Android file manager that understands case?

[DoYouKubuntu]

I love my current favorite Android file manager, MiXplorer Silver, because of its vast and powerful features. However, as with all other FMs I've tried, it's [apparently] programmed by and for windows users. *sigh*

This is painfully obvious when I'm using it for file management on my network. Assume that a directory contains dsc_5555.jpg, DSC_5555.JPG, and dsc_5555.JPG. When copying this directory [to external drives, for example], it stops with 'file already exists' when it encounters [what it perceives as] the first 'duplicate' file, and offers various choices--none of which I want.

For example, I can choose to overwrite the existing [but definitely not the same] file, skip it, rename it [by appending annoying " (1)" to its name], etc. I don't want ANY of that! These are distinct, different files--they couldn't have all existed in the same directory if they truly had the same name.

Can anyone recommend an Android FM whose feature-set is as rich as MiXplorer's, but that understands, and respects, case?

Just FWIW, MiXplorer is by far the best Android FM I've ever used. From its total customization ability, to its file-renaming ability [like batch replacing one string with another], it's the closest thing to a perfect file manager I've found. Except for the case insensitivity thing...

[claydoh]

Don't hold me to it, but I think that case sensitivity is dependent om the file system as opposed to the OS?

Having said that, I don't have any issues copying TEXT.txt to an NTFS partition (that lonely dust-gathering Windows drive) which contains a file called text.txt.
Using X-plore or Amaze (which is the f/oss one i use), over ssh

[oshunluvr]

Don't hold me to it, but I think that case sensitivity is dependent om the file system as opposed to the OS?

Having said that, I don't have any issues copying TEXT.txt to an NTFS partition (that lonely dust-gathering Windows drive) which contains a file called text.txt.
Using X-plore or Amaze (which is the f/oss one i use), over ssh

Wait, isn't that contradictory? If the case-sensitivity is file system based, then NTFS is not case sensitive because when using Windows TEXT=text. If, while using Linux, you can copy TEXT.txt to a folder on an NTFS file system containing the file text.txt and they both exist side-by-side, then the file system is not case-sensitive. Unless I've totally missed something, the only logical conclusion is the file system IS NOT cast sensitive and Windows is forcing case-insensitivity, as well as the aforementioned application.

HOWEVER, is appears there is a hidden flag in the NTFS file system that enables case sensitivity on a folder-by-folder basis: http://https://www.windowscentral.co...ive-windows-10. Apparently this is a new feature added to NTFS as of Windows 10 1803 - at least according to the author there. They added it as a requirement due do the implementation of WSL so the two OSs could share a folder without shenanigans.

So now we have a real conundrum, is it the file system or the operating system? Hard to tell with MS because everything is blended together like married cousins.

ntfs-3g - the way we access ntfs - has the same flag - you can mount a file system and ignore case like windows. By default it behaves like Linux (most, not all - read on!) file systems and honors case.

One final wrench tossed into the discussion: As of kernel 5.2 EXT4 will have a case-insensitive flag available, presumably for the same reason as the NTFS implementation: WSL.

So the only logical conclusion is the is the file system IS case sensitive.

Wait, did I just argue with myself?

Finally, I think the answer is here from the Wiki page on "Filename"s:

Letter case preservationSome filesystems, such as FAT, store filenames as upper-case regardless of the letter case used to create them. For example, a file created with the name "MyName.Txt" or "myname.txt" would be stored with the filename "MYNAME.TXT". Any variation of upper and lower case can be used to refer to the same file. These kinds of file systems are called case-insensitive and are not case-preserving. Some filesystems prohibit the use of lower case letters in filenames altogether.


Some file systems store filenames in the form that they were originally created; these are referred to as case-retentive or case-preserving. Such a file system can be case-sensitive or case-insensitive. If case-sensitive, then "MyName.Txt" and "myname.txt" may refer to two different files in the same directory, and each file must be referenced by the exact capitalization by which it is named. On a case-insensitive, case-preserving file system, on the other hand, only one of "MyName.Txt", "myname.txt" and "Myname.TXT" can be the name of a file in a given directory at a given time, and a file with one of these names can be referenced by any capitalization of the name.


From its original inception, Unix and its derivative systems were case-preserving. However, not all Unix-like file systems are case-sensitive; by default, HFS+ in macOS is case-insensitive, and SMB servers usually provide case-insensitive behavior (even when the underlying file system is case-sensitive, e.g. Samba on most Unix-like systems), and SMB client file systems provide case-insensitive behavior. File system case sensitivity is a considerable challenge for software such as Samba and Wine, which must interoperate efficiently with both systems that treat uppercase and lowercase files as different and with systems that treat them the same.[12]

And, I am spent...

[claydoh]

You made it further than I did, as I fell asleep shortly after posting (darned 4AM shifts!)
I did not understand it myself, thinking maybe I had been using a different partition, perhaps, or dreaming that there was some sort of behind-the-scenes action, like how one can enter paths or filenames with spaces, using backslashes.


Now, this morning, I set up Samba on my PC, sharing an NTFS partition created after shrinking that unused WIndows 10 that came on the thing,
Using Dolphin, I get the case-insensitive action from my laptop:

[DoYouKubuntu]

This is all just fascinating guys!

But what the hell does it have to do with my question?

[claydoh]

This is all just fascinating guys!

But what the hell does it have to do with my question?

In theory it is the file system that determines case sensitivity, ie fat32 and ntfs, not the operating system. Such as my example, copying a file from my laptop to a samba shared NTFS formatted drive.
So it is not really the file manager, it is what the destination is formatted with.

But oddly for me using ssh it works??

[oshunluvr]

This is all just fascinating guys!

But what the hell does it have to do with my question?

NOTHING! LOL. But to be fair, what does your question have to do with Kubuntu?

You must have and use a lot of storage on your phone if a file manager with "features" is a thing and duplicate filenames are a problem.

Back to the case thing: Last time I bothered to crack an Android phone it used Linux file systems. If I were you, I'd check another file manager to see if it too is case insensitive. This would validate that Android is case insensitive thus no other file manager will help your issue. If it's the file manager, why not contact the developer?

[DoYouKubuntu]

I guess I haven't been clear enough.

This has to do with Kubuntu because that's where the files I'm managing live--on my Kubuntu computers.

No, I don't keep a lot of files on my Android devices--that's what my Kubuntu computers are for! I routinely move photos, videos, etc., off my devices to keep on my computers.

Because I'm now in bed 99% of the time, and rarely touching a computer, I'm using my Android devices for file management--on my computers' hard drives. That's why this is important.

As I stated, every Android FM I've tried has been case insensitive. As I also stated, "Assume that a directory contains dsc_5555.jpg, DSC_5555.JPG, and dsc_5555.JPG. When copying this directory [to external drives, for example], it stops with 'file already exists' when it encounters [what it perceives as] the first 'duplicate' file, and offers various choices--none of which I want." This is the issue.

So, again, can anyone recommend an Android FM whose feature-set is as rich as MiXplorer's, but that understands, and respects, case--on LINUX?

[DoYouKubuntu]

Before anyone asks: no, this is not limited to external drives--that was just an example of where I might be copying files to...and even so, my external drives respect case.

[GreyGeek]

On my Android phone (GS10) I enabled the Bluetooth and Developer's mode and installed KDEconnect. I plug it into my USB 2.0 active hub. I also have KDEconnect on my K20.04 laptop. When I open the Network on Dolphin it shows the phone file structure. I used the "Copy To" command in Dolphin to move 4.6Gb of images and movies to my laptop. It took about 5 minutes and duplicate files had "(n)" appended to the name. Never noticed any case problems, since both systems are Linux based.

[jlittle]

I just enabled a seven day trial of FX file explorer plus (I've used the free version for years, but only a handful of times). Then, I

• I started an SSH server (by installing openssh-server) on Kubuntu
• opened the Kubuntu firewall to ssh with sudo ufw allow ssh
• set up an SSH network connection in FX file explorer on my phone
• created two files in Kubuntu, Test.txt and test.txt in a directory in my home directory
• using FX file explorer's split view on my phone, copied both files to another directory on Kubuntu.

They were both copied, checking from dolphin. This is what you want, isn't it?

If I attempt to copy both files to a directory on the phone, I get the "file already exists; skip, rename, cancel" dialogue. Are you sure your favourite "MiXplorer Silver" doesn't respect the case sensitivity of the underlying file systems? If you have doubts, I suggest using it to copy around files whose names conflict on a place you know has case-sensitive file names, like a Linux ext4 file system. Maybe the problem lies in the connection type; I don't know what SMB does about case.

Generally, I like the FX apps, they seem well thought through to me. The dark mode works! But, at first, the interface usually isn't what I'm expecting. I'd much rather work from dolphin. There's FTP, WebDAV, and "Windows" connections, and cloud service connections, including OwnCloud.

The "plus" upgrade to FX File Explorer shows as $4.79 in the Google Play store; I think that's NZD.

[edit]An idea that popped into my head later is that maybe case-insensitivity is a consequence of the method the phone uses to talk to your computers. Maybe there other possibilities, like SSH, which would avoid the problem.

[DoYouKubuntu]

I already own the paid version of FX File Explorer, assuming this is the app we're talking about. [Why Google ever allowed multiple, unrelated apps to have the same name--leading to all kinds of confusion--is beyond me!]

I'm lazy. I want to simply use a file manager to copy files from one location [on a Linux computer] to another location [on a Linux computer]. I don't want to be bothered with SSH, FTP, or anything else that involves effort! I just want to copy files and be done with it.

FX correctly displays multiple files with the 'same' name:



[Some other FMs do not--they'll show the same [incorrect] image for more than one file.]

So all seems good...until I copy them to another location [on the same drive]:



*sigh*

So getting back to my OP, is there an Android FM that really, truly understands and respects case on Linux computers, by simply using its normal file management features?

[DoYouKubuntu]

I forgot to address KDE Connect: I've used it for a long time, but its file transfer feature doesn't work the way I need for my file management.

I'm using a file manager to view and manage hundreds of thousands of files, spread across multiple computers. With an FM, I can access all of them in one place. Simply moving from tab to tab, I can copy files from/to any computer/external drive. KDE Connect is nice, for what it is, but it's just not what I need for what I'm doing.

[jlittle]

... I want to simply use a file manager to copy files from one location [on a Linux computer] to another location [on a Linux computer]. I don't want to be bothered with SSH...

If, as I suspect, file name case insensitivity is the result the way the file manager is connecting to the Linux computer, then no software can do what you want.

Perhaps someone who knows about SMB can chime in? Is there a difference in case sensitivity between versions of SMB? Or is SMB always case insensitive?

[claydoh]

Assuming using samba:

https://www.samba.org/samba/docs/cur...%20preserving.


I wonder if the samba server sees the android clients as wndows clients, or something along those lines, using the default setting of 'auto'. Maybe editing the smb.conf to force case-sensitivity may fix this.


I still lean toward it not being an android app issue, but a filesystem one (smb).
I have mangled my test samba setup and I can't access any shares from any android file manager at the moment so I can't test atm.