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Apply filters from the address bar

Posted: 18 Sep 2006 08:32
by Lare2
I don't know if other people would like this feature or not.

But I’ll like if we could apply filters directly from the address bar using wild cards.

For example if we are at "D:\documents\" we could see all text files, on that folder, by adding "D:\documents\*.txt" and hitting enter, which could also apply to more complex ones like "D:\documents\d????.jpg", you got the idea right ?.

Don't know if this has been proposed or not, but just want it to put this idea on the table.

-Lare2

Re: Apply filters from the address bar

Posted: 18 Sep 2006 09:32
by admin
Lare2 wrote:I don't know if other people would like this feature or not.

But I’ll like if we could apply filters directly from the address bar using wild cards.

For example if we are at "D:\documents" we could see all text files, on that folder, by adding "D:\documents\*.txt" and hitting enter, which could also apply to more complex ones like "D:\documents\d????.jpg", you got the idea right ?.

Don't know if this has been proposed or not, but just want it to put this idea on the table.
Hi Lare2!

I guess this is your lucky day, because it is already built in, even in two ways!

(1) use the "?" operator to trigger a search via address bar: "D:\documents\?*.txt". Use /r to recurse subfolders: "D:\documents\?*.txt /r".

(2) use the "|" operator to add a Visual Filter to the current tab: "D:\documents\|*.txt". This filter will not recurse subfolders but it will stay with the tab until you take it away, either by Ctrl+Shift+J or by entering an empty filter in the address bar: "D:\documents\|", or simply "|".

Note that in both syntaxes you can leave out the path to apply the search/filter to the current path:
?*.txt
|*.txt

Don

Posted: 18 Sep 2006 21:26
by Lare2
That's amazing, i'm pretty new to this app and i'm right now reading he help file, and finding that it has so much more features.

Thanks for fast reply

Posted: 18 Sep 2006 21:35
by admin
Lare2 wrote:That's amazing, i'm pretty new to this app and i'm right now reading he help file, and finding that it has so much more features.

Thanks for fast reply
We are all amazed by it! :wink:

You might also try the XYwiki ( http://88.191.26.34/XYwiki/index.php ) for more tips and inspiration!

Posted: 19 Sep 2006 01:42
by allen
One of my favorite features of xyplorer :)

Am I missing any distinctions between the filter/search--
* Both are the same in terms of their ability to filter/syntax within the current folder
* Advantage to the search method is its ability to flatten a folder hierarchy, recurssing through sub folders.
* Advantage to the filter method is that it persists as you navigate from place to place

Am I missing any other subtleties, or are the two essentially the same functionally beyond that?

Posted: 19 Sep 2006 07:37
by admin
allen wrote:One of my favorite features of xyplorer :)

Am I missing any distinctions between the filter/search--
* Both are the same in terms of their ability to filter/syntax within the current folder
* Advantage to the search method is its ability to flatten a folder hierarchy, recurssing through sub folders.
* Advantage to the filter method is that it persists as you navigate from place to place

Am I missing any other subtleties, or are the two essentially the same functionally beyond that?
One more: only the search knows Boolean syntax (prefixed by the ":" operator): "?:*.htm or *.php". Ok, this one can be done as filter as well: "|*.htm;*.php", but not things like "?:(*.htm or *.php) and not ???.*".

Posted: 19 Sep 2006 13:26
by allen
Great to know. I think I've got it all sorted out then. Their subtle differencies make it often trivial which you use, but there are certainly situations where one is greatly advantageous over the other and vice versa. Making sure I knew them well enough to decide :)

Posted: 19 Sep 2006 18:11
by jacky
admin wrote:One more: only the search knows Boolean syntax (prefixed by the ":" operator)
And by that I think Don meant: only seach knows Boolean syntax (prefixed by the ":" operator) and RegExp syntax (prefixed by the ">" operator) :P ;)

Posted: 19 Sep 2006 20:15
by allen
jacky wrote:
admin wrote:One more: only the search knows Boolean syntax (prefixed by the ":" operator)
And by that I think Don meant: only seach knows Boolean syntax (prefixed by the ":" operator) and RegExp syntax (prefixed by the ">" operator) :P ;)
Just double checked, regex is fine in visual filter as well as search modes. Boolean is the lone syntax exclusion from the view filters.

e.g. these both work:

Code: Select all

My Documents\backup\?>(^.*?\.(exe|zip)$)

My Documents\backup\|>(^.*?\.(exe|zip)$)

Posted: 19 Sep 2006 20:19
by jacky
allen wrote:Just double checked, regex is fine in visual filter as well as search modes. Boolean is the lone syntax exclusion from the view filters.
:oops: oh yeah, forgot for a minute RegExp worked on VF too, silly me :oops:

Posted: 20 Sep 2006 07:32
by admin
Just another little difference came to my mind, that jacky *discovered* recently (I never intentionally built that in, but it works :roll: :wink: ). With a search, you can pass more than one location at the same time in the Address Bar using the ";"-separator:

"E:\Dir1;E:\Dir2?* /" = do not include subfolders
"E:\Dir1;E:\Dir2?* /r" = include subfolders
"E:\Dir1;E:\Dir2?*" = take include subfolders setting from find files tab
(BTW, the * is optional when you want to find all items.)

This allows you a quick visual comparison of 2 (or more) folders, even better when you turn on the grid.

Of course, this is not possible with Visual Filters.

Posted: 20 Sep 2006 10:01
by j_c_hallgren
admin wrote:Just another little difference came to my mind, that jacky *discovered* recently (I never intentionally built that in, but it works :roll: :wink: ). With a search, you can pass more than one location at the same time in the Address Bar using the ";"-separator:

This allows you a quick visual comparison of 2 (or more) folders, even better when you turn on the grid.
Glad to know that even Don doesn't know all the power of XY! :D :lol: I've had the same thing happen on very rare occasion!
This function is something that, if not already done so, needs to be documented in a place/way that can be found easily....as it, in an obscure way, accomplishes a portion of what a dual-pane setup would... :wink: