PA 2010 B1: "Open with PowerArchiver" ShellExt

[ardax]

In the PowerArchiver Shell Extension options, I have “Open with PowerArchiver” set to show up on the submenu. This works fine for regular archives. For SFX archives, the open shows up on Explorer’s menu, rather than the submenu. I don’t think this is correct.

[spwolf]

i think those are two different things, need to check it out

[ardax]

That’s probably the case, since the “Open with PowerArchiver” on Explorer’s context menu that shows up for SFX archives is a current feature, but the configurable context menu entry is a new feature.

Personally, I think that the SFX detection should follow the user’s specification for the new “Open with PowerArchiver” entry. If it’s placed in the submenu, put it there. If it’s hidden, don’t show it at all, SFX or not.

What surprises me is that the menu entry I specifically placed on the submenu isn’t showing up at all for an SFX when detection is turned on. The other extraction options show up correctly though.

[spwolf]

it is 2 different features.
1. is for archives
2. is for sfx’s.

it treats both differently. Due to slowdown for checking certain sfx types, those options are separate.

Since exe’s are not frequently used (compared to rest of filetypes), it shows in main menu.

[ardax]

What I’m proposing is that they should be combined into a single feature:

1. Is the file an archive? This can be determined either by extension (zip, cab, 7z, etc.). If the “check exes for SFX” option is checked, then that can also be done.

2. If the file is an archive, then show the decompression options, otherwise show the compression options. Honor the user’s configuration for the “Open with PowerArchiver” setting, no matter what kind of archive it is or how that determination came about.

My point is that you’re surfacing a new option for the user to configure, and I think it necessitates a break from previous convention in order to properly honor it. I mean, I put it in the submenu for a reason. You’re giving me the option, and that’s where I want it to go. I think it’s inconsistent to ignore the user’s configuration simply because that’s the code that’s already there.

I understand why the “check exes for sfxs” checkbox exists, since it’s much more expensive to have to open the file, read in a bit of it, and check for various signatures than it is to simply look at the filename.

Of course, I know that what I’m asking for is easier said than done. At least, I think it is. I’m not sure what the current design for the shell extension is or how it determines which set of menu settings to show, just advocating for a change to improve the program by making the its behavior more consistent.

[spwolf]

they have to be separate options, but we maybe could combine position for both.

but what happens then if you dont have open with PA selected for archives, but you do for .exe’s? Stays at default position?

for some users, checking sfx’s is PA’s breaking feature as if you do it with large files over the network, it might take over 10 minutes and your explorer will freeze. Thats why option is there.

[ardax]

The option reads “Check for self-extracting ZIP, ARJ, ACE, BH, LHA, and RAR files”, not “Show ‘Open with PowerArchiver’ option for self-extracting…” :p

What I think it should do is control whether or not PA checks .exe files for sfxs in order to display the correct menu. Since the “Open with PA” menu option is now configurable, that option should be respected.

At the same time, I can understand why you should show the “Open with PA” entry somewhere when checking sfxs since there’s otherwise no easy way for the user to open the sfx within PA, but if the user places it in the submenu, that should be respected too.

Perhaps you could use this heuristic when the user hides “Open with PA” and checks the sfx box: If all the user’s selected options are in the submenu, place “Open with PA” there, else place in the current default location.

I thought of a related, but separate feature: Let the user choose which classes of drive to check for sfxs on. For example, in TortoiseHg, the user has the option of checking for working directory changes on hard disks only. I’m not sure what the various classes are, but I’m guessing the main classes are fixed disks, removable disks, and network disks.

[spwolf]

@ardax:

Perhaps you could use this heuristic when the user hides “Open with PA” and checks the sfx box: If all the user’s selected options are in the submenu, place “Open with PA” there, else place in the current default location.

that was my suggestion as well… Miliiiii (heh).

btw. we have to be careful with how many new options we add, as we add new features, number of options grow and as everyone knows, we already have hundreds of options, so we try to keep adding new ones at minimum.

[ardax]

I’m not sure if this is a step forward or back :p : In Beta 2 I see that there’s a new option in the Shell Extensions section to check for SFX CAB files, and that it’s linked to the identically named checkbox in the Miscellaneous section. (Both point to the same action? I Actions.)

Is there any particular reason that SFX CABs are treated separately from other SFX types? Why isn’t there a single option for all SFX files?

Finally, is there any chance of having the possibility of restricting SFX checking to hard disks only? It’s terribly useful to me most of the time, but I’m finding that the delays it can cause in Explorer over WiFi or WANs are really painful. (Especially if it’s, say, the download package for Win XP SP3 you right-clicked on.)

Another idea would be to have the shell extension cancel the SFX check after some short delay (say 1 second). That way Explorer doesn’t look like it’s hung while trying to parse a (sometimes very large) .exe file, but keeping the option available to those who would want it.

[spwolf]

@ardax:

I’m not sure if this is a step forward or back :p : In Beta 2 I see that there’s a new option in the Shell Extensions section to check for SFX CAB files, and that it’s linked to the identically named checkbox in the Miscellaneous section. (Both point to the same action? I Actions.)

Is there any particular reason that SFX CABs are treated separately from other SFX types? Why isn’t there a single option for all SFX files?

Finally, is there any chance of having the possibility of restricting SFX checking to hard disks only? It’s terribly useful to me most of the time, but I’m finding that the delays it can cause in Explorer over WiFi or WANs are really painful. (Especially if it’s, say, the download package for Win XP SP3 you right-clicked on.)

Another idea would be to have the shell extension cancel the SFX check after some short delay (say 1 second). That way Explorer doesn’t look like it’s hung while trying to parse a (sometimes very large) .exe file, but keeping the option available to those who would want it.

well I explained above why it is treated differently…

i have one question - are you using 64bit windows?

[ardax]

Aren’t all SFXes, regardless of compression method, .exe files? If so, then it feels like a case of exposing an implementation detail to the user.

I own multiple PCs that PowerArchiver is installed on. My primary OS is 32-bit XP, but my other systems also have 32-bit Vista Home Premium, and 64-bit Vista Business. I was running 64-bit Windows 7 (build 7000) for a while, but not anymore.

[spwolf]

@ardax:

Aren’t all SFXes, regardless of compression method, .exe files? If so, then it feels like a case of exposing an implementation detail to the user.

I own multiple PCs that PowerArchiver is installed on. My primary OS is 32-bit XP, but my other systems also have 32-bit Vista Home Premium, and 64-bit Vista Business. I was running 64-bit Windows 7 (build 7000) for a while, but not anymore.

all archives, are archives, so… that doesnt matter. CAB SFX’s are different from other SFX’s, hence it is separate option. As you have discovered, with CAB SFX’s, PA needs to search to the end of CAB file, unlike other archives. This makes it slow in some circumstances, so why exactly would you want to disable all of SFX’s instead cabs?

[ardax]

@spwolf:

As you have discovered, with CAB SFX’s, PA needs to search to the end of CAB file, unlike other archives. This makes it slow in some circumstances, so why exactly would you want to disable all of SFX’s instead cabs?

My point is that I don’t think that most users care about how an SFX is implemented, so why expose those details (or internal side effects of dealing with them) to the user? Both options could be collapsed into a single checkbox for all types of SFX archives.

If you have users that requested this split, or if you’ve decided that having multiple options for the different SFX types is more beneficial than having a single option for all types, that’s fine. I’m just bringing it up to raise awareness of the possibility of removing an item from your configuration dialog. Software revisions making things simpler isn’t something that happens very often IME.

I also believe that being able to restrict SFX checking (of all types) to local hard drives is far more useful than having 2 subtly different checkboxes for SFX checking, but that’s a different feature. (And I know that “software features” isn’t a zero-sum game; it’s not as if one must be removed to make room for the other.)

Aside: I’m surprised that seeking to the end of a file would be so slow that it imparts a significant performance penalty compared to reading and parsing the data.

[spwolf]