Folder Navigation

Folders can be navigated via the Folders panel, the standard location of which is to the left of the main program window:

The folders can be navigated with the:

  1. Mouse:
    1. Clicking on the triangle to the left of the folder name opens the subfolder tree.

      A second click on the triangle closes the subfolder tree.
    2. Clicking once on the folder name loads the first preview in the Filmstrip panel.
    3. A double-clock on the folder name loads the first preview and opens the first file of the folder in the main program window.
  2. Keyboard:
    1. The up/down arrows, PgUp/PgDn keys, and Home-End move across the list while loading the previews into the Filmstrip.
    2. Right/Left arrows open/close subfolders.
    3. Enter loads previews and opens the first file in the folder.

Limiting the displayed folder tree

For convenience of browsing, the folder tree, displayed in Folders panel, can be limited using File – Folder tree filter menu or corresponding keyboard shortcuts:

  • Start Folder tree at current folder (Ctrl-T) – the folder tree will be limited to the current folder and its sub-folders.
  • Start Folder tree at one level up (Ctrl-Shift-T) – the folder tree is limited with the folder one level up and its subfolders (includes the current folder).
  • Move folder filter one level up (Shift-T) – the filtering point is moved to one level up on the folder tree.
  • Reset folder filtering (Alt-T) – resets the filters.

Upon choosing Start folder tree at folder name, that folder will serve as the root of the folder tree, with its subfolders also being displayed:

Also, an informational panel appears at the top of the tree with two icons and a Folder filter: ON message. The buttons/icons work in the following manner:

  • (x) – turns off the filtration, and displays the entire folder tree again (same way as Reset folder filtering in menu)
  • [↑] –moves the "root" of the filtration one level up (same way as Move folder filter one level up in menu).

Furthermore, the folder filtration will cease when opening a file or a folder outside of the current tree branch (for example, when opening something through File-Open or by Drag-and-Dropping something into the program window).

Apart from Menu – File – Folder tree filter (and corresponding hot-keys), the filtration of the folder tree can be switched on with the mouse:

  • Ctrl+Left Click in Folders panel (or in the Favorite Folders, please see below) makes the folder clicked on the top-level folder in the folder tree (same as Ctrl-T)
  • Ctrl+Shift+Left Click – limits the folder tree “by one level above” (same as Ctrl-Shift-T).

Folder filtration can also be set through Folders panel context menu (mouse right-click):

With default settings, folder filtration is not re-applied when re-launching the program. This can be changed by turning off File Handling – Startup – Reset folder tree filtering on start.

Working with Removable Media (Flash Cards, etc.)

Automatic Recognition of Inserted Media

Under default settings, FastRawViewer recognizes the removable media (memory card, USB flash drive), and, having recognized it, shows the following dialog:

“Removable Media insertion detected, FastRawViewer will open the newest folder found on it under the DCIM folder”.

The action resulting from detecting removable media can be changed in Preferences – Removable Media to one of the following variants:

  • Do nothing (Do nothing);
  • Open predetermined folder (by default, \DCIM);
  • Opens the most recent (by date of modification) folder in the predetermined folder.
  • Opens a predetermined folder in “browse nested subfolders” view mode (see below the section on “Working with subfolders”).

You can also turn off the above-shown warning in the same Preferences section.

Un-mounting (Ejecting) Removable Media

If the removable media doesn’t use any application except FastRawViewer, then it can be ejected without closing the program.

For this, one needs to right-click the respective media icon in the Folders panel and to select in the context menu the (only) item, Unmount MediaName:

After a successful un-mount, the media will be freed up without additional messages. If there are any problems, then the following error message will be displayed:

This message means that the removable media is in use by some other program as well, and FastRawViewer cannot safely un-mount it.

Favorite Folders Panel: Easy Access to Select Folders

An additional Favorite Folders panel can be found at the bottom of the Folders panel. Favorite Folders panel is intended to be used to store a list of select folders in the file system, for easy and fast access.

The “behavior” of the elements in this panel is analogous to that of the Folders panels:

  • One click: the Thumbnails panel will be populated with the previews of the files in the chosen folder.
  • Double-click: opens the first file in the folder.

You can add to the Favorite Folders list in two ways:

  1. The Favorite Folders panel’s menu (the “gear” icon at the head of the panel), Add current folder to favorites adds the current panel to the list of favorites.
  2. The context menu in the Folders panel allows you to do the same with a chosen folder (Add *folder name* to favorite folders):

Clearing the list:

  1. Panel menu: Clear favorites list (see above) clears the entire list.
  2. The context menu for a single item on the list allows you to delete that one item:

“Close” File/Folder

FastRawViewer background process scans files and receives system signals upon folder updates. This prevents safe ejecting of removable media, including flash memory cards and cameras connected to the computer via a cable.

Menu – File – Close File (or Ctrl-U) «closes» the currently opened file:

  • All background processes are stopped as fast as possible.
  • The monitoring of the current folder is cancelled.
  • The current file display is cancelled.
  • The current / working folder is changed to %HOME%/Pictures, or, if that one is not present, to %HOME%.
  • Upon the completion of the Close File command the removable media can be safely un-mounted and ejected, as usual.

Un-mounting a portable media through the context menu in the Folder panel automatically preforms the Close File action.

Editing the folder tree

The Folder panel settings now contain a setting to Enable add/rename/remove folders.

When this setting is on, the following appears in the context menu for the folders:

  • Create subfolder – creates a new folder and immediately suggests renaming it to something sensible.
  • Rename folder – allows one to rename a folder.
  • Delete folder – allows one to delete a folder (but only if it’s empty and not the current one)

If a folder is currently in use by some other folder, renaming or deleting it may not be possible; in this case, an appropriate message will be displayed.