File Explorer: Show Total Size Of Selected Files

Have you ever found yourself deep within your file explorer, meticulously selecting a bunch of files, only to wonder, "How much space are these actually taking up?" It's a common scenario, and up until now, Puter's file explorer has required a bit of manual effort to figure this out. You'd count them up, maybe click into one to check its properties, and then do some mental math or jot it down. Well, get ready for a neat little upgrade that's going to make your file management life just a tad bit easier! We're talking about a feature that will display the total size of your selected files directly in the footer, giving you instant, at-a-glance information.

The Current Situation: Missing Size Information

Let's dive a little deeper into the current behavior within Puter's file explorer. Imagine you're organizing your projects, cleaning up downloads, or perhaps preparing a batch of files to send over to a friend or colleague. You navigate to the relevant folder, and there they are – all the files you need. You start your selection process, perhaps using the familiar Ctrl (or Cmd on a Mac) key to pick and choose specific items, or maybe Shift to grab a whole contiguous block. As you select each file, the footer at the very bottom of your Puter window dutifully updates. It tells you, "X items selected," which is certainly helpful. It tells you how many individual items are currently highlighted. However, that's where the information stops. There's no immediate feedback on the combined weight of those files. This means that to get a sense of the total storage space being occupied by your selection, you'd have to resort to other methods. You might click on each file individually and note down its size, then add them all up. Alternatively, you could select all the files, then right-click and go to 'Properties' for the group, but even then, the exact total size isn't always presented in the most user-friendly way, especially for very large collections. This lack of direct feedback, while not a deal-breaker, can be a minor but persistent annoyance for users who frequently deal with large numbers of files or need to be mindful of storage limits. The goal is to streamline this process, making it as intuitive as possible so you can focus on your tasks rather than administrative details.

The Big Improvement: Total Size in the Footer!

Now, let's paint a picture of how things should work, and how they will with this new feature. The expected behavior is beautifully simple and incredibly practical. When you select one or more files in the Puter file explorer, the footer isn't just going to sit there telling you how many items you've got. Oh no, it's going to offer much more valuable information: the total cumulative size of all those selected items. And we're not just talking about raw bytes; this size will be presented in a human-readable format. Think about it: instead of "15 items selected," you'll see something like "15 items selected • 45.2 MB." This instantly tells you that your selection is taking up just over 45 megabytes of disk space. This is incredibly useful for a variety of reasons. Are you trying to decide if a folder can fit onto a USB drive? Now you'll know immediately. Are you curious about the collective size of all the photos you've just backed up? A quick glance at the footer will tell you. This feature aims to provide immediate, actionable insights into your file management activities. The acceptance criteria for this feature are quite clear and designed to ensure a smooth user experience. Firstly, the footer must display the total size whenever one or more files are selected. Secondly, the size needs to be presented in a human-readable format, automatically converting bytes into kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB), gigabytes (GB), or terabytes (TB) as appropriate, and maintaining good precision. The format itself should be unambiguous, with suggestions like "X items selected • Y size" or "X items selected (Y size)" being preferred. Crucially, this size information needs to update dynamically. As you add or remove files from your selection, the total size should recalculate and display instantly, without any lag. Finally, while folders themselves will count towards the item count in the footer, their individual size calculation within the total selected size can be simplified; for this feature, it's acceptable to either consider them as having zero size or exclude them from the size calculation altogether, focusing on the size of the individual files within them. This ensures the feature is focused on file sizes while still acknowledging the selection of folders.

Putting It to the Test: How You Can Verify the Feature

So, how can you, as a user or a tester, confirm that this fantastic new feature is working as expected? It's a straightforward process, and it helps ensure that the implementation is robust and reliable. Let's walk through the steps to test the new total size display in the Puter file explorer footer.

First, you'll want to open up Puter and navigate to a folder where you can easily create some test files. It’s a good idea to create a few files of varying, known sizes. You can do this by creating simple text documents and adding different amounts of content, or by copying existing files whose sizes you can easily check. Note down the approximate size of each file you create – this will be your benchmark for verifying the calculations.

Step 1: Initial Selection

Now, select just one of the files you created. Head over to the footer of the explorer window. What you should see is a confirmation that one item is selected, along with its size. It might look something like: "1 item selected • [size of that single file]". Make sure the size displayed matches the file you selected.

Step 2: Expanding the Selection

Next, add another file (or more files) to your selection. You can do this using the standard methods: holding down Ctrl (or Cmd) and clicking additional files, or using the Shift key with arrow keys for a range. Once you've selected a second file, look back at the footer. It should now read something like: "2 items selected • [combined size of the two files]". The key here is to verify that the displayed total size is the accurate sum of the sizes of the files you've just selected. This is where your pre-noted file sizes come in handy for verification.

Step 3: Refining the Selection

To ensure the feature handles deselection correctly, try removing one of the files from your current selection. You can do this by Ctrl (or Cmd) clicking on a selected file again. Observe the footer immediately. It should update again, reflecting the removal of that file. It should show "1 item selected • [size of the remaining file]", and importantly, the total size should be correctly reduced by the size of the file you just deselected.

Step 4: Dynamic Updates

Continue this process – adding and removing files, selecting different combinations – and observe the footer. The total size displayed should always update accurately and promptly. This confirms the dynamic nature of the feature. It should feel fluid and responsive as you manipulate your file selections.

By following these steps, you can confidently test and confirm that the new "Total Size of Selected Files" feature in the Puter file explorer is functioning correctly, providing you with the accurate, human-readable size information you need, right when you need it. This small addition makes a big difference in the daily usability of the file explorer. For more information on contributing to open-source projects like Puter, you can check out resources like Open Source Contribution Guide or explore the Puter GitHub Repository for specific development details and community discussions.