ForkLift preferences are divided into 4 major categories. In this chapter we’d like to provide a detailed description for each category.
Menu:
ForkLift > Preferences
Shortcut:
cmd-,
In this category you can personalize some important basic functionalities of ForkLift.
This setting defines the default directory that is displayed when you open a new ForkLift window. If you have the Remember open tabs option disabled the directory you set up here will be your starting directory when you open ForkLift.
When this option is enabled ForkLift remembers the tabs that where open when you quit the app. The tabs will be restored on the next launch.
If this option is enabled Archives will be treated as folders, that means they will not be extracted, but you can browse them just like a folder and open even single items without extracting the entire archive. When this option is disabled archives are extracted when double-clicking or executing them.
Do not use trash (always delete immediately)
If you enable this option deleted items are not stored in the trash but deleted forever immediately (PLEASE BE CAREFUL WITH THIS OPTION AS FILES THAT ARE DELETED WHEN IT IS ENABLED CAN NOT BE RESTORED!!!)
In this category you can personalize the keyboard shortcuts for most of the operations in ForkLift.
There are 2 default shortcut sets you can choose from:
- the Finder style key binding set for those users who are used to the shortcuts of Apple’s finder
- the Commander style key binding set for those who have the Commander shortcuts hard-wired in their carpal muscles.
If you would by accident totally mess up the shortcuts you can always restore the default shortcuts by clicking on the Restore Defaults button.
To edit a shortcut double-click in the Shortcut column for the operation or command you would like to assign the shortcut to or select it and hit the [ENTER] key, then press the key-combination you would like to assign.
Here you can define your favorite editors for different kinds of files.
To add an application for editing files click on the + button at the bottom left of the window and simply browse the application you would like to add.
After you added an application you can set it as the default editor by selecting it from the list and clicking on the Use as Default button.
To assign specific file types to an application double click the Extensions column of the application or select it and hit enter, then enter the desired extensions separated with comas.
Access this section of preferences if you would like to alter automatic update settings or check for ForkLift updates instantly.
ForkLift is able to connect to servers with a multitude of protocols. You can connect to a remote server by choosing Go > Connect from the Menu or using the shortcut cmd-K.
ForkLift’s speed strongly depends on the maximum amount of simultaneous transfers enabled when copying many files and it is important to check how many concurrent connections the given server supports at the same time (the default setting in ForkLift is 5). You can read about simultaneous transfers in detail in the chapter about the Transfer Queue.
Supported protocols:
- FTP
- FTP (TLS/SSL)
- SFTP
- WebDAV/
- WebDAV (HTTPS)
- iDisk
- Amazon S3
- AFP
- SMB
Menu:
Go > Connect
Shortcut:
cmd-K
You need three basic information to connect to a remote server:
- server hostname
- username
- password
Once connected to the server, you will be able to work with the data stored on the server in the same way you work with local data. You can use QuickLook, you can edit files, browse archives or use batch rename.
You can greatly enhance your workflow by storing frequently used connection as a favorite in the Favorites Manager and taking advantage of our amazing Local Path and Copy URL features, for faster access and better management of your files.
To set up or modify a remote connection, open a new connection or add/edit an existing Favorite.
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Example to connect to an FTP server: 1. Select FTP. 2. Enter a name for the connection. This is how the connection will show up on the Sidebar (optional in the favorites manager). 3. Enter server hostname: e.g.: ftp.binarynights.com or IP address (127.0.0.1). Note you need not include the ftp:// prefix. 4. The default port for FTP connection is port number 21, but if your server is set up differently, you should enter the port number 5. Enter your username. ForkLift will log in as anonymous user if left blank. 6. Enter your password. Leave blank for anonymous user login. 7. If most of your FTP work is done in a specific folder on the FTP account, this is where you have the option to set the initial path for the connection (e.g.: /www/html). On connection, ForkLift will open directly in this folder 8. Ask for password when connecting - check Ask for password if you don’t want ForkLift to store the password using your keychain (only available from the Favorites manager). 9. Click Connect or Mount. |
On connection, a spinning progress indicator shows the connection is in progress. An alert is displayed if the connection fails for some reason.
Once the connection is established, the volume is listed in the Sidebar under CONNECTIONS.
You can disconnect from the connection by clicking the small eject button next to the connection's name in the Sidebar, or selecting the connection in the Sidebar and clicking File > Disconnect.
FTP of course stands for File Transfer Protocol and is the most common way of transferring files over the Internet.
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Exemptions to normal workflow on FTP connections: - Moving items to connected volumes is not allowed at this time. Move to is replaced by a copy to action. - Deleting files means deleting them immediately. Trash is not available for remote volumes. - You cannot create symlinks on remote volumes. |
|
Setting |
Description |
|
Text Encoding |
you should set this option if you work with files that have non-ASCII characters in their filenames (iTunes libraries being a good example for this, which would work better with a UTF-8 setting) |
|
Use passive mode |
if your machine connects to the Internet through a router, then you need to have this option on. (default: on) |
|
Remote Path, local path |
check this option if your FTP administrator has set up the FTP for TLS/SSL. (default: off) |
SFTP is FTP over SSH.
|
Exemptions to normal workflow on FTP connections: - Moving items to connected volumes is not allowed at this time. Move to is replaced by a copy to action. - Deleting files means deleting them immediately. Trash is not available for remote volumes. - You cannot create symlinks on remote volumes. |
|
Setting |
Description |
|
Text Encoding |
you should set this option if you work with files that have non-ASCII characters in their filenames (iTunes libraries being a good example for this, which would work better with a UTF-8 setting) |
WebDAV is an extension of the HTTP protocol that allows to edit and manage files on a remote web server.
|
Exemptions to normal workflow on FTP connections: - Different paths on the same server may require different username/password identification. - Moving items to connected volumes is not allowed at this time. Move to is replaced by a copy to action. - Deleting files means deleting them immediately. Trash is not available for remote volumes. - You cannot create symlinks on remote volumes. |
|
Setting |
Description |
|
Local remote path |
check to use HTTPS protocol. (default: off) |
Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) is an online storage web service offered by Amazon Web Services.
|
Exemptions to normal workflow on Amazon S3 connections: - Moving items to connected volumes is not allowed at this time. Move to is replaced by a copy to action. - Deleting files means deleting them immediately. Trash is not available for remote volumes. - You cannot create symlinks on remote volumes. |
|
Setting |
Description |
|
Connection Timeout |
sets the period of time after which ForkLift will abandon a connection attempt if the server fails to respond (default: 30 sec). |
|
Use HTTPS secure connection |
check to use HTTPS protocol. (default: off) |
AFP is Apple’s Apple Filing Protocol to connect multiple Macs in a network.
To connect to an AFP share click choose Go > Connect from the menu or use the shortcut cmd-K, choose Other from the drop-down, enter the URL of the share and click on Connect.
You can add a folder from the share to your favorites by simple drag and drop to a favorite group in the sidebar.
SMB stands for Server Message Block, also known as Common Internet File System, CIFS. Most usage of SMB involves computers running Microsoft Windows, where it was known as "Microsoft Windows Network" before the subsequent introduction of Active Directory.
To connect to an SMB share click choose Go > Connect from the menu or use the shortcut cmd-K, choose Other from the drop-down, enter the URL of the share and click on Connect.
You can add a folder from the share to your favorites by simple drag and drop to a favorite group in the sidebar.
Using ForkLift will come very easily. If you are used to Finder, everything will look familiar, and all the extra functionality will work as you expect it.
Recent Switchers and enthusiasts of the Commander line of file managers should first change a commander style keybinding set, and turning on keyboard selection.
ForkLift's user interface has got highly modular by now. You can have it anyways, from a minimal, Single Pane look, to the pedal-to-the-metal 3 ton engineering monster it can become, depending on what you need at the moment.
You can use ForkLift's dock icon to drop files or folders on it, to open them in a new window.
The fastest way to control the UI and toggle its modules is from the keyboard
|
Action |
Shortcut |
|
Toggle Single/Dual Pane (Zoom In/Out) |
cmd-shift-P |
|
Toggles Pane focus |
tab |
|
Toggles the Sidebar |
cmd-shift-S |
|
Toggles the Info Pane |
cmd-shift-I |
|
Opens a new window |
cmd-N |
|
Close window |
cmd-W |
The main panes display the item lists for your current location. You can always see your current location in the Path Navigator sitting on top of each main pane. When both panes are visible, the active pane is shown by a blue highlighted Path Navigator.
Mouse navigation and selection follows the logic used in Finder. Keyboard navigation and selection methods depend heavily on your Keyboard Controls settings., but basically, you are able to navigate in the item lists, open and select files, open and exit folders as you expect.
There are a number of options you can use to customize the main panes to your preferences. Some affect only the appearance of the file list, others define behaviors and can also affect performance.
Most visual elements are set in the View Options panel, accessed from the right-click context menu of the pane itself, or from View > Show View Options (cmd-J).
|
Option |
Description |
|
Icon Size |
And you can adjust the size of icons and thumbnails in list- column-and coverflow view. |
|
Text Size |
To make ForkLift go easy on your eyes, you can set text size for the main pane's item list from 10pt to 16pt text. (default:12pt) |
|
Columns |
Check the categories of file metadata you want to see in your main panes. (default: Size, Kind, Date Created, Date modified) |
|
Use relative dates |
When checked in, you will see Today and Yesterday in the date columns, instead of the standard date format. |
|
Calculate all Sizes |
When enabled, ForkLift will calculate all local folder sizes by default. (default: Off) Calculating the size of individual folders is possible by right-clicking the folder, and selecting Calculate Folder Size from the context menu. This option is not recommended for connected volumes, as getting directory size information may seriously slow down navigation on a slow server. |
|
Show icon preview |
Displays thumbnails for available file formats in the item list. This option also enables thumbnail previews on connected volumes and inside archives. Thumbnail previews on remote servers is not recommended for slow servers, as getting the previews may seriously slow down navigation on a slow server (default: On). |
|
Group Folders |
When this is check in, your folders are kept separate from the files, and grouped separately at the top of the item list. (default: On) |
|
Treat Packages as Folders |
When checked in, double clicking packages (such as applications and package formatted files, like .pages files) will open the package and display its contents, instead of launching the application or opening the file. (default: Off) Showing the contents of individual packages is possible by right-clicking the package, and selecting Show Package Contents from the context menu. |
|
Alternating Background |
If you prefer, you can set a background for the file list with alternating lines in light blue color. (default: Off) |
|
Show invisible items is In view menu |
This option can be found in View > Show Invisible Items and enables you to see system folders and files (e.g.: .DS_Store files) in the item list. (default: Off) |
Menu:
View > Show View Options
Shortcut:
cmd-J
You can find Toolbar icons for most frequent operations and tools, and arrange them as you like. Right-click the toolbar or go to View > Customize Toolbar... In the menu.
Menu:
View > Show/Hide Toolbar
View > Customize Toolbar
Shortcut:
cmd-alt-T
The Path Navigator is displayed at the top of each main pane (tab) and shows the path of your current location. You can click the items in the navigator bar to quickly navigate up in your file-system.
The Path Navigator also supports drag&drop, the first element of your Path Navigator is always your favorites, you can access them by clicking on the star at the beginning of your path.
Each pane has its own set of Tabs located right above the Path Navigator. By default, the tab bar is hidden until a New Tab is created (cmd-T). You can force ForkLift to show the tab bar using cmd-shift-T.
The new tab opens in the location of the last active tab.
ForkLift will remember tabs on application exit, and reload them on start (local tabs only). You can turn this off in ForkLift > Preferences > General > Remember open tabs.
Toggle Tab Bar (Show/Hide - Disabled if more than 1 tab open)
Menu:
View > Show/Hide Tab Bar
Shortcut:
cmd-shift-T
|
Action |
Shortcut |
|
|
New Tab |
cmd-T |
|
|
Close Tab |
cmd-W |
|
|
Next Tab |
cmd-shift-right |
|
|
Previous Tab |
cmd-shift-left |
|
The Sidebar lets you quickly navigate through volumes including DEVICES attached to your computer, SHARED resources on the local network, CONNECTIONS to FTP, WebDAV or S3 servers, and of course your Favorites.
The Sidebar displays all accessible DEVICES, and SHARED resources on application start. Click any of these items to open the volume in the active pane.
Eject buttons are available for connected devices and remote connections next to their respective icons.
Show/Hide Sidebar
Menu:
View > Show/Hide Sidebar
Shortcut:
cmd-alt-S
This section of the sidebar lists all available shared resources on the local network, including AFP, SMB and other servers.
When clicking the sidebar icon for a network share, ForkLift will attempt to log in with a Guest account. This usually works, and will let you see the contents of the share without having to log in. If not, you can always click Connect As... in the empty bar replacing the Path Navigator on top of the pane, allowing you to enter your user for the login.
You can add the groups created in the favorite manager to the sidebar by right clicking on them and choosing Add to Sidebar. If you already have a favorite group displayed in the sidebar you can simply add connections or folders by dragging them into the group.
If you right click on a favorite in the sidebar you have the possibilities:
- Open in new tab
- Mount as Disk (only available for remote connections)
- Reveal in favorite manager
The favorites manager allows you to conveniently organize your favorites. To access the favorites manager you can either use one of the keyboard shortcuts (cmd-shift-F or ESC) or choose Favorites > Show favorites from the Menu.
You can change the order of favorite groups with simple drag and drop.
Menu:
Favorites > Show Favorites
Shortcut:
ESC
cmd-shift-F
You can add favorites by clicking on the 
icon at the bottom of the panel. The panel that pops up in the pane is nearly equal to the Connect pane, you can enter the same data as explained in the Connect section of this manual. You can Name the favorite by filling in the additional Name field and you can also choose the group you would like the favorite to belong to in the Group drop-down.
If you don’t want to save the password for the connection you can check the box in front of Ask when connecting.
Another way to add a favorite is to simply drag and drop the connection over a group in the Sidebar.
Menu:
Favorites > Add to Favorites
You can keep your favorites organized by creating favorite groups. To create a new favorite group click on the 
icon at the bottom of the panel and enter the name of the new group.
You can add favorites to the group by dragging and dropping them on the group within the favorite manager or by choosing the group from the Group drop-down when adding a new favorite.
You can change the order of favorite groups with simple drag and drop.
If you would like to add a group to the sidebar right click on the group and choose Add to sidebar from the context menu.
To change the name of a group select it and click on the pencil icon at the bottom of the panel.
To edit a favorite select it in the favorite manager and click on the 
icon at the bottom of the panel.
The status bar at the bottom of the ForkLift window gives you an overview about the status of the active process.
By clicking on the 
icon in the status bar you can display the detailed Transfer Queue. You can cancel the ongoing process by clicking on the 
icon.
With the transfer queue you can keep your transfers organized, reorder transfers set conflict management and even pause the queue.
By default items are simply copied without being queued. To queue items you can either right click on the item and choose Add to queue from the context menu, use the Toolbar icon or if you would like items to always be queued when carrying out a copy operation you can enable this setting in Preferences.
To display the transfer queue choose VIew > Show queue, click on the queue button at the left bottom corner of the ForkLift window or use the shortcut cmd-shift-U.
For each item that is in the process of being copied the size of the item, the amount already copied, the transfer rate and a progress bar are displayed for information.
If items in the queue fail to be transferred you can click on the drop-down with the 
icon and choose Retry all to try again.
Menu:
View > Show Queue
Shortcut:
cmd-shift-U
You can reorder queued items by dragging them in the order you would like them to be processed. Please note that you can only reorder items which are not currently being copied.
To pause the queue click on the 
button at the bottom left of the panel. You can only pause all inactive items in the queue. Active transfers can not be paused.
You can delete a queued item by clicking on the close icon with the x displayed behind the item or by selecting one or more items in the queue and hitting the backspace button on your keyboard.
You can remove all items by clicking on the drop-down with the 
icon and choosing Remove all.
If you delete an item that is being processed the copy operation is cancelled.
One of the basics of ForkLift's superior speed is that it connects to the server through several connections, and uses them all in concert to speed up transfers. Since this represents an increased load on the target server, controls are provided to adjust the number of connections depending on your server.
In the transfer queue you can set the maximum amount of simultaneous transfers on the fly by adjusting the value in the Max. Simultaneous Transfers input field at the bottom right of the panel (default: 5) .
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Using concurrent transfers is obviously more taxing on the server, and may result in dropped transfers or recurring timeouts on slow servers. In this case, decrease the concurrency value, or disable concurrent transfers. |
You can set conflict handling rules by clicking on the drop-down with the 
icon. Choose Conflict handling and select the behavior you would like to define for each policy.
You can Show/Hide the Info Pane using the cmd-shift-I keyboard shortcut. It displays a fix size thumbnail preview of the item selected in the active pane, along with general file information, including dimensions for image files.
The Info Pane will not allow you to change the data listed here (permissions, metadata). These are set through the Get Info panel.
Show/Hide Info
Menu:
View > Show/Hide Info
Shortcut:
cmd-shift-I
The Get Info panel is basically a proximation of Finder's. While this is a transient state, this is where you can presently set file and folder permissions, and view Spotlight metadata and general file info.
Permissions
To change the owner or group of the file, select new owner from the drop-down menu or typing in UID/GID (for FTP and SFTP) and set permissions by checking or unchecking the relevant boxes.
Click Apply to enclosed items... (You may be prompted for your password).
You can display the Info window as an Inspector window. In this case the panel will always float on top of any other window and the data displayed is following the navigation in the ForkLift main panels.
Get info/Show Inspector
Menu:
View > Get info
View > Show Inspector (press alt to display alternate menus)
Shortcut:
cmd-I (Get info)
cmd-alt-I (Show Inspector)
You can choose between 2 basic keyboard behaviors for ForkLift:
- Finder-style: if you've been with Finder for a while, you will feel right at home
- Commander-style: if your nerve endings are wired to F5-copy and Co., choose this setting. We've got the F2-F8 buttons, and [SPACE] will select the highlighted file instead of calling QuickLook, but you may want to tune some shortcuts, as not all TC commands are available
We recommend setting this preference right when you start using ForkLift.
Set keyboard controls:
ForkLift > Preferences > Shortcuts
Table for basic keyboard controls:
|
Action |
Finder style |
Commander style |
|
Open Selection |
cmd-down |
enter |
|
Enclosing Folder (up) |
cmd-up |
back |
|
QuickLook |
space, cmd-Y |
F3 |
|
Copy to |
|
F5 |
|
Move to |
|
F6 |
|
Rename |
enter |
F2 |
|
Edit |
cmd-E |
F4 |
|
Move to Trash |
cmd-back |
F8 |
|
New Folder |
cmd-shift-n |
F7 |
|
History Back/Forward |
cmd-[, cmd-] |
alt-right, alt-left |
|
Keyboard select |
|
space (keyboard selection enabled) |
Sync browsing links the navigation of one pane to the other pane if the directory structures are equal.
Open your local directory in one pane, say, ~/Documents/Projects/. Open the backup of the Projects folder in the opposite pane Turn on Sync Browsing by clicking the Toolbar icon.
From this point on, navigation in one pane will be followed by the other pane, so you can compare folder contents without your carpal syndrome kicking back in.
Menu:
View > Sync Browsing
Shortcut:
cmd-shift-Y
This chapter gives you an overview of file management tools and workflows in ForkLift.
You can see the size of any folder by left-clicking it and use the menu File -> Calculate Size or right-clicking it and choosing More -> Calculate Size from the context menu.
You can also turn on Calculating Folder Sizes as a default action for all local folders in View > Show View Options (cmd-J or right-click menu).
Calculate Folder Size
right-click Calculate Folder Size
Menu:
View > Show View Options
Shortcut:
cmd-J
To copy the item(s) selected in the active pane to the folder opened in the opposite pane you can use the following methods:
- click the toolbar icon
- select File > Copy to from the menu
- use the cmd-c keyboard command to copy the item(s) to the clipboard, then switch to the second pane with TAB and use cmd-v to paste
- copy is also available in the item list context menu
- the commander style keybinding set allows the use of F5 for 'copy to'.
In the case of a large amount of data copied, the Activity Viewer will pop up to show progress of the transfer. While the copy is carried out, you can continue working in ForkLift, since longer processes are run in the background by default.
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NOTE: When transferring files to a remote location, ForkLift now allows to use multiple threads for faster transfers. Read more on Simultaneous transfers. |
Menu:
File > Copy to
Shortcut:
F5 - commander set
In case of conflict during a copy operation, ForkLift will ask whether you want to:
- replace the file or folder,
- merge the folders,
- skip the file or folder, or
- resume a previous transfer,
whichever action applies. You can set the pre-defined behavior for each case in the Transfer Queue.
ForkLift is again going for a Great Firsts on the Mac OS X platform with its new ability to merge folders, just like on Unix and Windows systems.
Because of the way OS X treats folders as individual packages, when Finder copies a folder in one location over another folder with the same name in another location, it will simply overwrite the second folder with the one being copied, regardless of its contents.
Relying on the components created for the Folder Synchronization feature, ForkLift is now able to offer the option to merge folders, which means to examine the contents of the two folders, and combine the enclosed files and subfolders in such a way, that the resulting folder contains all the items enclosed in the two original folders.
When duplicate items are found, ForkLift will prompt you to decide which item to keep (Skip or Replace). You can check the option to Apply to All to replace or skip all duplicate items.
Merge is offered as an option when making a copy operation on two folders of the same name.
To move selected item(s) simply use drag and drop. Drag and drop will also work across other applications, such as Finder.
To move the item(s) selected in the active pane to the folder opened in the opposite pane you can also use:
- the toolbar icon
- select File > Move to
- the commander style keybinding set allows the use of F6.
In the case of a large amount of data copied, the Activity Viewer will pop up to show progress of the transfer. While the copy is carried out, you can continue working in ForkLift, since longer processes are run in the background by default.
Menu:
File > Move to
Shortcut:
F6 - commander set
Hit enter with the Finder keybinding set, or choose Rename from the right-click context menu, or the toolbar icon, to rename the selected item.
Choose Tools > Multi rename... or click the toolbar icon to launch ForkLift's integrated Multi Rename Tool for working on multiple items.
In ForkLift just like in Finder you can move files to the trash or delete them entirely without using the trash.
|
NOTE: Move to Trash is not available on remote volumes. |
Drag selected items to the Trash, use the toolbar icon or keyboard shortcut to delete files, or select File > Move to Trash from the menu. Move to Trash is also available in the item list context menu, and the commander style keybinding set allows the use of F8.
Shortcut:
Finder set: cmd-back
Commander set: F8
Press ALT while using the Move to Trash shortcut, or File > menu, or the toolbar icon, and a Delete operation will be carried out, instead of Move to Trash. A confirmation dialog pops up before the data is immediately deleted.
Selected files can be opened for editing by:
- double clicking on the file
- clicking the toolbar icon
- selecting Open or Open with… from the right-click context menu
- selecting File > Edit
- using F4 with the commander style keybinding set
You can customize which applications should be used for editing specific filetypes. Default editors are set under ForkLift > Preferences > Editing.
Menu:
File > Edit
Shortcut:
F4 - commander set
ForkLift allows you to edit files stored on remote servers in a single click action. Instead of downloading the file, editing it, and then uploading it again, you can directly edit a remote file through the Open or Open with... command, found in the right-click context menu of the item.
This will cause the remote file to be copied to the local cache and opened for editing. The Open and Open with... function keep monitoring the local file for changes and uploads the modified version back to the remote location on file save.
As a unique and uniquely practical feature, ForkLift lets you create a new, empty file in any folders, including connected remote volumes.
Simply use File > New File, or the toolbar icon or keyboard shortcut.
Naturally, you can also create new folders anywhere, using the toolbar icon, the menu, or F7 when the commander keybinding set is used.
Shortcut:
cmd-shift-N (New Folder Finder set)
F7 (New Folder Commander set)
cmd-alt-N (New File Finder set)
shift-F4 (New File Commander set)
Menu:
File > New Folder
File > New File
ForkLift also adapted the Go to Folder function from Finder. You can use Go > Go to folder... in the same way as in Finder.
Menu:
Go > Go to Folder...
Shortcut:
cmd-shift-G
ForkLift can use the aliases created with Finder, and vice versa. You can create aliases to any files or folders in the local file system.
Double clicking an alias opens the target folder in ForkLift. Items dropped on an alias are copied to the target folder.
Yes, you can use QuickLook with ForkLift, and even use it to view remotely stored files, whether browsing an FTP server, or an Amazon S3 account. Press the space bar to toggle QuickLook on/off, or click the toolbar icon.
While the QuickLook view is up, you can still use the up/down arrows to browse through the items in the active pane.
ForkLift lets you browse ZIP, RAR, tar, and gz file archives as if they were read-only folders.
You can copy files out from the archive, and you can QuickLook the files stored within the archive.
These features works seamlessly through any connection (FTP, iDisk, Amazon S3, etc).
You can also create your own archives, but you should note that creating archives is only available locally. Compression is not possible to remote volumes:
|
To quickly create a basic zip archive: 1. Select the item(s) you want to archive. 2. Click the toolbar icon, use the keyboard shortcut (alt-F5 for Commander set) or Compress X Items... from the right-click context menu 3. An archive.zip file will be created in the same folder/pane. To create zip, zip(MAC), 7zip, tar.gz, tar.bz2 archives: 1. Select the item(s) you want to archive. 2. Choose Compress X Items... (the second one) from the file menu, or right-click for the context menu, and click Compress X Items... while holding down the ALT key for alternate options. 3. The compression dialogue lets you name the archive and select a compression format. 4. Depending on whether the selected compression format supports encryption, you can also password protect archives. 5. The archive file will be created in the same folder/pane |
Copy URL generates a direct URL that points to a file stored on your server. This is handy when you want to quickly share a large file with others. Just upload the file, use
Copy URL to create on the clipboard a URL pointing directly to your file, which you can then paste it into an email or whatever, that you use to share the file.
Copy URL requires you to set up the Base URL and Base Path parameters for each connection on which you want to use this command, both found on the Options tab of the Connect... panel, when you create or edit a connection.
Copy URL is available for FTP, SFTP, Amazon S3, WebDAV and iDisk connections, but again, it needs to be set for each connection individually.
You also have the possibility to open an URL from ForkLift in the associated application (typically Safari). You can do this by by right clicking on the item while holding down the alt key and choosing Open URL from the context menu.
The URL copied to the clipboard is the result of 3 source data: the current full path of the file, as shown in the Path Navigator, the Base URL and the Initial Path. Here's the logic of how it's generated.
Copy URL = Base URL + (file full path - Initial Path)
Those of you who work a lot with moving data from one FTP server to the other, will just love this feature, which is pioneering on the MAC platform with ForkLift.
By default, when you copying data from one server to another, the files are usually copied to your own machine first, and are then uploaded to the target.
FXP Copy makes it possible to transfer the data directly between the two servers.
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To FXP Copy: 1. open the two FTP folders in the two panels of Forklift 2. select the files or folders you want to copy in one panel 3. select Tools > FXP Copy or click the toolbar icon. |
The copy operation is added to the Activity Viewer, but since the transfer is executed directly between the two ftp servers, the progress indicator you normally see will not show any useful information.
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NOTE: Some FTP servers may restrict the use of this feature. |
Menu:
Tools > FXP Copy
This chapter gives you an overview of the various tools available in ForkLift.
Remove apps with all their preferences files and all they usually leave behind.
The Delete App tool helps you locate and get rid of all the files and folders that are used by an application that you don't use anymore.
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To Delete an app with the Application deleter: 1. Select the application(s) you wish to remove in one of the panes 2. Select File > Move to Trash or drag the application(s) to the trash 3. This launches a search that will attempt to locate all data related to the application(s) selected. The results are presented to you in a list where you can specify the items to remove. Checked items get moved to the Trash with the application itself. 4. Uncheck the items on the list you wish to keep. 5. Click Move to Trash to remove the items |
Use the Multi Rename tool when you need to rename a large number of files at once, like saving pictures from your phone camera to your desktop.
The Multi Rename tool lets you:
- replace a string of characters in filenames
- replace a string of characters based on Regular Expressions in filenames
- add text to a specified position in filenames
- add modification date to a specified position in filenames
- add creation date to a specified position in filenames
- add a numbered sequence at a specified position in filenames
- change upper/lower case of characters in filenames
You can add any number of extra operators to your renaming process by clicking the + sign.
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To start renaming a bunch of files: 1. Select the files you want to rename in the active pane 2. Select File > Multi Rename or hit Enter on the keyboard 3. The files you have selected appear in the right part of the Multi Rename panel, with the controls at the left 4. Choose the kind of rename operation you want, and set its parameters (see details below) 5. You can see a preview of the would-be changes to check your parameters 6. Add another operator if you want to 7. When all looks good, click Rename. No changes are made to your files until you click here. |
Menu:
File > Multi Rename (if more than 1 file selected)
Shortcut:
Enter (if more than 1 file selected - Finder set)
Shift-F6 (if more than 1 file selected - Commander set)
Use this operator to replace a specific string of characters in the existing filename with another string of characters. You have to set the following parameters:
- Apply to: chooses whether the replace operator should look for the original string of characters in the filenames only, or filenames including the file extension, or the extension only with or without the separator period.
- Mode: choose which occurrence of the replace string should be replaced in the original filename, if there are several occurrences.
- Replace text: this is where you input the text you want to replace.
- with text: this is where you input the string of characters with which you want to replace the first string.
- Case sensitive: to make the search for matching strings case sensitive.
Use this operator to replace a specific RegExp in the existing filename with another string of characters. You have to set the following parameters:
- Apply to: chooses whether the replace operator should look for the Regular Expression in the filenames only, or filenames including the file extension, or the extension only with or without the separator period.
- Replace RegExp: this is where you input the RegExp you want to replace.
- with text: this is where you input the string of characters with which you want to replace the RegExp.
- Case sensitive: to make the search for matching strings case sensitive.
Use this operator to add a specific string of characters to existing filenames. You have to set the following parameters:
- Apply to: chooses whether the operator should add text to the characters in the filenames only, or filenames including the file extension, or the extension only with or without the separator period.
- At position:
- Beginning: adds the text to the beginning of the filename
- End: adds the text to the end of the filenam
- Exact location: enter a number to set exatly at which position the added text sould be inserted.
- Before/After text: lets you input a string of characters after of before which you want the text to be added.
- Text: enter the text you want to add to the filenames.
Use this operator to add modification date to the filenames. You have to set the following parameters:
- Apply to: chooses whether the add metadata operator should look for the insertion position in the filenames only, or filenames including the file extension, or the extension only with or without the separator period.
- At position:
- Beginning: adds the modification date to the beginning of the filenames
- End: adds the modification date to the end of the filenames
- Format: specifies the format of the modification date as it should be added to the file name
- Prefix: string of characters to be added before the modification date
- Suffix: string of characters to added after the modification date
Use this operator to add creation date to the filenames. You have to set the following parameters:
- Apply to: chooses whether the add metadata operator should look for the insertion position in the filenames only, or filenames including the file extension, or the extension only with or without the separator period.
- At position:
- Beginning: adds the creation date to the beginning of the filenames
- End: adds the creation date to the end of the filenames
- Format: specifies the format of the creation date as it should be added to the file name
- Prefix: string of characters to be added before the creation date
- Suffix: string of characters to be added after the creation date
Use this operator to add numbering to filenames. You have to set the following parameters:
- Apply to: chooses whether the operator should position the inserted numbers in the filenames only, or the filenames including the file extension, or the extension only with or without the separator period.
- Start with: enter the first number of the sequence
- Step value: set the increments by which numbering will increase
- Padding: set the padding range for the numbering (entering 3 will get numbering: 001, 002, 003, etc)
- Position:
- Beginning: adds the sequence to the beginning of the filenames
- End: adds the sequence to the end of the filenames
- Prefix: input a string of characters to be inserted before each number in the generated sequence
- Suffix: input a string of characters to be inserted after each number in the generated sequence
Select this operator to change upper and lower case characters in your filenames.
- Apply to: chooses whether the add metadata operator should look for the insertion position in the filenames only, or filenames including the file extension, or the extension only with or without the separator period.
- Change case to:
- Lower case: changes upper case characters to lower case
- Upper case: changes lower case characters to upper case
- Title Case: Changes Each Character following a space character to upper case, as in headlines.
The Droplet is a small, independently running piece of code that will upload to a target location any item(s) that are dropped on it. The Droplet takes the form of a regular icon, which you can put anywhere in your local folders, and use it as an upload operator for your server accounts.
Droplets are similar in function to OS X's Aliases, but they work for remote connections.
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To create a Droplet: 1. Navigate to the remote folder that contains your upload target folder. 2. Right-click the target folder and choose Save as Droplet, or select File > Save as Droplet. 3. You are prompted to enter a name for the Droplet 4. Specify the location where the Droplet will be created. |
Any item you drag and drop on the Droplet will be automatically uploaded to the target folder in the background. Droplets run independently from ForkLift, and continue to operate after ForkLift is exited.
When you don't need a droplet anymore, simply move it to the Trash.
Sync allows you to compare the contents of two similar folders, and sync up new files from the source folder to the target folder. I do this every time I get to my office and switch from my laptop to my desktop to sync up my work folders, and also use it regularly when doing my backups.
Sync in ForkLift works in one direction, meaning that you have a source folder, from where you copy items, and a target folder, where you want to copy your new files.
Naturally, this being ForkLift, you can sync up any two folders, should they be located on your local machine, your local network shares, an FTP/SFTP or WebDAV storage, or Amazon S3 account and even from archives.
You can save your Synchronization settings in little standalone applications that will synchronize locations you would like to keep in sync with a double click.
To create a Synclet choose File > Sync To or use the Toolbar icon, apply the settings as needed and click on Save as Synclet.
Disklets allow you mount any of your remote connections, making them appear to your Mac as local drives. Once mounted you can directly access your files on the server from any app.
To mount a remote connection as a Disklet right click on a remote favorite in the favorites manager or in the sidebar and choose Mount as Disk.
To enhance your work experience with ForkLift, we have included a plugin for the excellent Growl notification screen, so you can receive messages to your screen when a long background task is completed in ForkLift.
You simply need to enable ForkLift to send notifications in Growl's preferences.
ForkLift is capable of splitting large files into smaller fragments of defined size, and can later recombine these fragments into the original file. ForkLift uses a method compatible with that used by Total Commander, and can handle the fragments created with it.
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To split a file into smaller fragments: 1. select the file in one panel 2. choose Tools > Split to... menu item 3. in the popup dialogue, you can define the size of the resulting fragments using one of the size presets (CD-R 74 min, CD-R 80 min, single layer and double layer DVDs) 4. or by setting a custom size. 5. file fragments are accompanied by a small ID file (the checksum) that you need to keep with the fragments. You can choose which standard checksum format to use: CRC or SFV. Both file formats are also supported by Total Commander. 6. Click OK. 7. the split fragments will be copied to the opposite pane. |
It is very important to keep the CRC or SFV checksum file with the file fragments - you will need it to recombine the fragments into a single file again.
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To combine split file fragments: 1. select the file with the CRC or SFV extension 2. choose Tools > Combine to menu item 3. the recombined file will be copied to the opposite pane. |
ForkLift's integration of Spotlight helps you unleash the power of OS X's great indexing technology.
You can display the search panel in the active pane by choosing File > Find from the menu or the shortcut cmd-F.
The default search mode is a simple Spotlight search. Start typing the name of the item you are looking for, and Spotlight instantly starts searching in the active folder and its subfolders, listing the items with matching names in the active panel.
You can change the search mode to several different functions:
- Spotlight
- Search Current Folder
- Search This Mac
- Search
- by Name
- by Extension
- By Kind
- Filter
- by Name
- by Extension
- By Kind
- Select
- by Name
- by Extension
- By Kind
ForkLift will remember the last selected setting for each function.
Menu:
File > Find…
Shortcut:
cmd-F (Search)
cmd-alt-F (Filter by)
cmd-alt-S (Select by)
This search mode allows you to search your Mac or a folder just like with spotlight.
Search enables you to search for a search string or Regular Expression at the location that is displayed in the pane where you opened the search panel. Contained folders will be searched recursively. You can search by Name, Extension and Kind and you can use RegExp for more complex search conditions.
Filter enables you to filter items at the location that is displayed in the pane where you opened the filter panel based on a string or Regular Expression. Contained folders will not be filtered recursively. You can filter by Name, Extension and Kind and you can use RegExp for more complex filter conditions.
This mode allows you to select items based on a string or RegExp at the location at the location that is displayed in the pane where you opened the select panel. You can select items by Name, Extension and Kind and you can use RegExp for more complex selection conditions.
With the new compare feature you can compare the content of two text-based files.
To compare files select one file in the left pane and another file in the right pane and choose Tools > Compare from the menu.
ForkLift will open Opendiff to display the differences between the contents of the files.
Note: in order to be able to use this feature Xcode needs to be installed on your system. You can install Xcode either from your OS X installation disk or download it from Apple’s website.
Menu:
Tools > Compare