XY and DO -- another view

[oblivion]

I'll start this by saying first off that I'm a complete XY newbie. I've seen so many good comments about it (mostly on DonationCoder, but hey, their opinions are generally pretty reliable) that I figured I should find out what all the fuss is about.

I've been using Directory Opus for a LONG time. (Before it, I used PowerDesk. I just don't LIKE Explorer! ) There are things I want XY to do that, I can't apologise for this, are because Opus does them and I'm used to them. And I'm sure that I can probably make XY do (DO? ) most of them but, well, I'm struggling a bit.

First, with a full Opus install, I never see Windows Explorer unless I really want to. So I want XY to handle double-clicks on My Computer, all that stuff.

Second, opening an Opus lister is as simple as double-clicking on the desktop. (Okay, not in portable mode.) For a heavy file manager user, that's just addictive. XY needs me to find its icon in the tray or the taskbar. Which I have set to auto-hide, because I like as much display real-estate as possible. So, how else can I have an XY window the moment I think I need it?

Much though I think I might grow to like the mini-tree and catalog windows, I prefer no tree and navigation via favourites or drives and double-clicking into subfolders. So... the "favourites" bit of the Favourites menu is a submenu, and I'd rather it wasn't. A lot of the stuff on the favourites menu seems a bit more esoteric than I'd expect. Maybe it's just me...

At a tangent -- on catalogs. Suppose I want a catalog that shows all images in the current folder and its dependent subfolders. In Opus, I can choose a flat view for a folder, then -- if necessary -- filter the list. How do I use a catalog to do that?

Oh yes. On the navigation thing. There's no "up folder" method closer than the toolbar: the ".." folder doesn't appear, and the breadcrumb thing... well, it's a way of doing it but how about putting it in the tab? (Ctrl-backspace doesn't seem to work for me. And taking my hand off the mouse in order to get at it when I've been using the mouse for navigation just seems wrong.)

File previewing is also important to me. So yesterday, when I tried to persuade XY to preview an rtf file and it failed, I grumpily went back to DO. I should say that DO's document previews are mostly usable because it has the facility to plug in the Stellent viewers (originally from QuickView Plus, I think, and later included in something with a free option that I've forgotten, one of the Copernic-ish file search programs, it'll come back to me just after I post this I expect...) Anyway, I have the Stellent viewers available and I'd love it if I could ask XY to use them if it doesn't have a specific internal option for a given filetype.

There are probably other gripes too, and I appreciate that it probably seems like I'm being unreasonable -- if I want it to work just like DO, why don't I just USE DO? One answer: XY loads much more quickly, and making it work portably is SO much easier.

Oh, one other thing: while I suspect I know what the answer is already (it's not something a file manager should seek to do?) one of the main selling points to me of PowerDesk was its folder synchronisation tool. When Vcom broke it, my choice of DO was at least partly influenced by its inbuilt synch tool.

So, what I want to do is break my dependence on DO in such a way that I don't find myself missing it. It doesn't look right now as though I can. Am I wrong about that?

[nas8e9]

Hi and welcome!

Your post is a bit too big for me to cover fully, but I'll try to make a start.

First, with a full Opus install, I never see Windows Explorer unless I really want to. So I want XY to handle double-clicks on My Computer, all that stuff.

Configuration > Shell Integration should get that going for you.

Second, opening an Opus lister is as simple as double-clicking on the desktop. (Okay, not in portable mode.) For a heavy file manager user, that's just addictive. XY needs me to find its icon in the tray or the taskbar. Which I have set to auto-hide, because I like as much display real-estate as possible. So, how else can I have an XY window the moment I think I need it?

This depends on your Windows version: in Windows 7 you can pin XYplorer to the taskbar; all recent Windows versions have a Links toolbar which can be added to Windows's taskbar.

At a tangent -- on catalogs. Suppose I want a catalog that shows all images in the current folder and its dependent subfolders. In Opus, I can choose a flat view for a folder, then -- if necessary -- filter the list. How do I use a catalog to do that?

XYplorer uses its Find Files function to gather a folder's contents in one view. The quickest way is to enter the (sub)directory you want to function as root and press F3; alternatively, you can enable the Info Panel (F12), click on the Find Files tab and set or clear additional options.

Oh yes. On the navigation thing. There's no "up folder" method closer than the toolbar: the ".." folder doesn't appear, and the breadcrumb thing... well, it's a way of doing it but how about putting it in the tab? (Ctrl-backspace doesn't seem to work for me. And taking my hand off the mouse in order to get at it when I've been using the mouse for navigation just seems wrong.)

It's possible to have an Up button on the toolbar?

Oh, one other thing: while I suspect I know what the answer is already (it's not something a file manager should seek to do?) one of the main selling points to me of PowerDesk was its folder synchronisation tool. When Vcom broke it, my choice of DO was at least partly influenced by its inbuilt synch tool.

This is planned; please see the roadmap for an indication of what's still to come. It's already possible in XYplorer's Dual Pane mode to Sync Select.

So, what I want to do is break my dependence on DO in such a way that I don't find myself missing it. It doesn't look right now as though I can. Am I wrong about that?

I guess file managers are like browsers: I use Firefox (read XYplorer) for more than 90% of my browsing, but there are things I need to farm out to Internet Explorer (ActiveX, Microsoft websites) and Google Chrome (heavy Flash usage). YMMV, I guess.

[phitsc]

For going up with the mouse:

Configuration - Extended - Dbl-click on empty space goes up. I love it!

With the keyboard it's just Backspace (not Ctrl + Backspace)

[admin]

Let me pick one:

At a tangent -- on catalogs. Suppose I want a catalog that shows all images in the current folder and its dependent subfolders. In Opus, I can choose a flat view for a folder, then -- if necessary -- filter the list. How do I use a catalog to do that?

This example script will search out certain image files recursively in the current path, and filter the results:

Code: Select all

goto "?*.png;*.jpg;*.gif /r"; filter "a*";

You can put this into a Catalog item, so you have it ready for single-click action. That what you want?

[eil]

my message is kinda offtopic but reading through 1st post i can't get away from 2 thoughts author seemed to express(imo): 1)why XY is not a "better DO"? 2) say something about XY so i can like DO even more! am i only one who seemed so?

[serendipity]

Much though I think I might grow to like the mini-tree and catalog windows, I prefer no tree and navigation via favourites or drives and double-clicking into subfolders. So... the "favourites" bit of the Favourites menu is a submenu, and I'd rather it wasn't. A lot of the stuff on the favourites menu seems a bit more esoteric than I'd expect. Maybe it's just me...

You can add favorites button in your toolbar. Right-click on toolbar> customize toolbar and choose fav folder or files. Note: you can make your own button with your fav icon with your own command.

... and the breadcrumb thing... well, it's a way of doing it but how about putting it in the tab? (Ctrl-backspace doesn't seem to work for me. And taking my hand off the mouse in order to get at it when I've been using the mouse for navigation just seems wrong.)

It is on the tab too. Right-click on the tabs icon.[/quote]

File previewing is also important to me. ....

If some preview does not work, first check if its there in the menu Tools>Configuration>Previewed formats>web and office files. Not sure about stellent viewers etc, but MS office docs etc should work (one of us can help if you want). Other than this, a major overhaul of preview is planned for future.[/quote]

There are probably other gripes too, and I appreciate that it probably seems like I'm being unreasonable -- if I want it to work just like DO, why don't I just USE DO? One answer: XY loads much more quickly, and making it work portably is SO much easier.

Yes, some features come with a cost, i.e. speed. XY was originally built for file searching, so speed is its primary focus. Second is portability, XY can be used on any number of machines so that is important too. But with time Don (the only developer of XY) is inventing new ways to compensate for those speed killing features. If you are a power user then scripting will save lots of time for automating every manual tasks.
Give XY a 30 day trial and see if fits into your file managing style.

[serendipity]

my message is kinda offtopic but reading through 1st post i can't get away from 2 thoughts author seemed to express(imo): 1)why XY is not a "better DO"?

The OP already mentioned that XY is faster than DO, so thats a huge factor. For me XY is better. It entirely depends on what features you want to manage files, is speed important to you? and how much money you are willing to spend.
a) XY has several features inbuilt to accomplish most file managing tasks. Other tasks can be outsourced using scripts so XY does not get bloated (a common complaint with those using DO) and it's speed is not affected. But specific features do get added depending on user demand and a rationale behind that feature (example: Dual pane was added like this). If you see XY's roadmap you will see what has been added and what is still to come. And believe me, those features are extensively discussed here and tailor-made to user needs. So chime in with your ideas.
b) Customer support. Don (XY's sole author) takes your comments seriously, so if you have ideas or issues you'll get a response from him.
c) Lifetime license. I think it's a steal.
d) One license, unlimited machines.
e) Portable: many features are built for portability. Carry it on your USB.
I can go on with more, if you want to know something more specific, we are happy to help.

[eil]

serendipity, i have no doubts about XY is best= i tried many file managers and found it by myself in my post before i tried to say, it seemed to me that author of this topic isn't really interested in XY as it is, but more wants XY to become like DO.

[tux.]

If DO had lifetime licenses, Don would probably have quite a loss of users.
DO10 makes me drool, actually.

But as I am a poor student ...

[Jibz]

Second, opening an Opus lister is as simple as double-clicking on the desktop. (Okay, not in portable mode.) For a heavy file manager user, that's just addictive. XY needs me to find its icon in the tray or the taskbar. Which I have set to auto-hide, because I like as much display real-estate as possible. So, how else can I have an XY window the moment I think I need it?

Since you mentioned DonationCoder, I'll add that personally I am using Find and Run Robot, so most things, including XY, are only a few keystrokes away?

my message is kinda offtopic but reading through 1st post i can't get away from 2 thoughts author seemed to express(imo): 1)why XY is not a "better DO"? 2) say something about XY so i can like DO even more! am i only one who seemed so?

I think he made a very fair post with some reasonable questions, a few of them might have been answered with a forum search.

Imagine you were trying out DO and posting on their forums, I am sure it would be something about what things you find yourself missing compared to XY which you are used to. Something like "Why doesn't it start faster? Could the tree on the left work more like the MiniTree from XY? Why does it just open my zip files and have real breadcrumbs on the location bar?" (sorry couldn't help it with the last one ).

[unrealreality]

At a tangent -- on catalogs. Suppose I want a catalog that shows all images in the current folder and its dependent subfolders. In Opus, I can choose a flat view for a folder, then -- if necessary -- filter the list. How do I use a catalog to do that?

XYplorer uses its Find Files function to gather a folder's contents in one view. The quickest way is to enter the (sub)directory you want to function as root and press F3; alternatively, you can enable the Info Panel (F12), click on the Find Files tab and set or clear additional options.

This example script will search out certain image files recursively in the current path, and filter the results:

Code: Select all

goto "?*.png;*.jpg;*.gif /r"; filter "a*";

Wow, again, I learned something new. The flat view was something I missed when I trialed DO, I can't believe it was in XY and I didn't know about it. Very cool! Thanks Don!

This proggy gets better and better

E

[oblivion]

Somehow, I managed to forget that I'd written the lengthy original post, and have consequently failed to notice the extensive and mostly helpful responses!

I'll skip detail here: the upshot of all this mostly seems to be that I need to spend some time developing some understanding of XY's scripting and shortcuts.

The comment that I was being unreasonable by trying to make XY a DO clone is probably not all that unfair. For what it's worth, though, I should point out to that particular critic that I have paid my license for both and all I'm trying to do is achieve something approaching consistency so my aging and undoubtedly calcifying brain doesn't get more confused than it absolutely has to!

One gentle comment: good though DO and XY are -- and they're both so far superior to Windows Explorer that I spend all my time using either one or the other, depending on what I'm doing and where I am -- both of them benefit from some tweaking before they're likely to float anybody's boat. There's a wonderful tutorial or two out there for DO, helps give new users some ideas on what they might want to be looking at to solve particular problems or address workflows. I've found a site that covers scripting for beginners, but at least the XY forum doesn't seem to have an obvious place for newbies to start.

[jadinolf]

Long story short, I have only used XYplorer for a month and bought a license yesterday.

I love it and had used PowerDesk since 1995.