Copy / Move to Last Target, to a Specific Tab, etc.

[xyxel]

I do a lot of shuffling files around. Having problems with my right elbow, etc., I avoid mouse movements whenever possible, hence my avoidance of drag'n'drop. Here's four problems, then:

1) That makes shuffling files around difficult. I never got accustomed to XY's tabbed GUI, especially since there isn't enough room on a tab to show the respective sub-folder (In MS programs, there is often the problem they only show you the file name, but not the path; with XY tabs, it's the other way round: They try to show you the (beginning of the) path, so you won't be shown the name of the folder - or can we tweak this?).

2) Anyway, I could try to memorize what sub-folder is "under" the respective tab (or write it down on a sheet of paper), but is there a shortkey for "move current selection (i.e. current file) to tab 1/2/3"? Three such target tabs would be very good in order to smoothly distribute files into several folders, from an "inbox" folder; four such target tabs would even better; just two such target tabs would be much better than nothing. Is there anything like this I might have overlooked? (4 such target tabs would make 8 commands, with their respective key assignments, for copying and for moving, and these commands would apply to the very first 4 tabs of the first (or only) pane, even if there are more than 4 tabs in there.)

3) There are two commands "Copy/Move to last target", but whilst searching the help file again and again, I didn't get aware how to ASSIGN such a target first. I assigned the "move to last target" command to a shortkey, but whenever I press that shortkey, XY normally tells me something like "There hasn't been selected such a target yet."

I've tried again just a moment ago; now the very same command lets vanish the respective files into nirvana since somehow in the meantime, I must HAVE assigned such a target folder, by accident, without knowing I was assigning such a target, and so it "works" now, but without me knowing how to SELECT that target in the very first place. So how to assign this "target"? (I tried with drag'n' drop, but dragging a file with the mouse to another folder in the tree, does NOT make that folder to "last target" in this respect - which would perhaps been a good idea btw, but then, I don't know how it's assigned at this moment.)

4) Anyhow, such ONE a target is a solution only for avoiding drag'n-drop for moving files into ONE such target folders, not for having a choice, i.e. if you rely solely upon this command, you must browse your "inbox" folder again and again, each time selecting a different "target" folder, and being able then to move SOME of your files into that specific folder. Afterwards, you'd selected another such folder as "target", and again, you'd move SOME files, per short key, into THAT folder, and so on. It goes without saying that this slows down your workflow considerably.

Hence my question if it's possible to introduce, at least, a second such target (i.e. 4 commands instead of just 2: copy/move to last target / to preceding target (but without them toggling; better: "target1" / "target2".

It goes without saying that I'm not asking for chaos; realization of ONE of my propositions would make realization of the others needless, i.e. if there are several tab targets, I wouldn't need several such traditional "targets" described here, and vice versa.

(As explained above, distribution of files by drag'n'drop to tabs is out of the question for me, as is heavy drag'n'drop of them to folders in the tree. BTW, even people not yet having my specific problems should avoid mouse movements as far as possible, in order to avoid problems arising after 20 or 30 years of doing so - remember that most web pages force us to extensive mouse movements so they are unavoidable there: another reason to avoid them elsewhere. BTW2, I bought a ridiculously overpriced tool in order to avoid mouse CLICKS at least, enabling me at least to continue with mouse use in spite of its aching.)

5) (Not a problem / question but a - bad - solution:) In order to do at least SOME file distribution with keys, I assigned the command "move selected file to other pane" to a key, made XY two-pane, with a principal pane from which I select, and a second pane, about 1cm large, which only exists in order to constitute a "target second pane" to receive the files from that "move to other pane" command; of course that's ugly, and only allows me to repeat that command for ONE such folder; then, I change the receiving folder there, and I browse the same "inbox" folder (i.e. in the principal pane) again, for files to be moved into THAT specific pane, and so on (as explained for another command I can't use up to now in point 4).

6) (Other - bad - solution:) If I know how to assign the target folder under point 3, I could perhaps apply my solution under point 5 together with the "target" solution under point 3, concurrently, i.e. I would have TWO "targets", on being accessible by "move to last target", the other by "move to other pane" - of course, that wouldn't be possible if the "move to other pane" command would affect / shift the target for the "move to last target" command... But anyway, such a solution, just to distribute files from an "inbox" / source folder into just two other folders, would be inconsistent and ugly.

Hence my kindly asking for seriously considering the solution under point 2 which would be the most elegant one imo since it would rely upon the inherent tab concept of XY - and an option to just show the folder name on a tab, without the path part, would be extremely handy, too (if it isn't there yet but overlooked by me).

Forgive me for having gone into such lengths, but I seriously think that in the end, a solution of these problems (or explaining existing solutions to them) will greatly enhance XY's usefulness for 90 p.c. of its users (but perhaps I overlooked important, existing partial solutions, then please give me a hint where / under which search terms I find the explanations for them).

EDIT :

There is the command "Move To" but that brings up a dialog where there is just ONE line, with ONE target (= not bad to begin with, perhaps this is the "selected target" I searched for in vain in the help file. Then, there's a list (don't know yet how it is feeded: by (ONE) drag'n'drop would be perfect).

There is the invitation "Move to - select destination folder", but

problem 1 here is, there is NO possible pressing of 1/2/3... keys in order to select another target here, other than the one within the single line on top,

and problem 2 here is, the DownArrow does NOT switch from the single to the list field, which would be the expected behavior in order to do more "DownArrow" pressings then, in order to select the chosen target from those list entries, before pressing "Enter".

I see that indeed you could get from the single into the list field, by pressing key "Tab" key two times (!), but that makes a LOT of key pressings before having selected the specific target folder each time!

BTW, if you rename, move or delete a folder, this list is not updated (I see, the entries get warning signs!). And when then I'm asked like "That folder doesn't exist, do you want to create it", I answer with "No", and next time I open the same list, this inexistant folder has NOT been deleted in the list (which would be the expected behavior of XY in this scenario though). (I know there is another menu "Tools-List Management"...)

If I didn't miss any better ways, existing yet, all the tools described above are not yet optimized (and not that well explained up to now)...

I know that for assigning targets to tabs, in order for later on copying/moving files there, implies just another set of necessary key assignments...

So, having these dialogs (CopyTo, MoveTo, BackupTo) with a NUMBERED list would perhaps be the best solution:
- 1 key gets the dialog
- pressing enter would copy/move to target in the single line
- pressing 1...0 (for "10", or just 1...9 for line 1 to 9) (but without a necessary "enter" afterwards) would copy/move to the target specified in that line

I saw such numbered lists elsewhere in XY but where there were other problems, can't get to it at the moment...

Remains the question how these lists are fed... NOT by drag'n'drop in any case, although this would be the behavior I expect, and which would be a very "natural" way of doing things: Doing ONE drag'n'drop, THEN having the possibility to do further copies / moves by 2 key pressings (= "move to" then "3" for example) would be a good thing it seems to me.

EDIT 2 :

Well, there WOULD be a most elegant solution to all these problems; a solution that no competitor offers as I see it, and that would be so elegant nothing else could top it.

A second tree, or alternatively, display two panes. Then, as is now, a command "copy/move to other pane", BUT, target wouldn't be the folder within that pane (or only when a file, not a folder there has focus) but the folder entry that has got the focus within that pane. Thus, no need of fiddling with that pane and its folder when you want to send something to the last target, but for changing the target folder there, you simply would need to make it focus / selection (perhaps by mouseclick), or by Tab, then ArrowKeys, but the point of interest is, that target folder would not have to be opened there in order to constitute a target of copying / moving, with any change of target implying then first having to close the previous target folder, in order to open the next target folder (as I must do in FreeCommander when shifting files around there, in the classical 2-pane view): Just focus / select another folder, as un-opened as the one before and any after, and having the 1-click command for copying/moving files INTO that "unopened" folder.

Would be of utmost usefulness, and no fuss with "is the target in my list already or must I get it there first?"...

As with anything, I'm not asking for replacing existing functions with others, I'm just kindly asking to consider those as alternative, additional ways of doing things.

[xyxel]

(Can't edit) This last proposition can even be refined by this: No second tree / pane needed, just a toggle "Show target". If toggle is on, in the normal tree there is a second, special selection/focus item (which by default would be the selected item), let's say not with a grey background, but with a yellow one. You'd move that with Shift-ArrowKeys or something, normal selection will not be affected by that. There would be a special command then (i.e. when toggle is on), "move to target item"; it would not have any effect (except for error message) if the specially designed item isn't a folder.

Menu "Configuration-Tabs-TabCaptions-FolderOnly" : my mistake. Very good, with this target folders would be identifiable on tab captions. But then, up to now, there isn't any command "copy/move selection to tab 1/2/3/4". My saying above that for assigning folders to those tabs, other commands would be needed, was mistaken of course. Just put 4 different target folders on the very first 4 tabs, then trigger "move to tab 3", etc. So it would be 8 commands, i.e. copy/move to tab 1/2/3/4 (i.e. if your source folder is within these first 4 tabs, you'd have 3 target folders, or if your source folder is on tab 5 or further, you'll get 4 real target folders this way). Seems to be a neat thing, very useful, and very easy to implement.

There isn't any command - as falsely stated by me -, "Copy/Move to last target"; there are a lot of GO commands, including "Go to last target"; that's a whole nother thang of course.

My observation above was right: The ONLY way I've discovered / could confirm in some more hours' searching the help file (= except for "copy/move to other pane"), was the command "copy/move/backup to..." which opens the dialog described by me:

- one line in which you must enter the target folder manually, or by lots of browsing, but into which the target folder is NOT entered by the last drag'n'drop action, which would be extremely handy though!

- next time, the entry of this single line will be on first position of the list below: very good, but as said, the entry of that target, first-time, is way too complicated and should be possible by a single drag'n'drop (or did I miss something here?)

- AND, as said, having to press two times the tab key, in order to get from the single line into the list, is "too much" (= not for one action, but for 300 or 500 actions in a workday), so a single pressing of the DownArrow key should also get you there

- AND, as said, these entries should be numbered, so as to be chosen, without any other key pressing, by
-- first key opening the dialog
-- second key a single number key to trigger the copy or move action to the target with the corresponding line number.

Main problem here is the incredible work it needs to enter any new target into the single line and hence into the list, for further / multiple use then.

I hope my description here is neat enough to be seriously considered. The Copy/MoveTo command would be greatly enhanced by this, when currently it's almost impossible to use it, for the difficulty of entering new targets into that function.

If I missed a simpler way to feed targets there, please let me know!

EDIT :

It just occured to me that you can fetch a given entry from the tree, with full path, then that same path could be pasted into the single line of the CopyMoveTo dialog. Problem here is, in order to fetch the path of an entry in the tree, I must first select it, which will make vanish the previous selection there, which is to say, I'll have to revert to my source folder there afterwards, and I'll have to look after my previously selected item/file there - which, if my source folder contains a 3-digit number of entries, is not easy. So the full path copy-paste into the copy/move dialog is a solution if you do that several times in a row, THEN starting your "distribution work", at least? Not really since if you leave that dialog with "escape", those paths = targets will not be stored...

As we see, an enhancement of the aforementioned dialog seems to be quite important in order for it to become really useful.

(File Menu: copy/move to tabs : those entrys there do NOT correspond to any current tabs!)
(Similar to problem above in File Menu: "copy/move to" numbered entries here are only those you entered, the "hard" way, into the above-mentioned dialog, NOT any folders that have been drag'n'drop targets - I checked all this)