CHANGELOG.md

Changelog

All notable changes to Storage Visualiser are documented in this file.

The format is based on Keep a Changelog, and this project adheres to Semantic Versioning.

[Unreleased]

Added

• Persistent Settings & Configuration System:
  • Implemented portable settings.json storage next to the executable, with seamless %LOCALAPPDATA%\StorageVisualiser\settings.json fallback when run from read-only paths.
  • Built strictly for Native AOT compatibility using System.Text.Json source generator (SettingsJsonContext).
  • Added fail-safe fallback to defaults if settings.json is missing or corrupted.
• Treemap Color Themes & Accessible Palettes:
  • Folder Depth (Rainbow): Depth-based rainbow coloring with peach file fills.
  • File Type Category: Category coloring across media, archives, code, documents, binaries, and system files.
  • File Age: Multi-tier recency coloring (<1mo, 1-6mo, 6-12mo, 1-2yr, >2yr cold/archived).
  • Color-Blind Safe Mode: Full high-contrast Okabe-Ito / Tol palette mapping across all color modes.
  • Interactive Color Legend Strip: Visible category and age swatches directly above the Treemap canvas with real-time palette synchronization.
• Size Unit Systems & Metrics:
  • Support for Windows Binary (1024 base: KB, MB, GB), IEC Standard (1024 base: KiB, MiB, GiB), and Metric / SI (1000 base: kB, MB, GB).
  • Configurable default unit system in SizeFormatter dynamically updating Treemap labels, Tree view, Top Files, and drive info.
  • Support for Allocated Size on disk vs Logical File Size in Treemap sizing.
• Treemap Layout Bias:
  • Aspect ratio bias options: Balanced (Squarified), Favor Horizontal (Wider Boxes), and Favor Vertical (Taller Boxes), with correct slice orientation.
• Headless CLI (StorageVisualiser.Cli) for RMM & Automation:
  • Standalone single-file Native AOT CLI binary for headless scans and remote management tools.
  • Full CLI options: scan <path>, --top <n>, --json [file|-], --csv [file|-], --html [file], --allocated, --unit <windows|iec|si>, --threshold-gb <n>, --threshold-free-percent <n>, --silent.
  • Machine-readable JSON/CSV output to file or stdout.
  • Exit code contract: 0 (Success / healthy), 1 (Threshold alert triggered), 2 (Scan error or invalid argument).
• CSV & JSON Exports with Formula Neutralisation and Path Redaction (Option 2):
  • Added multi-format export dropdown menu on main toolbar: Interactive HTML Report, Top Files to CSV, File Types to CSV, and Full Scan Data to JSON.
  • Formula injection mitigation: escapes cells prefixed with =, +, -, @, \t, \r per security specification (§6.6).
  • Optional path redaction anonymising user profile paths (C:\Users\<user>\...) in HTML reports, CSV spreadsheets, and JSON payloads.
  • Standardized filename pattern: Storage Report - <HOSTNAME> - <Target> - <ISO 8601>.<ext>.
• Central IT Organisation Policy Support (policy.json):
  • Centralized policy loaded from %ProgramData%\StorageVisualiser\policy.json (admin priority) or next to the executable.
  • Granular governance controls: deleteMode (disabled, recycleBinOnly, allowPermanent), protectedPaths & protectedPathsMode (append or replace), allowExports, redactPathsInExports, allowElevation, and allowNetworkPaths.
  • Fail-safe enforcement: if policy.json is malformed or invalid, the app automatically fails safe to maximum restriction with an informative warning banner.
  • Visual policy indicators: locked options in Settings dialog display "Managed by your organisation", and blocked actions display policy reasons.
• Settings Dialog UI:
  • Added ⚙️ Settings button to the main toolbar.
  • Accessible modal dialog organized into Appearance & Colors, Units & Size Calculation, Treemap Layout & Tree View, File Actions & Safety, and Reports & Privacy.
  • "Reset to Defaults", "Cancel", and "Save & Apply" controls with live re-rendering.

[0.1.1-alpha] - 2026-10-05

Added

• File Type Filtering Across Map, Tree, and Top Files (GitHub #3):
  • Added context menu actions to the File Types tab: "Filter Map & Tree by this Type", "Filter Tree by this Type", and "Show Top Files for this Type". Double-clicking any file type row immediately filters the Map and Tree views.
  • Added a responsive Active Filter Indicator Banner across the application displaying the active filter (*.ext), matching file count, total size, and a one-click "✕ Clear Filter" button.
  • Tree view shows only folders containing matching files (with matching counts/sizes) and the matching files themselves.
  • Treemap dynamically resizes folders and files according to their matching extension sizes.
  • Top Files tab displays the largest files matching the active filter.
• HTML Report File Types Interaction (GitHub #3):
  • Clicking any row in the HTML report File Types table automatically switches to the Top Files tab and filters the search by that file extension.

Fixed

• NTFS MFT Scanner Directory Count Zero (GitHub #1):
  • Fixed live scan progress reporting during elevated NTFS MFT scans where directory count was hardcoded to 0 while file count incremented. Live counters now track both files and directories simultaneously.
• HTML Report "Up" Navigation (GitHub #2):
  • Resolved an issue where pressing "Up" in the HTML report treemap returned all the way to root instead of the immediate parent folder. Pre-linked parent references on load and bound "Up" to currentNode.parent while ensuring breadcrumb ancestry paths remain 100% accurate at every depth.
• Top Files Date Modified Column Clipping (GitHub #4):
  • Expanded the Date Modified column width to 180px with dedicated right-hand cell padding (Margin="8,0,20,0"), preventing text clipping from the DataGrid border and vertical scrollbar gutter. Added sorting by actual date (LastModified) instead of string text.

[0.1.0-alpha] - 2026-10-05

Added

• True Single-File Executable Packaging:
  • Configured PublishSingleFile, IncludeNativeLibrariesForSelfExtract, and EnableCompressionInSingleFile in project settings. Release builds now produce a clean, 100% standalone StorageVisualiser.exe with zero loose DLLs or framework runtime files in the publish output.
• Custom High-Performance PercentageBar Control:
  • Replaced Avalonia FluentTheme ProgressBar controls with a bespoke, lightweight PercentageBar control across Tree, Top Files, and File Types tabs.
  • Resolves FluentTheme minimum-width clipping, rounded line constraints, and proportional squaring issues that caused percentage fills to appear blank or disproportionately tiny when columns were narrow.
  • Expanded Tree percentage bar width from 100px to 135px for enhanced readability.
• Drive Utilization & Tree Percentage Scaling:
  • Aligned root drive used percentage ($28.1%$) and free space ($71.9%$) to sum to exactly $100.0%$, eliminating discrepancy caused by unscanned locked OS metadata.
  • Corrected Tree % of Total mode to scale subfolders relative to total scanned files, while % of Parent scales relative to immediate parent folder.
• Treemap Edge Snapping & Seamless Boundaries:
  • Snapped squarified rows and tiles flush to container edges in TreemapLayoutEngine, eliminating floating-point rounding gaps and bottom-right container offsets when adjusting detail slider levels.
  • Grouped all sub-threshold items into <Other> without dropping remaining capacity.
• <Other> Group Drill-Down & Context Menu Permissions:
  • Double-clicking or right-clicking and selecting "🔍 Drill Down into Group" on any <Other (N items)> block now opens that batch as its own interactive treemap view, allowing full inspection of all grouped small files.
  • Preserved original parent node references for all grouped items so drilling down, navigating Up (▲ Up), or opening containing folders remains completely accurate and seamless.
  • Fixed context menu permissions for virtual aggregators: disabled "Open in Explorer", "Copy Full Path", "Delete", and "Properties" on <Other> groups, while keeping them fully enabled for real files and folders inside.
• Navigation Shortcuts & Drag-and-Drop Scanning:
  • Drag and drop any folder or drive from Windows Explorer straight into the window to trigger a scan.
  • Keyboard navigation shortcuts: F5 to Rescan, Backspace / Alt+Up to navigate up, and Alt+Left / Alt+Right for Back / Forward history.
• Assembly Metadata & Release Pipeline:
  • Embedded release assembly metadata (Version 0.1.0-alpha, Product, Authors, Copyright).
  • GitHub Actions automated release pipeline (.github/workflows/release.yml) producing single-file x64 binaries, release archives, and SHA-256 checksums on tag pushes.
• Tabbed Views Interface (v1):
  • 🗺️ Map: SpaceMonger nested treemap with dynamic rainbow palette, free space display toggle, and detail density slider.
  • 🌲 Tree: RidNacs-style hierarchical directory tree with visual percentage progress bars, formatted sizes, file counts, and descending size sort.
  • 📄 Top Files: Sortable table displaying the top 200 largest files with size, percentage of total storage, file extension, full path, and date modified. Right-click or double-click to reveal in Windows Explorer.
  • 📊 File Types: Extension and category breakdown table showing total consumed space, percentage of total, and file count per extension.
• Cross-View Navigation:
  • Context menu item "Show on Map" in Tree and Top Files tabs to quickly zoom to and highlight items in the treemap.
  • Full Windows Explorer shell integration (Open in Explorer, Open File, Copy Path, File Properties) across all tabs.
• Safe Delete to Recycle Bin (v1):
  • Central FileActionService enforcing policy, protected paths blocklist, confirmation modal, and audit action logging (file_actions.log).
  • Native Windows Recycle Bin integration (SHFileOperation with FOF_ALLOWUNDO) ensuring all deleted files/directories can be restored.
  • Protected paths blocklist preventing accidental deletion of Windows directories, Program Files, ProgramData, drive roots, pagefile, hiberfil, swapfile, and synthetic items.
  • In-app confirmation modal showing file details, size, and warning before deletion.
  • Delete key shortcut and context menu items across Map, Tree, and Top Files tabs.
• Accessibility & Contrast (WCAG AAA):
  • Updated progress bars in Tree, Top Files, and File Types tabs with soft pastel fills and deep navy text (#0F172A) providing >10:1 contrast ratios.
• UI Refinements:
  • Vertically centered text in the address bar TextBox.
  • Locked Row 2 navigation bar to exact fixed height to eliminate jitter when scanning starts or stops.
  • Balanced Back and Forward button widths with centered text.
• Interactive Offline HTML Export (v1):
  • Single-file, 100% self-contained HTML5 report with zero external CDN scripts, remote fonts, or network requests (strict offline privacy).
  • Interactive canvas treemap with breadcrumb navigation, interactive click & drill-down, hover tooltips, and real-time detail slider.
  • Built-in search filter across scanned nodes, interactive Top Files table, and File Types breakdown.
  • Native AOT compatible JSON serialization via source-generated ReportJsonContext.
  • Windows file picker default naming format (Storage Report - <HOST> - <Target> - <ISO 8601>.html) defaulting to Documents directory.
• Elevated NTFS MFT Scanner (v1 / S8):
  • High-speed direct Master File Table ($MFT) parser for local NTFS drive volumes when running with Administrator privileges.
  • Sequential multi-megabyte cluster run streaming via Win32 volume handle reading, parsing 1024-byte MFT records with fixup validation (Update Sequence Array), resident/non-resident $DATA streams, and $FILE_NAME attributes.
  • Seamless WindowsAutoScanner orchestrator: automatically selects high-speed MFT direct reading when elevated on local NTFS drives, and seamlessly falls back to standard DirectoryWalkerScanner when non-elevated, on network shares, or for subfolder scans.
  • Real-time active scanner indicator in the status bar (e.g. Scan complete in 1.4s via NTFS MFT Direct Scanner).
• Elevated NTFS MFT Scanner Fixes & Diagnostics:
  • Added FILE_SHARE_DELETE (0x04) and FILE_FLAG_BACKUP_SEMANTICS to raw volume CreateFile calls, preventing ERROR_SHARING_VIOLATION (32) when reading live operating system drives (like C:) with running background services.
  • Enabled SeBackupPrivilege process token privilege dynamically to guarantee unrestricted raw volume read access when elevated.
  • Fixed non-resident $DATA cluster run parsing in NtfsMftRecordParser for Record 0 ($MFT), resolving fallback caused by unextracted MFT cluster runs.
  • Enforced 4096-byte sector-aligned buffer allocations for Record 0 and volume reads, preventing ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER (87) on modern Advanced Format (4Kn / 512e) NVMe SSDs.
  • Added sparse cluster run handling in DataRunDecoder.
  • Added comprehensive diagnostic logging from WindowsAutoScanner and WindowsNtfsMftScanner into startup.log.
• Toolbar & Navigation Sizing & Alignment:
  • Standardized all top toolbar buttons ([Scan Drive], [Browse...], [Rescan], [Export Report...], and [Free Space]) to an exact uniform height of 32px with centered vertical content alignment and consistent 4px corner radius, resolving button height unevenness caused by font weight variations.
  • Expanded Drive Selector ComboBox width from 230px to 285px and locked its height to 32px to eliminate clipping of volume labels and free space information (... free of 1.82 TB).
  • Standardized all navigation bar buttons (◀ Back, ▶ Forward, ▲ Up, ⌂ Home, [Cancel Scan], and address bar TextBox) to an exact uniform height of 30px with centered vertical content alignment.
  • Fixed Detail Slider thumb clipping and vertical misalignment by overriding FluentTheme slider dimensions (SliderPreContentMargin and SliderPostContentMargin set to 0, track height 20px, thumb diameter 14px/16px) to perfectly center with Detail: text and prevent thumb clipping against toolbar borders.
• Unit Tests:
  • Expanded test suite to 35 unit tests with coverage for MFT sparse run decoding and Record 0 non-resident $DATA cluster run parsing.