GrandPerspective
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GrandPerspective |
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GrandPerspective is a small utility application for Mac OS X that graphically shows the disk usage within a file system. It can help you to manage your disk, as you can easily spot which files and folders take up the most space. It uses a so called tree map for visualisation. Each file is shown as a rectangle with an area proportional to the file's size. Files in the same folder appear together, but their placement is otherwise arbitrary.
22 Apr 2008 A localized version of GrandPerspective 0.9.11 is now available for download. Unfortunately, it contains fewer localizations than the previous release, mostly because various localizers were too busy to provide an update in their language. Maybe you can help out for the next release? Furthermore, thanks to all who have shown support by making a donation. Thanks to a recent generous donation the upgrade to Leopard is nearly covered (the dollar being a bit weak doesn't help unfortunately) so expect improved support for OS X 10.5 in the next release.
17 Apr 2008 GrandPerspective has been downloaded more than 100.000 times. Happy happy joy joy.
18 Mar 2008 GrandPerspective 0.9.11 has been released and is available for download. It includes two long-awaited features: deletion of files and folders from within the application, and the ability to color files by their file type.
20 Jan 2008 A localized version of GrandPerspective 0.9.10 is now available for download. Sorry that it has taken slightly longer than usual, but that was mostly due to the holidays.
12 Dec 2007 GrandPerspective 0.9.10 has been released. Newly added is the ability to select folders in the view, and the ability to show the entire volume (including free space). There have been a few other improvements as well. By the way, don't be confused by the new version numbering scheme. This release is the successor of Version 0.99 (which would be called 0.9.9 under the new naming scheme). I changed the naming scheme as I do not yet consider this Version 1.00.
24 Jul 2007 GrandPerspective has been downloaded more than 50.000 times. Great! However, I should apologise for the recent lull in activities. I have just been too busy lately. Nevertheless, Version 1.00 is in the making and will appear sometime. Patience, my friends...
18 Apr 2007 Thanks to lifehacker.com for featuring GrandPerspective as download of the day. It has resulted in another spike in the download stats.
28 Mar 2007 A localized version of GrandPerspective 0.99 is now available for download.
24 Feb 2007 GrandPerspective 0.99 has been released. It is the first time the application has been officially released as a Universal Binary (many thanks to Martin Kahr for providing unofficial Universal Binaries for earlier releases). Furthermore, this latest release offers a choice of file size measures and includes help documentation. It also includes a few minor improvements and bug fixes. Don't linger, just download.
3 Feb 2007 The GrandPerspective project has received its first donation! Many thanks to the anonymous donor. While on the subject, feel free to make a donation yourself to show your appreciation and encourage further development of GrandPerspective.
For the historians amongst you, there are even records of older news.
GrandPerspective has been released as Open Source under the GNU General Public License. The official release files are available from the GrandPerspective download area. The latest release (Version 0.9.11) consists of three files:
This is the main release file. It contains all you need to run the application. To install the application, open the disk image and drag the application icon onto your Applications folder, or wher'ever you want to put it onto your file system. Next, run the application by clicking on the icon.
This is the localized version of GrandPerspective. It includes support for languages other than English.
This contains the source code of the application. It consists of the Objective C source code, as well as various auxiliary files, such as the nib files that are used to construct the GUI. You need this file if you want to create a localization in a language that is not yet supported.
Subscribe to the GrandPerspective announcement mailing list if you want to be notified about new releases.
From Version 0.97 onwards GrandPerspective is fully internationalized. This means that it can be localized to support languages other than English. I can manage the translation into Dutch, but for any other language, I will need your help. So, hereby a call for volunteers. If you want to help out with making GrandPerspective available in your mother tongue, or any other language you speak fluently, find out how you can help.
After you have downloaded and run GrandPerspective, feel free to provide feedback:
GrandPerspective is certainly not the first of its kind. Tree maps have been around for a while, and their application to file systems is not novel either. A few other disk usage visualisation tools that employ tree maps are:
So, why GrandPerspective? Well, as you may have guessed it's a fun little coding project and I needed to pick something to code on my new Mac Mini. Having said that, it does have a few things going for it. Firstly, GrandPerspective is developed specifically for Mac OS X, which narrows the immediate competition down to Disk Inventory X, as far as I'm aware. Secondly, GrandPerspective has its own way of visualising directory trees. The layout algorithm that is used is simple and effective, but novel to the best of my knowledge. Also, the file rectangles are drawn to be as clear and unobtrusive as possible. Whether you like it or not is a matter of taste, but you've got a choice. Thirdly, GrandPerspective will intentionally be kept as basic as possible. It should do one thing only, and do it well. That means it is a lean and mean application. GrandPerspective's memory requirements and the size it occupies on disk are pretty minimal. For those concerned about disk space, the latter must count for something, right? Finally, it has a cute logo that will enhance anyone's Dock. ;-)
Various web sites have helped to get the word out about GrandPerspective. Thanks to all.
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Get the grand perspective,
Narrow the field of focus,
Retain a sense of control.
Copyright 2005-2008, Eriban. Last updated: 22 April 2008