Page 1 of 11
New "File Tags" feature
Posted: 17 Jan 2009 14:53
by admin
A simple example for
tag.dat:
Code: Select all
XYplorer File Tags v1
D:\www\xyplorer.com\code\tour\inc_catalog.php|1
D:\www\xyplorer.com\code\tour\inc_cks.php|2
D:\www\xyplorer.com\code\tour\inc_fvs.php|6
D:\www\xyplorer.com\code\tour\inc_intro700.php|5
D:\www\xyplorer.com\code\tour\inc_minitree.php|7
D:\www\xyplorer.com\code\tour\inc_pom.php|3
D:\www\xyplorer.com\code\tour\inc_portable.php|4
And here's what it looks like on my system:
Re: New "File Tags" feature
Posted: 17 Jan 2009 15:16
by Pagat
this color scheme feature looks really great. and it will be even greater when comments can be included.
One bug that i noticed immediately: If i browse to a folder with a colored file and select a file in the list, the values in the various "detail" columns (like size, type, modified, ...) vanish. Here is a screenshot:
Re: New "File Tags" feature
Posted: 17 Jan 2009 15:26
by jacky
Damn, this looks cool!
Can't wait for the comments (Will they have their own new column a well? Of course they will, right?)
Haven't tried it yet (but will soon), but reading the changelog you seem to "focus" on Color : column "Color", search/sort by color, etc -- Shouldn't that be "tag" instead (as the name of the feature implies) ?
That would sound much better to me, a column "Tag" which we can use to sort/search files, and each tag could optionally have a color assigned. I say optionally because I would also like to have the ability to "group" files by assigning them the same tag, and yet have no colors set, just the usual color filters stuff. (i.e. the tag only be used to sort/search)
I would think it might be even better that way, so the tag.dat structure would read more like:
With each tag having its index, name, and only optionally a set of colors. (Of course, maybe that's already your plan...)
Re: New "File Tags" feature
Posted: 17 Jan 2009 15:28
by admin
Pagat wrote:this color scheme feature looks really great. and it will be even greater when comments can be included.
One bug that i noticed immediately: If i browse to a folder with a colored file and select a file in the list, the values in the various "detail" columns (like size, type, modified, ...) vanish. Here is a screenshot:
Oh yes, okay (it did not happen here at home because I use certain list styles like "highlight focused row"). I'll send an upload...
Re: New "File Tags" feature
Posted: 17 Jan 2009 15:36
by admin
jacky wrote:Damn, this looks cool!
Can't wait for the comments (Will they have their own new column a well? Of course they will, right?)
Haven't tried it yet (but will soon), but reading the changelog you seem to "focus" on Color : column "Color", search/sort by color, etc -- Shouldn't that be "tag" instead (as the name of the feature implies) ?
That would sound much better to me, a column "Tag" which we can use to sort/search files, and each tag could optionally have a color assigned. I say optionally because I would also like to have the ability to "group" files by assigning them the same tag, and yet have no colors set, just the usual color filters stuff. (i.e. the tag only be used to sort/search)
I would think it might be even better that way, so the tag.dat structure would read more like:
With each tag having its index, name, and only optionally a set of colors. (Of course, maybe that's already your plan...)
Sure, Comment column will come.
I tought: "Tag a color", "Tag a comment" --- well, I'm even not 100% sure what the english word "tag" means...
... so I'm open for anything. These are just cosmetic things anyway...
Re: New "File Tags" feature
Posted: 17 Jan 2009 15:53
by Pagat
admin wrote:I'll send an upload...
yep, now i see the details
Re: New "File Tags" feature
Posted: 17 Jan 2009 15:54
by jacky
admin wrote:I tought: "Tag a color", "Tag a comment" --- well, I'm even not 100% sure what the english word "tag" means...
... so I'm open for anything. These are just cosmetic things anyway...
Well, for starter if we can have tags without color, it'd be weird to call it "color"
And I didn't really saw it a tagging a color or a comment, but a file. Assigning a tag to a file, e.g. some files tagged "production" and others "BETA", or tagging files of a project by that project's name, or the name of whoever is in charge of that file or whatever. It seems to make more sense (to me) to call it a tag, each tag having a name (and possibly a color), than calling it a color.
Like, you don't search files of color blue, but tagged "production". Besides, it's what tags are used for on many places as well, to "group" things. For example on blogs you often see posts assigned tags, etc and some email apps use it as well I believe (important, urgent, super-mega-urgent, two-months-late...), so it'll be more easy to see what it is/means/allows for newbies I would imagine.
Re: New "File Tags" feature
Posted: 17 Jan 2009 15:56
by Pagat
jacky wrote:For example on blogs you often see posts assigned tags, etc and some email apps use it as well I believe (important, urgent, super-mega-urgent, two-months-late...), so it'll be more easy to see what it is/means/allows for newbies I would imagine.
In Opera that column is called "Label"... Just to throw in one more possible alternative to think about
Re: New "File Tags" feature
Posted: 17 Jan 2009 16:03
by admin
jacky wrote:admin wrote:I tought: "Tag a color", "Tag a comment" --- well, I'm even not 100% sure what the english word "tag" means...
... so I'm open for anything. These are just cosmetic things anyway...
Well, for starter if we can have tags without color, it'd be weird to call it "color"
And I didn't really saw it a tagging a color or a comment, but a file. Assigning a tag to a file, e.g. some files tagged "production" and others "BETA", or tagging files of a project by that project's name, or the name of whoever is in charge of that file or whatever. It seems to make more sense (to me) to call it a tag, each tag having a name (and possibly a color), than calling it a color.
Like, you don't search files of color blue, but tagged "production". Besides, it's what tags are used for on many places as well, to "group" things. For example on blogs you often see posts assigned tags, etc and some email apps use it as well I believe (important, urgent, super-mega-urgent, two-months-late...), so it'll be more easy to see what it is/means/allows for newbies I would imagine.
Okay, but my idea for logic was color-like: either red OR green
Your tag concept sounds like you can assign > 1 tag to each file! This cannot be expressed as color...
Re: New "File Tags" feature
Posted: 17 Jan 2009 16:13
by jacky
admin wrote:Okay, but my idea for logic was color-like: either red OR green
Your tag concept sounds like you can assign > 1 tag to each file! This cannot be expressed as color...
Oh no, I got that it was one tag only per item. My example of blog posts was maybe wrongly chosen, as one post can have many tags.
Even with only one tag per item, I would find it more natural to sort/search/assign a tag representing whatever one needs it to represent, than a color. (Plus, as I said, I'd love the ability to use no color, just a tag. So it's an additional info assigned to a file, that can be used to search/sort, but it's definitely not a color).
Could be tag, label, or even category! But hey, you did call this file tags, didn't you?
Re: New "File Tags" feature
Posted: 17 Jan 2009 16:48
by jacky
I'd like it if when using options Highlight selected rows and Underline we would still get that underline for tagged items.
(I'm also wishing that the Highlight Focused Row could still be shown somehow, though I don't see how it could be done...)
Re: New "File Tags" feature
Posted: 17 Jan 2009 17:28
by PeterH
I understood there would be 2 tags: color and "text" (or so). And both are independent.
Color is predefined as a number "representing" the color, while "text" is a "free to use" tag. Could be prod or test; or new or old; or 1, 2, 3, ...; or whatever you think.
I'd interpret that a tag (each tag) is something like an additional, changable attribute of the file, isn't it?
Re: New "File Tags" feature
Posted: 17 Jan 2009 17:42
by j_c_hallgren
Looking at this color thing, and above posts, I'm sorry but I don't see how this would work for me, given that we already have so many ways to color the lists and entries therein...too many conflicts, IMO, including selected/focus, etc.
Having free form comments would be best, but what I'd like as alternative to colors would be a predefined set of (maybe 8 max?) user tags that could be assigned so one would be easily able to have some consistency in tags.
So one would have a "dictionary" of tags and the related value, as in:
1=prod
2=test
3=work
4=backup
5=archive
...etc..
This could be stored separately (in INI most likely) so that if one wanted to change the value of 1 to "production", it wouldn't require any chgs to tag.dat.
It would show in a new column that could then be filtered on, etc, and would be separate from the "File Comments" column which would be from the free-form text added later.
What do y'all think of this idea?
Re: New "File Tags" feature
Posted: 17 Jan 2009 17:49
by PeterH
As I understand, you could fill the tag I called "text" with 1,2,3,... and interpret it as you like, or fill it with prod or test or work or whatever, and also interpret as you like.
Using numeric values *can* be good for sorting as desired - while words would be sorted by character, that is (in the list you mentioned):
archive - backup - prod - test - work
Possibly you would not want it like that...
Re: New "File Tags" feature
Posted: 17 Jan 2009 18:04
by j_c_hallgren
PeterH wrote:As I understand, you could fill the tag I called "text" with 1,2,3,... and interpret it as you like, or fill it with prod or test or work or whatever, and also interpret as you like.
Using numeric values *can* be good for sorting as desired - while words would be sorted by character, that is (in the list you mentioned):
archive - backup - prod - test - work
Possibly you would not want it like that...
I was suggesting that the value of field "tag index" remain as is (numeric only) but that there would be a table where 'user' values (and maybe 10-15 chrs max?) would be able to be assigned to them instead a color, so any sort would be strictly by tag index and not the value...it would be up to user to assign them in the desired seq, and this thus would permit sorting by non-alpha seq of values.