New PDF Previewer

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dsperber
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Re: New PDF Previewer

#16 Post by dsperber » 11.05.2015, 05:18

BGM wrote:It's a bit difficult, but not THAT difficult.
I'm sure it's not... if only I could know that "one GIANT clue" to be the big breakthrough and unlock all the secrets within.

QuickViewer (push F3) is the same as Viewer (push F4) except that the QuickViwer loads inside one of FreeCommander's panels. The Viewer opens as a different window. The purpose of the QuickViewer is to allow you to see the contents of files without having to open another application. You can add Lister plugins to the Viewer/QuickViewer to allow it to view many, many kinds of files. It's a powerful tool under the hood of FC.

First, select a pdf file by clicking on it.

Then, please do EXPLORE the main menu: go to View > QuickView panel (or use ctrl+Q).
That will open the Quickviewer - probably in the other panel (depends on the settings)
This will display the pdf in the QuickViewer.
AHA!!!!! THE GIANT CLUE!!!!!

View -> QuickView panel (or ctrl+Q)

AHA!!! That was the secret I've been looking for!! And I now understand what the purpose of Quick Viewer is, and where it displays, and how it is requested, and how it works.

If the toolbar is enabled in the Settings, then you will see the toolbar we are talking about.
Settings are in Tools > Settings > Viewer
The toolbar appears INSIDE the QuickViewer Panel, not in the main program toolbar area. This toolbar belongs to the QuickViewer.
AHA.... AGAIN!!! The answer to the mystery.

Many thanks for simply walking me through this.


Now one final question: what exactly is this new "Windows Preview"? Where is it's output shown, assuming I place the button on the customized QuickViewer toolbar and then select a file (e.g. PDF) and then push the "Windows Preview" button? Is this supposed to present something in FC, or is it supposed to do something in Windows Explorer? Or where?

And what if I don't have the "preview" pane enabled in Windows Explorer? Does that inhibit or otherwise influence the notion or operation of the new "Windows Preview" function in FC 691??

I clearly still don't understand what this new feature in FC 691 does for me that's different from what I already had or saw, and exactly where and when I should be noticing the capability and its visible output.

Clarification of these last questions should wrap it up. Many thanks again.

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BGM
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Re: New PDF Previewer

#17 Post by BGM » 11.05.2015, 16:20

Well! I'm glad we've finally conquered this one! It's a wonderful feature and I'm sure you will make good use of it.

Using the viewer works like this.
First, the Viewer and QuikViewer are the same thing - EXCEPT that the Viewer has it's own external window and the QuickViewer opens in FC's own panel.
In my settings, I have the QuickViewer set to open in the opposite panel. You can adjust it to take up part of the other panel or the entire panel, or you can have it open in the same panel as the file-list.

So, say you have a folder full of files.
You click on one file and push F3 to "view" the file.
In the viewer you have different plugins that allow you to view it in different ways - hence the importance of the toolbar that lets you switch between viewer modes and plugins.
The new viewer mode that Marek just added lets you view pdf files (if you have a pdf application installed) and Office documents (if you have Office installed). If you don't then just don't use that viewer mode - use another one.

Say your folder contains images, you can use the QuickViewer to see the image instead of just thumbnails. And if you have the "Imagine" plugin, it will let you do other things like see the image's dimensions, and you can even edit the image right in the QuickViewer - and all this without opening another program.

What I like best is that I can quickly see what is in a pdf or a word document without opening the associated program.

What the new viewer feature does is that it lets you view pdf and office documents without needing a plugin for the Viewer. Before, you could not view a pdf file or office file unless you had a plugin such as uLister or sLister (there are others). So what this new feature does is to eliminate the need for third-party plugins - and that means less settings and less to install and keep track of.
(Windows 10-1909 Professional 64bit)

dsperber
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Re: New PDF Previewer

#18 Post by dsperber » 11.05.2015, 17:51

I'm still not following.

I have no plugins at all, not for Viewer, and not for QuickViewer. But I do have Adobe Reader and MS Office installed.

I am in a folder with PDF files. I select one, and push F3 (i.e. "open the internal file viewer"). This launches Adobe Reader. Why? Not that I mind, but I thought you said Viewer used its own window whereas QuickViewer used a pane within FC, but I thought in both cases it was using FC functionality, not launching the default program. Obviously launching Adobe Reader is not using FC. So what am I not understanding?

Furthermore, I still don't understand what the purpose of the "Windows Preview" button is? So it's on the QuickViewer toolbar now (since I've added it). But nothing happens when I push it. What's supposed to happen when I push it? Do I actually need to push it to make something happen that otherwise wouldn't happen? If not, then why did I need to put the button on the QuickViewer toolbar at all?? If so, what's supposed to happen when I push it that clearly is not happening for me?

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BGM
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Re: New PDF Previewer

#19 Post by BGM » 11.05.2015, 18:11

Hmm... It should only launch adobe reader if you view the file in "html mode" - are you using beta version 691? That is the first version with the new functionality for pdfs.

You don't NEED any plugins, so don't worry. The Viewer/QuickViewer comes with lots of power already.
Furthermore, I still don't understand what the purpose of the "Windows Preview" button is? So it's on the QuickViewer toolbar now (since I've added it). But nothing happens when I push it. What's supposed to happen when I push it? Do I actually need to push it to make something happen that otherwise wouldn't happen? If not, then why did I need to put the button on the QuickViewer toolbar at all?? If so, what's supposed to happen when I push it that clearly is not happening for me?
The "Windows Preview" button is just one of the viewing modes. I learned all this by clicking on things to see what happens.
If nothing happens then that means the viewer is not capable of displaying the file.

But if you have the Windows Preview button, you must have beta 691 then. I don't know why the file is opening in Adobe Reader unless your viewer settings are causing it.

You are having a lot of trouble! Do you have TeamViewer? If so, PM me and I am willing to TV to your computer and give you a tour.
(Windows 10-1909 Professional 64bit)

dsperber
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Re: New PDF Previewer

#20 Post by dsperber » 11.05.2015, 18:40

BGM wrote:Hmm... It should only launch adobe reader if you view the file in "html mode" - are you using beta version 691? That is the first version with the new functionality for pdfs.
Yes, certainly. 691.

The "Windows Preview" button is just one of the viewing modes. I learned all this by clicking on things to see what happens.
I don't understand the "just one of the viewing modes" terminology. What are the other "viewing modes"?

And how do I enable and/or use all of these "viewing modes", e.g. just tell me about two of them, and how I would select one or the other?.

If nothing happens then that means the viewer is not capable of displaying the file.
Huh? I have a PDF selected. What "viewer" is supposed to be capable of displaying it? The QuickViewer pane certainly shows it, and when I push F3 Adobe Reader is launched.

So what is this "Windows Preview" button's purpose? What configuration or setup would make it active or inactive at all?

But if you have the Windows Preview button, you must have beta 691 then. I don't know why the file is opening in Adobe Reader unless your viewer settings are causing it.
I've changed no Viewer or QuickViewer settings, other than to add the Windows Preview button to the QuickViewer toolbar because you said it was important to do that.

You are having a lot of trouble! Do you have TeamViewer? If so, PM me and I am willing to TV to your computer and give you a tour.
Yes I do have TeamViewer. I will PM you the details.

Zorkoff
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Re: New PDF Previewer

#21 Post by Zorkoff » 11.05.2015, 19:19

dsperber wrote: The QuickViewer pane certainly shows it, and when I push F3 Adobe Reader is launched.
The program that runs when pressing F3 is defined in Settings > Programs > Viewers Tab

If you have defined Adobe Reader to act as the F3 viewer for *.pdf files, it will launch. If you uncheck the box for the *.pdf extension, the F3 built-in viewer will display the PDF file.

dsperber
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Re: New PDF Previewer

#22 Post by dsperber » 11.05.2015, 20:13

Zorkoff wrote:
dsperber wrote: The QuickViewer pane certainly shows it, and when I push F3 Adobe Reader is launched.
The program that runs when pressing F3 is defined in Settings > Programs > Viewers Tab

If you have defined Adobe Reader to act as the F3 viewer for *.pdf files, it will launch. If you uncheck the box for the *.pdf extension, the F3 built-in viewer will display the PDF file.
That turns out to have been EXACTLY the explanation for the behavior I saw. It's been my setup for a long time like that, because I suppose it was necessary up until now, right?

Now with 691, it is no longer necessary to actually use an external program to be the viewer, because FCXE now has internal viewer capability (either in the QuickViewer pane, or in a separate window) to display the files. Right?

Anyway, you are right (and BGM showed me this when he helped me through TeamViewer a little while ago). Unchecking those program boxes activated the FCXE viewer capability.

So the only mystery now is that I still have no idea whatsoever what the new so-called "Windows Preview" functionality is, or why there's a button for it, and what is supposed to happen if that button is pushed, or why there even needs to be a button at all to invoke its functionality since I see ZERO result when I try to push it. What am I supposed to do, to enable its functionality, and what/where am I looking for to see proof that it is doing something??

This new "Windows Preview" concept is still not understood at all by me.

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BGM
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Re: New PDF Previewer

#23 Post by BGM » 11.05.2015, 22:36

It's been my setup for a long time like that, because I suppose it was necessary up until now, right?
NO - it was never necessary. In Windows, each file type is already assigned a program with which you can open it. You never needed to set these in FreeCommander. In fact, what you did was to set them to what Windows already had as defaults. It was unnecessary.

The purpose of these settings in
In Tools > Settings > Programs > Editors or Viewers
is to allow FC to use a program of your choice irregardless of what is default for Windows.
This isn't terribly useful unless you use FreeCommander portably where you don't care what is default.

I, personally, don't really use this EXCEPT for one thing.
I use notepad2 on my computer, so in the "Editors" section, I set * to open in notepad2.
This lets me open any and every file by pushing F4.
I do that because I work with a lot of text and code files mostly. Notepad2 has syntax colouring and is very fast.

But you don't need to do any of this, really.
So the only mystery now is that I still have no idea whatsoever what the new so-called "Windows Preview" functionality is, or why there's a button for it, and what is supposed to happen if that button is pushed, or why there even needs to be a button at all to invoke its functionality since I see ZERO result when I try to push it.
Windows Preview is just functionality added to the viewer. Now that you understand how the Viewer/QuickViewer works in FC, then the next thing to understand is that there are DIFFERENT ways of opening a file. For example, an html file. You can open it as a text file and see the html code, or you can open it as html and view it like a web-browser. THUS, if you push the "text" mode button in the QuickViewer, you see the file as text; if you push the html button in QuickViewer, you see the file like a webpage.
Okay, now understand that FC CHOOSES which mode in which to view a file by default. html files load in html mode by default, not in text mode. So you would have to push text mode button to see it as text.

So, the Windows Preview is just another mode. This mode lets you see pdf files. When you click on a pdf file, it is the mode that loads.
What am I supposed to do, to enable its functionality, and what/where am I looking for to see proof that it is doing something??
Windows Preview is ALREADY the default. Nothing happens because it's already loaded. If you WANT to see something change, click on the text mode button and watch the file turn to gibberish, THEN click on the Windows Preview button - and you'll see it turn back to the pdf content.
So you aren't supposed to do ANYTHING. It's already working. When you click on a pdf file, and enable the Viewer, IT SHOWS YOU THE PDF CONTENT - this is precisely because the Windows Preview IS THE DEFAULT mode.
If you want to see how that is new - go back to the last version - you won't get any preview for the pdf.
(Windows 10-1909 Professional 64bit)

dsperber
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Re: New PDF Previewer

#24 Post by dsperber » 12.05.2015, 02:10

I do believe I get it now!

Your written explanations have been crystal clear, especially this last one regarding what "Windows Preview" actually means vs. the other possible viewing modes for the same file. And I've experimented with this a bit now, and it's all fully understood now.

And thank you again for "coming to visit my machine via TeamViewer" earlier today, to give me a "live demonstration" of how this all works, and for making the changes to my Settings which were required (to eliminate my "program" viewers, and also to activate the "splitter bar" with its own useful buttons).

As always, "a picture's worth 1000 words". Can't do any better teaching than by providing a "live demonstration".

I believe I can now declare "case closed". Mystery solved. I have emerged victorious, thanks to your help.

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BGM
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Re: New PDF Previewer

#25 Post by BGM » 12.05.2015, 03:58

You are quite welcome. I am glad that you've gotten the understanding.

FreeCommander is a WONDERFUL application and is so very powerful. I am glad to be a part of this project and glad to help others. Any of the other beta-testers here could have given you the same directions as I have, so I've done nothing special.

Marek, thanks for adding the new viewer feature! And thanks for all your hard work and generosity to share with us.
(Windows 10-1909 Professional 64bit)

bill0255
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Re: New PDF Previewer

#26 Post by bill0255 » 12.10.2015, 01:50

A minor side note, if you use a non-Adobe PDF reader (I use the portable version of Sumatra PDF on my laptop) it may not allow the option of setting up a default PDF viewer for Windows Preview unless the PDF reader is installed. It took me a couple of moments to figure that one out. :?

Also, when I press Ctrl-Q and the Quick View pane opens and I move into that pane to move through the document, if I want to close the Quick View pane I have to click outside of the Quick View pane and then press Ctrl-Q in order to close it. Has it always functioned that way and I just didn't notice?

Thanks - Bill

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Re: New PDF Previewer

#27 Post by joby_toss » 12.10.2015, 07:34

bill0255 wrote:Also, when I press Ctrl-Q and the Quick View pane opens and I move into that pane to move through the document, if I want to close the Quick View pane I have to click outside of the Quick View pane and then press Ctrl-Q in order to close it.
I use sLister (with Sumatra) and I don't have this problem in XE 685 public nor in 698 x64 donor version on my win7 x64 windows.

bill0255
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Re: New PDF Previewer

#28 Post by bill0255 » 12.10.2015, 18:35

Played around with it some more and the Ctrl+Q issue on both my Laptop and desktop seems to only happen when I Quick View MS documents or PDF's that use the Windows Preview setting. Using slister for PDF's doesn't have this problem.

Joby - Thanks for the tip about slister.

Thanks,
Bill

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