Sending Results to a Custom Layout

StuSmith · September 5, 2012, 10:33am

Hi everybody,

I'm hoping that some one will be able to help with, what is more than likely, a piffling problem.

What I would like to do, is send the results of my FIND query to a custom layout in a separate Lister.

My current methodology is to right-click on the Find Results tab and select Split To New Lister. This new Lister is then moved, re-sized and has the columns moved and readjusted.

So, in a nutshell, is it possible to save this modified layout and have then it opened when I press the Find button, with the current and all subsequent results sent to it as well?

Many thanks and kudos in advance,
Stu.

Leo · September 5, 2012, 11:56am

It's easier to do it the other way around: Save the layout how you want it, with the Find panel turned on, and then open the layout rather than the Find panel. (You can make a button or hotkey to do that if you don't want to use the Layouts menu.)

StuSmith · September 6, 2012, 12:08am

Hello Leo,
Thank you very much for your reply.

After playing around with your suggestion for awhile, it sadly has become obvious to me that I am way too ignorant to implement your suggestion. After much fluffing around I was never able to make the saved layout appear when I pressed my new search button.

The attached picture is the way I originally envisioned the output to be.

The reasons I desire this is are, it allows me the utilise the power the Find Panel coupled with, for me anyway, the convenience of a floating output window.

As a side note - The only way, IMHO, that the Find Panel could be improved is that when I select a new Lister or Directory, this new selection is reflected within the Find In box.

Once again, thank you for your advice and I shall try once more to see if I can follow through with your suggestion.
Stu.

StuSmith · September 20, 2012, 3:53am

Hello,

I have now advanced to the stage where a new Lister with custom Layout opens when I press the new search button I added to the Toolbar . As you mentioned Leo, this is the bee's knees.
There are just 3 areas that I am having problems and I am hoping that you, once again, will be able to set me on the path to righteousness.

How do you pass the selected Drive(s) or Folder(s) that I wish to search to my new layout? In this case from the Dual Lister to the Single Lister. In the image below, I have 4 sub-directories selected in the Dual Lister that I want to search. As you can see, the Find Lister opened, but with the root of every drive selected in the "Find In" window.
I have used the following arguments in the new Find Button:

Prefs LAYOUT="FloatingFind"
Find IN {sourcepath}

... but to no avil

Is it possible to keep using this opened Find Lister for new searches or must it always open a new instance of itself? For example I navigate to a new area in the Dual Lister, start a new search and the new search path(s) are sent to the open Find Lister.
Minor but annoying, I have saved the layout at full screen height, but for some reason it always reopens at 2/3 of the screen height. Is Areo Snap the culprit?

Thank you for any advice you can offer in the regards to these queries.

Stu.

Leo · September 20, 2012, 10:34am

[quote="StuSmith"]Prefs LAYOUT="FloatingFind"
Find IN {sourcepath}[/quote]
Rather than that, I would use this to open the layout in the current folder:

Go CURRENT LAYOUT="FloatingFind"

Then, in the new window, select the dirs you want to search and use this command to send the selected dirs to the find panel:

Find IN {allfilepath}

(You could also drag the dirs into the Find panel, but that would add them without removing the existing dir, so you probably don't want that.)

As a bonus, you can now use the layout to search the current folder, when you want to, by skipping the second step.

If you run the button to open a new layout again then it will always open a new window, but if you separate the "open find layout" and "send selected folders to find panel" buttons (as above) then you can simply stay in the Find window to re-use it.

Yes, Microsoft forgot to update the WindowPlacement APIs when they added Aero Snap to Windows 7, so there is no way for to save and restore windows in a snapped state; instead their normal state is saved and restored.

You can work around that by resizing the window to full height without using Aero Snap. Then it will be saved & restored that way. To do that, move the window down the screen, so it's away from the top of the screen, then resize the window by its top edge to make it as tall as possible, then move it back up the screen.

StuSmith · September 20, 2012, 4:45pm

Hi Leo,

Thank you very much for your suggestions. They have enabled me to learn more about the sheer scope of Dopus than i ever imagined, sadly though I seem to be drifting too far from my initial concept. I shall attempt to describe my idea with more clarity.

I have made a new Lister which opens with "coll://Find Results" as its focus. Any search I perform in the Find Panel generates a Tab with the search results and these results are reflected in the stand alone lister on the left. The attached image shows the outcome of a search.

Now for the crux of my idea, what I would like is a button that does the following:

Open the Find Panel in my Dual Lister
Open the Lister that I created for the search results to be displayed in
NEVER EVER EVER open the "Find Results" Tab in my Dual Lister Display or anywhere else for that matter

If point 3 is not possible or just too damn complex, how do I go about submitting a request for a "Output Redirect" command to be added to the "Find" button?.

Thank you for all the effort you have made Leo, I really appreciate it.
Stu.

Leo · September 20, 2012, 5:25pm

Easier, and the same end result:

Open your FloatingFind layout, showing the current folder (not Find Results; you haven't done the Find yet so the results aren't interesting yet ) with the Find panel at the bottom.
Set up the Find panel as you want (possibly including changing the folders it searches in if you don't want to search the current folder itself), then click Find.
Assuming the Find panel is set to show results in "Source" and not "Source (new tab)", it will then automatically switch to showing the Find Results collection as the results come in.

StuSmith · September 22, 2012, 1:00pm

Hi Leo,
Thank you for your advice and ideas. Slowly but surely the vision I have is getting closer.

I have been working with the Internal Commands, and sadly I am unable to grasp the concepts that the manual provides. Following is the code I placed behind the buttons with a description of the results.

In the Find Panel, "show results in" has been set to "Source (new tab)".

Default Find Button

Close ALLOTHERLISTERS

Find

Wonderful, if I have my Custom Lister open and the Utility Panel closed, this little baby stops me spawning any extra listers.

v1.0
Custom Button

Go TABMOVE=splitlister

I am so close to what I am after I feel a little giddy. A seperate lister populated with the search results. Now, apply my custom layout and its time for champange.

v1.01
Custom Button

Go TABMOVE=splitlister Prefs LAYOUT="FloatingFind" LAYOUTTHISLISTER

The way I have understood the documentaion, is, the FloatingFind layout should be applied to the current lister, which is the one I just created from the previous command. What actually happens is, a new Lister is created and FloatingFind is applied to my original Dual Lister. Hmm a little saddened.

Is it possible to have Custom Listers displayed in the Drop Down that conatins Destination, Destination(new tab)...etc? Or a script that gets run when I push the Find button?

example pseudo-code

If CustomLayout <> Open Then Search Splittab Apply Custom Layout Else Search End If

I hope that helps describe what my end goal is. I would like my search results to be sent to a Custom Lister that displays them in a way that I want, while I can still navigate and make search queries in my Dual Lister layout.

Again I thank you for the time and effort you have put into this Leo.
Stu.

Leo · September 22, 2012, 3:31pm

You're still opening the find results in a new tab of the current window, then jumping through hoops to move that tab into a new window.

My suggestion was to open the new window first, and run the find in that, with the results set to replace that window (i.e. set the Find In drop-down "SOURCE" and not "SOURCE (NEW TAB)".

StuSmith · September 22, 2012, 4:13pm

Hi Leo,
Thank you for the quick reply.

Yes you have repeatedly and guided me towards running my search in the new lister, but that is the exact thing I wish to avoid. My Custom button is but one step away from making internally bezerk with pleasure.

Custom Button v1.23

Close ALLOTHERLISTERS Go TABMOVE=splitlister Prefs LAYOUT="FloatingFind" Close ALLOTHERLISTERS Prefs LAYOUT="Default" Find

This comes so close it hurts. The Final Find command opens in the FloatingFind lister. I tried using "@sync" on the Prefs LAYOUT="Default" so that the command was run before the lister was active, but as you already know, that was kaput.
Also I used to have just Close after "Go TABMOVE..." but that did nothing I could see.

Oh well, seeing as I only need to use the button once to create my custom lister, I guess I had better just "Have a mug of concrete and harden the F up"

Thank you for your Knowledge and patience Leo.
Stu.

StuSmith · September 22, 2012, 4:33pm

Hi Leo,

Hahahaha I've just had a eureka moment which 2 things:

1 You'll get no more posts from on this subject
2 I have got it to work exactly as I envisioned it.

Custom Button v1.27
Close ALLOTHERLISTERS
Go TABMOVE=splitlister
Go Current LAYOUT="Default"
Delete EMPTYRECYCLE FORCE QUIET <---- this kills enough time for the default lister to regain focus
Close ALLOTHERLISTERS
Prefs LAYOUT="FloatingFind"

Again, I think you most sincerely for your knowledge and patience Leo.
Stu.

StuSmith · September 24, 2012, 2:47am

UPDATE

For anybody else who has, like me, a unnatural desire to have your Search Results sent to a Custom Lister(s) please read on:

After much trial and error and finally printing out the section on internal commands I have reached what I think to be the optimal solution. (No way around it, online documentation blows if you only have a single monitor)

Create your Custom Layout making sure the path is directed to "coll://Find Results" --> Save with the name chosen name
Alt-Left Click the Find button or select Customize... from the Settings Menu
Right Click the Find Button and click Three Buttons option so there is a Check Mark next to it
right Click the Drop Down that appears under the Find button and Right Click, now select Insert New Button
Right Click the button that has been added to the drop down and select Edit
Click the Advanced... Button and paste the following code

Close ALLOTHERLISTERS Go TABCLOSE Prefs LAYOUT="[i]YourCustomLayout[/i]"

Make any changes you desire to the Label: - Tip: - Hotkey:
Press Ok in each of the open dialogs

Now for the easy bit

Open the find utility panel and make the following adjustments in the image below.

What this now does when you Right Click the Find button, in the following order is:

Close all listers that are open EXCEPT the current one you are using
Closes the Find Results Tab
Opens your custom lister with the results of you search

If you Right Click the Find button without having performed a search the following happens:

Dual Lister - Source Lister closes, your Custom Layout Opens displaying any previous search results
Single Lister - your Custom Layout Opens displaying any previous search results

I hope that some one else may find something useful from this
Stu.