Note by @fastfinge

Andre Louis @FreakyFwoof@universeodon.com

1w

Got a new app.
FileDentify.
Accessible Windows file identification utility for checking what a file is from its actual contents, rather than relying only on the file name or extension.

It's a part of mine and @arfy's SendTo package but you can also download it from github: github.com/OnjLouis/FileDentify/releases

It was able to pull all sorts of info out of VMDK disks, Roland expansions and all sorts of other weird and wonderful things.
This all stemmed from a conversation I had recently with someone about how the Linux file command doesn't exist for windows.
I've tried to address that as best I can.
Try opening a file and then going to 'Readable Text' and well, see what happens...

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Andre Louis @FreakyFwoof@universeodon.com

1w

FileDentify

The changelog for 1.1 is 29 items long, so won't post that. What I will post is the 'When to use FileDentify' section from the manual instead.
You should read the changelog though if you're using this app, it is kinda ridiculous.
As per-usual with any of my apps, you can update with Shift+F1, or if you're new, download from onj.me/software.

FileDentify is not meant to make existing tools obsolete. If Windows already tells you what you need, or if a one-line file result from WSL, Cygwin, MSYS2, or another Unix-like environment is enough, use that. Those tools are fast, familiar, and excellent for quick identification.
Use FileDentify when you want more context on Windows: a screen-reader-friendly tree, selected-item details, hashes, readable strings, byte offsets, an advanced text/hex/binary/octal viewer, HTML or plain-text reports, folder and multi-file overviews, Send To integration, and Windows-specific metadata.
FileDentify includes embedded Unix file/libmagic so reports start with a broad, familiar identification engine. FileDentify then adds its own Windows and format-specific sections, such as shortcuts, installers, media metadata, virtual disks, sample-library formats, Native Instruments files, Cubase projects, game files, old phone tones, Clipman files, and other structures where useful information can be surfaced.
The practical rule is simple: use the tool already on your system when it answers the question. Use FileDentify when you want to inspect, compare, save, share, or review the evidence more comfortably.

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Andre Louis @FreakyFwoof@universeodon.com

1w

FileDentify

shift+F1 if you're on 1.1 or 1.2. This is another huge changelog. I've just spent 13 hours adding file types.
v1.3
FileDentify 1.3 turns the app into a deeper file-inspection, report, and viewer tool.

Highlights:
- Added native .fdreport reports that reopen inside FileDentify, including report overview, files, sections, and selection state.
- Added folder scanning, append-to-report, refresh, recent/last-report recovery, and report association support.
- Added richer keyboard navigation across files and sections, including Alt+Left/Right, Alt+Up/Down, Alt+PageUp/PageDown, Alt+Home/End, Ctrl+number section jumps, and Tolk-powered screen-reader shortcut hints.
- Improved the advanced viewer with owned/maximized window behavior, status-bar announcements, remembered position, non-wrapping search, load-more behavior, and readable/hex/binary/octal modes.
- Added or expanded many format families, including REAPER projects, Piper/Sonata voices, legacy JLW/VOP sound banks, Apple/Mac bundles and backups, Logic/GarageBand projects, sparse bundles, Nintendo Switch content folders, Symbian/Java MIDlet files, router/NAS/mail/audio backups, mobile tones, game ROMs/assets/audio, pro-audio libraries and plug-ins, sample instruments, archives, disk images, firmware, documents, media metadata, AI/Ollama files, Clipman reports, and FileDentify reports.
- Added embedded Tolk and NVDA controller support for polite shortcut announcements.
- Updated release privacy checks and package rules. Portable ZIPs now ship only the app, terminal companion, and license; the built-in manual is the user documentation source of truth.
- Fixed several false-positive cases, including REAPER backups and UJAM-style blobs being misreported as unrelated music software content.

Thanks to everyone who reported issues and sent files to test. We tested this release across a large mixed set of files, folders, reports, terminal workflows, and screen-reader workflows.
onj.me/software

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Andre Louis @FreakyFwoof@universeodon.com

1w

FileDentify

Had another go at finding a ridiculous number of file types, again.

FileDentify 1.4

This release expands FileDentify's file coverage and tightens the report experience.

Highlights:
- Fixed last-report recovery so closing with Escape preserves the selected file, section, and report item.
- Fixed locked or unreadable files so they appear as inspection-error entries instead of stopping a GUI report.
- Added cautious identification for protected .bpak game packages.
- Added more classic game detail for Quake-family files and Duke Nukem 3D save context.
- Added Quick Windows Sequencer support-file reporting.
- Added NVDA add-on package reporting.
- Expanded firmware, hardware-ID, VMware, Electron ASAR, NuGet, AI model, speech-engine, personal/export, and Windows/system file reporting.
- Refined the embedded HTML details view and readable-text output, including better heading behavior and less duplicate/noisy string output.

See the built-in manual's Supported file types table for the maintained coverage list.

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🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

1w

FileDentify

@FreakyFwoof Do you support getting info about all the hundred module formats? .mod, .xm, .mo3, .nsf, and so on? Surely there’s a library you could just integrate to add them all?

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Andre Louis @FreakyFwoof@universeodon.com

1w

FileDentify

@fastfinge Those are all in. I added them based on my fairly substantive mod collection.

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🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 @fastfinge@interfree.ca

1w

FileDentify

@FreakyFwoof So the next job is to make an accessible tracker for Windows. We need blind people making modern .mod files! LOL THat’s probably impossible.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@hodgson.io

1w

FileDentify

@fastfinge @FreakyFwoof Did you ever use any of the DOS trackers? I was able to do some stuff with Modedit but the more capable trackers used graphics mode if I remember correctly. Have you tried Modplug?

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