xplorer2 v.5.50.11 beta

[Gandolf]

I don't understand why good old checkboxes were deemed evil

ephemeral fashion?

Bowing to fashion, I'm ashamed of you Nikos.

If that is the only reason for a new version, then there is no point in updating.

[pstoffel]

I definitely like the overall idea of the redesigned options screen. It's a cleaner interface allowing for more options without adding complexity. I definitely wasn't a fan of the old "horizontal radio buttons" (horizontal/vertical dual panes, I'm thinking of you! ) and seemingly out-of-place options (General/Dark mode UI, Window/Hover selection) just to save space. This is much cleaner!

That said...

• Not wildly enthusiastic about the new-style checkboxes either, but "de gustibus et coloribus..."
• The blue from the checkboxes is brighter than the blue from an actively selected row... this only slightly hurts my eyes , I would have expected them to be the same hue
• When you click in the white area under the last item, that last item is selected and switched (if it's a checkbox). This feels quite accident-prone when you just clicked there to re-activate xplorer²
• It took me a minute to figure out how the filter worked... I didn't realize all hits were on the right hand side and the section only changes according to the currently selected option. This feels a bit unnatural, it seemed like all hits are now belonging to the General/Appearance section. I prefer how TOAD addresses this: it adds a list of hits at the bottom and doesn't touch the actual options interface. But at least I understand now how it works!
  

[nikos]

cosmetics aside, thanks for that buglet about double clicking nowhere, I'll fix it

[wasker]

I wonder if the UI refresh is coming, button captions could start using "Sentence case" on them, to be in line with the rest of UI/Windows?

[nikos]

Gandolf would never forgive me, I'm on my last straw here, I can't make any more fashionable concessions

ps. Now we only need fgagnon to spontaneously resurrect and this forum will be rocking like it's 1999!

[Gandolf]

Gandolf would never forgive me, I'm on my last straw here, I can't make any more fashionable concessions

You make me sound like an ogre.

How often do users change the options? It's not important how it looks, it's something most people use once, and that's it. The new options dialogue might be very pretty, but the old one did the job.

I use another file manager now more often than x² because it has a vertical toolbar between the panes. My kittens like to sit on my desk, so I can't use the keyboard and, much as I hate the mouse, I use it. The vertical toolbar between the panes is more ergonomic than the top toolbar. Nikos appears to have ruled out a vertical toolbar.

[rnmerchant]

The download link, installed, tells me I'm running 5.5.0.1 x64 2024-01-24.

Is this correct, or is the link/installation actually the 5.5.0.11 beta without actually saying that?

oops - correction - I see that the link has actually installed a separate 0.11 beta dated 2024-05-06. My mistake. I think I made that mistake because when I loaded the program last night I got the "unregistered" warning. Now I'm a bit confused but probably everything is working as it should except my technical brain....

Ignore this post!

Richard

[dunno]

Gandolf would never forgive me, I'm on my last straw here, I can't make any more fashionable concessions

The vertical toolbar between the panes is more ergonomic than the top toolbar. Nikos appears to have ruled out a vertical toolbar.

*slothally exits hammock*

Gandolf, you should know by now that implementing a customizable drive bar is a pet hate of Nikos's. It took years of reverse psychology, saying special things to a vodoo doll, and petitioning for him to make a tiny concession and agree to the PC icon as a drive bar, which is ok butt...

*makes popcorn*

[Kilmatead]

Mosquito: It appears MGAO3_NOSAVEGLOBAL blocks the updating of tagdb.bin even when Save Settings Now is explicitly invoked.

And did your imagination go walkabout when you decided to name one section "More Options" and the next one "Extra Options"? In 1939 a bloke named S. I. Hayakawa published Language in Thought and Action An Essential Guide to Semantics for the Discerning - Yet Inwardly Daft - Gentleman (I may have imagined the subtitle). I include the link just in case it's out of print in your half of the Cypriotic demesnes. You know, for reference. Great bedtime reading... for the discerning gent that you are... or aspire to be...

[nikos]

for one reason or other save settings now doesn't include color tags (blame the programmer for bad design, not easy to fix)
this database is only saved when you quit the program hence the "mosquito"

[Kilmatead]

...blame the programmer for bad design...

Nice try at a self-effacing deflection in modesty, but the Art of Zen Cynicism was born of balancing an overabundance of dismay with a distinct lack of surprise, and seeing the bright side. That said, as I'm the only one who would elevate this setting to Sainthood, how many other sinners would you expect to be a-knock-knock-knocking on your door? Not many, I'd wager; hence, "the bright side."

bool UserTinkleNeedFlushOnExitLoo = false;
if (SaveSettingsNow || SaveSettingsOnExit) UserTinkleNeedFlushOnExitLoo = true;

This programming thing's a lark, no wonder the kids think A.I.'s all the rage.

[Gandolf]

for one reason or other save settings now doesn't include color tags ...

From the fact that you wrote "now", I assume this is something new in version 6, or does version 5 have the same problem?

[Kilmatead]

or does version 5 have the same problem?

Version 5 doesn't have MGAO3_NOSAVEGLOBAL, that's new to .11 (not even in .10), so no, neither a regressive nor retroactive mosquito.

It was added after Nikos pondered his questionable navel after this, "btw 'save settings on exit' is a bit of a cheat"...

Actually, talking about semantics, you just read his response wrong: When Nikos said "now" he was simply quoting the menu-option "Actions -> Save Settings Now", not referring to the contemporary timespace in which we believe we transitively exist. There has been no change to the "save settings" behaviour.

[nikos]

I patched the problem with tags, now they should be saved when you SAVE SETTINGS NOW

And did your imagination go walkabout when you decided to name one section "More Options" and the next one "Extra Options"?

and who pray is the culprit for the proliferation of minute options? Not me!

[Kilmatead]

and who pray is the culprit for the proliferation of minute options? Not me!

That's right - blame the new guy. You never said any of those carrier-pigeons I sent from the desert island actually made it through with my complaints! Like it would have killed you to send back a jar of peanut-butter instead? And who's the one bandying about this "lost the source-code" excuse... all very strange...

Oh, and while we're complaining about things, did you know that your new checkboxes are all based on bleedin' windows listboxes which are notoriously PITA for 3rd-party manipulation? Even your macro-thingy can't handle a simple toggle. Though I do see that the wonderful (kinder/friendlier/gentlemanlier) OLD ones are still hiding in the resources, so maybe some hocus-pocus is still possible...