A build-in quick search like the progam Ava find would make Directory Opus even more complete File management system 
Please could you describe what this function does? I expect many of us don't know what Ava Find does (at least, I don't).
Ava find creates a hard disk search cache (a directory with all the filenames/paths) and uses this cache you search for file without delay and while you are typing. It also uses an scout bot to detect any changens in you filesystem and update the cache.
That makes sense.
Opus will hook into Google Desktop Search to provide this sort of functionality. (You get an extra GDS tab in the Find utility panel.)
[quote="nudel"]That makes sense.
Opus will hook into Google Desktop Search to provide this sort of functionality. (You get an extra GDS tab in the Find utility panel.)[/quote]
I tried google desktop once but it was createing a cache of over 1 gb and only a few percent of the indexing was done yet 
avafind only caches the filenames and is therefor much fasten. An external hd of 300 gb is cached in only a <1 minute.
I tried GDS again and realy prefer ava find. On almost eveything I search I get a hundreds of hit's on the content of all kind of source file. I realy prefer only hits based on filenames.
Wouldn't it be great to add a build-in caching in dopus? This would not only enable on the fly search results but also faster directory listing and folder size "calculation".
To bad dopus is not open source otherwhile I would be willing to program this my self.
I don't think it would help with folder size calculation because, even with NTFS, a folder's timestamp does not change when a file within the folder changes size.
(It'll change when file directly in it (not in a subdirectory) is added or removed, but not if it only changes size. So you still have to inspect every file individually. Since reading a file's timestamp is the same as reading its size there is nothing to be gained.)
I'm not against the idea of caching names from a search perspective though, although I'd probably disable the feature to save the memory. (Searching by filename is only slow the first time you do it anyway, after that the directory structure is cached by the filesystem/Windows and searching it is almost instant.)
Having said that, in the past when I've had a really, really huge tree of source-code at work and needed to find files in that, I used to make a big text file listing all the files for fast searching. So I can see where you're coming from.
I was thinking a plugin system for search tools might be nice, but I don't know whether it would be worth GPSoftware's time to implement when so few people write viewer plugins as it is.
[quote="nudel"]I don't think it would help with folder size calculation because, even with NTFS, a folder's timestamp does not change when a file within the folder changes size.
(It'll change when file directly in it (not in a subdirectory) is added or removed, but not if it only changes size. So you still have to inspect every file individually. Since reading a file's timestamp is the same as reading its size there is nothing to be gained.)
[/quote]
If you store the folder size in your cache and watch all files being changed (like the scout bot in avafind) you can easely update the size all te parent folders in your cache. You need this scout bot anyway for keeping up-to-date. No need for timestamps if dopus is always running on the background. Ofcourse this will need some memory but so does ava find (+/- 7-8 mb).
I usualy search only once or none at all wen I have to use the regular search because it is taking an lot of time to search through 600 Gb of data.
[quote="nudel"]
Having said that, in the past when I've had a really, really huge tree of source-code at work and needed to find files in that, I used to make a big text file listing all the files for fast searching. So I can see where you're coming from.
I was thinking a plugin system for search tools might be nice, but I don't know whether it would be worth GPSoftware's time to implement when so few people write viewer plugins as it is.[/quote]
What else would you like to view in dopus and who will use this???
That's true. It'd miss stuff that changes before Opus is loaded and after it's shutdown but that would just be Windows and uninstall stuff if you've got Opus set to run all the time.
I think most of the important formats are covered now but there are some others which people are asking for (notably Adobe Illustrator, which I know very little about). I can't find the time to add everyhting I want to to my existing plugins so I don't really want to start making more right now, but there's other stuff apart from viewers like 7Zip archive support (and better RAR support but that doesn't look possible without reverse-engineering the format since it isn't published 
), a Registry plugin (I've started one but not finished it), etc. Some people have also asked for VFS (virtual filesystem) plugins for reading ISO CD images and for manipulating the iPod's database.
Instead of AvaFind try Locate32, it's free and a Windows port of the famous GNU locate utility. You can define an external file manager and so directly jump to Directory Opus after searching:
uku.fi/~jmhuttun/english/softwares.shtml
It rocks, definetely.
Icfu
I would highly recommend you read the google privacy policy's, that have several quite interwoven items that demand your attention.
In short I work in the internet marketing arena and I like what I see in their privacy policy's. I am recommending that you avoid any product of theirs in which your providing them anymore information then is necessary.
Now, for desktop search i would suggest copernic.com/ this program is pretty fast and with a much better privacy policy to boot.
I agree with the original poster. This is the only weakness of directory opus.
Although it provides an almost perfect file manager, it lacks the ease of avafind to have any file and/or folder you want within seconds.
What I would like to be implemented is a feature like "file filter field" to be used as a toolbar and search "as-you-type" (as it already does), but to be able to search any file or folder in all hard disk drives; something like flat view all hard disks and start searching all of them in realtime.
I thought its not much to ask, but even if you are not going to implement thanks for reading anyway.
I prefer to rely on organization of files in filesystem (ie in folders). No searches of a whole disk ever needed.
In this time vs resources discussion I'm on the resources side.
X.
I had a look at Locate32 and must say that integration of that feature in DOpus would be great! Enhanced with different filters and find-as-you-type lists it would greatly facilitate file management. No more cluttered desktop, no more searching through Program menus, no more digging in c:\program files, no clicking folder trees, etc. (Oh, OK. My comp is messy. Yours isn't?)
OK, maybe I am overreacting, but the potential is much greater than just "finding" files. I have used another program like that, Find and Run Robot and it worked very well. Using this functionality for all files and combining it with DOpus flexibility would be awesome...
I have to admit that I find the find field in Vista's start menu very useful. (You type part of a program name or file name and it finds something with that in it in the start menu and/or program files and your documents folders.)
It's one of those things I thought I would never use which has turned out to be a handy time saver that I use every day.
[quote="Xyzzy"]I prefer to rely on organization of files in filesystem (ie in folders). No searches of a whole disk ever needed.
In this time vs resources discussion I'm on the resources side.
X.[/quote]
Even if you rely in organization in some cases avafind is unbeatable. An example is my work’s PC, where I save about 50 to 100 new text documents daily. I have them all very well organized, in folders, the names of the folders are very straight forward including dates etc. However the quickest way to access a file is through avafind, just type part of the file’s name, press tab and launch it. I think is one of the most underestimated software in the world.
[quote="Jabberwock"]
I had a look at Locate32 and must say that integration of that feature in DOpus would be great! Enhanced with different filters and find-as-you-type lists it would greatly facilitate file management. No more cluttered desktop, no more searching through Program menus, no more digging in c:\program files, no clicking folder trees, etc. (Oh, OK. My comp is messy. Yours isn't?)
OK, maybe I am overreacting, but the potential is much greater than just "finding" files. I have used another program like that, Find and Run Robot and it worked very well. Using this functionality for all files and combining it with DOpus flexibility would be awesome...
X.[/quote]
I totally agree