Far Manager

Far Manager

File:FAR icon.png
FAR Manager screenshot
Developer(s)	Eugene Roshal (1996–2000) FAR Group (2000–present)
Initial release	October 8, 1996
Repository	github.com/FarGroup/FarManager
Written in	C++
Operating system	Microsoft Windows
Available in	Russian/English
Type	File manager
License	Proprietary shareware (1.7 series); revised BSD license (2.0 series)
Website	farmanager.com

FAR Manager (short for File and ARchive Manager) is an orthodox file manager for Microsoft Windows and a clone of Norton Commander. FAR Manager uses the Win32 console and has a keyboard-oriented user interface (although limited mouse operation, including drag-and-drop, is possible).

Originally, FAR Manager was written by Eugene Roshal (the creator of WinRAR), but since 2000 the development is carried on by a team called the FAR Group. The new open-source Unicode FAR branch (2.0) is attracting many open source developers.

Features

FAR Manager features an internal viewer and editor, customizable user menus, tree views, file search, compare, integrated help, and a task switcher for its tools. Its standard functionality can be expanded with macros (which allow limited scripting) and plugins.

FAR Manager's default interface combines two file panels with a command prompt. Panels may be fully customized as to which columns are shown and in which order, and operations may be done to and from either panel. The file panels support wildcard selection, advanced filtering, sorting and highlighting. The file panels and the command prompt are both active at the same time (they are interacted with using different keys), and most features can be accessed using keyboard shortcuts (the key bar at the bottom displays the function key actions for the currently held down modifier keys).

FAR's standard functionality can be greatly extended with plugins. Standard plugins installed by default include FTP, Windows network, extensible archive file support and temporary panel (sandbox) virtual file systems, a process list, print manager, filename case converter, and several editor plugins to format, wrap, and otherwise alter text.

Third-party plugins are available from the PlugRinG repository. Some popular plugins include regular expression search and replace (both in the text editor and across multiple files), syntax highlighting and auto-completion for the text editor, SFTP/SCP and Windows Registry virtual file systems, 7-zip integration, a hex editor and a picture viewer (which overlays a DirectX surface over FAR's console window). It is worth noting that wrappers are available which allow using some Total Commander plugins with FAR Manager, and vice-versa.

Most of plugins are written in C++\C and Pascal using the original API. There are some modern alternatives: FarNet provides .NET API for writing .NET plugins and PowerShellFar implements Windows PowerShell host and exposes underlying FarNet object model for easy scripting.

Licensing

FAR Manager is distributed by RarSoft and available as a free download. The license for versions up to and including the 1.70 series (the current stable version) is 40 days shareware for everyone except for citizens of the former USSR countries, who can use it as freeware for non-commercial use only.

On October 26, 2007, the source code for the development version (1.80, later renamed to 2.0) was released under the revised BSD license.

See also

• Comparison of file managers
• WinSCP plugin

External links

• The official site of FAR Manager
• FAR Manager v2.0.1365 Download
• FAR PlugRinG - official plugins catalog
• The official site of Eugene Roshal (original FAR developer)