"Show columns" stops working when the caption of an Extra column contains a comma
Posted: 11 Feb 2026 05:06
XYplorer version: 28.10.0500 64-bit, 19-Jan-2026 (also verified in 25.00.0200)
Windows Version: 11 Pro
Screen scaling: 100%
UI and Windows Language: US English
Regional settings/keyboard: Danish (Windows list separator ; — changing it does not change behavior)
Steps to reproduce:
- Open any normal filesystem folder (not "This PC") and switch to Details view.
- Right click an empty part of the column header, place checkmark next to one of the extra tag columns, e.g. "Extra 1".
- Rename the Extra column caption to contain an ASCII comma ",":
- Right click the Extra 1 column, select "Configure Extra Column 1…"
- Set Caption to: Foo, Bar
- Click OK
- Right-click header → click Show Columns… (or View → Columns → Show Columns…) in any normal folder (not This PC).
Expected: "Show Columns…" dialog opens.
Actual: "Show Columns…" does nothing.
Workaround: Rename the caption to remove the comma - "Show Columns…" works immediately, no restart required
Likely cause (guess):
The Extra Tag column caption is being parsed/serialized using a comma-delimited format somewhere (e.g., building an internal list or writing/reading tag metadata), and the caption is not properly escaped/quoted.
When a comma is present, parsing fails and the columns dialog can’t be constructed/shown.
Since the failure and recovery are immediate and don’t require restart, it looks like a runtime parse/refresh step failing rather than a persisted layout issue.
Windows Version: 11 Pro
Screen scaling: 100%
UI and Windows Language: US English
Regional settings/keyboard: Danish (Windows list separator ; — changing it does not change behavior)
Steps to reproduce:
- Open any normal filesystem folder (not "This PC") and switch to Details view.
- Right click an empty part of the column header, place checkmark next to one of the extra tag columns, e.g. "Extra 1".
- Rename the Extra column caption to contain an ASCII comma ",":
- Right click the Extra 1 column, select "Configure Extra Column 1…"
- Set Caption to: Foo, Bar
- Click OK
- Right-click header → click Show Columns… (or View → Columns → Show Columns…) in any normal folder (not This PC).
Expected: "Show Columns…" dialog opens.
Actual: "Show Columns…" does nothing.
Workaround: Rename the caption to remove the comma - "Show Columns…" works immediately, no restart required
Likely cause (guess):
The Extra Tag column caption is being parsed/serialized using a comma-delimited format somewhere (e.g., building an internal list or writing/reading tag metadata), and the caption is not properly escaped/quoted.
When a comma is present, parsing fails and the columns dialog can’t be constructed/shown.
Since the failure and recovery are immediate and don’t require restart, it looks like a runtime parse/refresh step failing rather than a persisted layout issue.