[guispeak] Announcing FileDir 1.0--a free, powerful & friendly file/directory manager

  • From: Jamal Mazrui <empower@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: uaccess-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, guispeak@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, program-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, programming@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2007 14:41:09 -0500 (EST)

Now available at

FileDir 1.0
Released January 1, 2007

FileDir, a file and directory manager, is intended to be a generally
superior alternative to Windows Explorer or My Computer for managing a
computer file system in an efficient, accessible manner.  It is
particularly designed to optimize productivity by users of the JAWS or
Window-Eyes screen readers.  Familiar features of Windows Explorer are
replicated for starting functionality and ease of learning.  FileDir then
adds much in power and convenience.

Developed in the C# language, the FileDir application requires the .NET
Framework 2.0 to run.  This is a free Microsoft download from

FileDir features include the following:

*  Open any number of directory views in a standard Multiple Document
Interface (MDI), where Control+Tab cycles among open windows and
Control+F4 closes one.  F4 also lets you pick from a list of those
currently open.

*  A standard ListBox rather than ListView control is used to display
files and subfolders, so the interface is more streamlined and responsive
then Windows Explorer.

*  With single, mnemonic keystrokes, start verbalizing a file or inspect
its size, date, or other attributes.

*  Tag files or folders in various ways.  Unlike selection in Windows
Explorer, an accidental change of focus in the list does not affect the
set of tagged items, and the Control key does not have to be held down to
preserve tags while navigating.

*  Via speech, list all files in the current folder, or just the tagged
ones -- regardless of how many are visible on the screen.

*  Zip and unzip files, or navigate within a ZIP archive with the same
interface as regular folders.

*  Convert various file formats to plain text, including Microsoft Word,
Excel, PowerPoint, Adobe PDF, Windows Help, Rich Text Format, and HTML.

*  Capture the full path of a file or set of files to the clipboard for
convenient pasting into dialogs of other applications.

*  Combine multiple files into a single compound document.

*  Filter files in the current folder based on a wild card specification.

*  Jump to a file in the current folder based on part of its name or words
in its body.  Multiple keyword terms are possible, where a match may
require either all terms or any one of them.

*  Navigate among the subset of tagged files, e.g, going to the next
tagged file, skipping over untagged ones.

*  Go quickly to another drive, arriving in the folder and on the file
that last had focus there.

*  Create a shortcut to any file or folder, and invoke a list of them with
a single key.

*  Start an email message with the textual content of a file as its body,
or start a message with one or more tagged files as attachments.

*  Burn files onto a CD.

The number of FileDir commands exceeds 100.  Each is available by either
menu selection or hot key.  If you have trouble remembering the menu or
key associated with a command, try the Alternate Menu command, Alt+F10,
which lets you pick from a single, alphabetized list of all commands in a
standard list box.

All commands are discussed in sections of the documentation organized by
conceptual category.  The documentation is automatically displayed at the
end of installation, and may be reopened by pressing F1 in the program.
Alt+Shift+H displays a summary of hot keys.

This is the official, 1.0 release of FileDir, after several rounds of
public beta testing and feedback.  I invite people to try it, ask
questions, make suggestions, offer programming contributions, and spread
the word on this free, open source project.

Happy New Year!

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