Easier way to view "target" of a shortcut possible

[j_c_hallgren]

I've been doing some clean-up on my system and part of that is removing some redundant shortcuts that were created via software installs that put things where I don't want them...but to verify which is current and which is same function but different dates, I have to keep using Properties via right-click to see the target string...so...

Is there a quicker way to do this via XY, or if not, could there be an enhancement to display some of these values within the Preview tab of IP for LNK type files?

[serendipity]

Probably you can view target with "Raw view".

[admin]

HA!

I have added this today BEFORE you asked for it:

Code: Select all

    + List: added functionality to jump to the target of *.LNK files 
      (aka Shortcuts). You find it in the context menu of List items (if 
      the focused item is a shortcut). The target is displayed in the 
      status bar when hovering the menu command.
      You also find a new command in CKS | Miscellaneous | Go To: Go to 
      Shortcut Target.

BTW, you can already see the target of LNKs in the File Info Tip under "Comment".

[j_c_hallgren]

BTW, you can already see the target of LNKs in the File Info Tip under "Comment".

Yes, somewhat...but not on all of them!
On a number of them, all I see is the generic comment describing what it is, such as "Launch Skype" or "Trillian : The ultimate chat program"...
So when the Comment field has a value, then the target doesn't show, so maybe a new Tip field showing the only target is needed?

And...on the ones that do show a location, they don't show the full value of target, which includes the actual file name, as in some cases, that is what accurately tells me exactly what is being pointed to...when you have multiple shortcuts pointing to various modules within a folder, knowing which one points to which module would allow me to remove the unneeded ones with more confidence, ok?

[admin]

BTW, you can already see the target of LNKs in the File Info Tip under "Comment".

Yes, somewhat...but not on all of them!
On a number of them, all I see is the generic comment describing what it is, such as "Launch Skype" or "Trillian : The ultimate chat program"...
So when the Comment field has a value, then the target doesn't show, so maybe a new Tip field showing the only target is needed?

And...on the ones that do show a location, they don't show the full value of target, which includes the actual file name, as in some cases, that is what accurately tells me exactly what is being pointed to...when you have multiple shortcuts pointing to various modules within a folder, knowing which one points to which module would allow me to remove the unneeded ones with more confidence, ok?

Okay, I added a field "Shortcut Target" to the File Info Tips.

[j_c_hallgren]

As serendipity stated in other thread, I like this new feature!! And the context option which is also handy!
But: I'd remove the "Location" & string from 'Comment' as it's now essentially duplicated (and a bit misleading), and when you view this field via "Properties", it would show as blank in most cases, while if Comment is truely in use, then it would show 'Launch Skype' or similar...ok?
So maybe Comment entry should only show in ToolTips when data exists there?

[admin]

But: I'd remove the "Location" & string from 'Comment' as it's now essentially duplicated (and a bit misleading), and when you view this field via "Properties", it would show as blank in most cases, while if Comment is truely in use, then it would show 'Launch Skype' or similar...ok?
So maybe Comment entry should only show in ToolTips when data exists there?

I agree, but I'm not guilty. It wasn't me! Look at the "Comment" column (show it in List View) of LNK files in Explorer. The system does it...

[j_c_hallgren]

I agree, but I'm not guilty. It wasn't me! Look at the "Comment" column (show it in List View) of LNK files in Explorer. The system does it...

Huh?? I've never seen a Comment column in Explorer...and... I thought it was your coding that put the "location" and value into Comment line on Tool Tips? You're saying it's not? Just a bit confused...

[admin]

I agree, but I'm not guilty. It wasn't me! Look at the "Comment" column (show it in List View) of LNK files in Explorer. The system does it...

Huh?? I've never seen a Comment column in Explorer...and... I thought it was your coding that put the "location" and value into Comment line on Tool Tips? You're saying it's not? Just a bit confused...

Right-click an Explorer column header... I'm just plugging into a system functionality here, plus adding some own stuff.

[j_c_hallgren]

Right-click an Explorer column header... I'm just plugging into a system functionality here, plus adding some own stuff.

It's been SO long that I've set up my views of Explorer that I'd forgotten about that config/setup...so I turned it on and see that there are two distinct types of shortcuts: Those that have text comments and which shows there plus via Properties (like Skype/Trillian)...and...those that have "Location" in them which admittedy does show on Win Expl, but which does not show when viewing item via Properties, which shows comment as blank/empty.

So...is there no way to trap the Location type items and then not show Comment on Tooltip since you're now showing that plus filename via the Target? It would just present a cleaner Toolotip, IMHO.

[admin]

Right-click an Explorer column header... I'm just plugging into a system functionality here, plus adding some own stuff.

It's been SO long that I've set up my views of Explorer that I'd forgotten about that config/setup...so I turned it on and see that there are two distinct types of shortcuts: Those that have text comments and which shows there plus via Properties (like Skype/Trillian)...and...those that have "Location" in them which admittedy does show on Win Expl, but which does not show when viewing item via Properties, which shows comment as blank/empty.

So...is there no way to trap the Location type items and then not show Comment on Tooltip since you're now showing that plus filename via the Target? It would just present a cleaner Toolotip, IMHO.

No way, because it's locale aware: "Location" in english, "Ort" in German, etc. I don't know the term in for Location in, say, Urdu.

[j_c_hallgren]

Oh! Ok...so something like parsing the Comment field for a ": " and extracting the remaining portion, and that compared against the new Target string parsed backwards stopping at last "\" to eliminate filename isn't possible either?

[admin]

Oh! Ok...so something like parsing the Comment field for a ": " and extracting the remaining portion, and that compared against the new Target string parsed backwards stopping at last "" to eliminate filename isn't possible either?

Sure, but what if exactly this happens to be the comment the user personally typed in?
Or what about users that simply got used to this smart-stupid MS idea to map one field onto another if the other is free?

[mwb1100]

It would be nice if the shortcut target were displayed in the Properties panel as well.

[j_c_hallgren]

It would be nice if the shortcut target were displayed in the Properties panel as well.

Due to how long some of these entries can get, I don't see where one could fit it and still have it be usable...for typical user created shortcuts, this isn't a problem as I see it, but when one looks at some M$ Office shortcuts that are in Start/Desktop, these targets get quite lengthy! As the original requestor of this, I'm now sufficiently happy with the current implementation.