I have a folder full of PNG and JPG images. Under normal circumstances it would be recognised as content type = IMAGES and displayed as THUMBNAILS but for this particular folder I want a non-default sort so I have created a specific folder format. The only check marks are as shown below under the Display tab. No filters and no other options are checked.
My default "custom" format displays as DETAILS (selected on Display tab) and uses a background colour to show that it is in force. Given that the Window Clippings folder content is 100% recognised images I would not expect "custom" to be applied, but it is and the content is shown as DETAILS instead of THUMBNAILS.
I can easily fix this by selecting THUMBNAILS view on the specific folder format but I'm curious as to why I need to.
So... I think you're assuming that the order precedence to how the folder formats are applied would follow these sort of rules:
custom (default) = details view
content type = thumbnails
folder specific format = thumbnails inherited from content type format, since no explicit view-mode is specified in the folder specific format (i.e. it's unchecked)
But I don't think that's the way things work... When you create a specific folder format I think Opus is only applying format items 1 and 3 above (although "technically" - item 1 is coming from whatever the default format is as defined in the default or saved "layout" Opus is loading when you open the lister, as oposed to the actual "custom" format - the two of which are likely the "same" for many users)... and you're going to need to check that display tab "View" box to enable thumbnails view-mode for the folder format. Case in point - even though you're seeing "details" view mode unlike you expected, I'm assuming Opus is in fact still reversing the sort order such as you have specified in the folder format for "Window Clippings" - yeah?
[quote="Leo"]Opus will go through the list from top to bottom until it finds one which can be applied to the folder you are viewing.
If a format has been explicitly saved for a particular directory then that format will be used for that directory, because those formats are at the top of the list.
If the directory doesn't have a format saved explicitly for it then Opus next checks the Content Type formats.[/quote]
[quote="steje"]although "technically" - item 1 is coming from whatever the default format is as defined in the default or saved "layout" Opus is loading when you open the lister, as oposed to the actual "custom" format - the two of which are likely the "same" for many users[/quote] EDIT NOTE: actually, I guess this "could" also depend on 'other' settings as well - could be coming from the 'custom' format after all though I know that doesn't jive with the exact ordering of things described in Leo's FAQ, since "custom" is technically further down on the list - but obviously the lister has to "start" with "some" default display settings yeah?
Anyhow, I was trying to add some color around my explanation that I think your apparent assumption of how the folder formats are applied were a little off , and that your folder specific format wasn't going to inherit the view-mode from the content type in any event.
My presumption is that a specific format should apply, and if any critical elements are not explicit then Opus should drop down the folder format chain to Content Type and then to Custom if there is no match.
In this case, what appears to happen is that my specific folder format is applied and then Custom is used to fill in View (unchecked under the Display tab) and Image (unchecked under the Options tab), neither of which are specified in the folder specific format, and it therefore appears that Content Type has either been ignored completely or overridden by Custom.
In Preferences, I have the option Ignore folder format of default lister checked, so that should not be a factor. Interestingly, if I define a single lister, single tab layout for the Window Clippings folder with THUMBNAILS view in play at the time the layout is saved, then it behaves differently when invoked via Go "/mydocuments\Window Clippings" LAYOUT=WC and via Settings --> Lister Layouts --> WC. When executed as a GO command, the Window Clippings folder is shown as DETAILS and when executed using the Settings --> Lister Layouts method it displays as THUMBNAILS.
, and that your folder specific format wasn't going to inherit the view-mode from the content type in any event.