User Interfaces

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The main design principle used in Eraser is modularity. When an application is divided into components that contain common code used by several other components, it results in smaller code requiring less space on your drive and less resources from your computer.

The current version of Eraser is implemented as four separate components, three of which contain the total amount of four user interfaces and one, the Eraser library, contains all the overwriting functionality and other code common to the user interfaces.

Each included user interface offers a different way of using the overwriting capabilities of the Eraser library and each one has distinctive features that make it the choice for the job it was designed to do.

On-Demand and Scheduler

The main application, eraser.exe, contains two user interfaces, the On-Demand eraser and the Scheduler. The integration of these two previously separate programs not only saves you time when you only have to learn one program, but it also allows the user interfaces to benefit greatly from each other.

The Scheduler is the choice of user interface when you need to schedule erasing of data to happen regularly. It could be used for clearing the web browser cache or history files, the remains of temporary files by overwriting unused disk space on a drive or anything you like and whenever you like.

The On-Demand eraser replaces the clumsy and extremely simple utility that once came with Eraser 2.1. The integration with Scheduler in the main application makes it available to you at all times. Since the Scheduler lives as a taskbar tray application most of the time and usually is set to run at Windows startup, you can also access the On-Demand eraser by double-clicking the tray icon.

The On-Demand eraser is designed to serve you as the main user interface which you can use in your everyday work to destroy sensitive documents and to act like a standard wipe utility like you may have ran across sometimes. You can easily copy data from the Windows Explorer and paste it into the On-Demand view, or drag and drop files and folders into the list.

The main application also contains the Eraser Explorer that is not really an user interface for the erasing library, but instead provides a convenient way to erase data using the Shell Extension or drag items to the On-Demand eraser without opening the Windows Explorer.

Shell Extension

As the name says, the Shell Extension is a convenient extension to the Windows shell, the Explorer. You can use it while browsing through your drive without needing to start a separate application or having to enter data into one, it is enough to just select the data on the Explorer and choose "Erase" from the pop-up menu. Because it is always simply at reach and is easy to use, the Shell Extension may just become your choice for everyday file erasing. Obeying the modular design principle, the Shell Extension code is in a separate component, erasext.dll.

Launcher

If you would rather prefer using Eraser from the command line, or would like to erase some data from within a batch file, the Eraser Launcher is your choice. Allowing you to control the full power of Eraser with just a single command makes the Launcher not only the most simple, but also the most dangerous user interface that must be used with extra caution. Launcher also takes care of erasing data on Windows Recycle Bin.

The following pages in this section will give you detailed instructions on how to use these four user interfaces included in three separate components in the most efficient way.

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