Get flattened list of folders including sizes

[richardk]

Is there any way, with Browse Flat (shift+enter) or any other means, to get a flattened list that includes folders, subfolders and files within a given folder and shows their sizes? In other words, include folders in Browse Flat. Or if for some reason it's not possible to see folders and files together, just the folders would be fine too.

[nikos]

use TOOLS > FOLDER STATISTICS command

[richardk]

Getting closer but it's not flattened. Instead when you sort by size the child level 1 folders are sorted first, then **within** each of those the child level 2 are sorted by size, then within each child level 2 folder the child level 3s are sorted by size and so forth.

[Kilmatead]

Essentially what you want is to just do a standard <Ctrl+F> search of a selected folder (this flattens, and displays subfolders). In a previous life I wrote a thingy for making this more convenient, as Nikos simply never developed a maturely human appreciation and understanding of the word "workflow".

Try playing with LocaleSearch - it requires a toolbar button (or inclusion in the "Custom shell menu items" x2 context menu list), but it should help.

Also in the last post of that old thread Nikos mentions that "the macro section in the quickstart guide has a sample macro that shows how to search using the selected folders as a scope". So, if you're into macros, there's that too.

Curiously enough, for trivia scoring I point out that 12 years ago you yourself richardk, participated in that lost thread of fenestral brilliance.

I can only conclude that Nikos == Egregious Time-Soak.

[nikos]

if richardk signature is correct, his version has no macros. I am not sure if v2.5 could do "browse flat" with right drag-drop selecting a single folder and dropping in a scrap container, using "extract subfolders" menu

[Kilmatead]

..."browse flat" with right drag-drop selecting a single folder and dropping in a scrap container, using "extract subfolders" menu

That's... unwieldy? It also doesn't seem to include the subfolders (just the stuff in 'em), which is what he really wants. A plain search seems to be the simplest way.

You'd also think that the "Actions -> Flatten path" command from a scrap container would be smart enough to know that I really did mean the selected folder, and that I don't need the old-skool (!!!) browsing dialogue to hold my hand as the embers of a burning civilisation waft about my head. Just sayin'.

Postscriptum: I always liked v2.5.0.4 - classic vintage. Like the warm sound of a vinyl record played on an older sibling's stereo after they left the nest. Things just don't sound like that anymore.

[richardk]

I am not sure if v2.5 could do "browse flat" with right drag-drop selecting a single folder and dropping in a scrap container, using "extract subfolders" menu

That works for showing only folders and not files which like I said is definitely better than nothing but ideally I'd like to have both together. File under "If they can put a man on the moon..." I found the file manager called Everything can do it although I haven't yet found a way to get it to list folders intermingled with files rather than separated but so far that's the best solution. Also because scrap windows in x2 are always risky because it's very easy to accidentlly delete items without knowing it or (also accidentally) close the window and not remember exactly which changes you'd made so far, which can cause a huge messy ordeal where you have to go back and re-do a lot of stuff you do but the thing is you don't know how far back to go.

[richardk]

Try playing with LocaleSearch - it requires a toolbar button (or inclusion in the "Custom shell menu items" x2 context menu list), but it should help.

I don't know what to do with that. It seems to be some type of program that I've never used or heard of and at the link I'm not seeing any instructions other than it just says to download it. If I try to run it I get "AutoIIt Error. Array variable has incorrect number of subscripts..." I dug around in the x2 help for toolbar buttons and custom shell menus items but don't see anything there that tells me what to do with it.

[Kilmatead]

I don't know what to do with that.

Sorry, when I write things I'm the dog who runs after the car and then gets confused when it stops, so I tend to leave instructions for others, as I just assume everyone's a dog who thinks like I do, but I'll give it a try:

1. Select the LocaleSearch_x64.exe (select it, but don't run it).

2. In the x2 menu, go to Customize -> User Commands -> Add Current

This will open a little window that has the name and in the "Description" part the full path of the EXE you just added. If the path contains spaces x2 will automatically enclose it in quotes.

Add $> to the end, so it looks something like:

> "C:\...\LocaleSearch_x64.exe" $>

If there are quotes (there may not be, which is ok) make sure the $> is outside of them separated by a space.

Click the <Ok> button.

3. Right-click on a toolbar, and click "Customize". In the left-column of the window that pops up, look for an entry called "LocaleSearch_x64" Double-click it, or click the "Add" button and it will move to the right column...

...and click "Close" and you're done.

I don't know why Nikos thought this horrible, evil, and convoluted system would be a good way to do things, but his brain just wasn't meant to be dissected in life or in death, for which he's probably thankful since (we hope) he's still using it.

Anyway, to use this thing, you just select one (or more) folders and click the tool-bar button you just made. It should pop-up the familiar <Ctrl-F> Find window already populated with your selected folders in the "Look in:" field, and "Named" field will have *? in it, which is ok. Basically, just click <Ok> and you'll have your flattened stuff.

Like I said, this is nothing more than a "selected/targeted search" so there's nothing special going on, it's just designed to make things easier for people (or, at least "me").

I am aware that in the time it took you to read this, do this, and think about whether you like it or not, you could have instead hired the contract-killer you needed to solve "the ex-wife problem" and no doubt your morning would have been more productive - but hey, we've kept you out of trouble for a few extra minutes. (Remember: if the guy sounds "too helpful" or seems like he's recording the conversation by asking leading questions, he's probably a cop, so get out of there.)

If nothing else, you've learned how to turn a User Command into a toolbar button, so that's somethin'...

[richardk]

1. Select the LocaleSearch_x64.exe (select it, but don't run it)....

I was away for this for three months because it's used for an every-couple-months relocation of the largest, least-used files and folders to the external hard drive. Right now I can make do with the crude method of shift-enter to get flat list of files, right-click-drag to get flat list of folders, then copy one into the other's scrap window. I can't face anything more complicated right now so will tackle LocaleSearch next time and probably regret not trying it sooner, so, many thanks for the instructions.

Meanwhile it keeps me up nights wondering what's the benefit of treating flat file lists and flat folder lists as though they're wholly unrelated functions that have nothing whatsoever in common and require steps that come from entirely separate universes. To my puny little brain they both sound like browsing flat but what do I know.

[Kilmatead]

what's the benefit of treating flat file lists and flat folder lists as though they're wholly unrelated functions

I can only surmise that the theory of "flatness" is based on the idea that files are the only "true" contents, and so only they and their paths are significant, their containers being irrelevant. To include folders would be to just add distraction and clutter to the list. Not that I agree with that idea, I'm just rationalising the incomprehensibility of the Cosmos-According-to-Nikos. Or, perhaps he simply let his subscription to the Flat-Earth-Society lapse, and now he's out of touch with the latest thinking on the subject.

so will tackle LocaleSearch next time and probably regret not trying it sooner

Being a generally dark and morose misanthrope, I actually appreciate regret (in others and myself) more than I appreciate spuriously polite expressions of thanks for my efforts, so you're ahead of the game already in my book. When Thoreau said "To regret deeply is to live afresh", he was completely misinterpreted by everyone (except me!) as falling into the naive trap of embracing a positive outlook.