File list is simply the list of files that can be added to the database or removed from it. File list is not connected with real files or database records directly, so when you delete a file name from the file list, you don't delete the file itself or a database record that corresponds to this file. Accordingly, if you drag a file to the file list, it doesn't mean that this file is going to be added to the database. In order to understand if a file is in the database or not, the file list shows two kinds of faces next to its name: the green face means that the file already has a record in the database, the red face means that the file haven't been added yet or was deleted from the database.
The file list acts as an intermediary between your photo viewer (PV) and Enot database. The way it works is bi-directional.
PV->database direction.
When you want to make some photos searchable, you select them in your PV and drag them to the Enot window. Most PVs represent photos as thumbnails, but you can also drag files represented as filenames from Windows Explorer, Total Commander and some other programs. File list is sorted alphabetically; every time you drag another group of files to the file list, these files are added to the files that were already in the list and the sorting is updated automatically. You can also drag folders, and all files and subfolders inside these folders will be also added to the list. To clear the list from previously dragged files, click [Clear] button. When files are in the file list, they can be added to the database or removed from it by means of "Edit" page.
Database->PV direction.
When you use any search method, the search results are shown in the file list.
To view a single photo in the default viewer, simply double-click its name in
the file list. There are also two buttons near the file list: [View] is used
to show the images in your PV. They are usually shown as thumbnails, but it
depends on your PV configuration. The way the images are shown and their sorting
order should be configured in the PV. [Slideshow] button is used to view the
found images in the slideshow mode (the images are shown in full screen mode
and change each other after a certain period of time, usually 5-10 seconds).
Not all PVs support slideshow mode and some PVs that support it still cannot
run it from command line, so [Slideshow] button is intended for really powerful
PVs.