I recall when I first got my Xda II late last year, how appauled I was when I went looking for a file and was faced with the delights (hah!) of the MS File Explorer.  Like so many of the in-built applications of WM2003, it is pathetic - yet another classic MS example (one of many) of a poor job, half done.  Fortunately, a good friend of mine back in the UK owned a PDA, understood my feelings and cheered me up by getting me a copy of Resco Explorer 2003, thus introducing me to the world of third party PDA software - thanks Brian!  I’ve recently upgraded to the 2004 version of Resco Explorer and am delighted to say that the product continues to get better and better.

Resco Explorer, when started, displays a Folder Bar at the top of the screen, then a Tree View followed by a file List View, below which is the Toolbar and finally the Menu bar which also includes some more tool buttons.  The Folder Bar, Tree View and toolbar may be displayed or hidden from the view menu.

The folder bar displays the current directory path to the left side of the bar and a Favourites symbol to the right, both have the appearance of drop down buttons.  Tapping the path causes a full screen tree view of the directory structure to be displayed, tapping on a directory causes the previous view to be redisplayed with the chosen directory of files selected.   Tapping the favourites icon displays a popup menu - the first entry is Add/Delete... and below it are listed any configured favourite directories.  Selecting the Add/Delete... entry displays the Organise Favourites  screen which permits the user to Add, Delete and Reorder their own set of favourite directories - very convenient for switching back and forth between commonly used directories or devices, though I think it a shame that the My Device, FTP and Registry entries (see later) in the tree cannot be selected.

The tree view is a typical hierarchical view of the directories on the device and the list view below displays the contents of the selected directory, the files may be displayed in large icon, small icon, report or details views as with Windows.  The column headings of the list view (in details view) may be turned on or off and may include Name, Time, Attributes and Type - the Time can also include the Date.  The tree and list views can also displayed side by side if desired, via the options (see below).

The items of the top-most level of the tree are My Device, My FTP Locations, My Registry  and, optionally, My Network - see below for information on these latter items. 

The toolbar provides shortcuts to a number of common and useful functions: 

• My Device simply navigates to the root of the directory tree. 
• Options are numerous and in-depth, broken down into
• 
  
  • General (fonts, general actions, etc.),
  • Add-ins (for enabling registry, ftp, internal compression),
  • Browser (how and what is visible),
  • Viewer (internal or external viewer, file tap function),
  • Files (confirmation dialogs and Send To operations),
  • Compress (mode, level, verification),
  • Extract (zip extracting),
  • FTP (default action, handling incomplete downloads, transfer type) 
  • Registry (confirmation and viewing settings). 
• Properties can be selected on either a directory or a file.  On a directory it displays summary information and attributes, permitting attributes to be set across multiple files and directories. When used on the My Device entry, memory information for internal memory and any storage devices is displayed along with battery levels.  On storage card entries in the tree the memory summary is displayed along with a tab which permits formatting to be performed on storage devices. 
• Find Files can search anywhere across the entire device, either for files by wildcard or for text contained within, using case sensitivity and whole words if required.  Further criteria of file age, size and/or attributes may also be specified.  The resulting file list way be fed into a listbox to permit multiple file operations to be performed.
• Encrypt Files displays the encryption screen for the currently selected file(s) or directory.  Multiple types and strengths of encryption are supported, from RC2 40 bit to 3DES 168 bit and are selected via a button on the encryption screen.  A user specified password must be entered twice to enable and start the encryption, the resulting files are all given the file extension of .rxf with the original extension appended to the filename by an underscore (e.g. file.ext -> file_ext.rfx).  Source files may be (optionally) deleted upon completion of the operation.  When multiple files and/or directories are encrypted, the directory structure is retained and the files are encrypted in their original location.  Decrypting files is a simple case of either double tapping a file or selecting the file(s) and/or directory and selecting Decrypt... and entering the correct password;  encrypted source files may (optionally) be deleted upon completion.
• Compress Files operates in a similar manner to encryption - files and/or directories may be selected and compressed either from the button or a popup menu;  files are compressed using the standard zip format and are compatible with popular compression products such as WinZip.   A setting screen permits the user to specify the filename and location of the archive, a password if desired, the Mode (Add and Replace, Freshen, Move, Update and Add) and the Level of compression.  A nice feature of the explorer is that archives are shown in the tree view as a (special) folder with the files contained within, much like in Windows XP. 
• Send To permits the user to send selected files via email or infrared or to specific directories, either as files or as shortcuts.  An Add/Delete option permits the user to modify the list of target directories and specify if files should be sent directly or as shortcuts.
• The Network button provides access to the Map Drive and Unmap Drive functions, enabling network resources to be accessed.  The Share Network Disk dialog enables the user to browse for any network disk resources and map to them, after which they appear under the My Network item in the tree.
• Display lets the user define how files are to be viewed (Large icons, Small icons, List or Details), Auto Arrange and sorting options.

Finally, at the bottom of the screen is the menu bar containing the File, Edit and View menus, plus buttons for showing/hiding the toolbar, for moving up to the parent directory, Cut, Copy, Paste and Delete commands. 

The File menu contains:

• New Folder which creates a new sub-directory in the selected directory;
• Receive which enables files to be received via IR;
• Run which allows programs to be launched with parameters using a command line style mechanism;
• Options (see above);
• System Information which displays Model, Storage and Battery information;
• Registration allows user registration name and code to be entered;
• Favourites (see above);
• About screen;
• Exit; 

The Edit menu contains:

• Paste which pastes any previously cut or copied file to the current directory;
• Paste Shortcut which pastes a shortcut to any previously copied file to the current directory;
• Select All selects all files and/or sub-directories in the current directory;
• Invert Selection selects all unselected and unselects all selected files and/or sub-directories in the current directory;
• Drag 'n' Drop toggles the drag and drop mode, permitting files and/or directories to be dragged from one location to another using the stylus;
• Single/Multi Selection toggles between modes which permit contiguous and non-contiguous groups of files to be selected;
• Find (see above);

The View menu contains:

• Show Folder Bar toggles the folder bar on and off;
• Show Tree View toggles the tree view on and off;
• Show Header shows or hides the List View column headings;
• Show Columns (see above);
• Large Icons, Small Icons, List, Detail, Arrange Icons & Auto Arrange (see above);
• Refresh forces the program to reread the directory and file structure, useful when another program makes changes while Resco is currently looking at the modified directory;

Both the tree view and the list view provide context sensitive popup menus based on the item selected.  Directories and Files both provide the following options, which function as previously described:

• Send to (sub menu);
• Encryption (sub menu);
• Compress;
• Cut (not for root directories of cards, e.g. Storage);
• Copy;
• Paste (only when something has been Cut or Copied);
• Paste Shortcut (only when something has been Cut or Copied);
• Delete (not for root directories of cards, e.g. Storage);
• Rename (not for root directories of cards, e.g. Storage);
• Properties;

Root directories of cards, e.g. Storage, also have:

• Format... provided which permits Flash cards to be formatted - no parameters (e.g. cluster size) are available.

Files also provide the following options:

• View enables a selected file to be viewed either using a user selected (via options) external program or using Resco's internal viewer.  The internal viewer can view in six different formats - ANSI text, Unicode text, Binary, Hexadecimal, Picture/Multimedia and HTML.  Find and Zoom functions are provided according to file type.
• Open provides the same functionality as tapping a file (if that option is set) and will run the required application for the file type in question.  In the event of the file extension not being already associated with an application the user will be presented with the Open With dialog (see next) the select the application to use to open the selected file.
• Open With dialog enables the user to select any executable to use to open a selected file and to specify any further parameters in addition to the given file path.
• Associate With displays the extension of the selected file and the currently chosen application used to open it.  The user can browse to any application to use to open the file and, if the check box is ticked, all permanently associate the selected extension with the chosen application.
• Duplicate is a simple and quick alternative to a copy followed by a paste.

That's about it for the file explorer part of Resco Explorer, a very easy to use and intuitive product which mimics its PC counterpart beautifully.

But wait... there's still more to look at!  Included with Explorer are Registry, FTP transfer and Compression plug-ins - the Compression plug-in integrates throughout the Explorer and has been discussed above. 

The Registry plug-in can be run either as a stand-alone application or as an extension of the Explorer.  In the plug- in mode a My Registry entry is added to the top level of the Explorer tree and selecting it or any of its child entries changes the menu system and toolbar to registry context items, in stand-alone mode it is the only top level entry.

The Registry screen is quite similar to the Explorer screen - at the top is the folder bar, the which is the tree view of the registry, then comes the list view of name and value pairs and finally the menu bar.

The folder bar is similar to it's Explorer counterpart but doesn't have a (functional) favourites button.  As with the Explorer version the bar dsplays the current key location and when tapped displays the entire registry tree with the current location highlighted, selecting another key in the tree moves the selection to that point and closes the selection window.

The tree view, like the folder bar, displays the entire registry structure in the typical hierarchical structure, beginning with the four main registry hives - hkey_classes_root, hkey_current_user, hkey_local_machine and hkey_users.  Below these four main hives may be found the entire hierarchy of keys which make up the Windows registry.

The list view displays the contents of the currently selected key in two columns - Name and Value (column headings may be displayed or hidden).  Selecting any key in the tree view displays any sub-keys and any name/value pairs for that key in the list view, in the same manner as the Explorer does with directories and files, with data types indicated by an icon on each row.  Navigating down through sub-keys is permitted by tapping on them.

The popup menu for the My Registry key of the tree has just two items - Import and Export;  the four main registry hives in either pane have popups containing the items New and Export;  all other keys have popup menus containing New, Export, Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete and Rename.  The popup menus for name/value pairs contain the items Modify, Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete and Rename.

• Import displays a file selection dialog with a *.reg filter set.  Selecting any valid registry file and tapping ok will import the contents into the registry. 
• Export displays a similar file selection dialog and permits the user to export the entire contents of the registry to a text file.
• New displays a sub-menu containing the following options:
• 
  
  • Key - enables the user to enter the name of the new key then creates it, complete with the "(default)" string value.
  • String Value - permits the user to enter a simple text value.
  • Multi Line String Value - provides the user with a multi-line text box to permit the user to enter multi-line text data.
  • Binary Value - permits the user to enter binary data using pairs of hexadecimal values.
  • DWORD Value - enables a numeric value to be entered either in decimal or hexadecimal format.
• Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete and Rename all operate exactly as might be expected, wth appropriate warning dialogs as required.
  Modify opens the appropriate dialog for the type of selected value to permit the value to be modified.  A warning is displayed if a value is altered, the remind the user of the dangers of editing the registry.

At the bottom of the screen is the menu bar which contains the following menu items...

• File
• 
  
  • New
  • Import
  • Options - displays only the options relating to the registry when opened as a standalone registry editor.
  • System Info
  • Registration
  • About
  • Exit
• Edit
• 
  
  • Paste
  • Select All
  • Invert Selection
  • Drag and Drop Mode
  • Single/Multi selection
  • Find - enables the user to search the registry for a given value, looking in keys and/or values and/or data, optionally matching the whole search string only and/or matching case.
  • Find Next - repeat the previous find.
• View
• 
  
  • Show Folder Bar
  • Show Tree View
  • Show Header
  • Arrange Icons
  • Auto Arrange
  • Refresh 

...plus the buttons Up One Level, Find, Cut, Copy, Paste and Delete, all of which perform the functions detailed previously except where noted.  In the case of the registry editor being used within Explorer, the toolbar is also displayed but with limited functions enabled.

The FTP plug-in is selected by choosing the My FTP Locations item from the Explorer tree.  As with the Registry editor when used within Explorer, selecting the FTP the causes the menus of the application to change according to the new context. Most of the menu items remain the same as the Explorer mode but with the addition of one option in the File menu - New FTP Session displays the Session Details screen.

The Session Details screen allows the user to enter the session Name, Host, Port, Login, Password, select the local and remote directories, anonymous login and passive mode.  Once configured, the session appears as an item beneath the My FTP Locations item in the tree view, the popup menu for the session item contains three options:

• Connect attempts to establish the connection configured in the settings.  If successful, the target file structure is visible below the entry in the tree view and the popup menu for those items gains a couple of new options...
• 
  
  • Download - which downloads the selected documents to the configured directory.
  • Download To - which allows the user to specify the directory to download the selected documents to.
• Delete allows the session details to be removed.
• Properties displays the session details screen and permits the user to change the session parameters.

One footnote to add is that Resco Explorer also includes two optional PC desktop extensions - Cryptographic Extension permits the encryption of files on the PC and SendTo enables files to be sent to the Pocket PC with a right click.  In keeping with my usual review approach however, I have not reviewed these here.

And that, as they say, is that.  Resco Explorer is an extremely high quality product, very intuitive and simple to use but powerful nonetheless.  To try to use the Pocket PC with the in-built explorer is like trying to use Windows xp but only using a File Open dialog instead of Windows Explorer - it is possible but you really wouldn't want to do it.  With Resco Explorer installed, even the most complex file manipulations become a breeze, it adds all the basic functionality that MS forgot to include in Windows Mobile.

Naturally, no program is perfect and Resco Explorer is no exception to this,  however those few I did find were all very minor and in many cases simply issues of personal taste.

• The encrypt function doesn't hide the contents of directories when they are encrypted, it simply encrypts each file in turn in its original location and renames it.  This is fine for individual files but doesn't seem adequate for entire directories.  I should like to see it perform a recursive compression (zip) of the selected files and/or directories and then encrypt the resulting file - this preserves the file structure while also concealing the contents more securely.
• Sadly it would appear that only on some iPaq devices can files be sent via Bluetooth using the Send To function, this is a device limitation and not a Resco Explorer one.
• A slight inconsistency that annoys me is that the popup menu adapts to the clipboard state but the Edit menu does not i.e. Cut and Copy are always visible in the popup but Paste and Paste Shortcut are only visible when there is something in the clipboard.  However, Cut and Copy are never visible in the Edit menu but Paste and Paste Shortcut are always visible but greyed out when unavailable.  Not a big deal but, as a developer myself, incorrect in my opinion.
• I should like the buttons on the toolbar to be user configurable - I would expect the Find Next command in the Registry mode to be available from the toolbar since the Find is. 
• The Favourites function should be able to include Registry locations.
• Associations are cumbersome to set up and maintain - a summary screen similar to PC Windows would make things a lot simpler.
• The Send To would be far more useful if it could Send To applications and not just directories.

All said and done however, these are only very minor niggles, l still wouldn't want to be without Resco Explorer and it continues be one of the first applications I load onto my PPC each time I rebuild it.

As I have said, Resco Explorer is an excellent product which more than compensates for many of the inadequacies of the Windows Mobile platform.  The functions it adds to the device are all essential in my opinion and I cannot stress enough how important I consider this product to be - it should be preloaded on all Pocket PC's!  True, there are other Explorer products out there - some commercial and some free - but none of them come even close to this product in terms of quality or functionality. 

Do yourself and your Pocket PC a favour - buy it today (it's cheaper until the 31st of December too)!

I have to give Resco Explorer a perfect 10/10

Article written entirely on my Xda II using Calligrapher 7.4