New functionality for Droid Explorer Extensions

Extensions in Droid Explorer can already handle specific file types. The shell console and sqlite explorer are good examples of that. When you right click on a file that is handled by an extension you will see it as an option.

Extensions can now implement DroidExplorer.Core.Plugins.IFileTypeIconHandler. This will allow an extension to define how the icons for the specified file are rendered. Here you will see the new PictureExtension. It shows a small thumbnail of the picture as the icon of the file.

These icons will be cached in the users Droid Explorer Data/Assets directory so they can be loaded from the cache to load faster.

Getting help when using Droid Explorer

A few days ago I showed some screenshots of some of the work that I have done in the next version of Droid Explorer. One of the things that I talked about was how I will monitor the DroidExplorer tag on Android Enthusiasts. Here is how that will also play a part in the next version of Droid Explorer.

Right from the UI, you will be able to quickly get to the Android Enthusiasts questions that are tagged with DroidExplorer. If those don’t help, you can ask your own question. Just make sure you use the correct tag and that your questions are detailed and specific. If they are bug reports, they will not be answered and they will probably be closed. Bug reports will still go on the Issue Tracker.

 

I have also implemented another way to keep up to date with new releases and new code commits. If you are a Pushbullet user, you can subscribe to the Droid Explorer Channels:

• Source Code Commits
• Releases

Features coming to Droid Explorer

I've been working on some updates to Droid Explorer (which will probably get a name change with the next release).
These updates include:

• Being able to connect to devices via TCP/IP.
• A new Shell Console (which is much needed as the old one is very buggy and only works on a few devices correctly, or at all) that has full color processing.
• A new layout for the Device Selection dialog. Less clutter, more information.
• An updated debug console
• An updated logcat console.

 

 

Effective immediately, I will be monitoring a tag [DroidExplorer] over on Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange for non-bug related support. If it is an actual bug, it should be created as a bug, if you are just having an issue, or a question, then you can ask it over on Android Enthusiasts.

Finally, I am considering moving the source code to Github. If I do decide to move it, releases will probably still stay on CodePlex, at least for the time being. They have a good api that is already built in to my build scripts so I can easily publish new releases.

Some of the reasons I may be moving:

• It seems that Microsoft has abandoned CodePlex.
• The blog hasn't been updated in over a year.
• Performance of the site has decreased.
• Analytics have been having issues since October. And I have attempted to contact the CodePlex team, via Email and Twitter, without a response.

Until then, you can get the latest version from the Droid Explorer project page.