XYplorer Beta Club

SkyFrontier wrote:I'd like to have an option for a different approach on dealing with non-existant items, Don.
Great: currently PF simply removes the entry, updating the PFfile. But that should not be the right way for removable drives, for instance.
Moving those entries to the lower portion of the PFfile, marking them with leading exclamation marks which later are displayed in the list in red or have a red exclamation mark as icon could be a way to keep stuff simple yet functional.

This may have be already discussed and in case of so, someone please point me the headings as it's a 10-page thread, sorry!

(to which Don answered will be considered in phase 2)

http://www.xyplorer.com/release_14.30.htm states:
"You can share them, and carry them along on a stick."
This should be removed for the time being as currently opening a stick-contained paper folder will do more harm than good, erasing several of the non-existant, probably all of the entries, as they belong to another system those items belong to.

Marco wrote:And I agree, clicking on paper: should bring you to <xypaper>

Even if the PF content descriptor is located outside <xypaper>? I think that click should bring you consistently to the folder where the content .txt file is located.


Cheers,
Filehero

Enternal wrote:For some reason, I was thinking perhaps a translucent paper icon in the background of the list to indicate it's a paper folder?

Yeah, this could be an visually quite pleasing alternative.

SkyFrontier wrote:

SkyFrontier wrote:I'd like to have an option for a different approach on dealing with non-existant items, Don.
Great: currently PF simply removes the entry, updating the PFfile. But that should not be the right way for removable drives, for instance.
Moving those entries to the lower portion of the PFfile, marking them with leading exclamation marks which later are displayed in the list in red or have a red exclamation mark as icon could be a way to keep stuff simple yet functional.

This may have be already discussed and in case of so, someone please point me the headings as it's a 10-page thread, sorry!

(to which Don answered will be considered in phase 2)

http://www.xyplorer.com/release_14.30.htm states:
"You can share them, and carry them along on a stick."
This should be removed for the time being as currently opening a stick-contained paper folder will do more harm than good, erasing several of the non-existant, probably all of the entries, as they belong to another system those items belong to.

+1 for the idea. PFs really should be able to resolve all path variables. ?:\path\, <xydata>\path\, %userhome%\downloads etc. Please please.

SkyFrontier wrote:http://www.xyplorer.com/release_14.30.htm states:
"You can share them, and carry them along on a stick."
This should be removed for the time being as currently opening a stick-contained paper folder will do more harm than good, erasing several of the non-existant, probably all of the entries, as they belong to another system those items belong to.

Hm. My understanding a little bit different about this. If you have a Movie paper folder, you can take the txt with you on a pendrive or share the txt file with others to show what kind of movies are on your computer. I think this sentence doesn't state that you should open it as a paper folder on a different computer.

It's already there. Right Click on the Paper Folder CTB and click Allow Zombies.

SammaySarkar wrote: +1 for the idea. PFs really should be able to resolve all path variables. ?:\path\, <xydata>\path\, %userhome%\downloads etc. Please please.

And, give the XY-ish touch to Paper Folder. Support for environment variables, XY variables, portable drive (?:\ and VOLNAME:\).

Sorry if redundant - I looked through every page of posts on PF.

1) It would be intuitive to have something like "New Paper Folder" on the standard right-click menu (the one that starts with "New Folder", "New Text File" etc). Down near the bottom is "New...". I wanted to quickly try making a PF and was certain I'd find it there.

2) I was also surprised that I couldn't make a desktop shortcut to my PF, where I had collected the folders important to today's projects.

Thanks for these amazing new capabilities.

There may be a way to do this in XY already, since I know icons can be manipulated. But I want to talk about it as the default.

I'm thinking of human error. Since there are no data-loss consequences to accidentally deleting a PF, it shouldn't look exactly like a regular folder. Having it that way can lead to either (1) Being more cautious than necessary when deleting a PF or (2) getting less cautious, losing track, and accidentally deleting a real folder.

I'd really like them to look different in some way. I'll go see if XY can do that for me, but again I suggest it as the default.

Thx

admin wrote: I don't know who else is still in the file manager business (or faking to be), but I think the release of XY 14.30 is a good moment for them to give up and start trying something else.

Loved this! ... I chose a winner.

re New:
I'm thinking about a new context menu item: "Copy To New Paper Folder" that would apply to the selected items.

re look different in some way (colors, warning bar, etc):
I'm still hesitating. In most regards the items collected in a PF a pretty real. Making it look too different could be rather dangerous. User might think it's just virtual. No, it's not. The folder is virtual, but the contents are real.

re breadcrumb:
Not convinced. I still think the current way is the best.

admin wrote:The folder is virtual..

That was my point, I fooled myself several times. It becomes especially funny once I add the PF.txt file itself to the PF.

On the one hand I don't see real systematical difference to e.g. visual filters, where the contents are real as well but the current view is not or only partly. On the other hand, something having a "warning" conotation indeed may indeed be misleading.

I think Enternal's one is the best idea

Enternal wrote:For some reason, I was thinking perhaps a translucent paper icon in the background of the list to indicate it's a paper folder?

Done well, it could be a clear but low-key/modest hintthat your're looking at a virtual collection of things.

But yes, a proof-of-concept might be required.

Cheers,
Filehero

Filehero wrote:

admin wrote:The folder is virtual..

That was my point, I fooled myself several times. It becomes especially funny once I add the PF.txt file itself to the PF.

On the one hand I don't see real systematical difference to e.g. visual filters, where the contents are real as well but the current view is not or only partly.

Good point!

translucent paper icon: does not fit in the way I draw the list. IOW: too much work.

It's become somewhat OT in the meantime - just reporting back that
1) recent updates took care of my PF view issues, and
2) (ab)using an external project_resource.txt output as PF works nicely - no BOM or UTF problems, XY handles it smooth and flawless

The next version will offer a "Paper Folder Information Bar" as a tweak. I turned it on by default since I now think it is a good idea, and I want all of you to see and test it.

And such info bar will just say that you're browsing a PF, nothing more, nothing less?