The text output in the Type column is sometimes very long and, in two-column mode, very annoying for me.
I have tried to adjust the respective texts for some file types (Settings/File types ... )
With PDF files it is no problem to adjust the text for the type to e.g. "PDF file" and after a restart of DO everything is ok so far and "PDF file" is displayed in the type column as desired.
Unfortunately, this does not work for Word files - I have tried to simply enter "Word" for .docx. The entry is accepted, but the display in the Type column is still "Microsoft Word document". The same happens with .doc files.
Basically, at least all Microsoft types and also .zip files are affected here. Unfortunately, I have not tried them all.
What can I do to get the intended behavior or what have I possibly done wrong or overlooked?
PS: I already found a possibly related post from 2020.
As this is roughly 4 years old and things might have changed I answer my question above anyway.
@Leo
For some of the file types you can edit the texts and they will be active and used (e.g. for .pdf).
Under the FileTypes function it is not clear to the user for which entries the functionality works and for which it does not - or have I overlooked something?
Why do you offer this function if you still have to make laborious adjustments in the registry to achieve the functionality described in the documentation?
Is it important and functional for any other feature?
It's primarily for adding context menu items and changing what happens on double-click and drag & drop.
The issue you're seeing is that you're editing a type but it has been overridden by Open With or one of the many over filetype override mechanisms Windows has accumulated over the years, so that type isn't actually the one that is being used by the Windows shell.
The filetype system in Windows is too much of a mess to provide a full GUI editor. You'll always end up needing to edit the registry at some point. Microsoft themselves gave up providing any kind of UI for filetype editing a long time ago, but we've kept ours because it's still useful to be able to edit context menus and button/d&d events.
It is kind of irritating to read this, after you already dismissed all the things we told you in the german forum, including possible workarounds. So whose time are you talking about exactly? o)
Basically every aspect of an OS and a grown application is complex these days. You can't expect every pixel on your device to be explained in some kind of documentation. Even if some pixels are explained, documentation is outdated very quickly and it has gaps, huge ones. I actually wonder why you wonder, I think it's never been different since IT started.
Anyway, an Evaluator column like suggested from lxp or the scripting column I suggested "over there", seem to be your best options for now. As mentioned multiple times, using custom columns is the only way to be able to export / import your custom file type descriptions. Anything you edit directly in the system is at risk to get lost at some point. If you need more details for the custom "File Type"-column workaround(s), let us know.
I want to use a function that is included in the program, which does not do what the documentation says it should. That was my question here - and also in the German forum.
Here, in this forum, I got a polite explanation from the developers about why it is the way it is and why they still keep this function in the program, as it is useful for other issues. My suggestion was to supplement the documentation accordingly so that users like me do not have to search for causes unnecessarily or have to ask in the first place.
The contributions to my question in the German forum were of a tone that can also be seen in your response - of a rather condescending and know-it-all manner, ignoring the topic and problem completely and providing entirely unqualified contributions on why one should work differently, etc. I have already said in the German forum that this is not what I was asking for. Even in your new answer, there is again talk about what one cannot expect and why the world is so complicated and that it has always been this way.
Just as a reminder - this is a commercial product and costs money. We are not in the hobby area or in an open-source project, which is maintained by volunteers in their spare time. So, it is reasonable to expect that such problems are approached professionally and that customer suggestions are taken seriously, instead of trying to explain the world to them like a smart aleck.
The developers of the product have explained the background to the topic professionally here in the forum, but I am not so sure if you really understand what professional customer service means. Your last contribution was completely unnecessary, as the topic had already been resolved.
The statement "Commercial product and costs money" is correct.
Only in the German forum has this been a hobby for all of us for years (sometimes up to 20 years)
and is supported free of charge by volunteers.
We take every customer/user inquiry seriously and those who have responded
are professionals in many fields, even if the answers sometimes seem a little cryptic.
Without these helpers, who are represented in both forums, some errors would probably never have been found!
A "German translation" of the program would therefore not be available.
This now as ..., as posted above, is therefore more than inappropriate
