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date 3.Mar.2013

■ New xplorer² v2.3 features multi-purpose filter/select/search box


Most of you will be familiar with the search box in the top right corner of windows explorer. Now xplorer² has one of these boxes too, but its main purpose is filtering, allowing you to quickly find items shown in the active pane. You can also select and even search for files under the current folder. As you can see in the picture to the right, a small drop-down menu allows you to switch among the filter/select/search modes. Normally you search for (part of) a filename but you can also use this menu to search for other properties, even look in the file contents (search for text in files).

When set to filter for plain filenames, you will see the matching files as you type, without having to press or click anything. The active pane will show less and less items until you find what you need. To show all files afterwards, delete the contents of the box or double-click on the filter icon on the statusbar. Another handy feature is incremental search: you don't have to click in the filter box, just start typing in the folder pane and after a few keystrokes xplorer² will automatically jump in the filterbox for you, anticipating your intention.
filter box next to addressbar

Here is a demo video about the new filter box: play

Arguably there's nothing really new about the filter box, xplorer² can do filtering, selecting and searching even without it. For many users it will be just a more convenient way to do these things. But for others it may be annoying! If you prefer the old ways of doing things then use Tools > Advanced options menu command. The snapshot to the right shows 2 settings that affect the quick filter. If you don't like the auto-jump feature, set the incremental search value to 0. To resize the filterbox use the percent value below. Set it to 0 if you don't want to see the filter box at all.
tweaking the filter box

A few more commands were added too, please see the change log for more information. Most improvements were added to all xplorer² editions; the ultimate version was extended to access the search index of local network computers, for very fast network searches. To take advantage of fast remote searching you need to be running the latest windows search v4 on all computers and the remote folders must be shared.

Upgrade information


Version 2.3 is a free upgrade for users with a valid 2.x license. Use Help > Check for updates menu command and follow the instructions. You don't need to uninstall your old version first, just install the new over the old so that your settings and license file remain intact.

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