Directory Opus is a robust yet straightforward file manager. Similar to Explorer in terms of functionality, but boasting even more advanced features.
Customizability is high with this 200 page manual and web forum, from choosing which folder opens new windows to advanced customization settings like adding skins.
It features a viewer pane for images, PDFs, PowerPoint presentations and text files (toggled with one button or hotkey). Furthermore, this program offers extensive RegEx renaming capabilities.
Tabbed File Browsing
Directory Opus stands out from other file explorers with its variety of tools, modes, and features which make it unique. For instance, any folder can be set to always appear a certain way – this may include column fields and sort order settings.
View files as thumbnails or icons instead of using standard list mode can be particularly beneficial when working with large image or movie collections, or for flat mode which enables you to manage multiple directories at the same time without creating multiple folder trees, but still showing all files visible at once.
Another handy feature is searching all open folder tabs based on their folder path and current tab title, providing an efficient means of quickly finding files which start with certain letters (though note that searching partial matches requires typing ‘NNNNNNNN’ to skip straight to next matching file).
Folder tabs can be modified in size to better utilize available screen space, and individual tabs can be closed by using the left mouse button to click them closed. In addition, tab groups may be created – collections of folders which all open under one tab.
Drag files from the active folder onto tabs in order to copy or move them, while also making operations you do frequently into custom buttons which can be activated via keyboard shortcut or toolbar buttons – for example renaming all selected files with one text and format can be implemented using regular expressions for more complex renaming tasks.
Dual Panes
Director Opus is an advanced file manager, offering flexible configuration and configuration features as well as an expansive array of functionality that can be called up as needed.
This program is extremely user-friendly, as its intuitive design was intended to incorporate seamlessly with user’s workflow. Like an extension of their operating system, the software quickly adapts into mouse-based tasks – you may soon wonder how you ever got by without it!
Its dual pane format is easy and familiar, similar to how modern browsers work. File displays can easily switch between single-pane and double-pane views with support for multiple active files in each view. In each file display there are various information columns displaying relative sizes or date graphs which provide visual aid; you can even configure them to show text labels if desired.
Alongside its built-in configuration options, this viewer also features a powerful plugin system that makes it possible to add support for new image formats or extend other capabilities like full text editing or viewer pane enhancement by providing text thumbnails.
Directory Opus can be customized in many ways – its look and feel, drop-down menus, hotkeys, action buttons, screen layout, mouse workflow behavior, lister format and much more can all be adjusted – unlike Explorer it even remembers which files were selected with your mouse! Taking full advantage of Amiga’s superior scripting language it offers high performance customization – although its flexibility may prove intimidating for those without experience using its inner workings, as licenses must be purchased per machine.
Customization
Directory Opus can be customized to meet your unique aesthetic needs, with customizable fonts, colors, icons, and background graphics that suit you best. Furthermore, toolbars and menus can be moved around freely as you configure shortcuts to most features within the program.
Folder formats allow you to add file extensions specific to their folder type, for instance adding pictures into Directory Opus as thumbnails will use their own specific format. Content threshold settings enable you to activate folder formats accordingly and set their number individually per type of folder.
Directory Opus goes beyond image format support by offering support for PDF, PowerPoint presentations, and text files. A viewer pane can be added to your file display that allows you to open these types of files for viewing or editing – this tab-style pane may even appear alongside dual horizontal file displays!
Directory Opus features over 150 standard columns to provide users with information about files and folders they are browsing. This data may be displayed in either the file display, viewer pane or status bar.
The status bar can be customized to display valuable information about a folder and its contents, such as file counts, disk space usage and other details. The file display offers various options for showing or hiding various aspects of file listings such as path, extension and size; while its viewer pane can show common file formats at various resolutions and aspect ratios. Furthermore, this program boasts numerous additional features including regular expression renaming engine as well as batch macro renamer which can be launched from toolbar buttons or custom context menu items – plus much more!
Hotkeys
Directory Opus can be completely configured with endless menus, toolbars and hotkeys to meet user needs. They can easily create shortcuts to frequently performed operations that they can quickly access with one click – for instance creating thumbnails for selected images before burning them onto CD using Nero, or sending files via mIRC to other users are examples of collections of shortcuts users can create for themselves.
Directory Opus features full FTP support built directly into its internal functionality for site-to-site transfers as well as various types of proxy servers. Furthermore, Directory Opus can handle Zip archives like any normal folder.
The Status Bar can be customized to display various information such as file counts, types and disk space usage. Opus users have the option of viewing this information either graphically or textually; alternatively it can also be used to toggle between Dual Lister modes.
Viewer Pane allows pictures and other non-text files to be easily viewed directly from the Lister window, with support for common image and audio formats and third party libraries extending its capabilities.
Opus Rename function can manage complex batch renaming jobs using anything from simple wildcards to RegEx-based renaming – from simple wildcards and regex expressions through to toolbar buttons or custom context menu items for on-demand use.
Opus users have complete control of the graphical search feature and can configure it to search for single words or strings of words in filenames, while also configuring it to ignore file extensions or drive letters.
Preferences
Directory Opus contains an expansive Preferences dialog where you can fine-tune virtually everything about its interface. Some users enjoy exploring all available settings to craft their perfect user experience; others simply rely on defaults until something needs changing in Directory Opus.
As an example, you can customize how many lines of filenames are shown in the File Details panel (default is 30), modify other default settings such as how many columns appear in the Lister panels, whether folder paths appear in title bars and even customize font settings used to display filenames and labels.
File Transfer can also be configured to operate in unattended mode, making the transfer easier as no file conflicts or “Are you sure you want to replace this” prompts are displayed during transfer. Furthermore, transfer settings and confirmation dialogs for replacing read-only files can also be managed within this feature.
Other interesting options include setting a layout for any directory, so it always displays in a particular way – especially helpful for directories containing similar files such as photos or music.
Directory Opus, developed over 27 years, offers full featured file management functionality with single and dual trees, multi-file renaming, tabbed browsing, customizable toolbars, keyboard hotkeys, extensive scripting support, FTP support and much more. Available in two editions – Light edition provides high-performance file management functions without complex power user functions; Pro edition adds more advanced functionalities.
