Product Help and Specification

What are sessions?

When SBS spawns Explorers, it creates a session. A session has its own icon. From there, one can hide, show, switch, etc., that session's Explorers. Sessions we call...

• single - a single Explorer, and

• double - two Explorers side-by-side.
 

Main Icon

Click: Display the front single (front sessions are those displayed by clicking the main icon).

Double-click: Display the front double.

Right-click: Display a menu session (select from the context menu).
 

Session Icon

Click: Hide/show session. When hidden, Explorers are removed from the task bar, to avoid clutter. Instead, use the session icon.

Double-click: Bring to front a session's Explorers from whatever state they are in.

Right-click: Context menu - as follows:

Default: Restore session to default size and position.

Size +, Size -: Increase/Decrease size of a session's windows.

Switch: Switch the two Explorers of a double.

Join: Join the last focused single on screen. If none, or itself, menu item is disabled. If not applicable (like with doubles), menu item is not shown.
 

How to join two singles

By default, when you open a single, it will join the last focused single (if any) - and make a double.

• How do I open two separate singles? Click the first single's icon (hide session), then open the second.

• Can I join two existing singles? Yes. Focus the first, then choose 'Join' from the context menu of the
second.

• Can I join to an Explorer in a double? Yes. Close the other Explorer in the double - the remaining one
becomes a single, ready to be joined (or to join another).

• Can I restrict or disable joining? Yes, both. See Settings > Options.
 

Drag and Drop

• Right click main icon, select Drag and Drop. The small drag target window is shown.
• Drag folders from Windows Explorer onto it.
• Then click a button to update/add a front or menu session.
• To cancel, close window.

Settings
 

Menu Builder

In Menu Builder one can add sessions to the context menu of the main icon. Or perform
other operations on them.

• When left is selected, 'Delete' removes entire session.

• When right is selected, 'Delete' removes the second path, converting a double into a single.

• When entering hotkeys, press the hotkey (or combination). Don't type.

• Hotkeys are going to be global to the OS, so choose them carefully. Also, decide if your session
is important enough to have an OS-level shortcut key.
 

Front Settings

In the Front Settings tab one can change the front sessions.
Also, a hotkey can be assigned to open the drag-drop window (some users prefer Ctrl+`).
 

Options

Start application when Windows starts: Check to have Side-By-Side Explorer started automatically when
Windows starts (recommended).

Retain Size and Location: If Explorers are resized manually and then the session is hidden, when showing session size and position are preserved. Otherwise, defaults are used.

Save previous front session to menu: When changing a front session, save to menu the one replaced.

Close session on click: Close session when its icon is left-clicked. When checked, the session hide operation is no longer available.

Close session on right-click: Close session when its icon is right-clicked. When checked, the session's context menu (normally displayed at right-click) is no longer available.

Close double session as soon as one in pair is closed: Close double as soon as one of its two Explorers is closed manually. Otherwise, manually closing one of the Explorers in a double converts the session to a single.

Double session - default margin: Percentage of screen area as offset left and right of a double's windows. A session with margin 0% fills the working area of the screen.

Single session - default margin: Percentage of screen area as offset left and right of a single's window. A session with margin 0% fills the working area of the screen.

Width of menu (max): Set the main icon's context menu width smaller or larger. With longer folder paths in the menu, a smaller setting shrinks them to size. Paths in Menu Builder and in Front Settings are adjusted accordingly.

Auto-join: This is the default join method. When opening a single, it will join the last focused single (if any) and make a double. In addition, a single's icon gets a 'Join' menu item, used to join the last focused single on screen (if any; otherwise, or if itself, the menu item is disabled).

Timer-based join: If you want to restrict joining, but not disable it, use timer join. It only joins two singles when opened in sequence, within the time period defined by 'Join timer wait'. The wait is cancelled when the two sessions are not strictly consecutive (e.g., open a single, hide a session, open a single). Also, timer join eliminates the 'Join' menu item.

Join disabled: All join features are disabled. The 'Join' menu item is not present.

Join timer wait: Number of seconds to wait for a second single, when timer-based join is enabled (see Timer-based join above). Has no effect with auto join.
 

cmdsbs Command Line

cmdsbs command line syntax has five variants, as follows (by example). cmdsbs.exe command line can be used with scripts.

cmdsbs C:\FolderOne "C:\Program Files\Folder Two"

cmdsbs "C:\Program Files\Folder Three"

cmdsbs menu 7
(7 is the index of the 7th session in the menu; top session has index 1)

cmdsbs click
(the front click session)

cmdsbs doubleclick
(the front doubleclick session)