win7 x64 libraries

Post by **nikos** » 2010 Feb 14, 06:46

anyone of you with windows 7 64 bit, do the libraries work at all in xplorer2 (also 64 bit)? please use the latest version 1.8 for your checks

Post by **nikos** » 2010 Feb 16, 07:09

further information on this, it is not that libraries are broken (and it is not limited to x64 either).

last version 1.72 would show libraries 'flat' that is all files in the library, whether from one or more folders, would appear in a single folder, something like a scrap container

after public outcry i modified the latest 1805 so that it shows contents hierarchically, that is you see any subfolders separately

now, is the new way of things better or worse?
i don't use libraries so i couldn't care less, but if you are please let me know what works best for you

Kilmatead · Post by **Kilmatead** » 2010 Feb 16, 07:33

I don't remember much public outcry, but I think you missed the point of seeing "contents hierarchically" - it doesn't mean turning a library into the same thing as a folder nest, where you have to actively click through each folder to see its contents. What good is that?

Libraries may not be purely "flattened" contents, but nor are they purely containers for subfolders. As it's their method of display which makes them libraries, in this form they're broken.

At the very least provide a choice.

WimdeLange · Post by **WimdeLange** » 2010 Feb 16, 07:35

nikos wrote:anyone of you with windows 7 64 bit, do the libraries work at all in xplorer2 (also 64 bit)? please use the latest version 1.8 for your checks

I can check this, but tell me what to do. Because I'm just running W7-64, but I don't know (yet) what libraries are :oops:
Later....
No explanation needed anymore. Google to the rescue! I create some photo libraries and try them.

Post by **nikos** » 2010 Feb 16, 07:48

does this refresh your memory?
also the 'default' libraries like my music or my documents are hierarhical, folders, subfolders and all. Only your custom libraries are flat and if you add too many items in them i think you'd wish they weren't

Kilmatead · Post by **Kilmatead** » 2010 Feb 16, 08:11

nikos wrote:does this refresh your memory?

That's not a public outcry, that's one guy (Snakebyte) knowing what he's talking about (as usual) and everyone else scratching their heads.

nikos wrote:also the 'default' libraries like my music or my documents are hierarhical, folders, subfolders and all. Only your custom libraries are flat and if you add too many items in them i think you'd wish they weren't

Yes, folders, subfolders, and contents. You eradicated the contents which makes the whole point moot. And custom libraries are not "flat" in WE, they behave the same as the "default" ones. "Flat" may be the best approximation you can do (dangerously close to a cop-out) but it's better than no contents at all.

Libraries without contents are just folders. Which, by definition, aren't libraries.

Did no one (besides Snakebyte) actually try these things out before dismissing them?

Post by **nikos** » 2010 Feb 16, 08:17

'my documents' library just shows a list of folders, and if you dig in you'll get individual folder contents, like in non-library situations

anyway if people want to see things flat style, i have no problem to oblige

Kilmatead · Post by **Kilmatead** » 2010 Feb 16, 08:36

nikos wrote:'my documents' library just shows a list of folders, and if you dig in you'll get individual folder contents, like in non-library situations

Maybe you only have folders in your documents folder? Try adding some files. True, not all subfolders are parsed (that would be chaotic), but it does display a semi-flattened first-level contents view as expected, as all libraries do. In x2, naught but the targets themselves, which is pointless.

Never mind the absence of the context menu options in x2, as requested in the above thread.

Kilmatead · Post by **Kilmatead** » 2010 Feb 16, 09:04

Kilmatead wrote:Never mind the absence of the context menu options in x2, as requested in the above thread.

Ok, forget that part; it can be done from a folder context menu.

Choice! Without Choice all is broken.

(I should add that in That-Application-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named, it settles for a flattened first-level view.)

RickyF · Post by **RickyF** » 2010 Feb 16, 11:23

Nikos:
I don't think that Windows 7 libraries are an important feature.

I support hundreds of different customers with Windows 7 computers and no one, not a single one, including myself, uses the libraries.

I toyed with them over a year ago for consolidating media folders from multiple machines but after a few days reverted to using the standard directory searches and navigation.

They may be a great feature but if people don't understand it and if it solves a problem that most people don't have or know they have Windows 7 libraries will not be used.

Post by **nikos** » 2010 Feb 17, 06:49

they are quite nasty too! When you drag-drop to rearrange stuff in libraries you change the actual storage of these files and folders. It's not like in xplorer2 scrap windows where you just make a mental note of the collection

one's grandmother won't care but i certainly need to know if something messes up my real folder structures!

snakebyte · Post by **snakebyte** » 2010 Feb 18, 08:41

Hi Nikos,

I tested libraries on the latest build. They work as expected and now I don't have to launch explorer for managing them. Thanks for fixing this.

One minor issue of "set save location" still exists but unless it's a simple fix don't bother about fixing it.

Set save location: If a library contains multiple folders, one folder can be set as default save location. So if a file is dropped at the root library node, for eg Documents, it is copied to this folder which is set as save location for Documents library.
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/1076 ... operty.png

Currently X2 does not allows you to drop file to a root library node

Nikos wrote:When you drag-drop to rearrange stuff in libraries you change the actual storage of these files and folders.

I think this is by design and thats how I expect it to work. Libraries just provide an alternate path to access your folders. You can group and access multiple folders of same type from one place and work with them as you would from their original location.

Scrap panes and Libraries are in a way similar. If you'll add navigation ability and tree view to scrap panes they will become Windows Library

snakebyte · Post by **snakebyte** » 2010 Feb 18, 08:56

Noticed one minor bug.

Navigation of libraries works as expected, but when I add them to Bookmarks and launch the bookmark it displays library content as a flat list.

You can also repro this problem by directly pasting the library path in the address bar

e.g.
::{031E4825-7B94-4DC3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}\Videos.library-ms

I can live with this minor issue, but just wanted you to know about it.

Post by **nikos** » 2010 Feb 18, 09:26

actually the bug is that it doesn't show it flat all the time!
as windows explorer does it, the tree always shows a hierarchy, but the normal folder pane should show the contents flat. If you click on the tree you get hierarchy, I don't know why, and to be honest I don't care

John Peterson · Post by **John Peterson** » 2012 Jun 10, 02:22

Can you make it optional to use the flat library view?

I have content that span multiple folders because it doesn't fit on one disk (and dynamic partitions can't be used because sometimes all disks are not present) so a flat view is the most logical for their library.

(A flat view might be interesting when the content is in different folder for another reason too.)

The problem with 1.72 is that it defaults to name sort for Libraries (and Homegroup and Computer) and I want to sort the library by modified. So if you don't want to make the flat view optional please provide a patched 1.72 where the sort order is applied to libraries.

Thanks!

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win7 x64 libraries

win7 x64 libraries

Re: win7 x64 libraries

Windows 7 Libraries are neat but not understood