Firstly, a couple of definitions:
Collection : A list of files that are physically located elsewhere on your system. For example, Search Results is actually a collection containing each item matching your last search. Think of a collection as simply a list of files/folders located elsewhere.
Collection List : This is a list of all the collections you have created in Opus. You can access this list in a number of ways:
[ul]- from the Folder Tree
- by typing "coll://" in the lister path field
- or via the raw command : Go PATH="Coll://"[/ul]
Now that we've defined these items, let's look at some of the commonly asked questions concerning Collections.
Q: Can a collection be removed (deleted) from the Collection List without deleting the actual files and folders referenced by the collection?
A: Yes you can safely delete any collection from the Collection List, without losing any of the folders or files.
Q: Does deleting a folder or file, selected in a collection, physically remove (delete) the actual folder/file from it's physical location?
A: Yes and no. It depends entirely on how you do it. As we've already said, a collection is simply a list of files/folders located elsewhere. Simply deleting the selected item from within a collection will really delete it. Once again, Search Results is a good example. Once you've completed a search, deleting an item in your results really does delete it.
Fortunately, Opus provides us with an alternative. We can use a modified DELETE command (raw command: Delete REMOVECOLLECTION) which will only remove the file/folder from the collection but not touch the actual file/folder.
In a default Opus installation the standard Toolbar includes a DELETE button (a red cross). This button actually has three functions tied to it:
It is the RMB (Right Mouse Button) function which, by default, uses Delete REMOVECOLLECTION - which removes only the reference to the file/folder from within the collection.
Beware: The LMB and MMB functions will remove the actual file/folder, not just the reference in the collection!
This FAQ was originally a post created by Kenalcock.