I just installed the Directory Opus trial and all I can say is, "Why the heck did I not know about this software?". The amount of customization and integration is amazing, and the UI is a case study in performance and polish. I've been in software development for about 15 years, and clearly GPSoftware are one of the groups who is doing it well. I'll definitely be purchasing a personal license!
Question: Can I use Directory Opus to edit remote SFTP files using Notepad++, then when saving have those changes persist to the remote server? Long version...
I happened upon Directory Opus when looking for FTP/SFTP options. Like many, I use an amalgamation of tools for file management, but mainly WinSCP for remote file management & editing. I was looking for a nice integrated replacement, and Directory Opus seems to do well except when I want to edit / save a remote file using Notepad++. Please let me know if there's an option I can change. I already changed the default file editor and unless I click "Open" on a remote file I cannot persist its changes across the wire.
I found this topic which explains how to map drives using SSHFS. I got it working with key based authentication and it is pretty seamless. Double-clicking a file opens it in the correct editor, and saving it transparently pushes the changes across the network. The only thing I pine for is being able to see the full owner / permissions on the remote file system. I imagine that's an artifact of SSHFS rather than DOpus, as when using SFTP over SSH with DOpus I can see all that information.
I control the remote servers in question, so I've also tried setting up NFS shares using samba. This works well too, and I can see the file owner but the attributes are not displaying correctly. Perhaps I need to change something in my samba config. I will check into that.
Again, kudos for creating an amazing piece of software. I know I'm just scratching the surface of its power, and look forward to learning more.
Under Preferences / File Operations / Options / Re-upload modified files... there are some options that can allow you to edit files on FTP and SFTP sites and automatically re-upload the changes.
Which option is best depends a bit on the program being used and how you're editing the file (e.g. if the editor detaches and/or if you want to upload changes without having to close the editor, so you can make and test multiple changes).
A detailed description of the options can be found here (or click the help button on the Preferences page to view the local copy of the same help file).
It's also possible to configure Opus to pass the FTP path to a program, instead of downloading the file to temp and opening that. For programs that talk FTP/SFTP themselves, that can make things run more smoothly (since they know when they are saving the file, while Opus has to keep an eye on it to see if it has changed, or similar).
Leo - thank you for the quick reply. I figured I just needed to adjust an option or two. The "Monitor indefinitely" re-upload option is what gets me closest to the remote editing experience I had with WinSCP. That convenience was the only reason I used WinSCP, so I can now gladly say goodbye to that piece of software.
I'm preparing to purchase a Pro Dual license, and saw the "advanced FTP" optional add-on. I use PuTTY extensively, so this is intriguing. I see that in my trial licensed software, "Secure SFTP via SSH (Port 22)" is an available option when establishing new FTP connections. I gather that option is enabled with the extra $10 add-on?
That's right. Evaluation certificates have the add-on enabled so you can try it out and make sure it suits your needs before deciding whether it's worth buying. Once the evaluation runs out, if you buy Opus without the add-on then you'll be able to use normal FTP but not the SFTP functionality.
(You can add the SFTP add-on at any time if you choose not to get it immediately, too.)
That makes sense to have all the functionality enabled in the trial license.
I've been further testing to see if I can replace WinSCP for remote file editing, and for the most part things are working well. I have seen where temporary files opened via double-click on an FTP site are being removed though. The scenario is roughly this:
[ul]
[li]Open remote FTP file via double-click[/li]
[li]Edit some text, save file[/li]
[li]File changes persisted to remote server[/li]
[li]Switch focus to another application for awhile[/li]
[li]Focus back to my text editor[/li]
[li]Receive warning that the file I'm editing has been removed from the file system[/li][/ul]
Due to the nature of my days, I may leave a file opened like this for hours at a time. Using WinSCP in this regard, I can leave the file open and save it at the end of my day without the temporary file being removed.
I found an Advanced Setting, "ftp_dblclk_cache_time", that looks like it may help, though its stated purpose is different than my use case. Would this setting manifest in the local temporary file not being deleted until the timeout setting? Note that I do have the "Monitor indefinitely" re-upload option enabled.
From looking at the code, I think you are right, and increasing the ftp_dblclk_cache_time setting looks like it will indeed act as a workaround for the time being.
Hello leo - I set ftp_dblclk_cache_time to 60 minutes and have been seeing how that works. It allowed me at first to persist changes to the remote server, but starting today the files aren't being persisted. I haven't made any other settings changes. Is there anything further I can do to troubleshoot?