Folder Formats - the last frontier

Help & Support
1

Yes, I have read all of the FAQs and the Help, several times, but am still confused about exactly how folder formats are stored. Here is the picture I have:

Let's first look at the Preferences Dialog (Preferences -> Folders -> Folder Format). If I add a Path Format (for a single folder, or a folder and its subfolders) there, I think that will apply to the formatting of that folder (and its subfolders) in the layout I am editing these preferences in, and it should apply to all of its styles and tabs. Is that correct?

So now let's look at the Folder Options dialog: If I save the format I have defined there in some tab, for some folder (possibly its subfolders, too), then that will apply to only that folder and subfolder in the current layout, and only for the current tab. I also have the option to save for all layouts and tabs, in which case all layouts and tabs will inherit that format. Is that the same as defining a Path Format in Preferences? Why can I not define a format that's valid for all tabs, but only for the current layout?

I guess my main confusion comes from the treatment of Tabs. Maybe if someone could explain in what configuration files these settings are stored and how, that might clear up the confusion for me, too.

Thanks a lot for any insight anybody can give me on this.

2

Each layouts stores its own formats which override everything else (when you open that layout).

See Default Lister, Layouts, Styles and Folder Tab Groups in the Folder Formats: Detailed Guide FAQ.

3

Yes, like I said, I did read that, but what's the deal with the tabs? It seems that if I have several tabs, then I need to save the layout I want in every single one of the tabs separately, correct? And what happens if I choose "For this Folder+ Layouts&Folder Tabs"? Then the format is changed for all the layouts I have, isn't it? What if I just want that format applied to all Folder Tabs in my current layout, but not to any other layout?

4

Open the layout, adjust each of the tabs in it that you want to adjust, then re-save the layout.

5

(If there are a crazy number of tabs, you could speed that process up a bit by saving the format as a Favorite Format, then making a button which applies that to the current tab. Then you just flick through the tabs, clicking the button in each one, before re-saving the layout.)

6

O.k., I think I got it now. It seems I was confused about the role of the Default Format, not realizing that the Default Format will apply to all tabs, new and old, that do not have their own special format defined. Somehow I had this idea that different tabs can end up with different Default Formats (and, likewise, different settings for File Type groups, etc.), but this is not the case, correct?