XYplorer Beta Club

sfwood wrote:I'm curious how this persistent sort order will be saved. I would prefer not hidden files in each (sub)folder. Also, how will this interact with portability? I don't routinely use XY to manage other machines but I wouldn't want either of 1) leaving a trail of mystery hidden files on other people's computers or 2) storing info about computers I'm never going back to in a central db.

1) XY never leaves files anywhere in the system outside the app data folder.
2) Persistent custom sort order will be optional; but if enabled there is no way around having some kind of DB which potentially becomes big and outdated.

there is no way around having some kind of DB which potentially becomes big and outdated

But there are ways to facilitate clean-up. Timestamp the database records of each folder. Whenever a PMS list for a folder is created or amended (and perhaps accessed) record the date/time. Then users can purge PMS lists older than a certain time. By "accessed" I mean the user viewing that folder in XYplorer with PMS mode on. Then the purging can be applied to folders whose sort order has not only not changed in a long while but also the user has not viewed that sort order in some time.

If the "accessed" time is not recorded, files added to the folder but not yet manually sorted (i.e. those that get appended to the end of the list whenever that folder is viewed with PMS on) would not trigger a timestamp change.

Being able to generate a list or search result of all folders with a PMS would also be useful for other purposes.

P.S. PMS is possible not the best acronym to use for marketing purposes in English (Pre-Menstrual Tension)

Not sure what I think about desktop mode/mindmapping for individual folders

The term "mindmapping" is a bit pretentious, but it has become established. "Mind-mapping" software hasn't really caught on, perhaps because it's one more set of concepts and controls for people to learn. Desktop Mode, Desktop Folder and Portable Desktop are terms people can immediately understand. It is not really a "new" idea. It is just porting the idea of real world noticeboards (the kind people use to organize their thoughts, not necessarily post information for others) into cyberspace. I don't think appeal has to be demonstrated. Just look at how most people use their Windows desktop despite its limitations.

All yes. The concept is brilliant. I will let ideas flow for a while (actually the next 3 weeks my personal mind map looks pretty much like a football).

"Portable Desktop Folders" sounds great but unfortunately acronyms to "PDF", pffff. But "Desktop Folders" is good enough. Everything is portable anyway in XY.

Any new progress on the manual sorting thing?

kunkel321 wrote:Any new progress on the manual sorting thing?

What kind of manual sorting progress exactly is on your mind?

admin wrote:What kind of manual sorting progress exactly is on your mind?

I'd like to arbitrarily rearrange the files in a window via dragging them to new positions.

For example in List Management > Recent Locations, you can rearrange the order of the items. I'd like to be able to do that with a window pane full of files and folders.

kunkel321 wrote:

admin wrote:What kind of manual sorting progress exactly is on your mind?

I'd like to arbitrarily rearrange the files in a window via dragging them to new positions.

For example in List Management > Recent Locations, you can rearrange the order of the items. I'd like to be able to do that with a window pane full of files and folders.

You mean the current manual sort is not working??
http://www.xyplorer.com/release_8.50.htm#mansort
Works fine here in my Windows 7.

Ha! I thought I had seen a command for it somewhere, but then I couldn't find it....
Not sure why I didn't find it in the help file... I just checked again and it is, indeed, there.
I might have been searching for "custom sort."

Sorry All!

kunkel321 wrote:Ha! I thought I had seen a command for it somewhere, but then I couldn't find it....
Not sure why I didn't find it in the help file... I just checked again and it is, indeed, there.
I might have been searching for "custom sort."

Sorry All!

Yeah, happens to me too. So many features, hard to keep track.
Also, be aware that manual sorting is not persistent.

Help / List All Commands: search for "manu" would have found it in 4 seconds.

Help / List All Commands

I've never seen this command before oO

highend wrote:

Help / List All Commands

I've never seen this command before oO

Well, Help / List All Commands: search for "list a" would have found it in 4 seconds. LOL

admin wrote:

highend wrote:

Help / List All Commands

I've never seen this command before oO

Well, Help / List All Commands: search for "list a" would have found it in 4 seconds. LOL

OK, the problem might be that people tend to search only what they think that might be searched

PeterH wrote:

admin wrote:

highend wrote:

Help / List All Commands

I've never seen this command before oO

Well, Help / List All Commands: search for "list a" would have found it in 4 seconds. LOL

OK, the problem might be that people tend to search only what they think that might be searched

Yes, or more generally: the problem might be the people.

admin wrote:Yes, or more generally: the problem might be the people.

Of course you can see it this way.

But at the end you have to take the people as they happen to "function"