Different Views for Different Folders

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Patriot Front
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:22 am

Different Views for Different Folders

Post by Patriot Front »

I would like different view options for different folders, but as I change one, it changes all folders to the last setting. Any help would be appreciated. :roll:
AllenT
Posts: 25
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2010 3:01 pm

Re: Different Views for Different Folders

Post by AllenT »

Patriot Front,

Welcome aboard!

The View setting is tab-wide, that is, new tabs can have different views, but the same view is applied to any location in a particular tab. If you have a small number of folders, you can open a new tab for each one, and change the view to suit. Make sure you set the option for "Load previous tabs" (Tools/Options.../General) or you will lose all that when you close Explorer++.

I think what you were hoping was that each folder could have a different view associated with it - that would require a list somewhere of Folder & View. Sadly, that list doesn't exist - even Windows Explorer has an upper limit as to how many you can save...
Patriot Front
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:22 am

Re: Different Views for Different Folders

Post by Patriot Front »

Thanks for the help so far. I did open several tabs and set the view settings for each one. I do have the 'open previous tabs' option checked in settings. However, when I X the explorer and restart, all those tabs are gone. How do I retain the explorer after I open tabs and set it up?
ajs
Posts: 409
Joined: Mon Jul 05, 2010 6:37 pm

Re: Different Views for Different Folders

Post by ajs »

One possible reason of "losing every settings" could be that you have a config.xml file in your E++ folder but you are not running in portable mode. Such file would have been created if you tried out the "portable mode" before. If you reverted to non-portable mode and didn't delete the config file, every time you restart E++, it would load the settings from the file instead of the registry.
Have a look.
Patriot Front
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:22 am

Re: Different Views for Different Folders

Post by Patriot Front »

I am ready to give up using ++. It is very glitchy anyway. The point was to configure it to my liking and improve the awful Windows Explorer. ++ might be worse. I don't know how to 'delete'config files' or alter the registry. :cry:
AllenT
Posts: 25
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2010 3:01 pm

Re: Different Views for Different Folders

Post by AllenT »

Patriot Front,

Yes, there might be a few glitches, but don't give up - just yet!

First of all, if you are running 64-bit Windows, you must use the 64-bit version of Explorer++. That can be a source of troubles. Also, Explorer++ requires Windows XP or higher - not sure of the behaviour if you have something else. As for the settings, try this (read the whole thing first! This will nuke all your current settings.):
  • Navigate to the Explorer++ installation folder - this is likely something like C:\Program Files\Explorer++, but you may have placed it somewhere else. Just go to the place where you know Explorer++.exe resides.
  • Look in that folder for a file called "config.xml" - if it is there, delete it. Don't close E++ yet!
  • Go to the Tools menu, select Options..., General tab and make sure that "Run in portable mode is NOT checked. Click OK when that is done, whether you changed anything or not.
  • From the File menu, select "Show Command Prompt" - this should open up a command window.
  • Leave the command window open, but close Explorer++. The command window should have opened in the same folder that you navigated to - the one that contains Explorer++.exe.
  • In the command window, type: explorer++.exe -clear_settings
    This will nuke all the registry settings. Presumably, you have already nuked the portable settings file (config.xml). The command should produce a small dialog "Settings cleared successfully" - when you close the dialog, Explorer++ will open, now with ALL the default settings in place. The default setting is to "load previous tabs".
You can now close the command window, and Explorer++ - this saves all settings to the registry, with the default behaviour of "saving tabs".

If following these steps still does not save your tabs, there must be something else going on - perhaps something installed that is interfering in a big way! Post back if it still doesn't work with as much infomation as you can think of about what happened, or anything else relevant.

I hope you have discovered the Help file - here. It is not yet complete, but well underway.

Good luck!
rkeizer
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2011 1:20 am

Re: Different Views for Different Folders

Post by rkeizer »

I would LOVE to have this feature, being able to set different view options for different folders. I just got a new computer with Windows 7. Explorer++ beats the new Windows Explorer hands down, but this is a feature I miss very much from my Windows XP machine.

This may be way out there, but I'd also enjoy being able to set the order in which files sorted by type appear - for instance Excel files, followed by Word files, followed by PDFs.

Thanks so much for creating this program - your efforts are greatly appreciated.
chele
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 2:38 am

Re: Different Views for Different Folders

Post by chele »

Wondering if we're all on the same page here, so to speak.

Was the O.P. referring to the settings on the view menu, or to the expansion of the folders?

For what it's worth, I think it would be lovely if I could set a number of tabs up, each with a given target directory and a given expansion, and set Explorer++ to open and show just those tabs, just as I set them up, without the expansion of one affecting the expansion of any other. Superlock?

It really does seem to me that Explorer++ comes so very close to perfection, but then misses with this most desirable feature.

Just my 2 cents.
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