Is there an Opus equivalent to the "Date" column as implemented in Win10 File Explorer?

[Buckaroo]

(Please forgive if this question has previously been answered, which, if so, I couldn't find.)

As shown in the attached annotated screenshot, Windows 10 File Explorer’s “Date” column collects diverse image & video files’ origin date/time (if/when available) according to a prioritized combination of:

• “Media created,”
• “Date taken,”
• “Date modified,”
• “Date last saved,” and
• “Date acquired.”

This is the behavior I need in Directory Opus since File Explorer is unusably slower than Opus when dealing with thousands of image and video files at a time.

Is there an equivalent "Date" function in Opus?

Also attached is a screenshot of all the date/time columns I could find in Opus. None of them behaved as "Date" does in File Explorer.

As I need to organize by origin date (if/when available) over 700,000 image and video files of many different formats (e.g., AVI, JPG, MP4, MOV, PNG, etc.), a single date/time column that collects data from all types of files and prioritizes origin dates derived from EXIF data, such as occurs in "Media created," will be a major productivity tool.

Best regards!

[lxp]

You can use a custom column to retrieve the value from the shell properties.

This add-in uses System.ItemDate.

function OnInit(initData) {
    initData.name = 'SystemItemDate';
    initData.version = '2022-03-19';
    initData.url = 'https://resource.dopus.com/t/is-there-an-opus-equivalent-to-the-date-column-as-implemented-in-win10-file-explorer/40834';
    initData.desc = 'Retrieves System.ItemDate from the Shell (File Explorer\'s "Date")';
    initData.default_enable = true;
    initData.min_version = '12.0';
}

function OnAddColumns(addColData) {
    var col = addColData.AddColumn();
    col.name = 'SystemItemDate';
    col.label = 'SystemItemDate';
    col.header = 'SystemItemDate';
    col.justify = 'left';
    col.type = 'datetime';
    col.autogroup = true;
    col.method = 'OnColumn';
}

function OnColumn(scriptColData) {
    scriptColData.value = scriptColData.item.ShellProp('System.ItemDate');
}

ColumnSystemItemDate.js.txt (832 Bytes)

This property might not be the one you are looking for. Use this script to find the right one:

Quickly find shell property names

This is only useful to people writing other scripts, not by itself. This is a simple script button which helps you find shell property names, for when you wish to import one of File Explorer's columns into Opus. For an example script add-in which u…

General advice:

How to use buttons and scripts from this forum

This post explains how to add buttons to toolbars and menus, and also applies to raw commands for things like standalone hotkeys. For how to use Script Add-Ins, please scroll down to see the post below this one. Much of this assumes Directory Opus…

[Buckaroo]

lxp - YES!!! That is exactly what I needed and has already saved hours of work!!!

Thank you so very much!!!

[Buckaroo]

Now that SystemItemDate is working great in regular folders, is there an equivalent that will work inside compressed (e.g., zip, rar) folders?

This would eliminate the necessity of extracting files before determining their original origin date/time.

Best regards!

[lxp]

I am afraid, there is not, but I can think of two workarounds:

• Write a custom column, that reads the metadata and picks the right date based on an algorithm that mimics File Explorer's logic.
• Mount the archives as drives with a tool like Pismo File Mount (pismotec.com).

[Buckaroo]

Wow! You again save hours of work & wait! Pismotec is great!

Thank you so very much!!!