Instant FileZilla plans...

If you've been keeping track of my projects lately, you've probably heard of Instant FileZilla, which is currently at version 0.3. It's designed to let you run a single executable, written in NSIS, which extracts FileZilla to a temporary folder, runs it, and (theoretically) deletes it at some point.

Unfortunately, security concerns abound -- anyone who wants your passwords can use an undelete tool, and leaving junk in the TEMP folder is usually a recipie for disaster (is there enough room? can someone steal my passwords?). So, future versions, such as the -- hopefully -- upcoming version 0.4, will extract to the current directory and let the user himself ensure that it's deleted. A "file wiper," such as one of the many free ones available on PortableFreeware.com, could be bundled with it -- provided it's GPL -- and then it could be run with an EXEC command to wipe out any saved settings.

Future versions will also hopefully contain a tray menu. This doesn't seem possible in NSIS, so maybe Aestan Tray Menu could be included to do the job. The menu would let you close/re-open FileZilla, delete temp files, import/export settings, and the like. Heck -- this stuff would be useful in the ordinary Portable FileZilla too!

Only one thing is left to hammer out: settings or no settings. If security concerns could be addressed, it would be nice to let your settings be included in the actual executable. A custom version could be recompiled every time you close Instant FileZilla, but that would be too hard and too big -- it would need to include an NSIS compiler, and it would take forever to extract. The current launcher copies FileZilla.xml from $EXEDIR to $OUTDIR and back.

Congratulations for reading this far. You deserve a pat on the back ;). Well, I'll try and clean this up later. If you have any ideas, post a comment!