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Reorganizing History Data
Posted: 08 Dec 2008 20:42
by admin
You might have noted a small decrease in startup speed in the last weeks. This is because of the new large history (512 items in INI file). Therefore I thought about moving the whole history data to a separate file, say history.dat. But since we have tabwise-history now, the history data must not be separated from the tab data! So, the tab data would have to go to history.dat as well. Thinking about that I came to the conclusion that this might even be good (not only because of the increased startup speed), but because of new possibilities to organize configuration data: You could have several INIs with different settings, that share the same tabs and history! Makes a lot of sense to me. User settings / preferences / configuration (or whatever you call it) is of a completely different nature than history data (and tab data are kind of history data as well I'd say). It's like the difference between HOW and WHERE.
So would you agree that it's okay to move history and tab data out of XYplorer.ini to a separate new file called "history.dat"?
PS: The saved MiniTree, of course, what also be in that file. Its size could then be unlimited. Also the history could easily be enlarged to an even larger size without notable performance hits.
Re: Reorganizing History Data
Posted: 08 Dec 2008 21:37
by ugus
admin wrote:You might have noted a small decrease in startup speed in the last weeks. This is because of the new large history (512 items in INI file). Therefore I thought about moving the whole history data to a separate file, say history.dat. But since we have tabwise-history now, the history data must not be separated from the tab data! So, the tab data would have to go to history.dat as well. Thinking about that I came to the conclusion that this might even be good (not only because of the increased startup speed), but because of new possibilities to organize configuration data: You could have several INIs with different settings, that share the same tabs and history! Makes a lot of sense to me. User settings / preferences / configuration (or whatever you call it) is of a completely different nature than history data (and tab data are kind of history data as well I'd say). It's like the difference between HOW and WHERE.
So would you agree that it's okay to move history and tab data out of XYplorer.ini to a separate new file called "history.dat"?
PS: The saved MiniTree, of course, what also be in that file. Its size could then be unlimited. Also the history could easily be enlarged to an even larger size without notable performance hits.
Agree :-)
/Ulrik
Re: Reorganizing History Data
Posted: 08 Dec 2008 22:16
by avsfan
Well, I generally have two open XY windows, each with its own set of tabs (and therefore history). I would really like to be able to keep the history separate between the two windows...
If you're going to have a separate history file, perhaps there could be an option or tweak to have different history-file names, with the default being history.dat and an option of having the history file tied to the ini-file name. For example, if I have an ini called mypictures.ini, its default history file could be mypictures-history.dat (or something like that). This would continue to provide the great flexibility that I love in XY, but would also allow for tab/history sharing (if desired).
Although, your suggestion makes me wonder: with the proposed arrangement, would I be able to replace the contents of one tab with another "stored" tab with its location and history? This could be extremely powerful if this were possible...
I'd love to be able to load a set of tab data i.e. location with specific history -- the way I usually use my tabs, I will have several tabs in each window, generally with each one having its own set of paths that I like to use within it. In fact, it seems to me that if I could lock a tab to allow access only to a specific set of paths, that could be perfect for my workflow. However, this may not work for others (though I imagine that the power of a "tab data set" with initial location and desired paths would soon be one of those features people couldn't live without once they discovered it...)
Just my $.03.... (I hope it's not too disjointed -- I just got carried away thinking about the possibilities!)
thanks!
andy
Re: Reorganizing History Data
Posted: 09 Dec 2008 00:12
by RalphM
If the new data organisation leads the way to an easier way to set up different users with partially the same settings, catalog, tabs and all that, but also allow for the other parts being individual, than it's definitely a go from me.
I would still love to set up XY as the standard information and file management tool in my team at work, but therefore I think a crucial prerequisite would be, to be able to load workgroup settings and user settings and merge them together, something like the template setup in Word.
I think I dreamt (and posted) about the same idea some time ago, but couldn't find that thread right now.
Re: Reorganizing History Data
Posted: 10 Dec 2008 07:40
by admin
Alright, thanks for the comments!
Alas, I still have a problem with the "tabwise find settings" stored in folder FindTemplates. Exporting history can only work seemlessly if those settings are part of it. But this would need a bigger internal restructuring... hmm.
Re: Reorganizing History Data
Posted: 10 Dec 2008 16:41
by Stefan
admin wrote:
So would you agree that it's okay to move history and tab data out of XYplorer.ini to a separate new file called "history.dat"?
I find it nifty to have history in an different file, so i can drop them at easy (to get rid of history from other PC f.ex.)
But i suggest to use for extension of the history file 'ini' as well
and prefix them with 'XY' like "XYHISTOR.ini"
to keep them both together and make backup easier (copy XY*.ini .)
And BTW, wouldn't an new command line option like '/hist=%tmp%\xyh.ini' make sense?
I think about starting XY from r/o media like CD-Rom,...
XYplorer.ini could be leaved r/o,
but %tmp%\XYHist.ini could be still used.
Re: Reorganizing History Data
Posted: 10 Dec 2008 20:49
by admin
Stefan wrote:admin wrote:
So would you agree that it's okay to move history and tab data out of XYplorer.ini to a separate new file called "history.dat"?
I find it nifty to have history in an different file, so i can drop them at easy (to get rid of history from other PC f.ex.)
But i suggest to use for extension of the history file 'ini' as well
and prefix them with 'XY' like "XYHISTOR.ini"
to keep them both together and make backup easier (copy XY*.ini .)
And BTW, wouldn't an new command line option like '/hist=%tmp%\xyh.ini' make sense?
I think about starting XY from r/o media like CD-Rom,...
XYplorer.ini could be leaved r/o,
but %tmp%\XYHist.ini could be still used.
The *.ini extension stands for a certain file format, but my plans for history.dat are a different format, namely a proprietary binary format, hence *.dat.
/hist=... yes, might be a good idea. Thinking about it...
Re: Reorganizing History Data
Posted: 18 Dec 2008 15:10
by admin
RalphM wrote:If the new data organisation leads the way to an easier way to set up different users with partially the same settings, catalog, tabs and all that, but also allow for the other parts being individual, than it's definitely a go from me.
I would still love to set up XY as the standard information and file management tool in my team at work, but therefore I think a crucial prerequisite would be, to be able to load workgroup settings and user settings and merge them together, something like the template setup in Word.
I think I dreamt (and posted) about the same idea some time ago, but couldn't find that thread right now.
Maybe you could explain this a bit more detailed via email. Sounds interesting...
Cascading catalogs
Posted: 03 Feb 2009 13:26
by RalphM
admin wrote:Maybe you could explain this a bit more detailed via email. Sounds interesting...
I contacted Don by email and he liked the idea and wanted to further discuss it, so here's the idea:
Catalog merging behaviour aka MS templates
Let's say we have three catalog.dat files in different locations with the following meanings/restrictions:
1. X:\someserver\company\catalog1.dat -
for entries on company level -
r/o for regular users, r/w company admin
2. X:\someserver\company\departmentX\catalog2.dat -
for entries on department level -
r/o for regular users, r/w department admin
3. C:\<XYappdata>\catalog3.dat -
for user specific entries -
r/w for the users
Example contents of the three catalog files:
Code: Select all
Catalog1.dat
Scripts
company-script_1
company-script_2
company-script_3
Programs
company-pgm_1
company-pgm_2
Company-Info
company-info_1
company-info_2
aso
Code: Select all
Catalog2.dat
Scripts
dept-script_1
dept-script_2
dept-script_3
Programs
dept-pgm_1
dept-pgm_2
DepartmentX-Info
dept-info_1
dept-info_2
aso
Code: Select all
Catalog3.dat
Scripts
user-script_1
user-script_2
user-script_3
Programs
user-pgm_1
user-pgm_2
User-Info
user-info_1
user-info_2
Links
user-link_1
user-link_2
aso
Then for the user, after merging the three catalog files, the catalog would present itself like that:
Code: Select all
User catalog
Scripts
company-script_1
company-script_2
company-script_3
dept-script_1
dept-script_2
dept-script_3
user-script_1
user-script_2
user-script_3
Programs
company-pgm_1
company-pgm_2
dept-pgm_1
dept-pgm_2
user-pgm_1
user-pgm_2
Company-Info
company-info_1
company-info_2
DepartmentX-Info
dept-info_1
dept-info_2
User-Info
user-info_1
user-info_2
Links
user-link_1
user-link_2
It would be nice to have some automatic color coding to identify the source of the entries and maybe a way to manage the sort order by LM.
Though the idea of switching catalogs on-the-fly could be a solution as well, as long as we are able, to place the different catalog files in different folders to prevent regular users from changing them.
Similar separations of user editable vs restricted settings could be applied to the tab list, mini trees aso. as well.
These changes would allow to distribute XY within a company more easily.
Cascading catalogs
Posted: 05 Feb 2009 00:39
by RalphM
Either this thread went unnoticed or nobody but me is interested in this.
Came across MS Visio today again and saw a nice way to implement switching catalogs on the fly, just as another idea: (sorry, German localisation)
hc_022.jpg
LMB click on one of the title bars opens the respective template sheet in Visio, which could be adapted for different catalogs.
To save vertical space, I could also imagine a single row of toolbar buttons doing the same thing.
Re: Cascading catalogs
Posted: 05 Feb 2009 02:33
by j_c_hallgren
RalphM wrote:Either this thread went unnoticed or nobody but me is interested in this.
No, I saw it and even though I don't have company setup, I can see value of it.
LMB click on one of the title bars opens the respective template sheet in Visio, which could be adapted for different catalogs.
To save vertical space, I could also imagine a single row of toolbar buttons doing the same thing.
Actually, I could see a sort of a set of mini-tabs at top of Catalog frame with ability to icon them.
Re: Cascading catalogs
Posted: 05 Feb 2009 08:04
by admin
Please continue dropping ideas. I'm collecting them...
Re: Reorganizing History Data
Posted: 05 Feb 2009 08:56
by j_c_hallgren
Anyway, regarding original thread topic: The only disadvantage I see by moving stuff into history.dat is possible inability to view details of curr setup...I've used the tab data to verify that my two home tabs have the same setup.
Re: Cascading catalogs
Posted: 25 Sep 2009 15:59
by RalphM
admin wrote:Please continue dropping ideas. I'm collecting them...
*Bump*
Do you need more ideas for this to switch to meditation state over it?
Re: Cascading catalogs
Posted: 25 Sep 2009 16:06
by admin
RalphM wrote:admin wrote:Please continue dropping ideas. I'm collecting them...
*Bump*
Do you need more ideas for this to switch to meditation state over it?
No, just more time. After adding the
obscenely popular Undo I will reevaluate the next best steps...