Folders not auto loaded can still be modified

Steps to recreate the problem (assuming your settings do not automatically load network folders, and Directory Opus defaults to opening the last folder you were looking at last time you used it):

  1. Go to a network share with Directory Opus.
  2. Close Directory Opus.
  3. Open Directory Opus.
  4. You should see the following message instead of the contents of the folder: This network folder has not been loaded automatically because of your Preferences settings.
  5. Without clicking the Click here to read the directory blue text, use the hotkey or click the button for creating a new folder.
  6. Enter any name for a folder and press enter.
  7. Directory Opus created the folder you requested without loading the network share.

Expected Behavior:
Either:

  • Nothing should happen
  • A warning should appear
  • The folder should load upon creating the new folder

As it is, it doesn't seem intuitive to allow performing any kind of modifying action on a directory that isn't visible to you at the moment. It is difficult to tell that you just created a new folder in the obscured directory. This mistake usually arises from having the wrong pane focused in Directory Opus when creating a new folder.

That isn't a bug. If you want to create a new folder somewhere, we won't stop you from doing it unless there is an error. A directory listing is not needed to create a folder.

If having the wrong tab active is the problem, that can happen whether the folder listing is visible or not. If the problem is the left side is active when you think the right side is, you can make separate New Folder etc. buttons which only and always affect one side or the other. (Or put the buttons on a File Display Toolbar, which works that way automatically.) With those, you don't need to worry about which side is active.

Auto-loading is optional and can be turned off purely for performance reasons, to avoid the overhead of reading large folders or from slow/unavailable devices/servers. It's not intended to block operations or stop anything other than reading the folder listing and associated metadata.