Content plugin for Total Commander Opera_Cache

This plugin allows viewing the information about cache elements of the Opera browser.

Starting from version 9.5 the Opera browser changed the cache structure, so that all files stored there lost their extensions. In previous versions one could use these extensions to easily determine the file type: whether it is an image, HTML page, flash video or something else, and therefore quickly find the needed file (for example, a flash video that you wish to save locally).

As the browser developers explain, this change allowed to raise performance significantly, which was one of the highest-priority tasks when they were developing the new version. I won't go into details, just confirm that the algorithm they described, indeed, allows to work with the cache faster, and that to make such behaviour optional is a very hard task. All this lead us to the conclusion that the extensions will hardly be ever returned back.

So, how to live now? There are two possible solutions. First one is to use the browser's abilities to work with cache, that is to open the page opera:cache. There you can find information about each element, and using third-party extensions you can add displaying image previews, sorting elements and other improvements. But for fans of the file manager Total Commander this variant is hardly acceptable: where is file copying, viewing in different modes and all other features of using file managers? Well, now they too have a solution: the plugin Opera_Cache.

This plugin reads the index file named dcache4.url which is located in the cache directory and contains information about all the elements. After that for each file the complete details will be known: where it came from, what it contains, when it was downloaded, etc. All this information can be used by usual ways the content plugins are used: in additional columns, in tooltips, while searching… In short, anywhere the WDX plugins can be applied. For example, you can create an additional column that will contain the MIME type of the file, and use it for findinf video files instead of the former extensions.

Unfortunately, Opera 10.50 redesigned cache completely, so that not only the plugin cannot work with it, but it's technically impossible to adapt it to the new cache structure. The new cache is no longer works with individual files but with containers: some files are combined together into a single file, others get a special header (so that e.g. image files cannot be viewed directly from cache because of wrong headers), etc. To support the new scheme, WDX interface does not fit, because it can work with individual files only and cannot split them or modify their contents. Instead, a completely new plugin has to be written, this time using the WFX interface which allows creating a virtual file system and displaying cached files there. Writing such a plugin is already in my to-do list. For those who still uses older Opera versions, the current WDX plugin remains available.

Download links:

	Plugin	Version	Size	Download
	Opera_Cache	1.2	201 626 bytes
		1.1	15 786 bytes
		1.0	11 279 bytes

Download source code:

	Plugin	Version	Size	Download
	Opera_Cache	1.2	74 844 bytes
		1.1	74 246 bytes