How to use
Preface
The main idea behind this project was to make file manipulation on an Android device easier, especially for the people who are familiar with such brilliant software as Total Commander and the like. Below is a short overview of the program and a few tips on working with it.
Elements of the user interface
Most of the screen of Ghost Commander is occupied by one or two PANELS which list directories and files.
The HEADERS of the panels show the current paths, the locations whose contents are displayed in the panels.
Long-pressing on the header will open the LOCATION EDITOR.
The TOOLBAR - at the bottom of the page - contains a list of virtual BUTTONS.
On tablets at the very top of the screen you can find the ACTION BAR. Its right side contains icons which open drop-drown menus. If you long-press on an icon, the name of that menu group appears as a tool tip.
Panel Modes
The application works in two modes, one at a time:
"Overlapped" panels mode
"Side-by-side" panels mode
Overlapped Mode
In the "overlapped" mode, you will see only one panel at a time. The other, inactive panel is hidden "behind". In the following picture the current active panel is the left one. We can tell that because the left path is highlighted in the header.
Side-by-side mode
In this mode, both panels can be seen at the same time:
Switching Between Panels
To activate the second (inactive) panel, you can do any of the following:
Tap on that panel's header or the panel itself in side-by-side mode.
Press the "Tab" key if your device has a physical keyboard.
Press the "volume down" button (if enabled in the settings).
The active panel's header is highlighted (blue on these pictures).
Home list
The starting point of this application is so called "home: list" where all file access modes and network locations are presented.
If you need to, you can return back to the home: in many different ways:
Menu (Action bar) Location->Home
Tap and hold a panel's title and choose "home:" from the popup.
In the toolbar, tap the "Home" button
File View
Folders are marked with the '/' character in front of or after the folder's name. When sorted, the folders will always be shown before the files.
The files size abbreviations are 'K' for kilobytes and 'M' for megabytes. Unless otherwise stated, the size is in bytes.
If the file was created in the current year, the date field will contain the time of the last modification, omitting the year. If the file does not have a date, it means that the system does not provide one. The size and date fields can always be placed under the file name, see the settings.
Selecting Files
To select a file or a folder, do one of the following:
Tap on the right half of the file's row.
Press the "volume up" key (if enabled in the settings).
Selected files are highlighted. If no files/folders are selected, the focused item will be used in the file operations.
(Due to Android user interface behavior, the focused item is not highlighted in "touch" mode -- when you touch the screen it disappears.)
To select several files and folders in the current directory by a name pattern, press '+'; to unselect, press '-'. These commands are also accessible from the main menu->"List").
Location Editor
Allows you to enter a path or choose a favorite.
To open the location editor, do one of the following:
Long tap on the panel's header.
Go to Menu->Panels->Location.
Press the '(' or ')' key.
The location editor is an editable line containing the current location and it is up to you to modify it. Tapping the "Go" button will display the contents of the specified location in the active panel.
The location editor also provides access to the favorites. They are listed in a drop-down menu like fashion below the editor line. You can choose any of them and it will appear in the editor line.
The star on the left side of the location editor will lit if the location in the editor is among the favorites (stored as a favorite). So, you can add the path in the editor to the favorites by tapping the star when it is not lit and remove it from the favorites by tapping it when it's lit.
While in regular working mode, you can also tap the "* Add fave" tool button or press the '*' key on your keyboard to mark the current location as a favorite. Note, you can also favorite remote locations, like FTP sites, Samba shares, etc.
Favorites
The currently collected list of favorites are available also via the "favs:" list. It is accessible as a home: item or from the menu "Location" -> "Favorites"
When you first installed the application you may notice there are a number of favorites already created. Feel free to remove or modify them as well as add your own.
To edit a favorite's path select it and press the "4 Edit" tool button. To quick edit a favorite's description use the rename feature.
The Toolbar
The toolbar at the bottom of the page contains a list of virtual buttons. These virtual buttons are completely customizable. You can choose which ones to display, in what order and with what text. You can even choose to disable the toolbar completely. If there is not enough space for all the active buttons, the row can be scrolled.
This toolbar of buttons provides a convenient way to initiate any action. To customize them, go to Preferences ("9") -> "Toolbar settings" -> "Customize the toolbar".
Browse for the row which represents the desired function. Check the checkbox to make the button visible. Rename the operation to meet your taste. Drag them to change the order.
You should definitely consider to do this as some buttons are hidden by default.
Occupied Size Calculator
You can get the total size of the selected files or folders of the local file system. Do it from the content menu (long click on an item you want to know the size of) or press the '"' key.
After a short calculation delay, the resulting dialog box will appear, displaying the statistics like shown below:
After this calculation the involved folders will show their total sizes like the files do. Sort the panel by Size to analyze which folders take up much space on your SD card.
List of shortcut keys
The full experience of using Ghost Commander can be enjoyed on a device with a physical keyboard. If you own one, the following short cut keys will let you achieve your file management tasks quickly:
left, vol_down, Tab - toggle the current panel
right, vol_up - select the current item
(left/right arrows also do the same if enabled in the preferences)
+,- - Select/unselect all the items
(, ) - Enter the location to navigate to, or manage the favorites
* - Add the current location (folder) to the favorites
= - Make the other panel show the same location as the current one
" - Show the size of the selected files
/ - Search for files by name
1 - Brief help
2 - Rename file
4 - Editor
5 - Copy the selected items to the folder shown in the other panel
6 - Move as above
7 - Make a folder (directory)
8 - Delete selected items
9 - Open the application preferences
0 - Exit the program
[A-z] - Quick file search
Quick Search
When you press an alpha key, the current position will be changed to the first file whose name starts with the letter you pressed. Continue typing to locate another file if there are several with similar names. It is case sensitive (at least in the current version). To cancel the file name input, just press any other key, or touch the screen.
File search
Currently, file search is available only on native file system. Root and SAF modes as well as network locations do not support file search operation. To initiate a search do one of the following:
Choose "Search" from the "Location" menu
Tap the "/ Search" tool button
Press the "/" key
The search setup dialog should appear:
You can specify the file mask, a file content substring, file size and date ranges.
ZIP files
Ghost Commander can work with classic ZIP files (ones that use the deflate data compression algorithm) as if they were directories. You can press on such a file and its contents will be displayed in the panel. You can use the Copy, Move and Delete commands to change the contents of the archive.
To unpack files from a ZIP file, select the files you need and copy them to the other panel. You can add files to the ZIP file by copying them into it. To create a new ZIP file, select the files you want to pack, then choose "Create a new ZIP file" from the context-menu. A dialog window will appear, where you have to provide a file name for the ZIP file. The default location of the new file is, of course, what is displayed in the other panel.
Password-protected (encrypted) ZIP files and ZIP files using other compression algorithms are not supported. The contents of such files are displayed properly, but the extracted files are damaged or a command leads to an error message.
Network access
FTP access
To access an FTP site, open the home: location and then click on "FTP site". In the opened form enter the site name, path and your credentials. Or just open the location editor and type in the full URL of the desired FTP site, like:
ftp://[your_name:password@]ftp.site_address.com/path
If you don't provide a name and password, "anonymous" will be used.
If the site you're trying to access does not allow anonymous access, your real identity will be asked for in a dialog box.
Please be aware: although Ghost Commander does not use your credentials except for establishing the connection, or does not pass them anywhere except the site you're connecting to, they are passed to the FTP site unencrypted and can be sniffed by a third party. This is a common problem of the FTP protocol. I'm sorry, but FTPS is not supported. However, there is a plugin for SFTP.
Hint: if your FTP server is located in the local network managed by Windows domain controllers and you have trouble connecting to the server providing just the machine name, try to add also your domain's suffix. For example, if your PC named "mypc" is located in a domain with the full name "mydomain.com", give the full name as the address: "ftp://mypc.mydomain.com".
In the rare case you need to specify the port which is different from the standard (21), you can do that, too:
ftp://ftp.site_address.com:1021/path
In this example 1021 is the port number.
If the FTP connection has glitches, try to leave it by navigating to a local folder, and then try to connect again.
SFTP access
SFTP stands for SSH File Transfer Protocol, or Secure File Transfer Protocol, is a file transfer protocol that works over a secure connection.
Ghost Commander's SFTP plugin need to be installed. Once installed it appears in the application's home: list.
The plugin supports either password authentication or keyfile authentication.
To connect using the key-file authentication the private key PEM file has to be added to the app by using the Keys manager.
To access it, tap and hold on the SFTP item in the app's home: list then choose Settings->Keys manager.
If there were no keys in the key manager and you previously had keyfiles in the folder /sdcard/.GhostCommander/keys whey will loaded to the key manager automatically.
Only PEM keyfile format is supported.
To look up for a new file, tap on the looking glass icon. Once a correct file loaded, you would see a description like "Encrypted key" for a pass phrase protected file or "Not encrypted!" for the one without a passphrase.
You have to specify a host name the file is to be used with. Please tap on the text edit bar to modify the file name to the exact host name you will be going to connect to. Again, the name has to be exact, so if you access your server by its IP address, enter the address, and so on.
When you will be connecting to the server, you will be asked for the username and password. In the case of the password authentication, the password is your SSH host's password, in the case of the keyfile authentication, the password is the passphrase to open the key.
SMB access
SMB stands for Server Message Block (SMB), also known as Common Internet File System (CIFS). It's a protocol used in local networks, and also known as "Microsoft Windows Network". To make Ghost Commander access a server or desktop's shared folder using that network protocol you need to install an application called "SMB plugin for Ghost Commander" (new).
You can fine tune the SMB connection. Tap and hold on the SMB item in the app's home: list then choose Settings.
Cloud storage services
Accessing cloud storage services happens through plugins. At the moment plugins are available for Dropbox, Google Drive and Box. When you are accessing content on these services the following URIs appear in the header:
Box box:/
Dropbox dbx:/
Google Drive gdrive:/
Google drive plugin can only use the account listed in Android's system Settings -> Accounts.
Box and Dropbox uses OAuth authentication during the first time connect. A web browser window will open where you should enter your credentials in the service's secured environment.
You can use the basic file handling commands like Copy, Move, Delete, Rename and also Info, View, Edit. You can create directories, but you cannot create new files or ZIP archives.
You can have two different cloud storage services in the two panels or different folders of the same cloud service, but copying a file will mean downloading it to your device and then uploading it from your device.
Locations on cloud storage services can also be saved as favorites.
Settings
"File lists" section
Left/Right Panel - a submenu to customize the left and right panels separately.
Detailed side-by-side mode - show size and date for files in Side-by-side mode.
Detailed overlapped mode - show size and date for files in Overlapped mode.
Sorting method - Choose the default how to sort the items in the list (by name, size, or date).
Show hidden files - If not checked, files starting with a dot won't be shown.
Ignore case in sorting - when checked, the file names will be sorting without honoring the case of a letter.
"Appearance" section
Side-by-side panels - list with the following options:
Yes - the application always shows both panels side-by-side in a split screen mode.
No - only one panel is shown at a time, even in the landscape device orientation.
Auto - "Yes" for landscape device orientation and "No" for portrait.
Two lines in a row - When checked, the file panel will always show the files' date and size below the file's name.
Finger friendly - list with the following options:
Yes - the application enlarges the user interface elements for easy manipulation by a finger.
No - the user interface elements become small and neat.
Auto - if your device has the physical keyboard, when the keyboard is open, apply the "No", when it's hidden, apply the "Yes".
Enable icons - when unchecked, the file icons won't be shown. For true geeks.
Enable thumbnails - enables to show the small picture preview for graphical files like .jpg, .png and video files.
Thumbnail size - percentage, how big the thumbnails should be compares with the icons.
Font size - set the size of font. Some text will be larger, some smaller, but the base is set here.
Colors - set the overall themes,colors for particular the user interface elements and also specify different colors for different file types.
Language - allows to operate in a language different to the one used in the rest of the system.
"Input" section
Enable Action Bar - list with the following options:
Yes - the application always the action bar at the top of the screen.
No - the action bar will be not shown. Some operation may become not reachable!
Auto - "Yes" for the devices without hardware menu button.
Selection area - set where you touch a file row to select it. By default, it's the right half of it.
Toolbar - a submenu to customize the bottom toolbar. Change the order of buttons, customize the text, etc.
Enable toolbar - when checked, the application shows the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. You can hide it if your device has a physical keyboard.
Show hotkeys - when checked, shows a hotkey digit or character. It's convenient to use those hotkeys if you have a physical keyboard.
Customize the toolbar - You can customize the toolbar to display only those commands which you use often.
Enable sliding gesture - when checked enables to switch between the panels with horizontal sliding gesture.
Hardware buttons - submenu which controls how device's hardware buttons may be used by the application
Override arrow buttons - when checked left arrow toggles the panels, the right arrow selects a file.
Override volume buttons - when checked the volume down button toggles the panels, volume up button selects a file.
Back button exists - when checked, the back device's button will close the application. Use the ".." item to navigate to the parent folder in this case.
"Advanced" section
Show advanced home item - when checked, the root:, mount: and "Media Sore" appears in the home: list.
Confirmations - when a file copied, you will get a notification
Warn on leaving /sdcard - when checked, the application will issue an alert each time you try to visit a parent folder.
Miscellaneous - submenu with advanced options:
Automatic root mode -
Custom text editor - see below
Path to su - if the "su" is not listed in $PATH, specify its full path here
Path to BusyBox - if "busybox" is not listed in $PATH, specify its full path here
Open using content provider, Send using content provider -
In older version of Android, most applications understood only URI to a file like file://path/to/a/file, but in the newest version such notation is prohibited and should not be used in favor of an URI like this: content://my.application.authority/resource_id
Try to uncheck those checkboxes if an application fails to open a file (for viewing or sending) when you tap on it.
External Editor Setup
If you want to use some third-party editor instead of the built-in one, you can do that in the advanced section of the settings in one of the following two ways:
Leave the "editor activity" field empty. Then each time you tap on the "4 Edit" button, the system will ask you about the desired editor application to be used to edit the file. Check the "Always use this application" checkbox if you decided to use a particular one.
Specifying the desired editor explicitly - provide the full class name of an editor activity. (The package name is assumed to be the same as the class name prefix).
To use the built-in editor use the activity name "com.ghostsq.commander.Editor". This is the default value.
Here is a tip on how to obtain the activity name of an external editor: Say we have a text editor called "Paul Mach Text Edit" installed.
Open the "apps:" location and find that editor application. Go in, then open the "Activities" and copy the activity name (in this case it's "org.paulmach.textedit.pmTextEdit") to the clipboard.
Paste the full activity name to the Ghost Commander external edit activity name property.
Other available text editors and their activity class names:
"Jota": "jp.sblo.pandora.jota.Main"
"TED": "fr.xgouchet.texteditor.TedActivity"
Backup/Restore the settings
To make a backup copy of the settings and the favorites, go to the Settings (9 Prefs) screen, then tap on the action menu. Choose the item "Back up settings". All the configuration files will be packed to a single zip file located in /sdcard/.GhostCommander/gc_prefs.zip
Please note, if you had passwords stored along with the Favorites, they also will be exported. The passwords are stored encrypted, and it's virtually impossible to decrypt them. However, you should be warned.
To restore the settings form a backup, make sure the file /sdcard/.GhostCommander/gc_prefs.zip exists, then navigate to the same menu and pick the item "Restore settings".
Please be aware, that all your current settings and favorites will be replaced with the ones from the zip file. If you restore the settings on another device, the favorites passwords cannot be decrypted and used anymore (because different devices have different encryption keys), so to enter your remote locations you will need to enter the credentials again.
Exiting the Application
Press the '0' key or the "0 Exit" toolbar button for normal exit or go to Menu->Application->Exit. The application process should be terminated completely.
If you press the system "Home" button or choose a previously running application, the process will remain in the memory. If there is enough RAM available, the operation system will leave the application in sleep mode, allowing it to be relaunched faster when you need it again.
If at that moment some file operation was in progress, it will continue, notifying you about its progress in the system notification area.
The "root" mode
There are two different modes in Ghost Commander to browse the local files - the normal one (described above), and the so called "root:" mode. You need the root: mode only to make some tweaks with the system if your phone is rooted. Everything else (such as opening a file with an application) has to be done from the normal mode. If you accidentally switched to the root: mode and want to go back to normal, open the location editor (long tap on the header of a panel) and just remove the "root:" prefix from the path. Or, navigate to the home: screen and select the item "local files".
To access as root (su), enter the location like follows:
root:/data
(here "/data" - a path given for an example)
If you need to switch to the root: mode quite often, you could enable it on the home: screen and also enable the tool button which switches to the root: mode by a single tap.
How to tell you're currently in the root: mode?
When you in the root: mode, you see the root: prefix in the path URI and the panel's title background is red.
On some devices the root: mode is basically useless if the "BusyBox" executable is not installed. It should be placed in a directory mentioned in the $PATH variable, and/or its location should be specified explicitly in the advanced application settings ("Path to BusyBox").
In the root: mode you can do the following:
Remount the system partition ro "read/write" and back to "read-only".
Change the file permissions (i.e. the "chmod" and "chown" commands) of a file (see below).
Execute your own command with the currently selected file.
View and edit the configuration files.
Analyze the file statistics.
Say, you need to delete some system applications. Do the following:
Navigate to the folder with applications using the "root:" mode, i.e. in the panel's header you should see the following:
"root:/system/app#ro". Here the "#ro" is an indicator that the /system partition is currently mounted read-only.
Remount the system partition to "Read/Write" mode. To do so click on the "Remount /system" button on the toolbar. The current location suffix should change to "#rw".
Find the files you want to delete and tap the "Delete" button.
Remount the system partition back to "Read-Only" mode.
mount:
To get the full list the mounted devices, type "mount:" in the location editor.
Click on a mount record's row to remount the corresponding partition to \"rw\" or back to \"ro\".
chmod
To chmod a file (only one by a time in the current version, sorry), long touch it, and in the context menu choose "chmod / chown".
The chmod dialog should appear:
Installing BusyBox
If you are in a situation when you have just rooted your phone but have not installed BusyBox and you can't do it because your device does not have the market application yet, here is what you can do:
Download the BusyBox executable and then copy the BusyBox file to some place on the /sdcard.
Start Ghost Commander and copy the BusyBox file to the /data/data/com.ghostsq.commander folder.
Switch to the root: mode and change the owners to root (0), and the rights to 755 to allow it be executed.
Go to the advanced settings and change the BusyBox to /data/data/com.ghostsq.commander/busybox.
Remount the /system as "rw".
Copy the busybox file to /system/xbin.
Remount /system back to "ro".
In the settings, remove the BusyBox path, let only the name be there (since the /system/xbin should be in the path).