Duplicate File Detective - Release Notes
Maintained by Mark Richards (mark@keymetricsoft.com), President & CEO of
Key Metric Software.
To download the latest version of Duplicate File Detective,
visit the product
website.
Version 2.2.0.0 (Released March 25th, 2008)
- Feature: Added SHA256 and SHA512 hash algorithm support to Duplicate
File Detective (accessible via advanced project settings window).
- Feature: Added the ability to alter the encoding type used
to represent file hash strings. By default, hexadecimal encoding is used, but this
can now be switched to Base64. Hex has the advantage of using only uppercase characters
and numbers (and thus being slightly easier to read), whereas Base64 encoded hash
strings are significantly more compact but use a broader character set that includes
lowercase letters.
- Feature: Duplicate file marking actions taken through the duplicate
report context menu (and other means) will no longer change row selection.
- Feature: New keyboard shortcuts, including Ctrl+M for marking selected
files and Ctrl+U for unmarking selected files.
- Feature: Improved tooltips when using the Office 2007 theme (see
View menu).
- Feature: Created an "Exclude parent folder" shortcut within the
duplicate file report context menu.
- Feature: The file hash calculator tool has been improved in several
ways. It now provides access to SHA256 and SHA512 hashing algorithms and a switch
for selecting hash encoding type (Hex or Base64). The window is also now resizable
and retains configuration state between uses.
- Feature: Added a "reverse current markings" function to the smart
marking menu. This simply inverts whatever duplicate file markings currently exist.
Markings can also be reversed for a specific group (via right-click context menu).
- Feature: Duplicate File Detective will now automatically mark all
members of a duplicate file group, with the exception of the first. If you prefer
the previous behavior (where no files were marked by default), see the new setting
in the general tab of the preferences window.
- Feature: The image preview window will now show a shell icon for
duplicate files that are not actually images.
- Feature: Expanded SmartMark capabilities with a "mark all but
last file in each duplicate group" function, also available from the duplicate
report context menu.
- Feature: The speed at which the Duplicate Result Manager window
appears has been dramatically improved, especially when dealing with a large number
of duplicate file markings.
- Feature: Added a new file size comparison mechanism to the search
filtering docking window that allows for isolation of files "between" two specified
sizes.
- Feature: Further extended the duplicate file context menu (e.g.
the right-click menu) to allow the user to mark all duplicates of a file in the
same folder - or all other folders. This is different from the
existing "mark all files in same folder' option, which works across all duplicate
groups.
- Feature: Added experimental support for low-priority disk I/O on
Windows Vista / Server 2008 and later. This switch, available from the Advanced
tab of the Global Settings window, causes file system enumeration and file hashing
threads to operate in a special, low-priority mode that makes them less likely to
interfere with other functions the host computer may be performing.
- Feature: The Duplicate Result Manager window file list is now fully
sortable by any column.
- Feature: Added a simple "Search with Duplicate File Detective"
Explorer shell context menu capability.
- Bug fix: Widened cumulative file size display field within Duplicate
File Manager window.
- Bug fix: Resolved a problem where "an unnamed file was not found"
would be displayed when attempting to access a recent project file (via the File
menu) that no longer existed. The error message is now clearer and more descriptive.
- Bug fix: Resolved a bug in the file name filtering system that
would cause wildcard expressions containing spaces to function incorrectly.
- Bug fix: Resolved a rare "R6002 - Floating point support not loaded"
error that could occur in some environments.
- Other performance optimizations, help file updates, bug fixes and improvements.
Version 2.1.1.0 (Released November 24th, 2007)
- Feature: Added a total file space metric to the Duplicate Result
Manager window. Provides a better sense of how much space will be freed based upon
the pending action.
- Feature: Duplicate file manager window can now be maximized.
- Feature: When files are removed from the Duplicate Result Manager
window, the file list scroll position is no longer changed. This makes it easier
to track the position of such changes relative to other files being processed.
- Feature: Added "mark all but first" duplicate file marking capabilities
to the duplicate report context (right-click) menu, so that this feature can operate
at the duplicate group level (in addition to existing SmartMark implementation,
which operates on all duplicate groups).
- Feature: When using Duplicate Result Manager to zip files with
the "delete originals" option engaged, the deletions will now honor the "delete
to Windows recycle" bin option.
- Feature: Numerous improvements to application performance and error
handling,
particularly within Duplicate Results Manager.
- Bug fix: Resolved a problem with duplicate file project paths not
being cleared between loading of projects (v2.1.0.1 regression).
Version 2.1.0.1 (Released November 20th, 2007)
- Bug fix: Resolved a defect in which DFD could crash when
attempting
to generate a preview for a duplicate file that had been deleted by an external
program.
- Bug fix: Fixed a bug in which the duplicate result manager window
could have its protection flags out of sequence.
- Bug fix: Added code to guard against runtime error display (and
subsequent abort) when DFD encounters invalid date/time stamps on files.
- Other very minor tweaks.
Version 2.1.0.0 (Released November 15th, 2007)
- Feature: Added support for regular expression syntax to the filename
masking system utilized throughout Duplicate File Detective (e.g. scan-time search filtering,
smart filename marking, etc.).
- Feature: Significant enhancements to duplicate file report navigation
performance, particularly when scanning network file paths. Image preview loading
is now threaded, and operates on a slight delay to allow for smoother file selection
transitions within the duplicate result report.
- Feature: Added a new switch to the performance section of the advanced
setting dialog that allows users to disable retrieval of file ownership data during
the duplicate file search process. Use of this switch can enhance duplicate search
performance, especially
when scanning network paths.
- Feature: Whenever Duplicate File Detective saves a project to file,
it creates a backup copy of the original (if one exists). The location of
this .bak file has been moved to the user's local Application Data system folder
(previously it was saved to the same path as the project file).
- Feature: Added a switch to the general tab of global preferences
that allows for the auto-completion feature of drop-down combo boxes within DFD
to be disabled.
- Feature: Added a switch to the View | Toolbars submenu that allows
you to "lock all toolbars" (prevent them from being moved / re-docked to other parts of the
application frame).
- Feature: Added a warning / confirmation window that appears when
duplicate files are processed and one or more groups are found to have all
of their entries marked. The display of this window can be managed via the Protection
tab within the Global Preferences window.
- Bug fix: Resolved a memory leak that would occur during XML
data import processes.
- Bug fix: Resolved an issue with adding invalid paths via the "search
folders" panel where the folder browser dialog would be closed and the last browse
path would be added. Now the folder browser path will stay on-screen when an invalid
path is entered, allowing the user to correct the situation.
- Bug fix: In some specific cases, clicking the cancel button during
a duplicate file comparison process would not immediately cancel pending
search operations (e.g.
it could take several seconds). Now, cancellation occurs much more quickly (nearly instantly).
- Bug fix: Status bar statistics were not being updated after the
Duplicate File Results Manager tool was utilized. Now when duplicates are
moved, deleted, or zipped, the status bar will be updated to reflect the change
in duplicate file count and disk space consumed.
- Bug fix: File type classification panels are now updated after
the Duplicate File Results Manager tool is utilized.
- Bug fix: The auto-completion feature of the drop-down box used
to input file name masks (in various places within the application) was not operating
in a case-sensitive manner.
- Bug fix: Resolved a crash that could occur on Win9x operating systems
when a project is run a second time.
- Bug fix: File size and count values within the File Types detail
report were not using a thousands separator character (comma).
- Significant performance enhancements in many areas of the application.
- Numerous minor improvements in usability and appearance.
Version 2.0.0.0 (Released October 16th, 2007)
- Feature: Added an image preview docking window. Current
supported image file formats are: BMP, EMF, GIF, ICO, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and
WMF.
- Feature: Numerous changes (to application file
storage, etc.) to make Duplicate File Detective more Windows Vista
friendly.
- Feature: The "mark all files in group" context menu option
available at the duplicate group level now descends into any sub-groupings that may
have been established through the use of the report grouping bar.
- Feature: It is now possible to shift+click and ctrl+click
multiple duplicate report record selections and use the "mark selected file(s)"
context menu function to mark them.
- Feature: Added the ability to ignore file extensions when
performing file name based duplicate matching. When this feature is enabled, the
resulting duplicate file report will group entries by file name (minus the
extension).
- Feature: Added an option to automatically show the duplicate
file summary report upon completion of scanning operations. This checkbox is
available within the summary report window itself, and is turned off by
default.
- Feature: Added the ability to perform byte-for-byte
matching during file comparison operations. This feature is useful when even the
smallest potential for false positive matches cannot be tolerated. Although strong
hashing algorithms such as MD5 and SHA1 are *extremely* accurate, the
only way to be 100% certain that two files match is byte-for-byte binary
comparison. Note that use of this feature can slow the file
comparison process significantly (especially when comparing large files).
- Feature: Paths in the "search paths" and "exclusions" docking
panels can now be double-clicked for editing. A "browse for folder" dialog will
appear with the path being edited visible. If a new path is chosen, it will
replaced the one that was double-clicked.
- Feature: Numerous improvements to scan-time error
handling throughout the application. For example, if a project contains an invalid
starting path, it now notifies the user of such once scanning operations are
complete. File access exceptions that occur during file content comparison
operations are also better exposed now.
- Feature: Added "last accessed" and "created" date / time
columns to duplicate file report results. Both new columns can be exported to
any of the supported export formats (and can also be re-imported from an XML
export). Also note that both columns are hidden by default (right click on the
report header and use the field chooser to make them visible).
- Feature: Created a new "Office 2007" visual theme for
the application that closely resembles Microsoft Office 2007 (minus the ribbon
bar). Users can freely switch between this and the older Windows
system-based theme used by DFD v1.x (see view menu).
- Feature: Added an option to the "appearance" section the
preference window that allows users to control whether date-based report columns
(such as "created", "modified", etc.) include a time value. By default, they
will show date only.
- Feature: Added "attribs" column to duplicate file report
results. The column expresses common file attributes as a series of alpha flags.
For example, "HSA" is representative of the file attributes "hidden",
"system", and "archive". This new column is hidden by default (use the report field
chooser to make it visible) and can be included in all export operations.
- Feature: Made extensive improvements to the DFD v1.x
"smart marking" system (which is now referred to as "SmartMark").
New capabilities include marking of duplicates file file size (largest or
smallest in each group), filename length (longest or shortest file name in each
group), and filename pattern. Filename pattern marking supports compound
wildcard masks with exclusions, and can also ensure that at least one duplicate
file in each group is left unmarked.
- Feature: A context (e.g. right-click) popup menu has
been added to the "search paths" and "exclusions" path management panels. The
context menu provides access to existing functions and adds new ones (including the
ability to check or uncheck all paths at once).
- Feature: Enhanced the duplicate file scan progress dialog to
include a "files compared" indicator. The progress bar control logic has also
been revised (and is now more accurate) and is supplemented by progress percentage
text.
- Feature: The duplicate scan summary data that is included
with XML data exports is now more complete (it now includes files scanned /
skipped, folders scanned / skipped, report start and end times, etc.). Scan summary
data is also now brought back into the application during an XML data import,
making the "Summary" window more useful in these situations.
- Feature: Made numerous performance enhancements, especially
with regard to file content comparisons (which can now operate concurrently, making
better use of modern hardware capabilities).
- Feature: Added a new "advanced" tab to the global settings
window. Currently, it provides access to file hashing thread pool
settings, and will be further extended in future releases.
- Feature: The default style sheet (which applies to HTML
exports) has been completely revised, and now provides a simpler, more
professional appearance. As before, the style sheet can be customized to
the needs of the user.
- Feature: Search and exclusion path management
intelligence has been expanded considerably. DFD will now attempt to resolve a
broader range of conflicts when new paths are added (such as when a
parent directory already exists, or the new path is a parent to an existing path)
through warnings, confirmations, and additional actions.
- Feature: The duplicate result manager dialog window can now be
resized, and will retain it's size and position between uses.
- Feature: Added new options to the duplicate report
context (right-click) menu that allow all files in the same folder as the selected
item to be marked (or un-marked).
- Feature: Added a new option to the general tab of the settings
window allowing you to disable "save current project" prompts. Currently, if any
unsaved changes exist to the project, you will be prompted to save them under
certain circumstances. Use this new switch to disable these entirely (project
is never saved unless you save it explicitly).
- Feature: The file properties docking window can now be
switched between "categorized" (the default) and "alphabetized"
property sorting orders. The alphabetical view is slightly more compact, for
those who might find the extra space beneficial.
- Feature: The duplicate file scanning event (error) log window
is now resizable and remembers its position between uses. It also provides
intelligent column resizing within the event log list control that it
contains.
- Feature: It is now possible to drag directory paths from
Windows Explorer and drop them onto the "Search Paths" and / or "Exclusions"
docking panels.
- Feature: Added an option to the Export window that
allows style settings to be merged directly into HTML export files (rather
than having the CSS file copied to the export target path and linked into the
HTML). This helps to create a more portable HTML export document, and is
engaged by default.
- Feature: Added an option to the general tab of the global
settings which causes DFD to display a desktop notification whenever a
duplicate scan process completes. You can also elect to show such notifications
only when duplicate scan errors occur.
- Feature: Duplicate file result manager window path list is now
sorted alphabetically.
- Feature: New MSI application installer package.
- Bug fix: File name filter edit / combo history no longer
stores duplicate entries.
- Bug fix: Auto group results function (see general tab of
preferences window) would fail if the correlative "preferred column" was hidden by
the user (through the field chooser window or some other means). This has
been resolved.
- Bug fix: Closing the main application window and then choosing
"cancel" when prompted to save any changes to the active project would cause
problems (and prematurely cancel any duplicate scans in progress). This has been
resolved.
- Bug fix: Resolved a problem with file size filtering not
always performing comparisons correctly.
- Bug fix: Shell icons displayed within the duplicate file
report detail view could be incorrect in specific, rare situations (usually on the
Win9x family of operating systems). This has been resolved.
- Numerous other minor improvements and bug fixes.
Special thanks: I would like to extend a personal "thank you"
to Dave Gordon, who has put a great deal of time and effort into testing Duplicate
File Detective v2.0. The quality of this release has benefited tremendously from
his relentless attention to detail and thoughtful suggestions. Thank you Dave!
Version 1.5.3.0 (Released August 4th, 2007)
- Bug fix: Resolved a problem with a key binary sorting
algorithm that could cause some duplicates not be identified.
- Bug fix: Resolved a file shell icon association bug in the
main report view.
- Bug fix: Resolved issue with folder and file scan / skip
counts being off under certain conditions.
- Bug fix: Resolved a problem with the search paths docking
panel not showing vertical scrollbars when its contents exceeded available window
space.
- Bug fix: Fixed a problem within the duplicate result
manager window where radio button exclusivity was not properly enforced.
- Bug fix: Resolved a problem with large numbers of
folder paths not being saved properly as part of the project.
- Change: Default file name scan masks have been changed from
"*.*' to "*", which matches a broader range of files (including those without
extensions) by default.
Version 1.5.2.1 (Released October 10th, 2006)
- Improvement: Added an option (under global settings) allowing
Duplicate File Detective to follow file system re-parse points (off by
default).
- Bug fix: Resolved a problem with filename-based duplicate
comparisons being case sensitive.
Version 1.5.2.0 (Released March 13th, 2006)
- Improvement: Created a separate toolbar for managing duplicate
file search results.
- Bug fix: Resolved a problem with sorting file size report
columns w/ very large file sizes.
- Other minor improvements and bug fixes.
Version 1.5.1.5 (Released August 21st, 2005)
- Improvement: Report fields are now quoted during export to CSV
format.
- Bug fix: Resolved a problem with filter criteria file name
masks not honoring upper case characters (when the case sensitive masking switch is
engaged).
- Bug fix: Resolved a problem with small duplicate file result
sets being ignored under specific, rare conditions.
Version 1.5.1.4 (Released August 5th, 2005)
- Improvement: Added file icon to the file properties docking
window.
- Improvement: Implemented progress bar for XML file import
process.
- Improvement: Added cancel function to XML file import
process.
- Improvement: Made the read-only file properties grid a
slightly darker shade of grey (to make them easier to read).
- Improvement: Implemented more robust error logging for
duplicate import processing. If, during the XML report import process, any
parsing errors or warning occur, they will now be logged to a file
named "XmlParseErrs.txt" in the product installation root folder.
- Bug fix: Resolved a couple of problems with the XML
report import process, mainly relating to report contents that reference remote
(UNC) file paths.
- Bug fix: Resolved a defect that prevented the application from
closing correctly if duplicate search was in progress (search had to be cancelled
first).
- Bug fix: Resolved problem with "mark all files in group" when
accessed via the duplicate group context menu.
- Other cosmetic bug fixes.
Version 1.5.0.4 (Released June 20th, 2005)
- New feature: Added a set of File Types docking panels to the
bottom of the Duplicate File Detective window frame. These show the distribution of
duplicate files (compared with total files scanned) of specific file types.
- New feature: Added a new "appearance" tab to the global
options window. These options provide additional control over the visual appearance
and behavior of certain aspects of the application.
- New feature: Added a new "file types" tab to the global
options window. These are used to manage the behavior of the file types report and
graph docking panels.
- New feature: Added a new "file type" column to the primary
report view. Important: this new column is not visible by default. In
order to see it, simply select the "Report Field Chooser" option from the View
menu. You can then drag and drop the new column into the report view at whatever
column position you prefer. The file type column is also included in all report
export formats.
- Improvement: Numerous minor cosmetic improvements.
- Improvement: Improved application performance in a number of
key areas, but particularly in the displaying of duplicate search results.
- Bug fix: Resolved a problem with report view context menu
"unmark files in group" option not working.
- Bug fix: Resolved a problem with docking panes somtimes not
re-drawing correctly when in auto-hide mode.
- Product documentation updates, other minor bug fixes.
Version 1.1.0.0 (Released May 24th, 2005)
- New feature: Added the ability to import duplicate file
reports that were previously exported in XML format. Note that only XML export
files can be re-imported with this feature (HTML and CSV exports can
not).
- New feature: Added a file type group editor, which allows
users to modify what's available from within the filename masks Presets
button.
- Improvement: Added the ability to rename files using the
report view context (right-click) menu.
- Improvement: Added a new checkmark column header image to the
main report view, and added code to make any checked file names appear in bold.
Both steps were designed to add clarity to file marking
capabilities.
- Improvement: Added the ability to access product release notes
from the Help menu.
- Improvement: Added a "Warn if target file already exists"
checkbox option to the export dialog.
- Improvement: Added the exclusion path list to XML
exports.
- Improvement: Added the exclusion path list to summary
report.
- Improvement: Added context help buttons to a number of major
dialog windows.
- Bug fix: Fixed a problem with the Search Paths and Exclusions
docking panels closing prematurely when being used in "auto hide" mode.
- Bug fix: Certain characters within file names and folders were
not being escaped properly during XML export operations. These are now wrapped in
CDATA blocks to prevent parsing errors during consumption by third-party
programs.
- Bug fix: Resolved an issue where invalid date/time stamps on
certain types of files could cause a terminating exception within Duplicate File
Detective.
- Bug fix: Resolved a bug with report column customizations
causing duplicate result grouping problems. Specifically, automatic result grouping
would engage the wrong column if the column positions were changed.
- Bug fix: Fixed an issue with file name grouping being case
sensitive.
Version 1.0.1.1 (Released May 12th, 2005)
- First public product release