If you find it, please let me know; I'll take any sequence I can get! 
Thanks,
-Jeff
Hmmm... I thought wrong it seems. I was doing ONE thing differently than what I had done before that made all the difference.
The 'Date/time modified' field IS in fact being saved as the desired sort field in the Layout... I can see it in the layout.oll file. Also, if you open one of these saved layouts and then turn OFF Flat View... you should see your sort field change BACK to the 'Date/time modified' setting...
It would seem that the Layout is loading the Flat View settings into effect 'after' the other format settings stored in the layout are evaluated... so similarly to what we were talking about before, if you've got the 'Columns' options enabled in the FV format and have it set to sort by filename... that is what is getting applied to the Lister 'after' you load the Layout. I think this is an oversight and small bugette... let's see what GPSoft say, I've updated the report I made yesterday with this info.
FYI... I think you might find that it's "OK" for you to just disable the 'Columns' option in the Flat View format definition.
Let's say that you're in an otherwise 'normal' lister sorted by filename and viewing in details more or something. Switching Flat View on at that time for it's purpose withOUT the 'Columns' option enabled in it's specific folder format will just cause the switch to 'preserve' you current formatting relative to columns etc...
This would still let you view stuff in Flat View sorted by filename without additional action on your part, and would patch up the issue of the FV format settings throwing off your layout...?
[quote="steje"]FYI... I think you might find that it's "OK" for you to just disable the 'Columns' option in the Flat View format definition.
Let's say that you're in an otherwise 'normal' lister sorted by filename and viewing in details more or something. Switching Flat View on at that time for it's purpose withOUT the 'Columns' option enabled in it's specific folder format will just cause the switch to 'preserve' you current formatting relative to columns etc...
This would still let you view stuff in Flat View sorted by filename without additional action on your part, and would patch up the issue of the FV format settings throwing off your layout...?[/quote]
That works in particular for this layout, and seems to work in general for the few test cases that I've tried. I can't imagine that having the columns option disabled for flat view will ever cause me very much (if any) grief.
Brilliant, I must say! 
Thanks for all your effort on this issue.
-Jeff
Oops.
The "Location" column doesn't automatically get added to the layout if the Columns option is disabled.
I'll have to play with this for a few days to see if I miss it.
-Jeff
Well double-woops then... I also keep the 'Location' column as part of my Flat View format, and didn't think about that when I proposed the 'workaround'.
So then, until this gets looked at by GPSoft as an item in need of fixin I guess it boils down to where the the follow-up manual effort is best kept... i.e:
a) do you leave the Flat View format alone and toggle the sorting by modified date after loading your thumbs layout
b) do you modify the Flat View format in order to prevent the need to re-sort the layout and just add a button or whatever to Set COLUMNSTOGGLE=pathrel or similar for when you find you actually want that info in your Flat View...
Edit Note: If you have a button that toggles Flat View, you could modify it so that clicking it again with a qualifier key will toggle the location column on or off. Shout if interested...
[quote="steje"]I guess it boils down to where the the follow-up manual effort is best kept... i.e:
a) do you leave the Flat View format alone and toggle the sorting by modified date after loading your thumbs layout
b) do you modify the Flat View format in order to prevent the need to re-sort the layout and just add a button or whatever to Set COLUMNSTOGGLE=pathrel or similar for when you find you actually want that info in your Flat View...
Edit Note: If you have a button that toggles Flat View, you could modify it so that clicking it again with a qualifier key will toggle the location column on or off. Shout if interested...[/quote]
I have option a) in use right now; one click on a toolbar button and I get the sort the way I want. However, since I am using a Toggle Flat View button, the modifier for it sounds intriguing, if only from a how-on-earth-would-that-work perspective.
I'm interested...
Thanks,
-Jeff
Will explain more later... but basically:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<button display="icon" icon_size="large" type="three_button">
<label>Flat View</label>
<icon1>#flatview</icon1>
<button display="both" icon_size="large">
<label>Flat View - Grouped</label>
<tip>Flat View - Grouped</tip>
<icon1>#flatviewgrouped</icon1>
<function type="normal">
<instruction>@keydown:none</instruction>
<instruction>Set FLATVIEW=Toggle,Grouped</instruction>
<instruction>@keydown:ctrl</instruction>
<instruction>Set COLUMNSTOGGLE=pathrel</instruction>
</function>
</button>
<button display="both" icon_size="large">
<label>Flat View - MixedNoFolders</label>
<tip>Flat View - MixedNoFolders</tip>
<icon1>#flatviewmixednofolders</icon1>
<function type="normal">
<instruction>@keydown:none</instruction>
<instruction>Set FLATVIEW=Toggle,MixedNoFolders </instruction>
<instruction>@keydown:ctrl</instruction>
<instruction>Set COLUMNSTOGGLE=pathrel</instruction>
</function>
</button>
<button display="both" icon_size="large">
<label>Flat View - Mixed</label>
<tip>Flat View - Mixed</tip>
<icon1>#flatviewmixednofolders</icon1>
<function type="normal">
<instruction>@keydown:none</instruction>
<instruction>Set FLATVIEW=Toggle,,Mixed</instruction>
<instruction>@keydown:ctrl</instruction>
<instruction>Set COLUMNSTOGGLE=pathrel</instruction>
</function>
</button>
</button>
Will let you hold the button down on any of the mouse clicks to this FlatView toggle button in order to also toggle the Location (relative) column on and off.
@Jeff Bellune:
If you have questions about what all that stuff I pasted to the post is about, check here for more info. Beyond that, if the conversation turns more this direction rather than specifically 'layout' related, we've probably already dugressed a bit from the topic and should start a new one 
.
[quote="steje"]@Jeff Bellune:
If you have questions about what all that stuff I pasted to the post is about, check here for more info. Beyond that, if the conversation turns more this direction rather than specifically 'layout' related, we've probably already digressed a bit from the topic and should start a new one .[/quote]
Thanks for the link. I had no idea you could paste the code that way. What I did was to paste your code into the toolbar.dop file that I opened in Notepad and then saved with the new code. I restarted DOpus to get the button to appear.
I have some limited experience programming VB in MS Access, so your code was fairly straightforward. The button worked except for the sort order. I had to add a Set SORTREVERSE=On command to get the sort order to be newest-->oldest. Regardless, that button is good stuff!
To sum up this issue for me and get the thread back OT - until/if Jon fixes this problem with FlatView and saving layouts, your Toggle Flat View button will do the job nicely. I disabled the Columns option in the default Flat View settings, and if I ever need Location information, it's just a Ctrl+Click away.
Thanks for all of your help, steje.
-Jeff
Any time Jeff... Happy New Year!
Note: Using was probably a bad example for future posterity. There are options in Opus that modify the behavior of both and clicking on toolbar buttons... Just FYI.
Find:ctrl->Replace:shift->Replace All.
Done.
The sort order is stored in the lister style.
Right Click the lister tab, and Edit Style
Select your particular style
At the bottom are the tabs for settings for the Left and/or Right Panes
Check the Format Box and click Edit
The fist tab is the Columns tab, ensure that modified is added to the available columns, and that it is Ticked as the default sort order.
Then on the Display Tab check the Reverse Order box under sort options.
On the Options Tab Consider if you want to use the "Use as default format for all subfolders" option and set accordingly.
Repeat of Right Pane if necessary, apply and exit.
Hope this helps
The sort parameters and order are saved in the lister style settings, and are dependent on the Columns you have visible and which column is selected as the Sort.
Edit your lister style, select the appropriate lister.
Set the Left and/or Right Panel tabs.
Ensure the Format box is checked, and click edit
See the Columns Tab, and check that the Modified column is added and Checked under the Sort Column
Select Display Tab, and Check Reverse under Sort Options
On Options Tab Consider "Use this format for all subfolders" check box.
Hope this helps
[b]@jgowing:
[/b][quote="jgowing"]The sort parameters and order are saved in the lister style settings, and are dependent on the Columns you have visible and which column is selected as the Sort.[/quote]
While this is all true... this is among the things I meant earlier when we were going back and forth in our discussions about there being a fair bit of functional overlap between 'Styles' and 'Layouts'. They cover alot of the same territory insofar as the settings they save and what they do fo you as a user.
Jeff was looking to get all of this formatting squared away within a 'Layout' most likely so that he can launch said layout without necessarily having a lister already opened (i.e. from system tray icon, desktop context menu, or just to open a 'new' lister with all these settings in place rather than load them into whatever his 'current' lister might be... whatever).
After our earlier discussions I am getting along much better with DOpus.
I've given up on saving Layouts, as it does not seem to serve any great purpose for me.
What I have done is discovered how to edit the Dopus Context Toolbar. I have added my favourite functions to this and I am now down to 5 Lister Tabs, which pretty much cover everything I do.
My current vexing problem is getting a view to stick. As I mentioned, I see the "View" (Thumbs, Details etc) as a function of my current objectives rather than a function of the directory. Thus when I want Details I want Details wherever I go.
I have set the Lister Styles as I described, INCLUDING the Format\Options"Use as the default format for ALL subfolders."
However if I set the lister Format to DETAILS, I still get Thumbs whenever I open a directory of images.
I suspect there is a "conflict" between my lister settings and the folder format settings. In fact the small control box for Folder formats has disappeared from the lower right corner. Can you tell me how to get it back?
Would I have to disable the Folder formats altogether in order for the Lister Style settings to override the Folder Formats?
PS I am sufficiently convinced and placed my order today.
Read the Folder Format FAQ in my signature. It's all about that kind of thing.
Yes. (With one exception; see below.) A style is applied the moment you switch to it, and then has no further effect. For example, if you click on the tab for a Style then that Style's settings will be applied on top of the lister, but from that point on if you change directories and triggers a new folder format to kick-in, it will overwrite the style's settings.
The exception is that you can set a style to turn on the Format Lock which locks the current view so that it will not change. The Format Lock is one of the things discussed in the Folder Formats FAQ, so have a read of that if you're not familiar with it.
If you never want your view to change by itself when you change folders then you should go through your Folder Formats and turn off most of their options. This is how I have my Opus configured. For example, my Images Content-Type format will not change the view mode at all, so if I change to a directory with lots of images and I'm in Details I'll stay in Details, and if I'm in Thumbnails I'll stay in Thumbnails. But I haven't turned off the Images Content-Type format completely; I still let it add some extra columns (image width and image height) when I enter folders with lots of images, as I find that useful.