February 2024 (Version 1.33.0, build 20240301.4)
Welcome to Storage Explorer version 1.33.0. A detailed list of all issues closed for this release can be found on our Issues page. For a look at major changes, continue reading below.
Data Explorer Improvements
Several changes have been made to Storage Explorer's data explorers as part of continuing to improve user experiences.
The customize columns dialog has been refreshed with enhanced usability in mind. Columns can be resized to exact values from within the dialog, checkboxes to show/hide columns were changed to buttons, and the overall look and feel of the dialog has been updated.
As a reminder, as of 1.32.0, all data explorers now support customizing columns. Columns can be customized by any of the following methods:
- Click & drag column borders to resize
- Click & drag headers to reorder
- Right-click any header and choose Customize Columns...
- The Customize Columns button in the toolbar (tables only)
For all data explorers, sorting a column which contains string values now uses natural sort instead of lexicographic sort. If you prefer to continue using lexicographic sorting, you can disable natural sort by going to Settings (gear on the left) → Data Explorers → Natural Sort Order, and unchecking the checkbox.
Finally, two quality-of-life changes were made to the table data explorer specifically. First, you can now reset columns via a pop out menu next to the Customize Columns button in the toolbar. This functionality makes it possible to reset table columns to the default PartitionKey and RowKey columns when a table has no entities. Second, when deleting a table, the saved columns for the table will be cleared from saved column settings. This means that when you delete a table in a storage account, and then create a new one with the same name, none of the columns from the old version of the table will appear until you add entities which have those same columns.
Import Queue Messages from File
You can now import messages into a queue from a .csv file. To begin importing messages use the Import button in the queue data explorer's toolbar. Queue message import currently supports .csv files with no headers, where each row is a message, and the value in the first column is the message text. Each message created during import will have the default time to live and visibility timeout. If you'd like to provide input on more advanced import queue message functionality, please open an issue on GitHub.
Formatting Datetimes in Avro & Parquet Preview
For Avro and Parquet file preview, datetimes are no longer rendered as their raw value. Instead, they will now be rendered as UTC datetimes. The decision to use UTC datetimes instead of local datetimes was made following user feedback and discussion.
Customize AzCopy Command Shell Language
When AzCopy is invoked from Storage Explorer, a Copy AzCopy Command to Clipboard action is often made available. This allows you to easily reuse, remix, or learn from a command which does the equivalent to the operation just performed. Previously, this command would be written in a shell language which was considered to be a good match for your current OS. Now you can tell Storage Explorer to use a specific shell language by going to Settings (gear on the left) → Transfers → AzCopy Command Shell Language and choosing a language. At this time, only PowerShell and Bash are supported. If you'd like to see other shell languages supported, please open an issue on GitHub.
Splitting Nodes for ARM and Classic Storage Accounts
The nodes for ARM and classic storage accounts have been split to be under two separate group nodes. This has been done in anticipation of Azure's retirement of classic storage accounts on 8/31/2024. More information about this retirement can be found here. As a bonus, this split has allowed for the use of a more modern API when listing ARM storage accounts, which brings better performance when listing and interacting with ARM storage accounts.
Navigate to Directories Using Direct Link
In 1.30.0, Storage Explorer added the capability to generate direct links targeting blobs or blob directories. Starting from 1.33.0, if the direct link targets a blob or a blob directory, the "Navigate to Container" action will automatically navigate to the parent directory of the blob or the blob directory.
Bundling of JavaScript Files
Since its inception, each release of Storage Explorer has included many tens of thousands of individual files, most notably a large number of JavaScript files. However, after a gradual four-year effort, work has been completed to consolidate these JavaScript files into several large bundles. This effort has resulted in a 98% decrease in the number of JavaScript files shipped, and partly contributed to an overall 21% reduction in app size on disk. The bundling of these files has also resulted in slightly faster startup time of Storage Explorer.
Electron 28
Storage Explorer is now using Electron 28. As a result of this change, Storage Explorer no longer supports macOS 10.13 and 10.14.