How in the Tech

Peer Inside Archive Files Without Downloading them First in Firefox

By Adam Myers ⋅ November 3, 2008 ⋅ Tags: File Management

Have you ever needed just one file that was packaged in one large large archive file on a FTP or Web server? It’s a pretty specific situation I realize, but for those of us who’ve come across this scenario it can be somewhat frustrating as you must download the entire archive file, ie ZIP file.  ArchView is a stupendous Firefox extension that solves such a need. It may not be something you need today, but it sure would be handy in the future, I promise you that.

ArchView downloads the catalog information, or file listings – like a table of contents, of ZIP, RAR, and ISO files and then allows you to view or extract single files without the necessity of transferring the entire archive file. Basically, if you need just a 1MB file that is part of a 250MB ZIP file – ArchView is the answer. You can then either open or save a file right-clicking on it and selecting Open or Save.

Once installed, you will notice a new icon in your Firefox status bar which allows you to toggle the interface and which archive files ArchView should auto-launch from. Admittedly, using ArchView on a day to day basis when you truly wish to download the entire file is quite annoying. In this case, I generally disable the auto-launch by unchecking each archive file type from the status bar icon. I find this a small price to pay for the time this add-on has already saved me.