Selecting Files

Whenever you want to do something with a file (copy it, delete it, or just view it) you must select it first. Most file operations in Directory Opus operate on all currently selected files (and folders), so it's important to know how to select files, and how to tell how many files you have selected.

The main ways files can be selected are:

• Using the mouse or keyboard to select files directly
• Using simple wildcard patterns to select files by name
• Using advanced filters to select files by multiple different criteria
• Using the raw Select command to programatically select items. The default Edit menu has a number of pre-defined Select commands:
  • Select All: Select all items in the current folder.
  • Select by Pattern: Displays the Simple wildcard selection dialog.
  • Invert Selection: Inverts the selection state of all items in the folder.
  • Select Other / Reselect Files: Select all files that were used (and deselected) by the previously executed command.
  • Select Same Extensions: Selects all files with the same extensions as the currently selected files (e.g. select one .txt file and then use this command to automatically select all other .txt files).
  • Select Source to Destination: Select files in the destination with the same names as the files currently selected in the source.
  • Select Source-not-in-Destination: Select those files in the source which do not exist in the destination.
  • Selection to Checkboxes: Set the checkbox state to match the current selection. The file display will be set to checkbox mode if it isn't already.
  • Checkboxes to Selection: Set the selection to match the checkbox state.

The easiest way to tell how many files and folders are currently selected is to look in the status bar.

The status bar shows you the number of files and folders selected (and the total number) in the current file display. Whenever you click a button like Copy Files or Delete, it is these selected files that will be used in the function.