XYplorer Beta Club

If I load a configuration file and then close XY and open it again I thought that it loaded with the same configuration as it had when closed. It loads with the configuration XYplorer.ini and not with the alternative configuration I had loaded. Save settings on exit it on. I thought that it remembered the loaded configuration and when opened re-loaded that configuration. Has this changed recently or is it me?

Gandolf wrote:Has this changed recently or is it me?

It's you. When started without command line parameters, always XYplorer.ini is loaded. This has never been discussed AFAI remember. Might be an idea to change that... The way to open with another custom INI is:
XYplorer.exe /ini="YourIniFileWithoutExtension"

O.K. no problem, I can work with that now I know. I was aware of the command line option but it is not very convenient for the way I work.

However, since a configuration can be loaded it might be useful to remember what configuration has been loaded and when XY is opened the next time use that configuration rather than XYplorer.ini. After all, in the configuration you can "Save settings on exit" so I would expect it should load with the saved settings.

Gandolf wrote:However, since a configuration can be loaded it might be useful to remember what configuration has been loaded and when XY is opened the next time use that configuration rather than XYplorer.ini. After all, in the configuration you can "Save settings on exit" so I would expect it should load with the saved settings.

Good point!

Even though I don't use this yet, I'll throw in my $.01 (half an opinion!)
Maybe if a non-standard INI is being used (and thus be the default for next time), when next opened, maybe a "use xxx.ini? Y/N" prompt/option could be available? This could help prevent the "why did it not use my std INI file?" queries that might occur....

j_c_hallgren wrote:Even though I don't use this yet, I'll throw in my $.01 (half an opinion!)
Maybe if a non-standard INI is being used (and thus be the default for next time), when next opened, maybe a "use xxx.ini? Y/N" prompt/option could be available? This could help prevent the "why did it not use my std INI file?" queries that might occur....

Well, I don't like to be greeted by a (nagging ) message box. What about an option "Retain non-standard INI files" or reversed: "Always load default configuration file". If you (un)check that, you know what you are doing.

Ok..that would do it, I think...maybe "Load default config INI on entry" as alternate text idea?

admin wrote:Well, I don't like to be greeted by a (nagging ) message box. ...

Agreed, I don't like too many prompts either. I'm not sure that I feel it necessary to have another option since "Save settings on exit" to me would be enough. As I said, if I've saved the settings then I would expect them to load the next time. Any changes I then make would be saved to the custom ini file used and not to XYplorer.ini. This appears to be the situation.

I can see that might cause problems since every new release has the release number in the XYplorer.ini file and any changes that may have been made to the configuration. If this information is not present in an older custom ini file when it is loaded could it cause problems? I know you normally mention in the update information of any changes that might affect the ini file, but do we always read that information?

It would appear that the version number is updated since the custom file I loaded to-day certainly has the latest version number and I wasn't aware I'd saved it, just closed XY. If the XYplorer.ini file loaded automatically after an update that would seem logical to me. I would then load my custom.ini file and continue as normal.

A thought, could the ini file used be displayed in the status bar (right end of the line) or after XYplorer in the Windows title bar?

I was never able to get "Save settings on Exit" to work for me the way I thought it should/would, so I resort now to doing a "Save config" whenever I change options that I want kept...

I have yet to do "Save as" which would create an alternate setup....but IF I did, I think I'd want to be able to easily designate which setup file to load at pgm start-up...without having to do command line switches ideally...and I thought that was what the issue was...true?

Not quite. What I want is for XY to load with the same configuration it closed with. If I'm working on a particular set of files and I shut down the computer part way through, then when I resume I want to continue where I left off. At the moment I have to load the configuration I was using since XY starts up with XYplorer.ini. I could always hibernate, rather than shut down, but I use removable HD's and prefer to remove them from the caddy.

It's not the same as getting a prompt to load a particular ini file at program start. That is an option I hadn't thought of - could be useful.

So...how about this idea? ...maybe using a second but very simple "micro" INI file that basically only contains the pointer to which INI config file is in use and thus to load on next run? Thus keeping with the concept of no registry entries.

And if for some reason, the alternate INI file cannot be found, then a warning msg box would appear and the default INI file would be used.
User could then edit the micro-INI file if desired to update pointer.

A "micro" INI file would be a possibility, but I managed to do it without an additional file.
I also added the name of the current INI to the window title bar (yep, I had thought of this myself already -- we are all surfing on the same brain wave...).

j_c_hallgren wrote:I was never able to get "Save settings on Exit" to work for me the way I thought it should/would

Huh? So how should it work in your opinion?

It was the combination of 'Save on Exit' mixed with "Save settings now" that was the issue...sorry about being incomplete...

As I vaguely recall (from very first day of usage), I changed config and clicked "save now", and when I exited/reented XY, the changes seemed to have not been saved...so now, I have "save on exit" but always explicitly use File menu "save config" after making any config chgs in case of system lockup before I would have chance to exit normally...

Will followup later today...early bedtime here!

j_c_hallgren wrote:...so now, I have "save on exit" but always explicitly use File menu "save config" after making any config chgs in case of system lockup before I would have chance to exit normally...

I don't know how many system lockups you have over there, but I have "save on exit" checked since over 7 years and never ever anything got lost. Actually I'm proud to say that XYplorer remembers more settings than any other file manager I know. Closing it comes close to hibernating it.

Starting with the closed configuration works a treat and the information in the title bar is excellent. I hope j_c_hallgren is happy not to have an opening prompt.