[emacf1]

BBFileScout
I would like to use the opportunity to present an application that I have written for the all BB with OS 4.3 or higher (sorry no support for 4.2.1 devices) [successfully tested (by other users and myself) with 8110, 8310, 8330, 8800, 8820, 9000 & 9500].

BBFileScout allows you to browse the file system of your BB (including hidden files) - create directories, copy, move, rename or delete files. BBFileScout supports copying and deleting of complete directory structures as well. You can open all (by your Blackberry supported) media files. Furthermore BBFileScout allows you to open files (like ini, xml, etc.) as plain text, so you are able to edit, mark, copy & paste text fragments of these files that normally can't be opened with your Blackberry. This can become very valuable when you receive eMail attachments that are not native supported by your Blackberry. More functionality is coming soon.

Please Note: Some files on a BB devices have some sort of DRM (DigitalRightsManagement). Cause of this it could be, that the files can not be copied, moved. BBFileScout will give you a warning information once you try to copy a file that have 'encrypted content' - BBFileScout will mark these files with a "lock" symbol. Additionally it could be the case, that even deleting of this content is not possible.

Of course I am looking desperately for feedback from other Blackberry Users (specially devices that I do not have tested) - your feedback is highly appreciated.

BBFileScout is free, nevertheless if you find the application useful day by day and you want that I am able to invest more of my time into the development of this application, then please be so kind and send me a little donation - details at the BBFileScout Homepage - TIA.

Features
What you can do with BBFileScout:

• Browse over the file system of your BlackBerry device
• Show hidden files and directories (indicated by grey name)
• Show 'encrypted content' (indicated by a lock icon)
• Creating new directories
• Copy a file from one folder to another - to do so:
  
  1. select a file in any directory
     
  2. choose Copy TO 'Stack' from the menu
     
  3. browse to the target folder
     
  4. select Copy FROM 'Stack' from the menu.
     
• Move files*
• Renaming existing files*
• Delete existing files [even ones that are preinstalled (like wallpapers or ringtones)]*, ***
• Copy complete directory structures (including all it's content) in the same way as single files will be copied
• Delete directories with all its content with a single click*
• Opening Media-Files**:
  
  • Audio: W4A|MP3|WAV|AU3|MID|WMA
    
  • Video: MPEG|AVI|MP4|3GP
    
  • Image: JPG|PNG|GIF|TIFF|SVG
    
  • Office (requires installed "Office to go"): DOC|XLS|PPT
    
  • Other: TXT|HTML
    
• Opening custom registered files:
  
  • BBFileScout allows you to associate own file extensions with custom applications (like you might know it from other OS)
    
  • Simply enter the extension [without '.' (dot)] in the BBFileScout-Options
    
  • Once such an associations is configured (via BBFileScout options) you could open any file type with any application that you have registered****
    
• Opening Files in a SimpleTextViewer:
  
  • You can open small files (smaller then 100KiB) in plain text mode - This enables you to open XML's, INI's or any kind of script files (or any other files) in your BlackBerry
    
  • Once the file is opened, you can mark/select text and copy it into the clipboard (to use it where ever you like or need it)
    
• Edit plain text files:
  
  • Once it's enabled in the options you can edit the text files that you have opened in the SimpleTextViewer. But BBFileScout is still far away from becoming a fully functional text editor (that might change in further releases).
    
  • Save text UTF-8 encoded
    
• Options:
  
  • Confirm Exit of BBFileScout
    
  • Confirm Delete of files & directories
    
  • Show hidden files & directories
    
  • Allow editing in SimpleTextViewer
    
  • Custom file associations
    
• More to come...

* Please Note: deleting or renaming files from your Blackberry can harm the core functionality of the device - use this function at your own risk!

** Not all types might be supported by your device

*** Some files on a Blackberry device are marked as "BuildIn" - unfortunately it's not possible for BBFileScout to delete this type of files.

**** The 3'rd party application itself have to support to be started with an file as additional command line parameter (this is quite usual in other OS's but I do not know much about 3'rd party Blackberry applications right now) - It's e.g. succssfully tested with 'RepliGo Reader' (and 'pdf' as custom file associations)


Installation
You will find the download link (incl. OTA) at the BBFileScout Homepage

Additional Notes

• Please Note: Some files on a BB devices have some sort of DRM (DigitalRightsManagement). Cause of this it could be, that the files can not be copied, moved. BBFileScout will give you a warning information once you try to copy a file that have 'encrypted content' - BBFileScout will mark these files with a "lock" symbol. Additionally it could be the case, that even deleting of this content is not possible.
• Even if I own a Storm myself there is no TouchScreen support (yet) - but once there is a stable/complete version of BBFileScout there will be a Strom enhanced Version (if there are any).

Once again: Deleting or renaming files from your Blackberry can harm the core functionality of the device - use this function at your own risk! - Don't blame me, if you have bricked your BB.

Looking forward for your comments
Matthias

[andyahs]

This could be very handy and will give it a go. Thankyou....

[redsoxrocker]

this sounds awesome!

btw is it possible to delete carrier-specific themes using this?

[nm1k0]

Cool. I'm going to try this out. Thanks.

[amf14]

I can't delete files in the device memory. I tried deleting the Music_Demo_WorldTraveller.m4a and it won't delete it.

[emacf1]

btw is it possible to delete carrier-specific themes using this?

mhhhhh depends - I am sorry I hoped, that the answer to this question would be "for sure" - but after I have tested the App on and on in various Blackberry Simulators (where everything worked smooth like silk) I hat to realize, that some files even on my Strom can't be copied to a different location - so I am not 100% confident any longer, that it will work 100%... give it a try and let me know the result :-)

I can't delete files in the device memory. I tried deleting the Music_Demo_WorldTraveller.m4a and it won't delete it.

Was it 'Music_Demo_WorldTraveller.m4a' or Music_Demo_WorldTraveller.m4a.rem' ??? - actually it's just what I said - the real devices behaves (for what ever reason) slightly different then the phone simulators - all I can say right now is already in my initial post:

Please Note: Some (all?) BB devices have a root volume called 'system' - any files in this folder (and it's subfolders) might not be moved, deleted, renamed or copied - The problem is, that this error does not occur in the BB-Simulators - so it can be only debugged on a real device (which is some sort of though).

Matthias

[adrianmayer]

Works on my 8330 Curve. Program is very fast.

[amf14]

It's "Music_Demo_WorldTraveller.m4a".

[samversionone]

I have a Bold and tried this program out. It works very well, however I ran into a slight problem which I'm not about to try and duplicate. I tried deleting some of the sample pictures and the sample music off my Bold. It actually seemed like it worked. I checked the Media app and the files were gone. I was like great. Only program that could do it. Well, I decided to do a battery pull to reset it and it threw me into a Java load error after which a bunch of my apps seemed to have gone missing including a lot of the stock apps. I had to do the battery pull several times before everything went back to normal. After which, the deleted sample files came back out of nowhere.

Other then that, its a great file browser. Very fast.

[emacf1]

BBFileScout update to 0.3.3

What's new?

• added the 8330 to the supported devices
• Marking of encrypted media files [lock icon]*
• Show hidden files & directories
• Handling of BB-BuildIn files **

* these files should be still deletable! - Please Note: deleting or renaming files from your Blackberry can harm the core functionality of the device - use this function at your own risk!
** Some files on a Blackberry device are marked as "BuildIn" - unfortunately it's not possible for BBFileScout to delete this type of files.

Installation & Update
You will find the download link (incl. OTA) at the BBFileScout Homepage

Additional Notes
Some files on a BB devices have some sort of DRM (DigitalRightsManagement). Cause of this it could be, that the files can not be copied, moved. BBFileScout will give you a warning information once you try to copy a file that have 'encrypted content' - BBFileScout will mark these files with a "lock" symbol. Additionally it could be the case, that even deleting of this content is not possible.

Once again: Deleting or renaming files from your Blackberry can harm the core functionality of the device - use this function at your own risk! - Don't blame me, if you have bricked your BB.

Looking forward for your comments
Matthias

[emacf1]

It's "Music_Demo_WorldTraveller.m4a".

Ok - might be that the file is not deletable - actually I have learned today that some files are marked as BB-BuildIn... If you will try to delete such a BuildIn file with BBFileScout 0.3.3 you get an appropriate message. Let me know, what the result is with the new Version...

I have a Bold and tried this program out. It works very well, however I ran into a slight problem which I'm not about to try and duplicate. I tried deleting some of the sample pictures and the sample music off my Bold. It actually seemed like it worked. I checked the Media app and the files were gone. I was like great. Only program that could do it.

well that's going down smooth like silk

The main motivation for me to write this app, was to get rid of certain pre-installed files (that I do not want to have)...

but unfortunately this was not the end of your post...

Well, I decided to do a battery pull to reset it and it threw me into a Java load error after which a bunch of my apps seemed to have gone missing including a lot of the stock apps. I had to do the battery pull several times before everything went back to normal. After which, the deleted sample files came back out of nowhere.

Am I allowed to ask, what was the motivation to do the battery pull? Did something went wrong with BBFileScout or was this battery pull motivated by something else?

What followed the Battery-Pull sounds really miraculous to me (but for sure I thrust your words - no doubt)... but it sounds to me, that the device made a hard reset of everything (meaning that all data of the device would be gone)... Is that correct? I mean, did all the installed stuff (incl. SMS & mail) disappeared? - That would at least explain, why the Images came back....

Other then that, its a great file browser. Very fast.

Well I have no comparison - but it's a straight forward application... I got my BB begin of this month and I was quite disappointed, that everything seams to be payware - that was my motivation to write my own... anyhow I hope we will find the root of your Problem - since I can ensure you, that I have deleted all pre-installed wallpapers on my Storm... and did various battery pulls afterwards...

[buirus]

Thank you for this program. There is a problem when accessing a file on the SD card with many files. The system hangs up in this situation. I have a folder on the SD that has all of my music files (1500 files). When I try and access this folder, my BOLD will hang up, requiring a reboot. With other file explorer type programs, I noticed that it does take some time for the system to be able to display the contents but none of them actually cause my system to hang.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you again for this free program.

[emacf1]

Thank you for this program. There is a problem when accessing a file on the SD card with many files. The system hangs up in this situation. I have a folder on the SD that has all of my music files (1500 files). When I try and access this folder, my BOLD will hang up, requiring a reboot. With other file explorer type programs, I noticed that it does take some time for the system to be able to display the contents but none of them actually cause my system to hang.

1500 files in one folder insane!

Yes I have to admit, that I did not considered such a condition - actually I would be quite interested, if the APP really hangs up - or if it just take a way looooong time... I am an old men and I have plenty of time - so would be a valuable info if the folder opens after 10-15min ... since in this case I would already have an idea, what might could go wrong... If it's just hangs up the complete device, then I have to admit, then it's quite a shame for RIMs garbage collector...

Would it for the bigining an acceptable work around, if you open a folder with such a large amount of file, that you will get a warning/info and the first let's say 100 files will be displayed?

[amf14]

Tried deleting "Music_Demo_WorldTraveller.m4a". Program says it cannot be deleted as the file is builtin.

Tried deleting the john mayer video too. Same result-- cannot be deleted but when I deleted it using Media, I was able to delete it.

Thanks!

[buirus]

Emacf1, thatk you for the reply. I must admit I am not sure if the program in hanging up or taking a very looooong to access the folder. Perhaps a work around would be to display a message that says displaying the contents will take some time, do you want to proceed.

I think your work around if fine but what if I want to see the next batch of 100? Perhaps that is the workaround? Tell the user that the files will be shown in batches of 100 and allow the user to advance to the next batch. What do you think?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[FF22]

I am now "locked up" trying to view my MUSIC folder. I, too, have a slew of mp3's in that folder. I will give it some time to see if it is locked or just TAKING IT SLOWLY.

I have 640 files taking about 4gigs of the sd card. It is still locked up....

Wait, it allowed me to use Alt-menu and brought up the browser but is locked again....

It is just VERY SLOW, I guess. It came back to my control.

And he has many more files.... So very slow. A warning either in the docs or with an on-screen prompt may be nice (too many features, though will make it a larger app (memory issue)

[emacf1]

Emacf1, thatk you for the reply. I must admit I am not sure if the program in hanging up or taking a very looooong to access the folder. Perhaps a work around would be to display a message that says displaying the contents will take some time, do you want to proceed.

I think your work around if fine but what if I want to see the next batch of 100? Perhaps that is the workaround? Tell the user that the files will be shown in batches of 100 and allow the user to advance to the next batch. What do you think?

I am now "locked up" trying to view my MUSIC folder. I, too, have a slew of mp3's in that folder. I will give it some time to see if it is locked or just TAKING IT SLOWLY.

I have 640 files taking about 4gigs of the sd card. It is still locked up....

Wait, it allowed me to use Alt-menu and brought up the browser but is locked again....

It is just VERY SLOW, I guess. It came back to my control.

Thank you very much for your feedback... and surprise surprise - there is a new (test) version 0.3.4...

It would be really nice, if you could update your installation (via BBFileScout Homepage - 100% free Software for Blackberry Devices with OS 4.3 or higher ) and let me know, if your large folders will open now quicker (in acceptable time) [here on my simulators it's a nice step into the correct direction]...

TIA

[tech-medic]

Any plans to support launching .prc Mobipocket reader files in the future?

Jim

[FF22]

I did a rough timing and it appears to have taken a between 30-45 seconds to open the MUSIC folder with about 650 mp3 files in it.

So, the issue is how to handle that SLOWNESS. Since it appears to LOCK the BB, folks will be panicked or concerned. There needs to be clear "warnings" (too strong a term) that opening folders with lots of entries could take a while and that the BB will appear to be locked up.

I don't know how it will react with that other guys even larger folder. And with new cards ranging at more than 16gigs, who knows how many files and how long it might take to open such folders.

[emacf1]

I did a rough timing and it appears to have taken a between 30-45 seconds to open the MUSIC folder with about 650 mp3 files in it.

So, the issue is how to handle that SLOWNESS. Since it appears to LOCK the BB, folks will be panicked or concerned. There needs to be clear "warnings" (too strong a term) that opening folders with lots of entries could take a while and that the BB will appear to be locked up.

I don't know how it will react with that other guys even larger folder. And with new cards ranging at more than 16gigs, who knows how many files and how long it might take to open such folders.

so you are saying, that the situation did not improve at all with the 0.3.4? That's quite sad - since in the Simulator it gave me a massive boost - well then I have to look for something else...

[emacf1]

I have changed now the complete implementation concerning the directory reading - it would be really good to know, how the situation is now... I have copied over 1400 HTML files on my SDCard and it's opening in seconds (showing the new warning message anyhow)... [with 0.3.4 the folder was also opening quite quick - might be it's related to the format of the SDCard]...

Do you know, if you have formatted your SD with FAT or FAT32? (mine here is FAT).

Please update to 0.3.5 and let me know how your large number of files folders behaves...
TIA

[emacf1]

Any plans to support launching .prc Mobipocket reader files in the future?
Jim

Sorry for the last reply Jim - well the answer will be 'yes' and 'no' - what I am planing to do is, to allow the user to register file extention types and associate this extention with an APP (you might know this concept from windows explorer)... There are currently few other things that i would like to get done first - and then the question is, if each 3'rd Party app allows to be called with a file handle... in any case we will know that shortly.

[FF22]

I never did time the earlier version so I don't know if the version (you have now replaced anyway) was faster.

I will try the new one but right now the BB is busy and I don't want to take a chance the gpslogger will reboot after it installs (the last update did reboot while prior versions did not)

There may be no reports to after work - about 8 hours.

[jimmybarger3]

Hey I have a problem, I went and renamed all my home videos I took with my Storm and when I renamed them it turned them into like a document and now they're not in my videos and I don't know how to get them back. Any ideas?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[jimmybarger3]

Ha ha I'm dumb. Nevermind I figured it out, I forgot to put ".3GP" after the file name when I remamed them now everything is fine and the videos are back in my video player

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com