder when you have improted the digital images or movies, and select the files that belong to the same event. (Remember that you can use the Image Preview command of AB Commander to see the images without starting your digital imaging software.) For example, if you want to rename the images that you took during the Thanksgiving dinner of 2007, select the image files that you took during that event, choose the Rename command, and specify how you want the files to be renamed in the To area:

Note the # symbol at the end of the file name in the To area: you can use it as a placeholder for the image number: when renaming the selected files, AB Commander will replace the # symbol with a number, starting with the one you've specified, incrementing it automatically when renaming the next file. (Of course, for this to work, the Replace # symbol(s) with auto-incrementing number option must be selected.)

AB Commander offers two commands which you may find especially useful if you have two computers, or if you often work with your files on different computers. In such cases, you may often encounter a situation when you have two folders (for example, one on an external USB drive, and another one on the computer's hard disk) that contain almost the same files, but some files in one of such folders have been updated by you.

Instead of manually analyzing the differences between such two folders, you could use the Compare command of AB Commander: simply make the two panels display the two folders you want to compare and choose Compare from the Command menu. When the Compare window is displayed, select the comparison options you want. For example, you can choose to select the newer or unique files that each folder contains. Press OK and AB Commander will compare the dates of the files in each of the folders and highlight the ones that satisfy the comparison criteria you have set.

If you see that one of the folders contains outdated files, and you want both folders to contain the up-to-date information, you can use the Synchronize command on the Command menu: activate the panel that displays the up-to-date folder, and choose Synchronize command from the Command menu. When the Synchronize window appears, set up the desired synchronizing options, and press the Preview button: AB Commander will display a preview window with the list of the proposed changes. If the changes are what you want, press OK and AB Commander will replace the outdated files with the newer ones, and also delete the "orphan" files, if you have selected that option.

Example

Suppose you are going on a trip, and you want to work on the files that are usually located in the folder C:\My Documents\Letters, while away from your office. You take the files with you by copying them from this folder onto a removable drive (such as a floppy or USB disk), and take the drive with you. While you are away from your office, you work with the files on the removable drive: you might modify some of the files, create new files, and delete some other files you no longer need. When you come back, the removable will contain the updated set of files, and the C:\My Documents\Letters folder will have the outdated set of the same files.

To make the folder on your hard drive contain the updated set of files, you can use the Synchronize command. Simply make AB Commander to display the contents of the removable drive in one of its panels, and the contents of the C:\My Documents\Letters folder in the other panel. Now make the panel that displays the removable drive the active one (this tells AB Commander which of the panels displays the up-to-date information) and choose the Synchronize command from the menu. Select the synchronizing options (such as Copy newer files from Active to Passive folder and Delete orphan files from Passive folder) and press the Preview button. AB Commander will display the list of the proposed changes. If you are satisfied with it, press OK and AB Commander will synchronize the C:\My Documents\Letters folder with the contents of the removable drive.

AB Commander includes a built-in file splitter that you can use to split a large file into several smaller segments.

You may find this command of use, for example, if you have a large file that does not fit on a single floppy disk. You would use the Split command of AB Commander to split the file into smaller segments, each of which would fit on a floppy disk. Later on, you could use the Merge command to combine the segments back into the original file.

To use the Split command, simply select the file(s) you want to split in one of the panels of AB Commander, and then choose Split command from the Command menu to display the Split window. There, specify the folder where you want the segments to be created, the base name for the segments, the desired size of the segments, and press OK. AB Commander will create the segments in the folder you have specified. If the destination folder is the floppy disk, you will be prompted to insert a new disk for each new segment. Each segment will be numbered consecutively, by appending a three-digit numeric extension to the base name. (For example, if the base name of the file is Letter.doc, the segments will be named Letter.doc.001, Letter.doc.002, etc.).

Merging the segments back is just as easy. First, select one (or all) of the segments you want to merge in one of the panels of AB Commander. Note that you don't have to select all segments: if you select just one of them (such as Letter.doc.002 in the example above), AB Commander will be processing the segments in the correct order anyway, starting with Letter.doc.001). Now choose the Merge command from the Command menu to display the Merge window. Specify the destination folder and the base name for the merged file, and click OK. AB Commander will take each segment, one by one, and merge them to produce the original file. If the segments are located on the floppy disk, you will be prompted to insert each floppy, as required to merge the segments correctly.

Quick Editor is one of the most convenient tools of AB Commander that may speed up your work with text files considerably. You can use it to quickly view and edit any text file, not necessarily associated with any particular application. This command is especially useful when working with simple text files (such as the files created with Windows Notepad) that contain no formatting information.

To use this command, simply select the text file in question in one of the panels, and choose the Quick Edit command from the Tools menu (or press the Ctrl+Q key combination), and the file will be opened with the Quick Editor for you.

AB Commander includes a full-featured internal Quick Editor that can be used as a complete Notepad replacement within AB Commander. The internal Quick Editor can be used to edit the regular ASCII text files, as well as the Unix text files. On the NT-based versions of Windows (such as Windows 2000, XP) it can also be used to edit Unicode files, including those encoded in the UTF-8 format. The binary files can be viewed with the internal Quick Editor, too, although editing them would be disabled.

You can also set up your favorite text processor as the external Quick Editor (by default, Window Notepad is set up as the external Quick Editor). If you prefer the external Quick Editor, you can use the Quick Edit page of the Options window to set it up as the preferred Quick Editor. The preferred Quick Editor is accessible through the toolbar, menu, and the Ctrl+Q shortcut keys. The other text processor (the alternative one) would still be accessible via the Ctrl+Shift+Q key combination.

CAUTION: Quick Edit is a powerful command that must be used with care. If you use Quick Editor to modify binary files, or files that contain not only text but also formatting information, you can corrupt the files. For example, if you want to change something in a Microsoft Word document (normally, a file name that ends with the .doc extension), open it with Word, not with Quick Editor, to preserve the formatting of the document. (If you simply want to view the raw contents of a Word document, then Quick Editor can be used.) In general, don't use the Quick Editor to modify non-text files, unless you are sure of what you are doing. When in doubt, make a backup copy of a file before modifying it!

A filter is a set of criteria that define which objects should or should not be displayed in a panel. Normally, AB Commander displays all objects of the folders in its panels, according to the system-wide settings (controlled by the Folder Options command of Windows Control Panel). However, AB Commander lets you further restrict the set of objects shown in the panels.

The easiest (and fastest) way to set up a "quick filter" is to enter it directly into the title of the panel by using the Jump command of the Folder menu. For example, to see only the text files with the extension TXT in the folder C:\MyDocs, choose the Folder - Jump command of AB Commander (or just press Ctrl+J) and enter the following into the box:

C:\MyDocs\*.txt

This will make AB Commander to display only the files which names end in .txt. To display the DOC files, choose the Folder - Jump command again and change the text in the Jump box to read:

C:\MyDocs\*.doc

To remove the filter (and make AB Commander to display all files and folders), choose the Folder - Jump command and delete the filter mask *.doc, that is make the text in the panel title bar to read:

C:\MyDocs

AB Commander lets you also specify more complex filters that you can use to include or exclude several file sets, as well as virtual folders, etc. To set up such a filter, use the Set Filter command on the Panel menu. After you have set up such a filter, the title bar of the panel will read:

C:\MyDocs\#

where the # sign indicates that there is complex filter applied to the file listing. To remove such a filter, use the Panel - Remove Filter command, or simply erase the # character from the title bar with the Folder - Jump command.

AB Commander contains the command prompt area that is a convenient tool for running programs that accept command-line switches:

To use the command prompt, first switch the input focus to it (by clicking on the command prompt with the mouse or by pressing the Shift+Esc key combination). Then enter the command you would like to run. Finally, press the Enter key (or click on the Execute button in the status bar), and the command you have entered will be passed to the program for execution.

While constructing the command to execute, you may find it useful to check the commands on the Prompt menu. This menu lets you insert various name and path components of the currently selected object into the command prompt, and thus helps you avoid unnecessary typing. For example, instead of manually typing in the name of a file in the command prompt, you may simply select the file in the panel, and press Ctrl+Ins. AB Commander will type the name of the file into the command prompt for you!

If you use Windows Vista:

If you want to start the command elevated, press the CTRL and SHIFT keys simultaneously while presing ENTER or clicking on the Execute button.

Example

You may learn from the Windows documentation that if you run Windows Notepad with the command line switch /p followed by the name of a file, then Notepad will send the file to the default printer for printing. You can use this property of Windows Notepad to quickly print out text files, without actually opening them. For example, suppose you want to quickly print out a text file named Letter.txt. To do that, type the following into the command prompt:

notepad /p

Now select the file Letter.txt and press Ctrl+Ins: the file name will be added to the command line:

notepad /p Letter.txt

Now press Enter and the file Letter.txt should be printed out!

Notes

Instead of pressing the Ctrl+Ins keys, you can also drag the files from the panels with the mouse and drop them on the command prompt. If you drag-and-drop with the right mouse button, a menu is shown that lets you select the form of the file name or path you want to insert into the command prompt.

While entering the command into the command prompt, you can still use the Tab key to change the active panel, and also the Ctrl+Up Arrow / Ctrl+Down Arrow keys to move the current selection in the active panel.

When executing the command, AB Commander imitates the behavior of the MS-DOS command prompt by setting up the current drive and current directory to match the folder that is currently displayed in the active panel. This lets you avoid typing the names of the files and folders when entering commands into the command prompt. In addition, unless you turned off the Expand drive letters option, you can refer to the current folders on other drives using just the drive specifications (that is, the drive letter followed by a semicolon). For example, if the last visited folder on the drive D: was D:\Temp, and the command prompt contains the text:

notepad /p d:Letter.txt

then the drive specification d: will be replaced with D:\Temp\, and the actual command executed by AB Commander would be:

notepad /p D:\Temp\Letter.txt

no matter which folders are currently displayed by the panels.

You can use the Tools - Image Preview command to open a window to preview images stored in the files. When you use this command, the Image Viewer window is displayed, which shows the image you have selected. You can view the images in the full-screen mode, and if you have several images in the same folder, you can view them as a slide show.

Note: The types of the images which can be displayed by the Image Preview command of AB Commander depends on the versions of Windows and Internet Explorer which are installed on your computer. For example, the very first version of Windows 95 without Internet Explorer upgrades can display only the BMP files. Later versions of Windows and Internet Explorer provide support for displaying other types of the images, such as JPG, GIF, etc. As a rule of thumb, if you can view a particular image with Internet Explorer, you should be able to view it with the Image Viewer of AB Commander as well.

AB Commander lets you customize its appearance and operation to suit your personal working style and preferences. Here is a few examples of what you can do:

Select the single-click or double-click activation

You can select the way of opening files and folders with the mouse by selecting the appropriate options on the Panels page of the Options window.

Change the size of the font used to display file names

You can increase or decrease the size of the font, or select a different font altogether with the Font command of the View menu.

Choose custom colors for the file panels

You can select the colors you like most with the Text Color and Background Color commands of the View menu.

Add and remove buttons to/from the toolbars

Simply right-click on the toolbar you want to change and choose the Customize Toolbar command from the popup menu. Then use the Customize Toolbar window to add or remove buttons to/from the toolbar, or to change the order of the existing buttons.

Change the positions and orientation the toolbars and drive bars

You can drag the toolbars and drive bars with the mouse to "dock" them along the vertical or horizontal sides of AB Commander.

Disable the "quick rename" feature

Do you find it annoying that Windows always offers you to rename a file when you click on its name, even if all you want to do is select it? Well, with AB Commander you can stop that from happening, by clearing the Allow quick rename option on the Panels page of the Options window.

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AB Commander offers the following keyboard shortcuts that you can use instead of choosing the commands from the menus:

To	Press
Open Help for AB Commander	F1
Open the selected folder or file	Enter
Run the selected program as administrator (Windows Vista only)	Ctrl+Shift+Enter
Navigate to the parent folder	Backspace
Navigate to the root folder of the current drive	Alt+Backspace, Ctrl+\
Navigate to the My Computer folder	Alt+Shift+Backspace
Navigate to the Desktop folder	Shift+Backspace
Synchronize panel with the opposite one	Alt+ =
Go to the previous folder in the History list	Alt+Left Arrow
Go to the next folder in the History list	Alt+Right Arrow
Display the Favorites list	Ctrl+O
Add to Favorites	Shift+F
Display the History list	Ctrl+H
Display the Folder Tree window	Ctrl+T
Display the prompt for the folder to go to	Ctrl+G
Enter a folder to jump to in the title	Ctrl+J, Alt+D
Display the drive menu	Ctrl+D
Display the drive menu for the first panel	Alt+F1
Display the drive menu for the second panel	Alt+F2
Display the Network menu	Ctrl+W
Display the Network menu for the first panel	Ctrl+F1
Display the Network menu for the second panel	Ctrl+F2
Run the Quick Editor	Ctrl+Q
Create a new folder	Ctrl+N
Find files	Ctrl+F
Display the Image Preview window	Ctrl+I
Copy files and/or folders	Shift+C
Move files and/or folders	Shift+M
Rename files and/or folders	Shift+R
Delete files and/or folders	Shift+D
Compare folders	Shift+O
Synchronize folders	Shift+Z
Create a printable or importable list of objects	Shift+L
Copy List to Clipboard	Ctrl+Shift+ L
Copy Name to Clipboard	Ctrl+Shift+N
Copy Path to Clipboard	Ctrl+Shift+P
Copy Name Alias to Clipboard	Ctrl+Shift+Alt+N
Copy Path Alias to Clipboard	Ctrl+Shift+Alt+P
Select files and/or folders by a mask	Shift+S
Invert selection	Shift+I
Select all objects of the active folder	Ctrl+A
Deselect all objects of the active folder	Esc
Switch to/from the command prompt	Shift+Esc
Clear the command prompt	Ctrl+Del
Insert the file name into the command prompt	Ctrl+Ins
Insert the full path into the command prompt	Shift+Ins
Insert the 8.3 name into the command prompt	Ctrl+Alt+Ins
Insert the 8.3 path into the command prompt	Shift+Alt+Ins
Undo last insert into the command prompt	Alt+Del
Open the Options dialog	Ctrl+P
Switch to/from the full-screen mode	Ctrl+S
Maximize/restore the main window	Ctrl+M
Reduce the main window to a taskbar icon	Ctrl+Break
Refresh main window and both panels	F5
Store columns	Ctrl+Alt+U
Restore columns	Ctrl+U
Set filter for the active panel	Ctrl+L
Remove filter from the active panel	Ctrl+Alt+L
Maximize/split the active panel	Ctrl+Alt+M
Split the panels horizontally	Ctrl+Alt+H
Split the panels vertically	Ctrl+Alt+V
Swap the panels	Ctrl+Alt+P
Refresh the active panel	Ctrl+R
Activate the passive panel	Tab, Shift+Tab
Activate the next window	Ctrl+Tab
Activate the previous window	Ctrl+Shift+Tab
Cut selected objects to the Clipboard	Ctrl+X
Copy selected objects to the Clipboard	Ctrl+C
Paste objects from the Clipboard	Ctrl+V
Exit AB Commander	Alt+F4

If the Use Norton Commander keys option is selected, then the following keyboard shortcuts may also be used. Note that some of them override the shortcuts listed above.

To	Press
Run the Quick Editor	F4
Copy files and/or folders	F5
Move files and/or folders	F6
Create a new folder	F7
Delete files and/or folders	F8
Exit AB Commander	F10
Display the drive menu for the first panel	Alt+F1
Display the drive menu for the second panel	Alt+F2
Find files	Alt+F7
Display the History list	Alt+F8
Display the Folder Tree window	Alt+F10
Navigate to the root folder of the current drive	Ctrl+\

You can control which folders are initially displayed in the panels of AB Commander when it starts up, by supplying appropriate command line arguments to the file abcmdr.exe using the following syntax:

[path]abcmdr.exe [path1[,path2]]

where path1 is the fully qualified path to the folder to be shown in the first panel (the left or the top one, depending on the way you split the panels), and path2 is the path to the folder to be shown in the second panel.

If you don't supply path1 or path2, the panels will display the most recently visited folders.

Note that both long and short (8.3) path of a folder can be used for path1 and path2, however if the path contains spaces, it must be enclosed in double quotes. Note also that you can also specify the startup folders via the Startup options of AB Commander.

You can also force AB Commander to display virtual folders in its panels, using the syntax:

::{CLSID1}[\::{CLSID2}[...]]

in place of path1 and/or path2. The CLSID1, etc. should be replaced with the appropriate CLSID of the virtual folder. For example, ::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D} may be used to refer to the My Computer virtual folder, and ::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\::{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} may be used to refer to the Control Panel virtual folder (which is a subfolder of the My Computer folder).

You can also use the following command line switches to control how the main window of AB Commander should be displayed at startup:

/minimize - the main window should be "minimized" and displayed as a button on Windows Taskbar;

/maximize - the main window should be "maximized" to fill all available screen space

/iconize - the main window should be displayed as an icon in the "Taskbar notification area", next to the system clock.

Note that you cannot combine the /minimize, /maximize, or /iconize switch with the path1,path2 arguments described above. Note also that you can also specify the startup window display via the Startup options of AB Commander.

Example 1

"C:\Program Files\WinAbility\AB Commander XP\abcmdr.exe" C:\Temp,"C:\My Documents"

will cause AB Commander to display the contents of the folders C:\Temp and C:\My Documents in its panels.

Example 2

abcmdr.exe "C:\Program Files",::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\::{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}

will cause AB Commander to display the contents of the C:\Program Files folder in the first panel, and the contents of Windows Control Panel in the second panel.

The Folder menu of AB Commander offers the following commands that you can use to navigate your computer:

Selected

Navigates to the folder selected in the active panel, or opens the currently selected file.

Note: You can also press the Enter key or double-click on the selected object to perform this command.

Parent

Navigates to the parent folder (one level up), if possible. This command is not available if the Desktop is the active folder (since the Desktop folder has no parent folder).

Root

Navigates to the root folder of the current drive, if possible. For example, if the panel is displaying the contents of the folder C:\Program Files\WinAbility\AB Commander, then the Root command will cause the panel to display the root folder on the C: drive. The same result can be also achieved by using the Parent command several times in a row.

Desktop

Navigates to the Desktop folder. The same result can be also achieved by using the Parent command several times in a row.

Match

Navigates to the folder that is currently displayed in the passive panel.

Previous

Navigates to the folder that was previously displayed in the active panel.

Next

Navigates to the next folder in the history list.

Favorites

Displays the Favorite Folders list of AB Commander.

History

Displays the Most Recently Visited Folders (History) list for the active panel.

Tree

Displays the Folder Tree window.

Go to

Displays the Go to Folder window that you can use to type in the path to the folder (or select one of the Windows "special" folders).

Jump

Lets you navigate to a folder by entering its path directly into the panel title.

Drive

Displays the drive menu.

Network

Displays the Network menu.

Exit

Exits AB Commander.

The Command menu of AB Commander offers the following commands that you can use to manage your files and folders:

Copy

Opens the Copy window that you can use to copy files from one folder to another. This command does NOT copy the selected objects to the clipboard, unlike the Edit - Copy command offered by Windows Explorer.

Move

Opens the Move window that you can use to move files from one folder to another.

Rename

Opens the Rename window that you can use to rename files.

Delete

Opens the Delete window that you can use to delete files or move them to the Recycle Bin.

Split

Opens the Split window that you can use to split large files into several smaller segments.

Merge

Opens the Merge window that you can use to merge file segments back into the original files.

Compare

Opens the Compare window that you can use to compare the contents of the folders.

Synchronize

Opens the Synchronize window that you can use to synchronize the contents of the folders.

List

Opens the List window that you can use to create a printable list of the files displayed in the active panel.

Stamp

Opens the Stamp window that you can use to change the time stamp of a file.

Copy to Clipboard

Copies the attributes of the selected objects onto the Clipboard.

Select

Opens the Select window that you can use to select or deselect groups of files using the "wildcards".

Invert Selection

Inverts selection of objects in the active panel.

Select All

Selects all objects in the active panel.

Deselect All

Deselects all objects in the active panel.

The Prompt menu of AB Commander offers the following commands that you can use to control the appearance of AB Commander:

Toolbar - Show

Toggles (shows or hides) the main toolbar.

Toolbar - Customize

Opens the Customize Toolbar window for the main toolbar.

Drive bar - Show

Toggles the Drive bar.

Drive bar - Reset

Resets the Drive bar. Use this command after adding or removing the logical drives, if the Drive bar does not update itself automatically.

Status bar - Show

Toggles the main status bar, that contains the command prompt and the indicators.

Status bar - Indicators

Opens the Status bar Indicators window.

Font - System

Switches to the system font to display file names.

Font - Custom

Selects a custom font to display file names.

Text Color - System

Switches to the system color to display file names.

Text Color - Custom

Selects a custom color to display file names.

Background Color - System

Switches to the system background color to display file names.

Background Color - Custom

Selects a custom background color to display file names.

Options

Opens the Options for AB Commander window.

Full Screen

Switches the view to/from the full-screen mode.

Maximize/Restore

Switches the main window to/from the maximized mode. This command has the same effect as the Maximize/Restore button in the title bar.

Iconize

Hides the main window and displays an icon in the taskbar notification area. You can then click on the icon with the mouse to restore the main window in its original position.

Refresh All

Updates the main window and both panels.

The Tools menu of AB Commander offers the following commands:

Quick Edit (Preferred)

Opens the selected file with the preferred Quick Editor.

Quick Edit (Alternative)

Opens the selected file with the alternative Quick Editor.

New Folder

Opens the New Folder window.

Find files

Opens the Find Files or Folders window. This command has the same effect as the Windows' Find command (accessible from Windows shortcut menu).

Image Preview

Opens the Image Preview window.

Folder Options

Opens the Folder Options window. This command has the same effect as the Folder Options command of Windows Control Panel.

Command prompt window

Opens the Command prompt window. If you use Windows Vista, you can press CTRL and SHIFT keys while choosing this command to open the elevated command prompt window.

Restart as Administrator/as Standard User

If you use Windows Vista with User Account Control (UAC) enabled, you can use this command to restart AB Commander elevated (with the administrator rights) or restricted (with the standard user rights). This command is not available if you run Windows XP or an earlier version of Windows.

Import settings

Loads the previously saved settings from a file created with the Export Settings command.

Export settings

Saves the current settings into a file. The settings saved into a file contain all configuration data of AB Commander, including the positions and sizes of the widows, toolbars, colors, history lists, options, and all other customizable aspects of AB Commander. Later you can load the settings back from the file using the Import settings command.

Map Network drive

Opens the Map Network drive window.

Disconnect Network drive

Opens the Disconnect Network drive window.

The Panel menu of AB Commander offers the following commands that you can use to control the appearance of the file panels:

Next

Activates the passive panel. You can also press the Tab key to activate the opposite panel.

Title bar

Toggles (shows or hides) the title bar of the active panel.

Toolbar

Toggles the panel toolbar of the active panel.

Drive bar

Toggles the panel drive bar of the active panel.

Status bar

Toggles the panel status bar of the active panel.

Customize Panel Toolbar

Opens the Customize Toolbar window for the toolbar of the active panel.

Reset Panel Drive bar

Resets the panel drive bar of the active panel.

Store columns

Remembers the current set of the columns displayed in the active panel, for use by the Restore columns command. (This command is available with Windows Vista (and later) only, and only for the file system folders). More information...

Restore columns

Restores the columns of the active panel as they were the last time you used the Store columns command. (This command is available with Windows Vista (and later) only, and only for the file system folders). More information...

Set Filter

Opens the Filter window for the active panel.

Remove Filter

Removes filter from the active panel.

Maximize/Split

Maximizes the active panel; or, if it is already maximized, restores the original split position.

Split Vertically

Tiles the panels vertically.

Split Horizontally

Tiles the panels horizontally.

Swap panels

Swaps the panels so that each panel takes the other's place.

Refresh

Refreshes the contents of the active panel.

The Help menu of AB Commander offers the following commands:

Help Topics

Opens the index to topics on which you can get help.

Welcome

Opens the Welcome screen of AB Commander.

Tip of the Day

Opens the Tip of the Day window.

System Information

Displays the information about the system and computer you are using, such as the Windows version, processor type, physical RAM, etc.

Is this copy legal?

Opens the license check area of WinAbility.Com web site in your default web browser.

Enter License Key

Displays the registration information for your copy of AB Commander.

Buy Now

Opens the Online Store of WinAbility.Com web site in your default web browser.

Upgrade

Opens the Upgrade Center of WinAbility.Com web site in your default web browser.

Support

Opens the customer support area of WinAbility.Com web site in your default web browser.

WinAbility.Com

Opens WinAbility.Com web site in your default web browser.

About AB Commander

Displays the copyright notice and version number of your copy of AB Commander.

This window is displayed when you choose the Organize Favorites command from the Favorites menu. You can use this window to modify the Favorites menu of AB Commander. This window contains the following areas:

Move

Use these buttons to move the currently selected item up or down in the list.

New

Press this button to create a new command to be added to the Favorites list. The new command is inserted directly above the currently selected item. You can modify the properties of the newly created item with the Create Favorite Item window.

Modify

Press this button to modify the properties of the currently selected item. This command will open the Modify Favorite Item window for the selected item.

Delete

Press this button to delete the currently selected item.

Delete All

Press this button to delete all items from the current Favorites list.

This window is displayed when you press the New or Modify buttons on the Organize Favorites window of AB Commander. This window contains the following areas:

Label

Enter the text you want to be displayed on the Favorites menu for this item. If you leave this area empty, the path entered in the Folder for the Active panel area would be displayed on the menu.

Folder for the Active panel

Enter the path to the folder you want to be displayed in the active panel when you choose this command from the Favorites menu. If a virtual folder is set up for this area, you would not be able to edit it directly; in this case, use the Browse button (the button next to this area with the dots ... on it) to locate the folder you want. You can also press the X button to reset this folder to the Desktop folder.

Folder for the Passive panel

Enter the path to the folder you want to be displayed in the passive panel when you choose this command from the Favorites menu. If a virtual folder is set up for this area, you would not be able to edit it directly; in this case, use the Browse button (the button next to this area with the dots ... on it) to locate the folder you want. You can also press the X button to clear this area; in this case the passive folder would not be set by this command.

This window is displayed when you choose the Go to command from the Folder menu. You can use this window to type in a path to the folder you want to navigate to, or to quickly navigate to one of the special folders of Windows. A special folder is a folder used by Windows for special purposes. For example, the Desktop folder is used to store the items displayed on the Desktop, the Start Menu folder is used by Windows to keep the shortcuts that appear on the Start Menu, and so on. Note that the content of the list depends on the version of Windows that you use, as well as on the configuration of the user's accounts that you have set up.

This window is displayed when you choose the Tree command from the Folder menu. You can use this window to navigate to the folder you would like to display in the active panel. This dialog box contains the following areas:

To use the Folder Tree window, simply locate the folder you want to navigate to and press Enter (or double-click on the selected folder) to make the active panel display the contents of that folder. Note that this will also close the Folder Tree windoiw, as well.

If you don't want the Folder Tree window to close when you use it to navigate to a folder, press the Ctrl+Enter key combination, or the Match button on the toolbar of the Folder Tree window.

You can also use the Auto-Match button on the toolbar to turn the auto-match mode on or off. When the auto-match mode is turned on, then the active panel will navigate to the selected folder automatically as soon as you select it in the Folder Tree window.

This window is displayed when you choose the Copy command from the Command menu. You can Use this window to copy one or more files and/or folders from the active folder into some other (or the same) folder. This window contains the following areas:

Selection/File/Folder

This read-only area displays information about the objects to be copied.

From Folder

This read-only area displays the full path to the active folder that contains the source files and folders to be copied.

To Folder

The full path to the destination folder. This area is initialized with the path to the passive folder, but you can change it to any other folder. If you clear this area, the destination folder is assumed to be the same as the source folder.

Rename To

The new name or mask to rename the destination object(s) during copying. If this area is empty, or contains the *.* mask, no renaming occurs.

This window is displayed when you choose the Move command from the Command menu. You can Use this window to move one or more files and/or folders from the active folder into some other (or the same) folder. This window contains the following areas:

Selection/File/Folder

This read-only area displays information about the objects to be moved.

From Folder

This read-only area displays the full path to the active folder that contains the source files and folders to be moved.

To Folder

The full path to the destination folder. This area is initialized with the path to the passive folder, but you can change it to any other folder. If you clear this area, the destination folder is assumed to be the same as the source folder.

Rename To

The new name or mask to rename the destination object(s) during the operation. If this area is empty, or contains the *.* mask, no renaming occurs.

This window is displayed when you choose the Rename command from the Command menu. You can use this window to rename one or more files in the active folder. In order to use this command, first select one or more files you want to rename in the active panel; the renaming will not occur for the files that you did not select. This window contains the following areas:

Selection/File/Folder

This read-only area displays information about the objects to be renamed.

In Folder

This read-only area displays the full path to the active folder that contains the source files to be renamed.

From

The file name or mask that specifies the set of files which should be renamed. The star character (*) means "any character" and can appear in place of the file name, extension, or both. For example, *.doc means "any file with any name and the extension doc"; Letter.* means "any file with the name Letter and any extension"; *.* means "any file", and Letter.doc means only one particular file named Letter.doc. Note that the mask applies only to the files you have selected in the active panel before choosing the Rename command from the menu. The the files that you did not select will not be renamed even if their file names match the mask. If you want the mask to apply to all files of the active folder, select all of them before choosing the Rename command from the menu.

To

The new name or mask to rename the destination object(s) during the operation. (See the Remarks section below for more information). If this area is empty, or contains the *.* mask, no renaming occurs.

Use "star-for-star" mask matching

If this option is selected, then the "star-for-star" mask matching is used when renaming the files. If this option is not selected, then the "traditional" mask matching is used. (See the Remarks section below for more information).

Replace # symbol(s) with auto-incrementing number

If selected, this option causes AB Commander to replace the # symbols (if specified in the file name of the To area) with consecutive numbers, starting with the value you have specified. If you enter several # symbols next to each other, AB Commander will pad the resulting value to the left with zeros, as needed, when renaming the files. For example, if the value of the file counter happens to be 15 for a particular file, then ### will be replaced with 015. However if the actial size of the counter exceeds the number of #'s you've specified, the full number will be used.

If this option is not selected, then each # symbol in the destination file name is treated just like any other character.

Reuse the starting value

If this option is selected, then AB Commander will remember the starting value you have specified and use it again the next time you use the Rename command. If this option is cleared, then AB Commander will advance the starting value to the next unused number, ready for use the next time you choose the Rename command.

Remarks

When renaming several files in the same operation, the new name of each file is formed based on the existing name of the file, the masks entered in the From and To area, and whether the "star-for-star" mask matching option has been selected or not. The basic algorithm of making a new name is as follows:

1. The contents of the To mask is separated into two components, the first part is used to produce the new "name", the second one is used to produce the new "name extension" (separated with a dot).

2. In each of the two components, the star character (*) is replaced with the appropriate part of the existing file name component. If the "star-for-star" mask matching option has NOT been selected, then the "traditional" mask matching is performed: the star character is replaced with the whole existing file name component. If the "star-for-star" mask matching option has BEEN selected, then the star character is replaced with the part of the existing file name component that matches the star character in the From mask. (See examples below).

3. The two new "name" and "name extension" components are combined together to make the new "full" file name, which is assigned to the file.

For example, suppose the active panel contains the following two files which you want to rename:

• ABC1.TXT
• ABC2.ASC

and you have entered the following masks into the Rename dialog:

• From: ABC*.*
• To: DEF*GHI.*

If the Use "star-for-star" mask matching option is cleared, the when renaming the file ABC1.TXT, the first star character in the mask DEF*GHI.* is replaced with the whole original "name", ABC1, and the second star is replaced with the existing "name extension" TXT, which produces the new name DEFABC1GHI.TXT. For the second file, ABC2.ASC, the same procedure gives the new name DEFABC2GHI.ASC.

If, however, the Use "star-for-star" mask matching option is checked, then the From mask ABC*.* is applied to the file, ABC1.TXT, and the first star in that mask gets the value of 1, while the second star gets TXT. These values are substituted in place of the stars of the To mask, making the new name for this file to be DEF1GHI.TXT. When the same From mask is applied to the second file, ABC2.ASC, the stars get the values 2 and ASC, appropriately, which, after being applied to the To mask, produce the new name for the second file: DEF2GHI.ASC

This window is displayed when you choose the Delete command from the Command menu. You can Use this window to delete one or more files and/or folders from the active folder. This window contains the following areas:

Selection/File/Folder

This read-only area displays information about the objects to be deleted.

From Folder

This read-only area displays the full path to the active folder that contains the source files and folders to be deleted.

Move to the Recycle Bin

If this option is checked, then the file is moved into Windows Recycle Bin (which you can use to recover the deleted files in case you need them later on, unless the Recycle Bin has been emptied before, of course). If this option is not selected, then the file is being actually deleted, bypassing the Recycle Bin. Please be very careful when clearing this option, because if you delete a file without moving it to the Recycle Bin, it may be impossible to recover it!

Keep in mind also, that Windows maintains the Recycle Bin on the hard drives only. If you delete a file from a removable or a mapped network drive, it will NOT be moved to the Recycle Bin even if you select this option!

This window is displayed when you choose the Split command from the Command menu. You can use this window to split the selected files into file segments of smaller size. This window contains the following areas:

Selection/File

This read-only area displays information about the selected file(s) that will be split by this command.

From Folder

This read-only area displays the full path to the active folder that contains the source file(s) to be split.

To Folder

The full path to the destination folder. This area is initialized with the path to the passive folder, but you can change it to any other folder. If you clear this area, the destination folder is assumed to be the same as the source folder.

Rename To

The new name or mask to rename the file segments. If this area is empty, or contains the *.* mask, no renaming occurs. Note that the numeric three-digit extension will be added to the name of each segment automatically.

Delete source file(s) when done

If this option is checked, the original files would be deleted after they have been split into the segments.

Segment size

Enter the size of the segments you want the file(s) to be split into. If only one file is selected for splitting, the area below this box will display the number of the resulting segments and the size of the last segment.

This window is displayed when you choose the Merge command from the Command menu. You can use this window to merge the selected file segments back into the original file(s). This window contains the following areas:

Segments of

This read-only area displays information about the selected segments that will be merged by this command.

From Folder

This read-only area displays the full path to the active folder that contains the source file segments to be merged.

To Folder

The full path to the destination folder. This area is initialized with the path to the passive folder, but you can change it to any other folder. If you clear this area, the destination folder is assumed to be the same as the source folder.

Rename To

The new name or mask to rename the destination file(s) to. If this area is empty, or contains the *.* mask, no renaming occurs. Note that the three-digit numeric extension that was appended to the names of the segments will be removed from the name of the merged file automatically.

Delete source file(s) when done

If this option is checked, the original file segments would be deleted after they have been merged into the file.

This window is displayed when you choose the Compare command from the Command menu. You can use this window to compare the contents of the folders shown in the opposite panels. This window contains the following areas:

Active folder

Displays the path to the folder currently opened in the active panel, as well as the type of the file system of the volume where the folder is located. This area also contains options that you can use to specify which files should be selected in the active panel after the comparison is done.

Passive folder

Displays the path to the folder currently opened in the passive panel, as well as the type of the file system of the volume where the folder is located. This area also contains options that you can use to specify which files should be selected in the passive panel after the comparison is done.

Include subfolders

If selected, this option makes AB Commander to compare the appropriate subfolders of the active and passive folders. If not selected, only files are compared.

Ignore Daylight Savings time differences

If selected, this option causes AB Commander to ignore the difference of exactly 3600 seconds (1 hour) in the last modification time of the files that have the same name and size and treat such files as if they have been modified at the same time. You may want to select this option if your computer is configured to adjust its clock automatically when entering and leaving the Daylight Savings time period.

Ignore time differences less than...

If selected, this option causes AB Commander to ignore the specified difference in the last modification time of the files that have the same name and size and treat such files as if they have been modified at the same time. You may want to use this option if you are storing the copies of the files on a server, and the server for some reason changes the last modification time of the files by a few seconds or a fraction of a second (servers do that in some cases, they probably have good reasons for that).

This window is displayed when you choose the Synchronize command from the Command menu. You can use this window to synchronize the contents of the folder shown in the passive panel (the outdated folder) with the contents of the folder shown in the active panel (the up-to-date folder). This window contains the following areas:

Active folder

Displays the path to the folder currently opened in the active panel. This folder is supposed to contain the updated set of files.

Passive folder

Displays the path of the folder currently opened in the passive panel. This folder is supposed to contain the outdated set of files.

Copy newer files from Active to Passive folder

If selected, this option makes AB Commander copy the updated (including the newly created) files from the active to the passive folder. If the passive folder contains older versions of the files from the active folder, they will be replaced with their newer versions from the active folder.

Delete orphan files from Passive folder

If selected, this option makes AB Commander delete those files from the passive folder, which do not exist in the active folder (the orphan files).

Note: This option is enabled and used only if you are synchronizing all object of the active panel. To prevent accidental deletion of the files, this option is disabled and not used if not all objects are selected in the active panel.

Ignore Daylight Savings time differences

If selected, this option causes AB Commander to ignore the difference of exactly 3600 seconds (1 hour) in the last modification time of the files that have the same name and size and treat such files as if they have been modified at the same time. You may want to select this option if your computer is configured to adjust its clock automatically when entering and leaving the Daylight Savings time period.

Ignore time differences less than...

If selected, this option causes AB Commander to ignore the specified difference in the last modification time of the files that have the same name and size and treat such files as if they have been modified at the same time. You may want to use this option if you are storing the copies of the files on a server, and the server for some reason changes the last modification time of the files by a few seconds or a fraction of a second (servers do that in some cases, they probably have good reasons for that).

Include subfolders

If selected, this option makes AB Commander synchronize the appropriate subfolders of the active and passive folders. If not selected, only files in the displayed active and passive folders are synchronized.

Delete orphan objects from subfolders

If selected, this option makes AB Commander delete those objects from the subfolders of the passive folder, which do not exist in the appropriate subfolders of the active folder (the orphan objects).

Note: this option is disabled and not used if the Include subfolders option (see above) is not checked.

Skip preview always

If selected, this option makes AB Commander synchronize the folders without displaying the proposed changes in a separate window for your review and approval. Use this option only when you are absolutely sure about the synchronization results! Note that AB Commander remembers the selection you make for this option and uses it the next time you use the Synchronize command; please always check the status of this selection, to make sure it's what you want!

Skip preview this time only

If selected, this option makes AB Commander synchronize the folders without displaying the proposed changes in a separate window for your review and approval. However, the next time you use the Synchronize command this option reverts to the unselected state, to prevent you from accidentally skipping preview next time. Use this option only when you are absolutely sure about the synchronization results!

If neither the Skip preview always nor Skip preview this time only option is not selected, then when you press the Preview button, AB Commander will compare the folders displayed in the active and passive folders (no files will be copied or deleted during this phase!) and present you with the list of changes it is about to make. Only after you have confirmed the operation, AB Commander will actually perform the synchronization of folders.

This window is displayed when you choose the List command from the Command menu. You can use this window to create a printable or importable list of the objects shown in the active folder. This window contains the following areas:

Selected objects only

If selected, this option causes only the objects currently selected in the active panel to be included in the list.

All objects

If selected, this option causes all objects shown in the active panel to be included in the list.

Field delimiter

Lets you choose the character that should be used to separate fields in the list.

Include Header on First Row

If selected, this option causes the names of the fields to be added as the first row of the list.

Text Qualifier

Lets you select the character to be used as the text qualifier.

Limit Name length to ... characters

If selected, this option causes the names of the objects to contain no more than the number of characters entered. (If the name of an object is longer, it is truncated).

Copy to Clipboard

If selected, this option causes the list of the objects to be copied to the Windows Clipboard. You can then paste the list into a word processor or text editor for further formatting or printing.

Save to File

If selected, this option causes the list of the objects to be saved in a file. You can later import the list form the file into your spreadsheet or database application, or print it out.

This window is displayed when you choose the Stamp command from the Command menu. You can use this window to to change the time stamp of the files and/or folders selected in the active folder. This window contains the following areas:

Selection/File/Folder

This read-only area displays information about the objects to be stamped.

In Folder

This read-only area displays the full path to the active folder that contains the objects to be stamped.

Include subfolders

If this option is checked, and a subfolder is selected, then the files that belong to the subfolder will be stamped as well.

New Date

Enter a new date to be used when modifying the time stamp of the selected objects. If you don't want the date to be modified, clear this area.

New Time

Enter a new time to be used when modifying the time stamp of the selected objects. If you don't want the time to be modified, clear this area.

Apply to the attributes

Check the attributes to which you want the new date and/or time to be applied.

Notes

- It may seem that the Stamp command does not modify the Accessed time correctly. However, the reason for that is that the Accessed time is updated by Windows when you view the properties of the file. So, if you view the properties of the file after having used the Stamp command, its Accessed time would already be updated by Windows.

- If you use a DOS-based version of Windows, such as Windows 95, 98, ME, then the time stamp of the folders cannot be changed. This limitation does not apply if you use a Windows NT-based version wuch as Windows 2000, XP, or later.

This window is displayed when you choose the Select command from the Command menu. You can use this window to select or de-select a group of files and/or folders (based on a mask) in the active panel. This window contains the following areas:

Mask

The mask that specifies the file names of the objects to select or de-select. The mask can contain the "wildcards". (This area is not used with the Select All and Deselect All commands).

Apply to Files

If checked, this option causes the selected operation to be applied to files. (This area is not used with the Select All and Deselect All commands).

Apply to Folders

If checked, this option causes the selected operation to be applied to folders. (This area is not used with the Select All and Deselect All commands).

This window is displayed when you choose the Toolbar - Customize command from the View menu. You can use this window to change the set of buttons displayed on the main toolbar or on the panel toolbars. This window contains the following areas:

Available buttons

The list of buttons that can be placed on the toolbar.

Toolbar buttons

The list of buttons that the toolbar currently contains.

You can use the mouse to drag buttons between these lists. Pressing the Reset button restores the toolbar to its original state, as it was when you first installed AB Commander.

This window is displayed when you choose the Status bar - Indicators command from the View menu. You can use this window to change the set of indicators displayed on the Status bar. This window contains the following areas:

Progress bar

This indicator can be used by shell extensions to display their progress while performing lengthy operations. It is not currently used by AB Commander or Windows Explorer, but it can be used by shell extensions that know how to use it.

Keys (CAPS, NUM, SCRL)

These indicators show the current state of the CAPS, NUM, and SCRL keys.

Memory usage

This indicator shows the percentage of physical RAM (Random Access Memory) used by all currently running processes, including AB Commander and the operating system itself. If it shows 100% (or close to 100%) while you perform your regular tasks, you may want to add more RAM to your computer.

Free drive space

This indicator shows the amount of free space on the active drive (that is, the drive associated with the folder that is currently displayed in the active panel). If the folder currently shown in the active panel is not a real folder, this indicator does not report anything.

File size

This indicator shows the size of the currently focused file in bytes. If the currently focused item is not a file, or the file is not accessible, this indicator does not report anything.

Number of objects

This indicator shows the total number of objects currently displayed in the active panel). If more than one object is selected in the panel, then this indicator shows the number of the selected objects.

Date

This indicator shows the current date, using the system-wide format, as defined by the Control Panel.

Time

This indicator shows the current time, using the system-wide format, as defined by the Control Panel.

This window is displayed when you choose the Options command from the View menu. You can use this window to customize various aspects of appearance and operation of AB Commander. This window contains the following pages:

• General
• Startup
• Panels
• Quick Edit
• Hot Key
• Drag-and-drop
• Misc

This page is displayed when you select the General tab on the Options window. You can use this page to customize various aspects of operation of AB Commander. This page contains the following areas:

Open folders with AB Commander rather than Windows Explorer

Check this option