SimpleDir - Directory listing plugin

[RobA]

I have checked all the privileges and they are okay, but it still says "Unable to open folder". Could you explain in detail what do I have to type in the field »Full Server Path to Directory« and what exactly in »Base URL for Directory« ? Thanks

For example, on my testbed site, the full server path to the directory I want displayed is:
/home/useraccount/testbed/data/uploads/

and the base URL for http:\\testbed.cartocopia.com\ which maps to the folder /home/useraccount/testbed

so for the base URL to directory, It is just the /data/uploads/ portion.

-Rob A>

[Italian David]

Hi Rob A,

I really like the idea of this plugin and I appreciate that you giving up your time to create it.

Unfortunately I've not been able to get it working and, like Teazmo above, I think I'm having trouble with the configuration.

On my live site I can't get it working at all. I don't know what I'm doing wrong in terms of the 'Full Server Path' and 'Base URL' but I can't seem to get the right path and consequently always get the 'unable to open folder' error.

I know you already explained this but I still don't really understand what you need to put. I thought it was just the url of the directory you want to see listed as you would put it in the browser address bar.

I have got a little further on an xampp installation but something really strange is happening. The contents of the directory shows up as expected on the page but for some reason the links are going through an extra directory that doesn't exist consisting of the last letter in the defined path so for example:

http://localhost/cloud/data/uploads/logo.png

is actually output as:

http://localhost/cloud/data/uploads/s/logo.png

There is an extra 's' directory that the link is trying to go through.

Do you have any ideas what might be causing this?

Thanks again for your contribution,

Italian David

[shawn_a]

You need to know your file path, this should be indicated in your host.
If you do not know it, then perhaps look around for it, it has to be listed in your host cpanel or run phpinfo()

[mackur]

Hello,
Do you know how can I change plugin to browse one folder per one page, second folder for second page? It is possible?
Best regards,
Maciej Kurzak

[asndk]

Hello,
i know my path but still have "check the folder privileges."
Do i need some .htaccess file? The folder have 755 permissions
GS is 3.3.5
i we placed the .htaccess file from zip in the /data/upload/docs/ directory
even changed the Options All -Indexes to Options All +Indexes
any hints how to check the path from cPanel?
Resolved: my path was not /www/root/(gs)
was: /www/sitename/www/root/(gs) - there was other site in this account

[DesruX]

Hello,
Do you know how can I change plugin to browse one folder per one page, second folder for second page? It is possible?
Best regards,
Maciej Kurzak

I am thinking about the same thing. It is a great plugin, but it would really be cool to be able to have multiple instances running?
maybe one way would be to place each instance in its own "Component" then it would be easy to use multiple places on the site. 

[Charpy1]

Just to mention this usefull script which can also be used : http://www.directorylister.com/

[DesruX]

Hello,
Do you know how can I change plugin to browse one folder per one page, second folder for second page? It is possible?
Best regards,
Maciej Kurzak

Just to mention this usefull script which can also be used : http://www.directorylister.com/

Thanks for the link, I will test that. As I understand directorylister will allow you to expose an accessible folder of files through the use of a index.php file that reads the files and creates a list.

What I would like to do is have a certain page display a list of files residing somewhere on the server.
E.g. Page A shows list of files residing in Folder A.

User accesses Page A and can see list of files, downloading a file will be a deeper link of Page A:
website/somesecuredpartofwebsite/PageA/file.xyz (file accessible and downloadable from this link, after secure login)

Files actually resides in Folder A:
website/uploads/FolderA/file.zyx (not directly accessible)

Does that make sense and any ideas of how to achieve it?

BR

[lokothodida]

I've briefly tried to work on an unofficial v0.4 of RobA's plugin to address people's issues.

• Makes the directory path default to /data/uploads/ (leave the fields in the admin panel empty to set it to /data/uploads/)
  
• Allows multiple instances of SimpleDir to run on a page (parameters added to (% simpledir %))
  
• Provides public PHP functions for using SimpleDir outside of pages (get_simpledir_display, return_simpledir_results)
  
• Fix HTML for the admin panel
  
• Github Page
  
• ZIP File for current beta
  

[DesruX]

I've briefly tried to work on an unofficial v0.4 of RobA's plugin to address people's issues.

• Makes the directory path default to /data/uploads/ (leave the fields in the admin panel empty to set it to /data/uploads/)
  
• Allows multiple instances of SimpleDir to run on a page (parameters added to (% simpledir %))
  
• Provides public PHP functions for using SimpleDir outside of pages (get_simpledir_display, return_simpledir_results)
  
• Fix HTML for the admin panel
  
• Github Page
  
• ZIP File for current beta
  

Awsome!, it works like a charm, thanks a lot for the effort.

A few further suggestions for improvements:
a) Option to decide which columns to include e.g. Date and Size - so you could have a listing not showing those columns and having more space for the filename.
b) Options to sort the files, e.g. on name a-z or z-a. I would like the newest files to be shown in the top.
c) Option to only show top 5 files, then click to expand to see all.

Any ideas on how it could be integrated with a way to avoid exposing the actual files without authentication. Right now the page that serves simpledir requires users to be loggedin, but if you know the exact url of the file it is possible to download it directly.

Best regards

[lokothodida]

I've briefly tried to work on an unofficial v0.4 of RobA's plugin to address people's issues.

• Makes the directory path default to /data/uploads/ (leave the fields in the admin panel empty to set it to /data/uploads/)
  
• Allows multiple instances of SimpleDir to run on a page (parameters added to (% simpledir %))
  
• Provides public PHP functions for using SimpleDir outside of pages (get_simpledir_display, return_simpledir_results)
  
• Fix HTML for the admin panel
  
• Github Page
  
• ZIP File for current beta
  

Awsome!, it works like a charm, thanks a lot for the effort.

A few further suggestions for improvements:
a) Option to decide which columns to include e.g. Date and Size - so you could have a listing not showing those columns and having more space for the filename.
b) Options to sort the files, e.g. on name a-z or z-a. I would like the newest files to be shown in the top.
c) Option to only show top 5 files, then click to expand to see all.

Any ideas on how it could be integrated with a way to avoid exposing the actual files without authentication. Right now the page that serves simpledir requires users to be loggedin, but if you know the exact url of the file it is possible to download it directly.

Best regards

Glad to know the additions work.


For b) and c), are they things that you'd want server-side (options in the admin panel) or client side (javascript sortable/expandable table)?

I need to think about your other point on exposing files (was this a problem in v0.3?)

[DesruX]

Hello,
Do you know how can I change plugin to browse one folder per one page, second folder for second page? It is possible?
Best regards,
Maciej Kurzak

I've briefly tried to work on an unofficial v0.4 of RobA's plugin to address people's issues.

• Makes the directory path default to /data/uploads/ (leave the fields in the admin panel empty to set it to /data/uploads/)
  
• Allows multiple instances of SimpleDir to run on a page (parameters added to (% simpledir %))
  
• Provides public PHP functions for using SimpleDir outside of pages (get_simpledir_display, return_simpledir_results)
  
• Fix HTML for the admin panel
  
• Github Page
  
• ZIP File for current beta
  

Awsome!, it works like a charm, thanks a lot for the effort.

A few further suggestions for improvements:
a) Option to decide which columns to include e.g. Date and Size - so you could have a listing not showing those columns and having more space for the filename.
b) Options to sort the files, e.g. on name a-z or z-a. I would like the newest files to be shown in the top.
c) Option to only show top 5 files, then click to expand to see all.

Any ideas on how it could be integrated with a way to avoid exposing the actual files without authentication. Right now the page that serves simpledir requires users to be loggedin, but if you know the exact url of the file it is possible to download it directly.

Best regards

Glad to know the additions work.


For b) and c), are they things that you'd want server-side (options in the admin panel) or client side (javascript sortable/expandable table)?

I need to think about your other point on exposing files (was this a problem in v0.3?)

I had actually forgotten to test the actual links to the files, which initially didn't not work, but then I revisited your documentation and saw that I had missed to add the urlpath!

Regarding both b) and c) I was thinking it as a server side (admin controlled) options. That is how I would use it.

Regarding the exposing files/ authenticating before downloading problem, yes this is also a problem in v0.3. 
Basically the url path is http://somesite.com/data/uploads/somefile.txt, if you know that link you can access the files. So password protecting the page serving the link e.g. http://somesite.com/protectedarea/protectedpages/ only protects the list of links not being able to follow the link.

BR

[datiswous]

Rob A also made the Client Files plugin. Might be better suited for you.

[lokothodida]

Hello,
Do you know how can I change plugin to browse one folder per one page, second folder for second page? It is possible?
Best regards,
Maciej Kurzak

I've briefly tried to work on an unofficial v0.4 of RobA's plugin to address people's issues.

• Makes the directory path default to /data/uploads/ (leave the fields in the admin panel empty to set it to /data/uploads/)
  
• Allows multiple instances of SimpleDir to run on a page (parameters added to (% simpledir %))
  
• Provides public PHP functions for using SimpleDir outside of pages (get_simpledir_display, return_simpledir_results)
  
• Fix HTML for the admin panel
  
• Github Page
  
• ZIP File for current beta
  

Awsome!, it works like a charm, thanks a lot for the effort.

A few further suggestions for improvements:
a) Option to decide which columns to include e.g. Date and Size - so you could have a listing not showing those columns and having more space for the filename.
b) Options to sort the files, e.g. on name a-z or z-a. I would like the newest files to be shown in the top.
c) Option to only show top 5 files, then click to expand to see all.

Any ideas on how it could be integrated with a way to avoid exposing the actual files without authentication. Right now the page that serves simpledir requires users to be loggedin, but if you know the exact url of the file it is possible to download it directly.

Best regards

Glad to know the additions work.


For b) and c), are they things that you'd want server-side (options in the admin panel) or client side (javascript sortable/expandable table)?

I need to think about your other point on exposing files (was this a problem in v0.3?)

I had actually forgotten to test the actual links to the files, which initially didn't not work, but then I revisited your documentation and saw that I had missed to add the urlpath!

Regarding both b) and c) I was thinking it as a server side (admin controlled) options. That is how I would use it.

Regarding the exposing files/ authenticating before downloading problem, yes this is also a problem in v0.3. 
Basically the url path is http://somesite.com/data/uploads/somefile.txt, if you know that link you can access the files. So password protecting the page serving the link e.g. http://somesite.com/protectedarea/protectedpages/ only protects the list of links not being able to follow the link.

BR

The current beta addresses a) and b). c) seems like it should be implemented with Javascript, but have the option controlled server-side.

datiswous is also right about Client Files.

[DesruX]

The current beta addresses a) and b). c) seems like it should be implemented with Javascript, but have the option controlled server-side.

datiswous is also right about Client Files.

Thanks this is really usefull!! I have implemented the beta and it have not found any issues. I think you are right regarding c) . The setting could be controlled like a) and b) e.g.
(% simpledir key="subdir1" dirpath="somepath" urlpath="somepath" columns="name" order="-name" showinitial="5" %)
I will take a look at some jquery, must be something similar exsiting already that could be used.

Rob A also made the Client Files plugin. Might be better suited for you.

I have taken a look, and I agree, the functionality to generate the filedownload url and only make that available after login is what I was thinking about. Think I will try to see if somehow can merge that functionality into simpledir. Thanks for pointing me in that direction!

[lokothodida]

The current beta addresses a) and b). c) seems like it should be implemented with Javascript, but have the option controlled server-side.

datiswous is also right about Client Files.

Thanks this is really usefull!! I have implemented the beta and it have not found any issues. I think you are right regarding c) . The setting could be controlled like a) and b) e.g.
(% simpledir key="subdir1" dirpath="somepath" urlpath="somepath" columns="name" order="-name" showinitial="5" %)
I will take a look at some jquery, must be something similar exsiting already that could be used.

Current beta now implements this with pagination from DataTables. There are now options for client-side filtering of results (and how many results to show per page), and sorting by clicking on the column.

I think the added features are sufficient for a v0.4 draft. If it is stable, I will publish it as a release.

[DesruX]

The current beta addresses a) and b). c) seems like it should be implemented with Javascript, but have the option controlled server-side.

datiswous is also right about Client Files.

Thanks this is really usefull!! I have implemented the beta and it have not found any issues. I think you are right regarding c) . The setting could be controlled like a) and b) e.g.
(% simpledir key="subdir1" dirpath="somepath" urlpath="somepath" columns="name" order="-name" showinitial="5" %)
I will take a look at some jquery, must be something similar exsiting already that could be used.

Current beta now implements this with pagination from DataTables. There are now options for client-side filtering of results (and how many results to show per page), and sorting by clicking on the column.

I think the added features are sufficient for a v0.4 draft. If it is stable, I will publish it as a release.

Thanks for the update! I got some strange "-->" just before my head tag with the new update, but If I uncomment "queue_script('jquery', GSFRONT);" line 37 in simpledir.php then it goes away. Does not seem to break anything leaving it out.

Code:

queue_style('jquery-datatables', GSFRONT);
//queue_script('jquery', GSFRONT);
queue_script('jquery-datatables', GSFRONT);

I have been thinking a bit about the functionality. Let me describe my usecase, example:

Lets say I have 4 folders with different files, something like in each folder: 
001_somefile
002_someotherfile
...files 003 to 079
080_alsoafile
081_latestfile

For each folder I have a page that displays the content of the folder, saying something like:
"Here are the relevant file, newest on top:"
081_latestfile
080_alsoafile
...files 003 to 079
002_someotherfile
001_somefile


For this I use the new features to sort and only have the name column, which works very also on phones:
(% simpledir key="subdir1" dirpath="somedir/folder1/" urlpath="somedir/folder1/" columns="name" order="-name" %)

What I would now like to have is an overview page that just shows me the 3 newest files from each folder and a link to page with the full file list, so something like:
"Here are the most recent files from folder1"
081_latestfile
080_alsoafile
079_thirdnewestfile

"See all files here" (link to my other page, just put manually in the page)

Regarding implementation I am thinking of a "showonly="3" parameter that only shows the 3 first files based on a given sort e.g:
(% simpledir key="subdir1" dirpath="somedir/folder1/" urlpath="somedir/folder1/" columns="name" order="-name" showonly="3" %)


Let me know what you think

[lokothodida]

I'll need to look at the --> problem. What GetSimple version are you using?

Does the showInitial parameter do what you were suggesting (e.g showInitial=3?

(I'm referring to version 0.4 by the way)

[Timbow]

This is great - useful plugin - I am using it.

It took some finding though, to get to this thread and then get the latest beta version off github. 

Any chance of an upload to Extend?

[Timbow]

I have uploaded the latest file to extend, just to make it easy to find
http://get-simple.info/extend/plugin/sim...ting/1069/

I can't hack into anyone's account on this site so it is listed with me as the author which obv I am not.

[A.Harrenberg]

Hi Lokothodia, Hi Timbow,

@Timbow: I wanted to install the updated version of this plugin that you uploaded. It stated 0.4, but when I download and extract, there is 0.3 version inside...

@Lokothodia: If I use the files from your link in post #43 I get errors from datatable in a pop-up window:

Code:

DataTables warning: table id=DataTables_Table_0 - Cannot reinitialise DataTable. For more information about this error, please see http://datatables.net/tn/3

I am using Version 3.3.13 on a debian 9 server where php7 is activated.
Anything I can try to get rid of this error message?
Best regards,
 Andreas.

[A.Harrenberg]

Hi,

hmm, that problem was much easier to solve than I could have hope for...

DataTable has in internal option to acknoledge the fact that the table is re-initialized while that is not supported... It will just return the current table instead WITHOUT a warning message.

Here is what I did:
In the plugin/simpledir folder I added one line to the display_functions.php. In line 275 and below is the definition of DataTable, I added the last line with the "retrieve" Option.

Code:

  // Configuration for DataTable
  $datatable = array();
  $datatable['aaSorting'] = array();
  $datatable['lengthMenu'] = array(5, 10, 25, 50, 75, 100);
  $datatable['bFilter'] = $params['showfilter'];
  $datatable['bSort'] = $params['sortable'];

  if ($params['showinitial']) {
    $datatable['pageLength'] = $params['showinitial'];
    $datatable['bPaginate'] = true;
  } else {
    $datatable['bPaginate'] = false;
  }

  $datatable['retrieve'] = true;

Sorry, but I overlooked this option when I first read the article about the error code...

But that way, maybe someone else can use this solution as well.

Best regards,
 Andreas.