Column: ModifiedWithin (alternative to 'modified'-labels)

Buttons/Scripts
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1

ModifiedWithin - A column set which gives you an alternative way to make modified/created items pop out.

Description:
I did this, because I make use of file and folder labels more and more, but I got into several situations, where a label would override another because these cannot be priorized or combined.
To never loose the "modified" information in a file display, you now can simply add a narrow column or two to mark newly modified instead of having a label applied.
Marking modified items with a column, also has the advantage of showing "when" in the given timespan it was modified.

One column of this set uses a graph, which shows a red graph for really "hot" items, getting blue for colder items and dissapears for all other.
The other column uses a graph made of characters, this gives some nice alternative and also allows for a 1-char wide column, similar to an icon, to mark modified items.

Since v0.2: There are another two columns which show the number of days since creation and modification (no preview screenshot for these yet).

Demo:

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Compared to the modified-label I used before, the new columns add some eye candy as well I think, labeling items bold also always screwed up my column layout.
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Configuration:
Is done in the script config dialog, you can change the timespans, column headers, default widths and the characters used e.g.

Installation:
To install the columns, download the *.js.txt file below and drag it to Preferences / Toolbars / Scripts.
After that, the columns shall be ready to use. Add them by right clicking any column header and look for the columns/scripts submenu.

Miscellaneous:
Consider installing the ScriptWizard for easy updating of these columns and more.

cya,
tbone

Download:

2

Hi tbone,

I just realized the same when I tried to make a "modified within 1hr" filter - but lucky for me I found your script :slight_smile:

Back to the case:
when I enable my "modified within 1hr" filter the files in question are not marked because of other filters above of it.
HOWEVER the folders containing such files are being highlighted - and here comes my question:
will you be able to adjust that script so it can work on folders as well (I mean if a modified file is buried somewhere 5 folders down then even the very top folder will show modified marking).

Thanks.

3

OK, something strange is going on that I don't understand.
Now I can see that marker near the folder which contains new/modified file (for some reason it didn't show up at first) but also there is a marker near another folder which has NO modified/new files inside (including hidden).

4

Since I cannot edit my posts I have to write another one:
I know what's going on - I have renamed 1 file inside that folder and DO shows that folder as modified but the renamed file is not treated as modified - that's why I was confused at first.

So now I know that probably the thing I asked in my first post couldn't be done - I would like to see that marker near the folders containing modified files and not a folders with, for example, removed files.

Hope it makes sense :slight_smile:

5

Hi pecaha! o)

Currently, the columns just evaluate the modification timestamp of any file or folder.
Why a folder has been modified is hard to determine, especially if you removed items from it. So that's something I wouldn't know how to detect, despite using filesystem events of some kind, which are not available to the scripting environment currently - or easily at least.

Wether that timestamp is sensible for folders is indeed questionable from time to time, but at the moment I do not plan to push this further for folders.
Drilling down every folder to find modifications done to files somehwere deeep can be an expensive task and would strongly delay the markers for all the files present. The latter is something I really would like to avoid, because "red bars" on files is what I look for in the first place.

But maybe it's a nice idea to have an option in the script column mechanism, that would allow to feed the files first and then the folders, Jon? o)

I hope to have answered your question, if not just give it another post! o)

6

Updated to v0.2:

  • new column "days since creation"
  • new column "days since modified"

I wished DO would make use of column ids defined by the script. There's no way to add/refactor/rename a set of columns without destroying a working setup.
The names of the existing columns did not change for v0.2, your DO configuration shall be unaffected after updating. Drawback: Weird naming schema now.

7

Updated to v0.2.1

  • utf8 bom was accidentally present in the upload for v0.2 (possible parsing error) - removed
8

When adding the columns, the following is given:
MF.Days cince Creation
MF.Days since Modified

It should be:
cince -> since

By the way, for consistency, perhaps "since" should be capitalized.

Anyway thanks for the script!

9

Thanks, fixed the typo here, but won't upload yet.
Not sure about the capitalized words either, the current writing fits the existing chaos quite well. o)