C-POD responds to what you give it. Through File → Open or Send To:
| File | What happens |
.POD |
opens in the main window |
.LST |
builds a pod from the list |
.TRK |
builds the podzipped truck pod |
.RAW .BMP .PNG .TGA .ACT |
shows the image |
Neither a .LST nor a .TRK is an archive — one
lists what to pack, the other describes a truck whose parts are worked out from
it. Both build a pod rather than opening one. That is what the original
did on Send To, and the reason it got called a Swiss army knife rather than a
viewer.
A loose texture is not a broken archive either. Handing one to C-POD shows it rather than answering "not a recognised POD archive", which is true and reads like the file is damaged.
.POD dropped on the window is an open request. Anything
else you drop is added to the pod you already have open — including a
.LST or a .TRK, which are added as files rather than
built from. If you want to build from a list, open it; dropping it puts the
list itself in your pod.
A .RAW has no colours of its own, so it is drawn against the
.ACT sitting beside it — or in grey if there is not one.
An .ACT on its own has nothing to colour, so C-POD draws the
palette itself, as swatches.
Preferences adds or removes the Desktop, Send To and Start Menu shortcuts, so the choice of how you get to any of the above is yours.