Folder Settings vs. Default Lister

This is an oddity that seems counter intuitive to me. I would expect specific folder settings to be paramount whenever a folder is displayed in a lister. However, it would seem that if a folder is part of a Default Lister, then its settings are set in stone exactly as they were when the Default Lister was saved.

To demonstrate this, Settings --> Preferences --> Folder Formats and customise a folder in the current Default Lister with a different background image to the one it has. Now close the lister and reopen the Default Lister. The change you just made is not there. If you close and reopen the folder, the new BG image shows up correctly.

Regards, AB

Read HOW TO: Understand and Configure Folder Formats

Hello,
Good to hear from you Aussieboykie !

Hmmm.... yep, I see it too, but .... is it really that bad of a thing ??

Regards,
Zippo

How are you opening the lister?

From an icon in Quick Launch on my Windows toolbar.

Regards, AB

What command does that icon run?

"C:\Program Files\GPSoftware\Directory Opus\dopus.exe"

Regards. AB

Ahhh.... That might explain it.
It's very late here for me today..
Long Day...

Regards,
Zippo

Seems that simply default lister saves its own folder format which is not named in folder formats list and other settings differentiating from default (?)

X.

[quote="Xyzzy"]Seems that simply default lister saves its own folder format which is not named in folder formats list and other settings differentiating from default (?)

X.[/quote]
I think it is a point in time thing. In other words, the format is "remembered" exactly as it was at the time the Default Lister was saved.

Regards, AB

Under Preferences / Layout / Opening Listers untick Initial Folders:

You can still set the initial folders via the other tabs but by not inheriting them from the "default lister" they will not be using any remembered folder format.

I think you could also add the columns and then use Settings -> Set As Default Lister to save them in the "default lister" but I haven't tried that.

I've filed a feature request with GPSoft to change the way this works as it seems confusing without much benefit. If someone wants to use a special Folder Format just for newly opened listers then they can use a layout, so the default lister shouldn't remember its folder format, in my opinion.

Here's some clarification which I will approach as a list of terms, and how I relate them.[ul][li] Folder Options - governs settings about how a given folder is listed in the file display, including options for: View Mode, Columns, Filters, and background image or color. It helps to think of Folder Options as a temporary collection of such settings.
[/li]
[li] Layout - governs the physical aspects of a lister window: size, position, the lister elements used. It helps to think of a layout as a temporary collection of such settings.
[/li]
[li] Lister Style - stores a saved Layout for a single lister window. A Lister Style may also optionally store its own starting folder path and Folder Options (independent of each other). These Folder Options only apply to the folder path listed in the specific lister window, when the Style is first applied (whether the folder was stored inside Style or listed beforehand).
[/li]
[li] Lister Layout - stores an arrangement of one or several lister windows. Each lister window in the Lister Layout stores its own: Layout, starting folder path, and Folder Options. The Folder Options for any lister window in the Lister Layout only apply to the starting folder path of that specific lister window.
[/li]
[li] Default Lister - The Default lister predates Folder Formats and Lister Styles, and, I believe, Lister Layouts. The Default Lister stores its own Layout, starting folder path, and Folder Options. The Folder Options for the Default Lister only apply to its starting folder path.
[/li]
[li] Folder Formats (General Preferences Category) - Folder Formats is one of the newest Opus features. Before Folder Formats, it was fairly difficult to define different Folder Options that could be applied in a uniform manner. Think of Folder Formats as a saved Folder Options configuration which you can have applied automatically or manually. The Folder Formats system always trumps any of the other saved Folder Options listed above, upon navigating to a different folder path (unless Format Lock is enabled). This "trumping" is required in order to facilitate the automated nature of Folder Formats.

There are four main categories of Folder Formats.[ol][li] Favorite Formats - These Formats contain Folder Options you must always apply manually. They are best used for the 20% of the time, in the 80%/20% rule, when you want to manually override any of the other Folder Formats.
[/li]
[li] Folder Formats - These Formats contain Folder Options which are applied automatically to a specific folder path or an entire folder tree starting with a specific folder path. They are best used for the 80% of the time, in the 80%/20% rule, when a given set of Folder Options can be uniformly applied to an explicit physical storage path.
[/li]
[li] Content Type Formats - These Formats contain Folder Options which are applied automatically to any folder that contains enough files of a specific content type, based upon a File Type Group. They are best used for the 80% of the time, in the 80%/20% rule, when a given set of Folder Options can be uniformly applied to any group of files that contain predominately the same type of content (e.g. all music files).
[/li]
[li] Default Formats - These Formats contain Folder Options which are applied automatically to any folder that is in a specific type of folder location: local fixed drive, removable storage, FTP, .zip files. et cetera. They are best used for the 80% of the time, in the 80%/20% rule, when no Folder Format or any Content Format would apply to the listed folder, and when a given set of Folder Options can be uniformly applied to a specific type of folder location (e.g. on a network drive you generally want to use Folder Options that won't unduly degrade system performance).[ul][li]Custom Default Format - This is a very significant Default Format. It is the ultimate "trump card" in the Folder Options game. If no other Folder Options are applicable, these Folder Options are applied.[/li][/ul][/li][/ol][/li][/ul]Remember that Folder Formats will always trump the Folder Options saved inside: the Default Lister, a Lister Style, or a lister window within a Lister Layout. In all three cases, the saved Folder Options only apply when they are first applied to the starting folder path. As soon as you navigate to a different folder, some Folder Format automatically takes over.

This can especially complicate things for the Default Lister, which has an option in:[ul][li] Preferences[ul][li] Layout[ul][li] Opening Listers [ul][li] Update Default Lister settings automatically when Listers are closed.[/li][/ul][/li][/ul][/li][/ul][/li][/ul] Say this option enabled and you open a lister, which uses the Folder Options saved in the Default Lister. Then you list a folder on a local drive--now the Folder Option from the Local Drive Default Format apply. If you close the lister at this point, you just updated the Default Lister's Folder Options to those of the Local Drive Default Format (and its starting folder as well).

@Nudel

You should consider editing and including some of that information above in your Folder Formats FAQ.

[quote="kenalcock"]@Nudel

You should consider editing and including some of that information above in your Folder Formats FAQ.[/quote]

Definitely. I think it deserves its own FAQ entry but linked from a few other places. I've been meaning to write a FAQ about Styles vs Layouts for a while but haven't had time. This makes a good starting point, though I think I'll edit to avoid overloading the term "Layout".

Another FAQ that's needed and related is one on the various ways of opening new listers and where their settings come from in each case.

So many FAQs, so little time. :slight_smile: