This is a problem that I am having, and I can't find a way to resolve it. I have a folder format set for C:\Test. Sorting is via filename column - as sorting is a mandatory field unfortunately. I open the folder, and set the folder to sort by modified date. Now, I go into a sub-folder - say C:\Test\Temp - and then when I go back out to the parent folder (Test), the sort order changes from modified, to filename (as the folder format for Test says filename sorting, and as mentioned, sorting order is unfortunately mandatory). The change in sorting order is a little infuriating for me.
How do I get the parent folder to not change the sort order each time I go back to it?
If you go back to the parent folder using the Go UP BACK command the sort order should not change. This is the command that runs by default on the Up button in the file display toolbar and when you press the Backspace key. Also, clicking the Back button on the file display toolbar or using the Back button on your mouse (or pressing Alt + Left Arrow) also should not change the sort order. It's probably only if you go to the parent using the tree (which I'm guessing is what you're doing) that the sort order will change.
You can also click the padlock icon on the status bar to lock the folder format and prevent automatic changes.
Additionally, if you turn off the checkbox at the top of the Columns page of your folder format then it won't change the sort order either (since everything on that page is disabled), but this will also stop you modifying the columns that are visible.
Basically, control the format of the folder, except for the sorting order. If I manually change that, I don't want it changing it back when I go back into that folder.
Just for the parent. Different ones - I only have a format set for the parent folder because the autosize columns feature in DO is not smart enough to not create horizontal scrollbars (ie it should stop at the edge of the lister at its current size), so I have to scroll horizontally all the time to be able to click the other columns (like date). I finally had enough of that, so I created the folder format to turn off autosize.
Ah, I do use the buttons on the DO toolbar (the up button) - it changes the sort order, definitely.
Hm, that changes nothing. With the padlock 'locked', I go into a child folder, change the sort order, then use the up arrow to go back to the parent folder. The parent folder then takes on the sorting order of the child folder, regardless of what it was set to when I went into the child folder originally. This is all with v12 by the way.
Problem is - I need the columns set specifically, so I can disable the not smart enough autosize setting.
All in all, if the column autosize setting restricted itself to the size of the lister (as in other file managers) and as result did not create horizontal scroll bars, I wouldn't need to fluff around with folder formats at all.
I'm using the defaults (there was no prior install of DO on this PC before I installed v12)...but that button appears to be Go Up. Does that mean the defaults in v12 are not as intended?
No. I will try and explain a little better. I have a folder, lets say "Test". This folder often has file with long file names, and the autosize function makes the lister have horizontal scrollbars. I often want to change the sorting order of the folder - but to do that, I have to scroll horizontally to find the date column so I can click on it (I know about right click, but I dislike right click and so don't use it). So, I created a folder format for the folder, with set column sizes, so that there is never a horizontal scrollbar. That's fine.
Now, the folder format requires a sorting order - it's mandatory. So, I have left it set to the default - ie filename. Often, I will want to sort this folder by date, so I click the date column. All fine so far. Here is where the problem starts. I double click a child folder to check something - remember, the parent is set to date sorting - and when I go back to the parent folder (toolbar button, backspace, whatever), it changes the sorting order back to the folder format default. That is, filename. I do this hundreds of times a day - and each time, I have to once again, change the sort order back to date. I don't permanently want the sort order to be date modified, as I do use filename sorting sometimes.
So, what I want is to have a folder format set for a folder, but if I change the sort order for whatever reason, if I then go into the child folder and then back out to the parent, I do not want the folder to be changed to a different sort order from what it was when I went into the child folder. Hopefully I have explained it a little better now. In the case of using the lock, the parent folder changes to the same sort order as the child folder, and I want no changes.
It's possible they changed at some point, but factory-resetting the File Display toolbar in 12.0.11 shows the Up button runs this by default now:
Go UP BACK USEQUALKEYS
Opus 12 has autosize modes that avoid scrolling. Maybe it would be better to look at those so you can get what you actually want, and not worry about the problem caused by trying to get a different thing.
What is it you want, in terms of the column autosizing?
Which columns do you want to display in the folders, and how do you want to autosize?
Do you want the same columns in all folders, or in all folders in and below the parent, or just in the parent?
It's possible they changed at some point, but factory-resetting the File Display toolbar in 12.0.11 shows the Up button runs this by default now:
Go UP BACK USEQUALKEYS
[/quote]
I was confused for a while. Just in case blueloo is confused in the same manner, I'll explain.
I hovered the mouse pointer over the up button and saw a tooltip containing Go Up:. That made me also think that the command assigned to the button was Go Up.
Eventually I figured how to see the actual definition of the button (Enter Customize mode, right click the button, clidk Edit). I then saw that Go Up is actually only the label and the function is indeed Go UP BACK USEQUALKEYS.
[quote="leo"]It's possible they changed at some point, but factory-resetting the File Display toolbar in 12.0.11 shows the Up button runs this by default now:
Go UP BACK USEQUALKEYS
Silly question - how do I reset that particular toolbar? I can find out how to rest the file and operations toolbars, but not this particular one
It does? This is something I've wanted for years, and I have been checking the v12 changelogs, but saw no mention of this at all. Where are they located?
[quote]What is it you want, in terms of the column autosizing?
Which columns do you want to display in the folders, and how do you want to autosize?
Do you want the same columns in all folders, or in all folders in and below the parent, or just in the parent?[/quote]
Basically, I want to display the default fields - ie Name, Size, Type, Modified, Attr, and to have autosize stop when it hits the edge of the file display - so there is no horizontal scrollbar. It is mainly the Name column (as mentioned this folder has a lot of long filenames in it), I just don't want the Name column resizing itself to 3000 characters long, and having to scroll horizontally for an hour just to see the other columns (slight exaggeration, but not by much). So, sans autosizing not limiting itself to to the max width of the file display (ignoring the size of the file display is how it has always behaved, since the beginning), I decided to create a folder format, with one single setting change - ie disabling autosize. Of course, because the filenames are now too long to display, and DO does not display filenames in the tooltips by default, I had to add a name field to both 'All Files' and 'All Folders' (adding it to 'All Files and Folders' does nothing).
I also just want this to affect the parent folder, the child folders usually don't have long filenames.
[quote="rcoleman1943"]I was confused for a while. Just in case blueloo is confused in the same manner, I'll explain.
I hovered the mouse pointer over the up button and saw a tooltip containing Go Up:. That made me also think that the command assigned to the button was Go Up.
Eventually I figured how to see the actual definition of the button (Enter Customize mode, right click the button, clidk Edit). I then saw that Go Up is actually only the label and the function is indeed Go UP BACK USEQUALKEYS.[/quote]
I am confused. I use the button with the up pointing arrow icon to go back to a folder, as it is the closest button to the address field, which means I don't need to move the mouse as such. This is the button I was referring to in my post above about it only being "Go UP BACK USEQUALKEYS". I assumed that is what Jon meant by "Up button in the file display toolbar" (ie the Up arrow icon).
Just to add to my above post re: the location of the new autosize options. I have checked the DO preferences dialog three times now (using 'size' as the search term), and I see no reference to these. I also see no sign of them in the folder formats dialog. Did a full text search of the PDF release notes, and the only mention of autosize is a scripting thing for columns, and it doesn't say anything about any properties of autosize, just that it switches it on if set to 'true'.
Ok, I accidentally stumbled across how to reset that toolbar. The 'up arrow' button has this code now:
Go UP BACK USEQUALKEYS
So no change in other words. It also still makes the parent folder drop back to the folder format sorting order when I use it - ie, again no change.
The 'left arrow' button has this code:
Go BACK USEQUALKEYS
It does seem to leave the sorting order in the parent folder alone, but it is further away from the address field than the up button, meaning further mouse movement - and my muscle memory won't like me using it, because I have always used the up button. So maybe forget about those buttons - I think that is a lost cause. Might be easier to concentrate on the autosizing. Where are the new autosizing options, and how do I apply them to all folders on the PC, preferably co-existing with any existing folder formats I have setup (aside from the one format I have where I have disabled autosizing, which I can possibly delete if I can get autosize to behave, I have about 8 or 9 folder formats I have set for other folders, I don't think I have disabled autosizing for them, mainly changing the columns displaying, sorting order or background image I believe).
In the first post of the Beta 12, near the bottom is the following bullet-point:
[quote][ul][li]Improvements to Folder Options including:
[ul][li]Configure column widths to expand and fill the usable space in the file display.[/li]
[li]A column filter makes it easier to find and add the columns you want.[/li]
[li]File and folder name filters can be configured using regular expressions if desired.[/li][/ul][/li][/ul][/quote]
Set the Filename column to Auto/Fill, as below, and that's probably all you need to do. It will then use, at most, the remaining space that the other columns have not taken up, without adding any scrollbar.
I'll be making a video tutorial on the new column sizing options (which will also be documented more fully once the new manual is done, before the proper release), since it's a lot easier to see them in action than read explanations of what they do.
Ok, that sounds good. Will try out 'auto' and 'fill'. Is there a folder format that affects every single folder on the PC that I can add it to? Checking Options > Folder Formats, it seems I would have to probably change every single folder format listed in this dialog to cover everything.
