DirectoryOpus: a Chinese language handbook for a Windows file manager

A documentation project, not the software

The repository is a documentation project rather than an implementation. Its own description is a Chinese language manual for a Windows file manager, and the file listing shows why: the primary language of the repository is recorded as Markdown, and the top level is almost entirely directories named after concepts, with browsing/ for navigation and viewing, operations/ for file operations, types/ for file types, plus a DO/ directory for the documentation that comes with the program itself and a Manual/ directory.

The software it documents is Directory Opus, developed by GPSoftware, and the readme credits the logo and links to the vendor site. The handbook positions itself in the third party file manager market on Windows, alongside Total Commander, Directory Opus and XYplorer, and it argues the case for a third party file manager at length: Windows File Explorer is described as not strong on functionality and behind most third party managers, so if you depend on organising data with a file system, the quality of the manager affects your productivity. It then places Directory Opus against its two rivals, noting that Total Commander is the best known and has a strong Chinese ecosystem presence, that Directory Opus is relatively easy to pick up, highly integrated with the system and powerful, and that XYplorer also has its users.

The stated purpose of the repository is two things at once. It is the author's personal summary of experience with Directory Opus, and it is a supplement to the Chinese ecosystem around it. The author says it is still being written, and that the official English manual is where the authoritative text lives, with a link at the end of the readme to docs.dopus.com.

For an English reader the useful framing is this: it is a curated, Chinese language map of a commercial Windows file manager, and a good example of the kind of community documentation layer that sits around niche desktop software.

The file window is the unit of everything

The basic concepts section starts where a new user starts, with the file window, and the structure it describes is a useful summary of the application.

A file window is made up of a file list, folder tabs, a status bar, a toolbar, a folder tree and other panes. The point worth noting is that every component except the file list can be removed. A window can be reduced to a single list, and the pieces you keep are your choice, which is the difference between a file manager you adapt to and one you work around.

The file list itself is where most of the configuration lives, and the handbook covers it in detail. The available views are detailed, list, thumbnail, small icons, large icons, tile, an enhanced mode and a flat view. Columns are usually file attributes such as name, size and modification date, but the readme notes that Directory Opus also ships metadata properties such as notes, tags and star ratings, and computed properties such as the number of child files and MD5. It also builds in columns for common file types, such as image resolution, video duration, video resolution, video frame rate, music artist, music album and program version, and custom columns can be added with script and shell column processors.

Marks are the other piece of the list view worth calling out, because they are the feature third party managers usually lack. A mark displays files in a custom colour, and also supports setting a file icon and a status icon, bold, italic and underline font styles, and pinning a file to the top. Marks can be set by hand or assigned automatically by a mark filter. Alongside marks, the readme describes three extended attributes that can be set on a file: descriptions, tags and ratings.

Instant find, folder formats and the source target model

Three subsystems in the handbook are worth pulling out, because they are where the productivity lives.

Instant find does several things at once from one control. It can find or filter files instantly, select files by wildcard or by range, jump to another path or folder tab, and execute CLI commands, with the built in commands, the cmd command and WSL all bound to different keys. The documentation shows the same control in four modes, find, filter, select and range, and a second row for search, jump, tab and command, which is a compact way of expressing that it is a filter bar that also navigates.

Folder formats decide how each folder is displayed, covering the view, columns, sort order, grouping, file filters, mark filters, background colour and the folder tab colour. The important detail is that a folder format can be made to apply by folder path, by content type or by folder type, so the rules follow the meaning of the folder rather than its name.

The source and target model is the other idea that changes how you work. Many file operations happen between two or more directories, and the usual approach is repeated copy and paste or dragging back and forth, which is tedious. Instead you designate one directory as the target and then copy or move straight into it. In dual pane mode the current file list is the source and the opposite list is the target. In single pane mode the current file window is the source and the most recently activated other file window is the target, with the status bar showing which window it belongs to. The documented built in operations include copying to the target with Ctrl+1, copying with a new name after a prompt with Ctrl+Shift+1, moving to the target with Ctrl+2, moving with a new name with Ctrl+Shift+2, and creating a shortcut in the target.

The handbook also covers advanced rename, which does batch renaming with wildcards, macros that are recorded as you edit, regular expressions, inserted sequence numbers and metadata fields, and custom processing through JS or VBS scripts. Configured rename rules can be saved as presets for reuse.

Commands and scripts, and how the handbook reaches you

The command language is the mechanism behind most of the interface, and the handbook explains it in a short example. A command is a built in simple scripting language, and the example given looks like this:

@keydown:none   // 如果没有修饰键被按下
Copy            // 复制选中文件到目标目录
@keydown:shift  // 如果 Shift 被按下
Copy AS         // 以指定名称（弹窗输入）复制选中文件到目标目录

The key point is that most user operations in Directory Opus are implemented as commands, including most toolbar buttons, menu buttons, hotkeys and file type events. The readme states it directly: in all of those places you can implement your own functionality through commands. Beyond commands there are scripts, mainly JScript and VBScript, for more complex work, and you can also define your own commands in a script to extend what the command language can do.

The file type system is the other extensibility point. You can define your own mouse actions, context menus and tooltips for each file type, and alongside independent file types there are special file types and file type groups, which let you define actions for a group of types at once.

How the handbook reaches a reader is also documented. For Directory Opus itself the English manual is at docs.dopus.com, and the Chinese mirror of this handbook is published on GitBook, which supports AI search. Two other mirrors are struck through in the readme, so they have been retired.

There is a small practical trick worth passing on. A userscript for the Chinese manual, installed from Greasy Fork, makes the official English manual, opened with F1, jump automatically to the corresponding page of the Chinese version. That is a neat way of using the two documents side by side rather than switching between them by hand.

Licensing is the part to read carefully

The readme spends a substantial amount of space on how to buy Directory Opus, which is a hint about how much the price and the licence model matter for a user in this market.

From version 13, Directory Opus uses a subscription model for updates, renewed annually, and the version you have keeps working after the subscription expires. The download is available to try, with a default trial of 30 days that can be extended to 60 days after registration.

The purchase table lists channels with prices, and the vendor site is the first. A 1+1 licence is 89 AUD, where the footnote explains that 1+1 means one computer plus one laptop. There are also 2+1 and 5+1 tiers, and the table records historical sale prices struck through for comparison. Renewal is cheaper than a new purchase, at 25 AUD for 1+1. Additional options are listed separately: USB export licences at 10 AUD per export and advanced FTP at 10 AUD. The table also records reseller channels, several of them Chinese, with the note that they generally respond slowly and that the renewal price on a reseller is marked as unknown.

The warning is the important part. Chinese resellers sell Chinese language only licences, which means they can only be used in Chinese, not in English or other languages. That is a significant constraint for anyone who works across locales, and the handbook states it plainly.

There is a separate table for upgrading from version 12 to version 13, with an upgrade price range of 0 to 50 AUD, where the zero applies to licences bought during the early public beta of version 13, around the start of 2023, and the maximum is the two year renewal price. The readme also notes that a Chinese language licence becomes a multi language licence after upgrading, and that the standard Light edition becomes the Professional edition. A later line records that the two year upgrade subscription promotion has ended, so upgrades now only give one year of updates.

The readme is explicit that it does not list cracked copies of Directory Opus.

Editorial conclusion

This repository suits a Directory Opus user who reads Chinese and wants the feature set explained in their own language, or a Chinese speaker who wants the official English manual mirrored and extended with local notes. It does not suit anyone looking for the file manager itself, which is a commercial product by GPSoftware, and it does not replace the official documentation, which the handbook explicitly defers to for anything outside its scope. Before relying on it, check the SUMMARY.md index for how much of the manual has actually been translated, and read the sections on licensing and purchase before following any of the reseller links, since the handbook itself flags that regional resellers sell Chinese language only licences.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. Chaoses-Ib/DirectoryOpus on GitHub
2. License: MIT
3. Project website
4. README
5. Releases