On this page: https://resource.dopus.com/t/folder-formats-detailed-guide/11718
is the following information:
What does 'enter' mean? Does it mean "open to see files inside a folder"?
If a folder named 'Movies' contains subfolders that contain only movies, and all those movie file types are listed in DOpus as being movies, should the Movies Content Type be detected even though only subfolders are visible, and no individual movie files are visible?
No, it only counts the files directly below the folder, since those are the ones that will be displayed using the format if the format is triggered. Having a format which adds movie columns in a folder that has no movies in it (only in sub-folders) would be pointless (unless using Flat View or something similar).
Folder and file display is inconsistent for me despite hours of trying to figure out how to get folders and files to display as I want them to. It seems to happen when I have used a Flat view. Things seems to go wonky after that, so I was trying to confirm what the folder behavior should be.
Please remove that derogatory and unnecessary definition which is not at all relevant to the use of the word 'enter' in this situation.
It's not pointless if columns I want to view are, for example, file count and subfolder count and folder size.
Please remove the derogatory screenshot of the definition for 'enter'. I'm trying to be nice - are you?
I believe I have diagnosed the problem I am having. Your answer to my previous question helped me better understand was is supposed to happen.
Situation:
I use a Flat view a lot. If I have a folder open in Flat View, the Flat View Folder Type Format is used and determines which columns are displayed. So, if I want to see the columns I have selected for the Images Content Type, I must override the Flat View Folder Type Format by selecting ‘Images’ from the Folder Formats menu. But, when I navigate to another folder, the Images Content Type Format is still used, even if that folder contains Movies only, and Flat View is off:
If I then open the folder of Movies in Flat View, the Images Content Type Format is still used:
Conclusion:
So, the problem I am experiencing is because the Content Type Format I selected to override the Flat View Folder Type Format 'sticks'. As a result, I must frequently override the Folder Format used by selecting a Folder Format from the Folder Formats menu.
Request:
When Flat View is used, and and the Flat View Folder Format has been overridden, please stop the Flat View Folder Format from 'sticking' when one navigates to another folder with a different Content Type.
I have Content Type detection enabled:
So, when I navigate to and open a folder with different content type, that content type is supposed to be detected, but it is not.
It is very bothersome that I am very frequently having to override the Folder Format.
Incosistencies
The Folder Formats page of the manual has text describing how Opus consults the Formats List to work out what format to display. First is Path Format. Next is Content Type. Then, if no other Format has matched, the Folder Types Format for that type of folder or drive is used if it's turned on.
So, according to that text, if I open a folder with images only in Flat View, the Images Content Type Format should be used, but it is not. The Flat View Folder Type Format is used. Please fix that.
So I decided to try something else: I set a Path Format for a folder containing subfolders of movies only. If I navigate to the folder of movies only, the Path Format I set is used. If I then open that folder in Flat View, the Path Format is used, not the Folder Format Type, which is Flat View.
So, When there a Path Format has been set, the Path Format is used when one selects Flat View, but If a Content Type Format is used, the Folder Type Format is used when one selects Flat View.
Comment:
It seems strange to me that Flat View, Collection, and Search Results are Folder Type Formats, instead of Content Type Formats.
In first line everything stored are files and folders - and nothing else. A collection can include all kind of files and folders, FlatView shows all kind of files and folders on one level - content is of no interest in both scenarios. You can search for music-files, but also search for size or name or date, so results are not content-specific in all cases.
But you can tell DO, if a folder includes special content like music only, then please show length, bit, year and so on... that's content-type then (see also filetype-definitions).
Content is of great interest to me when I use Flat View and Collection. So if I open a folder an its subfolders in Flat View, I would want it to display the files using a Content Type folder format if the files and percentage threshold meet the criteria for a Content Type.
Yes, I know I can tell Opus what columns to display for a Content Type, but that does not work when one uses Flat View, but I wish it did.
I only gave you an explanation how things are declared.
I think most people just want an overview of their files/folders in flatview independent of their contents, and only use this mode for that case and not as standard.
A big reason Content Type detection and Flat View are separate things is that the kind of columns typically added by Content Type detection can be very slow to populate for a huge number of files, which often makes then unwanted in conjunction with Flat View.
If you want to view those columns in Flat View, either always for certain folders or on an ad-hoc basis, then you can still do that in various ways. But it's not something that is automatically triggered based on what's in the folders.
The original question was also about viewing a list of sub-folders outside of Flat View, where there were no files visible at all. It would not make sense for that situation to trigger a Content Type format, as it'd just be adding empty columns to the file display.
Point #1:
As I said before:
I was just trying to confirm what the correct behavior should be, and now I know.
Point #2:
Here is what the manual says:
I read so much manual content and forum content in an effort to ensure I had the facts straight so that I would not annoy anyone with my questions. I then tried to describe things as carefully and accurately as possible, but your responses seem to indicate you're not reading my post carefully in an effort understand what I wrote.
If the manual is wrong or incomplete, please edit the manual. I found no text indicating that when Flat View is used, Flat View Format takes precedence over Content Type Format, yet that seems to be the case.
Point #3:
Yes, I know I can, but as I tried to explain....
...and so If I open a folder in Flat View, then select the Images Content Type Format so I can override the Flat View Format and see the columns I want to see, then later go to a folder with Movies only, the columns displayed still are for the Images Content Type Format.
Below is the same screenshot I attached before. All the files in the folder are MP4 files, but the columns match what I set for Images Content Type, so I need to override the Format again.
Thank you.
I'm commenting only on this point, not anything else in this thread.
It doesn't seem strange to me because Flat View, Collection, and Search Results are, well, types of folders or at least types of displays. They can contain any type of content.
If there are situations where one wants to display the contents of those folders as defined by a Content Type Format and is having difficulty with conflicts, fine, but surely that doesn't mean that the formats specifically intended to be for certain types of folders or displays should be Content Type Formats which are specifically defined to be about content.
I regret having mentioned that at all, as it takes away from the point I am trying to make.
I tried so hard to figure this out before posting about this issue, but I did not succeed because the information available is incorrect and incomplete.
Please correct the information in the manual (shown in the screenshot below) and/or add that 'Flat View' is an exception:
Also, If I untick Flat View in the list of Folder Type Formats because I do not wish to use it, that makes no difference.
Text from 'Folder Formats: Quick Guide':
Please also add this information to the the Folder Format guide in this forum so that others may be helped.
Finally, I have figured this out.
I see that the information in the manual at http://127.0.0.1:36787/v12.30.1/#!Documents/Prefs/Folder_Formats.htm , which contributed to my confusion, has not been changed to indicate that Flat View overrides other formats. I hope that will be changed so that others might find that information.
The other issue I described above concerned a format 'sticking' after I used Flat View, even when turned Flat View off and navigated to another folder. I now know that this is why:
(from Folder Formats: Detailed Guide)
I now realize that turning on 'Flat View' and then selecting 'Images' from the Folder Formats menu has the same result as "making changes to the folder format", and that's why the change 'stuck' - even though I did not change a folder format, I just selected another."
