This is a plugin for eDonkey v1.0 or higher that allows users to preview files that are downloading. It currently supports .avi, .mp3, .mpg, .mov, .wmv, .wav, .zip, .rar, .iso, and .bin files. The .avi and .zip support are the best right now but the others should work decently.
How To Install:
Copy EasyPreviewer.dll and unrar.dll to eDonkey's Plugins folder. For most people this is "C:\Program Files\eDonkey2000\Plugins". Restart eDonkey after you do this.
How To Use:
This plugin is designed to be as easy to use as possible. For any file you're downloading, right click it and look for "Plugins". When you put the mouse cursor over "Plugins" you will see another menu. Select "Preview this file" in that submenu . After a few moments you should see a preview of your file.
Archive View:
If your file is an archive type, such as a .zip, .rar, or .iso that hold other files then a window will pop up that will show you the contents of your archive. Folders are listed in black and have a / at the end of their names. Files are listed in gray normally, and in blue if that file can be extracted even though you don't have the entire archive. If a file is listed in blue you can copy it to a folder on your hard drive by pressing the Extract button. If a file is listed in gray that means that you may need to download more before you can extract it. You can tell eDonkey to try to get what you need to extract that file as soon as possible by changing its priority from Normal to High in the bottom left corner of the preview window. Extracting files is not possible with .rar files and some .zip files.
Configuration:
To get to the options screen for the plugin press the options button near the top of eDonkey's window. From there choose plugins on the left side. On the right side then you will see a list of installed plugins. Choose EasyPreviewer and press the config button.
By default EasyPreview generates preview files that are a maximum of 9.5 MB. This means about 1 minute of a movie or about 10 minutes of an mp3. If you want your previews to be longer, you can change this in options. EasyPreviewer also supports viewing media files in eDonkey's internal media player. This feature requires eDonkey 1.0.3 or higher. This option is also available via options.
If you want to choose a specific program to preview files you can create a file called EasyPreview.conf in your plugins folder. This is a simple file that includes a line specifying the program and then file types on the next line and then a blank line. A sample is included at the end of this file.
Notes:
All of the supported media file types so far besides .avi are handled by simply making a copy of the temporary file. As there are missing parts it creates some strange behavior when played, such as incorrectly reporting the length of the clip. In the future maybe the previewer will edit these files into ones that are actually valid for each specification.
Notes: Bin files: The plugin supports specifically ones in mode 1, 2352 bytes/sector, containing only one track. That's pretty much standard for CD's meant to be used on a PC. The archive preview wouldn't be too useful for Other types anyway.
Sample EasyPreview.conf:
C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe /fullscreen
