I've always had some issues with the column auto-sizing feature. Sometimes it works, sometimes DOpus appears to forget the setting. I've tried several times to nail down the circumstances under which the changes occur, but have been unsuccessful.
Today I rebooted my system and DOpus opened a lister as it always does. The dual horizontal style is my default. This time both windows opened to the same directory. The upper/left window is configured for and correctly displaying the columns as auto-sized. The lower/right window is not. Same directory in both.
I activate the upper window, click on the "edit appearance and settings of the current folder" button and it shows the folder configured for auto-sized columns. I activate the lower window, click on the same "edit" button, and it shows the folder NOT configured for auto-sized columns. Again, same directory displayed in both panes.
I can understand how the two windows could be configured for different display styles, but I can't understand how they can show different settings for characteristics that are supposed to be associated with the folder being displayed when it's the same folder in both windows.
Any idea what's going on with this?
I'm running 8.2.2.5 U on WinXP SP2, with all recent patches applied.
If the FAQ doesn't solve the problem then you've probably got Opus set to open a saved layout (or the "Default Lister" which is like a hidden layout) and that layout was saved with auto-size turned off on one side. (Saved explicitly as a Layout, or using the Set As Default Lister command, or by the setting which automatically saves the current lister(s) when you shutdown.)
Yes, I've read the Folders FAQ and the manual sections that apply to folders.
I'm at a loss as to figuring out why DOpus is doing what it's doing. The suggestion I made previously, that DOpus in some way indicate why it has applied a particular format to a folder/lister, would certainly be of use in this situation.
The problem I see in this situation is that the characteristics in question are documented as applying to the folder, not to the lister or even the folder/lister combination. When I click on the question mark icon the pop-up window says "'' Folder Options - Directory Opus".
I couldn't find anywhere in the docs that indicate each file pane retains separate properties for every folder. The only places I see the auto-size property mentioned are in the specific folder options pop-up (when clicking question mark icon as mentioned above) and in the folder formats area of Settings/Preferences. The only format that should be applied in this case is the default "custom" one. And it should be applied to both file panes.
It doesn't seem logical that properties of the folder should be different in different listers or file panes. It's the same folder and should have the same characteristics no matter how you view it. If I save the folder format, it shows up in Settings/Preferences/Folders/Folder Formats as a format that applies to that specific folder, not to the combination of that folder and a particular lister.
I can see the utility of allowing each lister to view a folder in a different way, but that is a property of the lister/folder combination, not of just the folder. If the lister/folder combination is the way it is done, then the properties that apply to that combination should be clearly labeled as such and not as applying only to the folder.
Or maybe this is an undocumented feature (i.e. a bug)?
The name Folder Options was used because that's what Explorer calls its (admittedly rather different) feature - but it was the closest we had to it and so it seemed to make sense. Maybe "How-The-Lister-Displays-A-Folder Options" would be more accurate but it's also not as punchy.
The name not withstanding, in Opus Folder Options belong to the file display (= the Lister in single display mode). When you make changes to the current display (by, eg, clicking a column header to change the sort, or using the Folder Options dialog to add columns), you are changing the current Lister's display of the folder.
Folder Options settings that you save for a folder (eg, those that appear in the Folder Formats section in Preferences) are only used when a folder is read - they are taken from the Folder Formats list and applied to the current file display / Lister.
However, the big caveat to this, is when a folder is saved as part of a layout or style. In this case, the format is associated with the layout or style, not with the folder - and so layouts and styles will override the settings configured in Folder Formats.
"Punchy" is pretty much the way I feel after trying to figure this out.
So, if I'm following this, if I click the question icon and change something in the "folder" options screen and click "OK", those changes apply to the lister, not to the folder (except when displayed in that lister). If I do the same thing but click "Save" instead of "OK", then it applies to that specific folder (and maybe the lister too?) regardless of which lister it's displayed in. I hope I'm not out of line in suggesting that this is more than a bit confusing. I understand it, at least for this five minutes, but it's far from obvious.
To get both listers in the dual horizontal style(?) to use auto-size, I gather I would set that paramenter "on" for both listers, then update the style so it saves those settings?
Patch for what it's worth rather than my trying to remember what changed where in regards to auto-sized columns, I just created a toolbar button to autosize them whenever I need to autosize them. The command follows:
Set AUTOSIZECOLUMNS
I also have this bound to the number pad + key as a hotkey.
Well the idea was that you could make temporary changes to the Lister you're working with (eg, change the sort order, or switch display modes - things that you probably do all the time) without necessarily making them permanent for that folder. It may add an element of confusion but I don't really think it's that difficult to understand once you get past the whole "Folder Options has 'folder' in its name so it must mean it's tied to the folder!" thing.
I know you're trying to help, Jon, and I appreciate that, but I think in this case your perspective on the level of confusion is skewed by your familiarity with the product. I maybe put too much emphasis on the "folder" part of the name thing. That is a bit confusing, but that's not the end of it. A single interface is being used to control what are almost orthogonal views of the same thing. And this is not at all obvious from just looking at the interface.
The plethora of options makes Opus extremely powerful, but unless the options are presented in a completely unambiguous way, they can easily lead to confusion and mis-application. While this may not be the end of the world, it also doesn't help sell product when the trial user finds himself both impressed and bewildered. (I'm a registered user. I mention trial user because the confusion could easily lead to a lost sale.)
If you press OK in Folder Options it changes the current window temporarily. At the top of the dialog there are separate buttons for saving the format for the current folder, etc.
Any suggestions on how to improve on that? Maybe a different label for the OK button? Having two separate menu items and dialogs depending on where/whether you want to save the options -- which themselves are always the same -- seems like it would be more confusing to me.
Maybe Folder Options should always make temporary changes to the current window, and then there could be a separate menu item to save whatever the current window is using as the format for the current folder?
I do agree that formats saved within Layouts and Styles can cause confusion because you don't always know they're there or save them on purpose.
The best solution I can think of is to be able to open a window and get a list of all Folder Options and where they came from. If Opus kept a record of where the options came from and was able to tell you then it would immediately become clear what was going on and you'd know what to change/delete to get the desired formats in the desired places.
I've gone back and looked at this with somewhat fresh eyes. I do think the biggest issue is one of labeling. If I hover over the question mark icon the tool tip says, "Edit the appearance and settings of the current folder". If I click on that icon, the window that pops up says, "'' Folder Options - Directory Opus". Everything is telling me that the changes I'm about to make will apply to the current folder. Yet, when the "OK" button is clicked, the settings are applied to the lister, not to the folder.
The simplest change to improve the situation would be to --
Change the tool tip to something like, "Change lister/folder display options".
Change the "OK" and "Apply" buttons on the pop-up window to "Save lister settings" and "Apply to lister".
Change "Save the current folder format" to "Apply changes to folder".
Change "Clear the saved format" to "Remove custom folder format".
Change "Clear the saved format and restore to defaults" to "Reset folder format to default".
Some of the rewordings are marginal, but I think removing references to "saved" formats helps hide an implementation detail the user need not be aware of.
I'm not clear on the difference between clearing a saved format and resetting the format. This probably indicates these descriptions could use some improvement as well. Since I don't really understand the difference, I can't suggest alternative wordings for this one.