Servant Salamander
Encyclopedia
Altap Salamander is a shareware
orthodox file manager
for Windows
, originally inspired by Norton Commander
. In contrast to several other file managers, it has a context aware user interface hiding complexity – for instance, the bottom function list changes on press of modifier keys, just showing the currently available hotkey function set.
Its development was started in 1996 as a hobby project by Petr Šolín (from Czech Republic
) during his studies at university and released as freeware
in 1997. It was originally written in Watcom
C++, later in Microsoft Visual C++
6.0. The last freeware version, 1.52, is still available for download from Altap website.
The first shareware
version 2.0 was released in 2001 by a newly established company Altap. Salamander 2.0 included support for Viewer and Archiver plugins. During the development of 2.5 version the plugin architecture was expanded to support File System
plugins to support FTP
and other protocols.
The plugin SDK for 2.5 version allows plugin developers to create new viewer plugins (for file previews), archiver plugins (for browsing/unpacking/packing archives), file system plugins (for custom directory listing) and tools (like multi-rename or file compare). Custom column plugins known from Total Commander
are not supported.
Shareware
The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...
orthodox file manager
File manager
A file manager or file browser is a computer program that provides a user interface to work with file systems. The most common operations performed on files or groups of files are: create, open, edit, view, print, play, rename, move, copy, delete, search/find, and modify file attributes, properties...
for Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, originally inspired by Norton Commander
Norton Commander
Norton Commander was a prototypical orthodox file manager , written by John Socha and released by Peter Norton Computing . NC is a file manager which provides a text user interface on top of DOS. It was officially produced by Symantec between 1986 and 1998...
. In contrast to several other file managers, it has a context aware user interface hiding complexity – for instance, the bottom function list changes on press of modifier keys, just showing the currently available hotkey function set.
Its development was started in 1996 as a hobby project by Petr Šolín (from Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
) during his studies at university and released as freeware
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
in 1997. It was originally written in Watcom
Watcom
Watcom International Corporation was founded in 1981 by three former employees of the Computer Systems Group at the University of Waterloo, in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada...
C++, later in Microsoft Visual C++
Visual C++
Microsoft Visual C++ is a commercial , integrated development environment product from Microsoft for the C, C++, and C++/CLI programming languages...
6.0. The last freeware version, 1.52, is still available for download from Altap website.
The first shareware
Shareware
The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...
version 2.0 was released in 2001 by a newly established company Altap. Salamander 2.0 included support for Viewer and Archiver plugins. During the development of 2.5 version the plugin architecture was expanded to support File System
File system
A file system is a means to organize data expected to be retained after a program terminates by providing procedures to store, retrieve and update data, as well as manage the available space on the device which contain it. A file system organizes data in an efficient manner and is tuned to the...
plugins to support FTP
File Transfer Protocol
File Transfer Protocol is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server...
and other protocols.
The plugin SDK for 2.5 version allows plugin developers to create new viewer plugins (for file previews), archiver plugins (for browsing/unpacking/packing archives), file system plugins (for custom directory listing) and tools (like multi-rename or file compare). Custom column plugins known from Total Commander
Total Commander
Total Commander is an Orthodox File Manager software for Windows, Windows CE, and Windows Mobile. Some features include a built-in FTP client, file compare, archive file navigation, and a versatile multi-rename tool with regular expression support....
are not supported.