Download speed when viewing a file vs transfering

[macca2001]

Hi,

I run the portable version of FlashFXP from a USB pen (v5.4.0 build 3960). When I transfer a file from a server to a folder on my PC I see transfer speeds as I would expect but when I right click and choose to view a file instead I see the transfer speed tank.

I guess this is down to where FlashFXP is choosing to cache the file while it is downloading it for viewing, which is the cache folder on my USB pen. The double whammy on this is that it takes much longer to download it but then it also takes much longer to open it up too from that cache folder (I am working with large text files, 100's mb in size).

Is there a way to nominate a preferred cache folder first and let it fall back on its own cache folder if the preferred one is not available? My choice of preferred would normally just be %TEMP%.

Thanks.

[bigstar]

This is a security feature of the portable edition. The portable edition goes to great lengths to avoid storing any temporary files or application data anywhere on the local machine.

Now if this is a non-security concern there is a way to override the temporary file locations in the portable edition.... However upon testing this scenario I discovered an unexpected issue and the feature does not work as expected for your situation; %TEMP% is expanded prematurely and the value of %TEMP% is written to the data file which fails on portability, Also we can't just use %TEMP%, we need to create a folder within %TEMP%\~flashfxp\ and this sub-folder does not automatically get created.

I am working on correcting these issues now. I can send you a link with the fix when ready if you want to test it out.

[macca2001]

This is a security feature of the portable edition. The portable edition goes to great lengths to avoid storing any temporary files or application data anywhere on the local machine.

I really like this feature and it is the main reason why I use the portable edition and I understand how my request can violate this position. How about making the choice of using an alternate cache folder something that the user needs to accept in the preferences so they are acknowledging the weakened security before FlashFXP allows it?

Now if this is a non-security concern there is a way to override the temporary file locations in the portable edition.... However upon testing this scenario I discovered an unexpected issue and the feature does not work as expected for your situation; %TEMP% is expanded prematurely and the value of %TEMP% is written to the data file which fails on portability, Also we can't just use %TEMP%, we need to create a folder within %TEMP%\~flashfxp\ and this sub-folder does not automatically get created.

I am working on correcting these issues now. I can send you a link with the fix when ready if you want to test it out.

I really appreciate your speedy response. I would be more than happy to test it out.

If the designated cache folder doesn't exist would FlashFXP revert back to its default cache sub folder in its startup folder? Or would it attempt to create the missing folder after prompting to tell you that is what it will do (the prompt will serve to remind the user that this way of working weakens the security of the portable edition)?

[bigstar]

As I previously stated there is already a way to adjust the temp folder location but environment variables are expanded and the expanded result is saved. Which causes a problem if you want to use %temp% across multiple accounts/machines.


Here's an update that corrects the issue with %temp%

Download ffxp5.4.0.3962.zip (https://oss.azurewebsites.net/get/ffxp5.4.0.3962.zip)
Unzip the flashfxp.exe into your FlashFXP program folder overwriting the existing file.

To set the temp folder path do the following.

Start FlashFXP
Press Ctrl+R or from the main menu > Commands > Raw Command

Enter the following command /set app.temp.folder.ve "%temp%"

Then click the [OK] button to execute the command.

You'll see something similar to this in the status window

[13:15:24] [L] [CMD] /set app.temp.folder.ve "%temp%"
[13:15:24] SET app.temp.folder.ve = "C:\USERS\XX\APPDATA\LOCAL\TEMP\~flashfxp" [OK], Previous Value = "d:\temp\~flashfxp"

If the temporary path doesn't exist then it will be created, but if it cannot be created then it will assume the default value.

You can check the current location from within FlashFXP under the main menu > Help > About, then click the Details tab.

[macca2001]

Sorry, I misunderstood what you were saying about having a solution.

I have downloaded the newer version and it works great!

Thanks for your speedy response.