Context Menu: Unpack Folder

[Nighted]

The ability to empty a folder exists in XY but oddly a very useful feature, unpack folder does not exist.

Basically what unpacking a folder does is move the contents of the selected folder to its parent directory while removing the folder.

I suggested this feature for a program called FileMenu Tools several years ago, so some of you may be familiar with this very handy functionality.

[admin]

Well, I'm doing the opposite day in day out (pack files into a new subfolder). Don't remember when I ever needed to unpack a folder.

[Nighted]

One common use is when extracting an archive to a directory using the archive name, then you have another folder inside that one. Instead of moving things around and wasting keystrokes and clicks, that folder can just be unpacked.

Sometimes I will get images that are sorted or extracted into separate folders. I will rename these using the folder name as part of the naming template, then I can unpack these folders, instantly having all images in one place where they can easily be scrolled through and viewed.

I use this feature many times a day and I know other users who have mentioned FileMenu Tools and how it's one of their favorite features.

[admin]

Interesting, thanks for the idea.

Anybody else here who would use this?

[Filehero]

Anybody else here who would use this?

my long time and approved habit is to do the upmove and removal manually.


Cheers,
Filehero

[arirish]

I could see this having some usefulness, but it's far from a desperate need. Especially since XY's zip features allow you to see if you're extracting into a subfolder or not.

[Nighted]

There is a portable version of FileMenu Tools on Lopesoft's site.

I suggest trying it and testing this feature. It goes far beyond just working with zip files. Plus I should mention that there are other archive formats out there that are quite popular besides zip.

No one needs to use XY either, there are more complicated ways to do things if you are stubborn.

[arirish]

There is a portable version of FileMenu Tools on Lopesoft's site.

I suggest trying it and testing this feature. It goes far beyond just working with zip files. Plus I should mention that there are other archive formats out there that are quite popular besides zip.

No one needs to use XY either, there are more complicated ways to do things if you are stubborn.

That's a good point, and I do use a lot of .rars myself. I somehow forgot about them in my excitement over XY's new zip capabilities. That, together with - as you say - other potential use cases, makes this a useful feature.

[admin]

Is "Unpack Folder" a standard name for such feature? I find it rather confusing since "unpack" for me is connected to archives.

What the feature actually does is taking particular component out of a path for all items sharing the same branch. There might be a better name for this.

[Nighted]

There are two shell extension apps that have this feature (besides FileMenu Tools). One is FilerFrog which labels the feature as "Extract From Folder". The other is Moo0 RightClicker which uses the term "Flatten Folders" and allows you to flatten the chosen directory or all within.

Maybe something like "Flatten (Trim, Collapse) Branch (Location, Crumb)"...I don't know, XY's your baby.

[j_c_hallgren]

Maybe something like "Flatten (Trim, Collapse) Branch (Location, Crumb)"...I don't know, XY's your baby.

I agree that "Unpack Folder" makes me think it's only used with archives...so I'd suggest "Collapse Branch" as idea -- and -- a Google/Bing search doesn't give any real hits on page 1 so while it may not be the normal term for this function, it could avoid any problems with other vendors who claim terms as their own.

[admin]

Within the common parent-child analogy the feature should be called "Kill Mother(and move to Granny)".

[admin]

I'm still open to the feature if you give me a good (= I like it) name for it.

[FeatureCreep]

+1

The (typical) problem:
You want to quickly unpack a recently obtained zip file. It's in a folder with other items (e.g. your downloads folder). So you "Extract to folder", to avoid its contents getting mixed up with them. But when you open that folder you find that its contents are all in one top-level folder (typically the same name as the zip file from which it was extracted).

You now have a duplicate (and redundant) level of nesting to get rid of.

Photoshop users will be familiar with this functionality. It is the same as Photoshop's "Delete Group"; as opposed to "Delete Group and Contents" (where 'group' = folder of layers).

The name:
Much as I would like to see "Kill Mother(and move to Granny)" or even "Oedipize" on a context menu (and in all the translations), how about...

Move Up and Delete Parent
Remove Folder Level
Delete Parent But Keep Contents
Delete Parent Keeping Contents
Delete Parent Folder But Not Contents
Delete Parent Folder Only

A related wish:
A tweak for XY's "Extract to Folder" that would omit the folder (i.e. just do an "Extract Here")
IF
The contents of the zip file were already all in one top level folder whose name matches the name of the zip file.

And taking it one more level:
A separate command to "Extract to Folder" and automatically delete the zip file after a successful extraction is reported.

The zip file has been 'changed' into a folder. So the name could be something like "Transform to Folder" or "Morph to Folder".

[Nighted]

I use a program called ExtractNow. I have it set up in the catalog to quickly extract archives.

It has a feature which will remove the duplicate folder structure.

We currently have Empty Folder [folders only] so maybe a good name could be Remove Folder [preserve contents].

Kill Mother(and move to Granny) sounds a bit too Freudian to me.