Directory Opus
{{Short description|File managing software}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Directory Opus
| title =
| logo = Directory_Opus_logo.png
| logo caption =
| logo size =
| logo alt =
| screenshot =
| caption =
| collapsible =
| author = Jonathan Potter
| developer = GPSoftware
| released = {{Start date and age|1990|01}}
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}|df=yes}}
| operating_system = AmigaOS, Microsoft Windows
| genre = File manager
| license = Proprietary
| website = {{URL|www.gpsoft.com.au}}
}}
Directory Opus (or "DOpus" as its users tend to call it) is a file manager program, originally written for the Amiga computer system in the early to mid-1990s. Commercial development on the version for the Amiga ceased in 1997. Directory Opus is still being actively developed and sold for the Microsoft Windows operating system by GPSoftware and there are open source releases of Directory Opus 4 and 5 for Amiga.
Directory Opus was originally developed by, and is still written by, Australian Jonathan Potter. Until 1994, it was published by well-known Amiga software company Inovatronics, when Potter joined with Greg Perry and the Australian-based GPSoftware to continue its development, and has since been published by GPSoftware.
Features
Directory Opus has evolved since its first release in 1990 as a basic two-panel file manager. The interface has evolved significantly due to feedback given by its users. Some of the features include:
- Single or dual-panel exploring.{{cite magazine|last=Mendelson|first=Edward|author-link=Edward Mendelson|date=2004-06-08|title=File Managers|magazine=PC Magazine|publisher=Ziff Davis|issn=0888-8507|volume=23|number=10|page=132}}
- Folder tree (either shared or separate for dual-display).
- Tabbed explorer panels.
- Ability to maintain date created/modified timestamps for both files and folders.{{cite magazine|last=Rubenking|first=Neil J.|date=2006-04-11|title=Incredibly useful utilities, Directory Opus 8|magazine=PC Magazine|publisher=Ziff Davis|issn=0888-8507|volume=25|number=6|page= |pages=98–99}}
- Internal handling of ZIP, RAR, 7Zip and other archive formats (browse them like folders).
- Internal FTP handling,{{cite magazine|last=Mendelson|first=Edward|author-link=Edward Mendelson|date=2005-02-08|title=Replace Windows Explorer|magazine=PC Magazine|publisher=Ziff Davis|issn=0888-8507|volume=24|number=2|page=46}} including (for a small extra fee) advanced FTP and SSH (browse these like folders also).
- Internal MTP handling for portable devices like phones and cameras.
- Flat-file display, where you can flatten a folder tree and even hide the folders themselves.{{cite news|last=Harac|first=Ian|date=2014-03-31|title=Directory Opus 11 review: The premier file manager for power users|url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/2137351/directory-opus-11-review-the-premier-file-manager-for-power-users.html|newspaper=PCWorld|access-date=2017-05-16}}
- Powerful file selection and renaming tools, with advanced regex.
- User-definable toolbars, menus, filetypes and filetype groups.{{cite magazine|last=Mendelson|first=Edward|author-link=Edward Mendelson|date=2005-05-24|title=File Managers|magazine=PC Magazine|publisher=Ziff Davis|issn=0888-8507|volume=24|number=9|page= |pages=92–93}}
- Preview panel, with preview of thumbnails (including animated avi thumbnails).
- File collections. These are like virtual folders that contain links to the original files (unlike shortcuts, these actually deal with the files directly).
History
=Release history=
==Amiga release history==
- Opus 1: January 1990
- Opus 2: February 1991
- Opus 3: 1991-12-01
- Opus 4: 1992-12-04
- Opus 5: 1995-04-12
- Opus 5.5: 1996-08-01
- Opus Magellan (5.6): 1997-05-17
- Opus Magellan II (5.8): 1998-11-01
- Opus Magellan II GPL (5.90): 2014-05-11
Versions 1 and 2 were only available direct from the author. Versions 3 and 4{{cite magazine|last=Holborn|first=Jason|date=April 1993|title=Directory Opus 4|magazine=Amiga Format|publisher=Future Publishing|issn=0957-4867|issue=45|page=135}} were published by Inovatronics. Versions since 5 have been published by GPSoftware (German versions were published by Stefan Ossowskis Schatztruhe). The full version of Magellan II is included for free with AmiKit package.
==Windows major release history==
- Opus 6: 2001-06-18
- Opus 8: 2004-10-04
- Opus 9: 2007-04-27{{cite press release|url=http://resource.dopus.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4526|title=Directory Opus 9 release announcement}}
- Opus 10: 2011-04-30{{cite press release|url=http://resource.dopus.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=13940|title=Directory Opus 10 release announcement}}
- Opus 11: 2014-03-03{{cite press release|url=http://blog.dopus.com/2014/03/directory-opus-11-is-now-available.html|title=Directory Opus 11 release announcement}}
- Opus 12: 2016-09-05{{cite press release|url=http://blog.dopus.com/2016/09/directory-opus-12-is-now-available.html|title=Directory Opus 12 release announcement}}
- Opus 13: 2024-01-23{{cite web | url=https://resource.dopus.com/t/directory-opus-13-now-available/48103 | title=Directory Opus 13 Now Available! | date=23 January 2024 }}
All Windows versions published by GPSoftware. (German versions published by Haage & Partner Computer GmbH.)
==Open source release history==
- GPSoftware released the older Amiga Directory Opus 4 source code in 2000 as open-source under the GNU General Public License.{{cite web|url=http://slashdot.org/story/00/01/30/007250/amiga-directoryopus-4-released-under-gpl|title=Amiga DirectoryOpus 4 Released Under GPL|date=31 January 2000 }} AmigaOS4, AROS and MorphOS ports of this version were made available. Magellan II was released as open source under the AROS Public License in December 2012.{{cite web|url=http://sourceforge.net/p/dopus5allamigas/code/66/tree/README.txt|title=Dopus5 – Directory Opus 5 (OpenSource)}}
The open source Worker (file manager) is heavily inspired by the Directory Opus 4 series.{{cite web|url=http://www.boomerangsworld.de/cms/worker/|title=Worker file manager|website=boomerangsworld.de|author=Ralf Hoffman}}
See also
{{Portal|Amiga}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{oweb}}
- [http://dopus.free.fr Directory Opus 4 Research Project]
- [http://resource.dopus.com Opus Resource Centre Forum]
- [http://www.pretentiousname.com/opus/index.html Getting to know Directory Opus (Guide)]
- {{sourceforge|diropus4}}
- {{sourceforge|dopus5allamigas|Directory Opus 5.8 (Magellan II) for all Amigas (AOS3, AOS4, MOS and AROS)}}
{{AmigaOS}}
{{File managers}}