xplorer2 Alpha 0.0.0.23 - Looking Good!

[beavisuk]

Hi Nikos, xplorer2 is looking real nice now, it's great to have it with dual panes at long last.

I imagine all the interface options/enhancements ala 2xExplorer will be along imminently

a few wishes though:
1) Scrap Pane Always on top toggle
2) Column toggle on/off
3) Rar files to be treated the same as Zips! This one really bugs me but I know that it is not an easy one to fix, but having zip archives treated as folders and Rar archives treated as files can sometimes confuse me whilst glancing through the file lists.

#1 should be easy for a programmer off your talents
#2 I know will be coming soon anyway
#3 I'll probably have to learn to live with

Anyway, thanks for this great program.
btw if you've never tried it before, take a look at Directory Opus (PC) http://www.gpsoft.com.au/ It has some nice ideas but is kinda cluttered looking and bloated (it used to be my favourite Filemanager on Amiga)

Bye For Now

[nikos]

i also like rar better but unless rar developers create a namespace extension for their format, like m$ did for zips and cabs, we'll all have to stick with winrar

anyway, the way hard disc sizes have exploded and with CDROM storage, there's little point in compressing files anymore!

[vserghi]

Not necesarily, zip or rar files still have there use when sending attachments with e-mails (particularly for those still using 56k modems).

[beavisuk]

Hi Nikos, I understand your situation and realise there may never be a real solution, but to clarify. I Download from usenet a lot; most files there are multi-volume Rar or zip or split files (using JAS or mastersplitter). there will always be a case for working with compressed files, no matter the expansion in storage media it can't keep up with the size of files in the real world. I'm sure you have seen 4 Disc(CD) DivX movies or 800MB rar files etc, even as we speak I am DL'ing a JPG that is 1.5MB in size!!! Too big for a floppy disk and far too big for a Jpg of course... but these things happen and they have to be catered for. If you can build Rar support in that would be great but if not... At least (I know it's difficult) an option to sort the Zip files along with folders

Great Proggie btw... Keep it up... PLEASE!

[PhilipSutton]

Hi Nikos,

When you get a moment (whenever; I know you're snowed in or was it under at the moment) could you add a few usability enhancements to x2 .23 - as part of the campaign to get more people using x2 and thus giving you more alpha testing feedback?  :turn:

I would love to have (in order of priority):
- a basic sort function on the file panes -even as an interim measure
- a basic visual filter capacity
- a find command - even if it's only a link to the Windows find function!
- left/right tiling of the file panes

I don't mind waiting even longer for the full monty version of these functions.  But a basic function in the shorter term would be great.

Cheers, Philip

[nikos]

(nearly) all your wishes are granted already!

sort: by default you get extension sort; for other methods just click the respective column header (must be in detailed mode)

visual filter: already here; just type in the address bar your *.txt or what have you

find: you can access the windows thingy by right-clicking on any folder

for the pane alignment, we'll have to wait till i sort out some WTL classes

[Alycat]

sort: by default you get extension sort; for other methods just click the respective column header (must be in detailed mode)

will the sort method be persistent eventually, and will it stored for each folder?

[nikos]

of course!
but per-folder settings is not something viable (? )

[Alycat]

well, in that case, can I suggest you add this to the list of things that garden variety vanilla flavoured Win Explorer can do but x2 cannot

Wasn't x2 supposed to be where you moved to after you got tired of the inadequacies of Win Explorer? (g, d & r)



Edited By Alycat on Jan. 21 2003 at 7:43

[nikos]

who was it that said that even explorer has a limit of 400 folder settings before it starts "forgetting" things? I can't remember if it was in this forum or some email i received...

anyway, per-folder settings is a good concept until you realise how much storage it requires and how sluggish things are going to get for browsing if a 400-element list is searched each time a folder is opened

and i still believe that except for very few specific folders (e.g. pictures) you wouldn't want individual settings remembered.

[Lostclown]

anyway, per-folder settings is a good concept until you realise how much storage it requires and how sluggish things are going to get for browsing if a 400-element list is searched each time a folder is opened

and i still believe that except for very few specific folders (e.g. pictures) you wouldn't want individual settings remembered.

Personally I don't like folder settings to be stored.
But your example of image folders makes me agree that such a feature CAN be useful. Although making this the default behaviour as MS does can't be justified by this possible usefulness as this approach causes much more problems than it solves.

Perhaps an option to save the current folder settings to a profile could be useful in this case. The user could then apply all settings from the saved profile to the current folder.

And it would also be less of a problem when saving individual folder settings if they were limited to predefined profiles.

P.S. Many thanks for this great program

[nikos]

yes, there are already thoughts to optionally save some folder's settings into a 'desktop.ini' file; if such a file exists then x2 will read the prior settings from there. It's a good trade-off for folders like myPictures

[yuit]

on a related note, does x2 use the thumbs.db file generated by explorer for quicker displaying of thumbnails ?

[nikos]

no, m$ have not disclosed the format of that, but who needs it anyway?