TC 7 [req]: Temp Panel/Virtual folders

[Valery_Kondakoff]

Still no temporary panel?..

[mod]Splitted from:
http://www.ghisler.ch/board/viewtopic.php?t=8765[/mod]

[ghisler(Author)]

Yes, sorting of multiple columns will be in 7.0. Currently no internal temp panel is planned - it wouldn't work with any of the current file functions, so I would have to rewrite almost the entire program. What do you miss in the temp panel plugin? I don't use this temp panel stuff myself so I don't really see what the real purpose is.

[Lefteous]

2ghisler(Author)

Currently no internal temp panel is planned

Really bad news (competitors may have another opinion). This feature is one of the most wanted features as you probably know from many threads.

What do you miss in the temp panel plugin? I don't use this temp panel stuff myself so I don't really see what the real purpose is.

I have picked an exemplary thread which shows the differences between those plugins and competitor implementations quite well:
http://www.ghisler.ch/board/viewtopic.php?t=1323
I don't know if really makes senses to repeat all this. I think there are enough sources.

it wouldn't work with any of the current file functions, so I would have to rewrite almost the entire program.

This feature has been requested since ages. Sorry, I really think that's enough time.

[ghisler(Author)]

This feature has been requested since ages. Sorry, I really think that's enough time.

Sorry, but the way how TC works is just not compatible with the TEMP panel behaviour. TEMP panels could contain files from the file system, archives, plugins, ftp etc, so each file would have to be treated separately with a separate copy, delete, pack etc. function - no optimizations would be possible. That's what I mean with complete rewriting - TC isn't currently file-object-oriented, but dir-oriented (a function works on a certain directory).

Rewriting all functions now or a few years ago wouldn't have made any reall difference.

[Lefteous]

2ghisler(Author)

Rewriting all functions now or a few years ago wouldn't have made any reall difference.

One day you should really tackle this. I wouldn't have a problem with a version which just contains just this new feature.

Another approach could be to start with an implementation that is well integrated but misses some functionality. You could rewrite the program later.

[Hacker]

Christian,

TEMP panels could contain files from the file system, archives, plugins, ftp etc,

For a beginning, it would be completely sufficient if a virtual folder could contain files and folders from the filesystem. No archives, plugins, ftp, etc.

Roman

[Balderstrom]

Did anyone see my post in the other thread, about feeding data from the listbox to a File.lst ? And opening that file into a New panel automatically?

Also options could be added to allow deletion's/renames of information within the displayed file.lst to affect the Files it references.

Not sure if this is exactly what ppl are talking about w/ Temp panels, but that type of "Panel" would save between shut downs as its referencing a real file.

[Lefteous]

2Balderstrom

Did anyone see my post in the other thread, about feeding data from the listbox to a File.lst ? And opening that file into a New panel automatically?
...
Not sure if this is exactly what ppl are talking about w/ Temp panels, but that type of "Panel" would save between shut downs as its referencing a real file.

Hi,

yes, as far as I remember Ghisler once mentioned that he could use parts of the feed to listbox feature to provide a limited virtual file list/temp panel implementation without too much effort.

[JP]

about
the future of TC !!!

A future for TC? With no virtual folders? Just take a look at SpeedCommander and see how this function works fine...
And what for? You could pack a lots of files from diferent sources very easily (copy to Virtual Folder and pack 'em).
Concerning rewriting TC, maybe it's time to think about it...

[pdavit]

I personally believe that we should skip Virtual Files/Folders for one more time
but consider them seriously in a future version that will cope with Windows Vista.

If that version is released some time after the release of Windows Vista would be
even better as we can gather up experience and have an even better implementation
for TC.

What puzzles me is that temp panels and virtual folders are not 100% equal entities
and we might have confused them a little here!

[Valery_Kondakoff]

For a beginning, it would be completely sufficient if a virtual folder could contain files and folders from the filesystem. No archives, plugins, ftp, etc.

Exactly. This is the basic functionality and this is what most of us are expecting from TempPanel/Virtual Folders...

[JohnFredC]

Random thoughts:

The so-called "virtual folders" concept for a file manager is the single most important enhancement I can imagine for TC.

Very sorry to hear this is not a priority for TC, but I can understand if development is waiting to piggy-back on an expected Windows Vista API for that purpose.

File location in the system file hierarchy is not the only useful organizing principle. Christian, I honestly think even you would use "virtual folders"... they are great for consolidating any kind of project and represent additional dimensions (or degrees of freedom) for organizing file resources.

[Lefteous]

2pdavit

I personally believe that we should skip Virtual Files/Folders for one more time
but consider them seriously in a future version that will cope with Windows Vista.

If that version is released some time after the release of Windows Vista would be
even better as we can gather up experience and have an even better implementation
for TC.

What puzzles me is that temp panels and virtual folders are not 100% equal entities
and we might have confused them a little here!

The feature which can be estimated in Windows Vista is something that works quite different in many. While we are talking about a generic container Microsoft would like to have containers which list objects which match certain criterias.
The term virtual folders is missleading in many ways. Virtual folders is the name for an already existing feature in Microsoft Windows since about 10 years. The desktop is such a virtual folder.
Anyway I don't think the name of such a feature is the biggest problem...

[ghisler(Author)]

Ghisler once mentioned that he could use parts of the feed to listbox feature to provide a limited virtual file list/temp panel implementation without too much effort.

That's true, but only for a TEMP panel without any subfolders. For subfolders, a simple file list isn't sufficient, there must be two lists:
- one with the files in the entire panel (including subdirs)
- one with the files of the current temp panel subdir

Every single function in TC would have to be changed to work with this double list system, so it would take several months (including testing) to add such a feature JUST for local files. I don't think that such a feature deserves such a big amount of work - 95% of the users wouldn't even notice the new feature, and 99% would never use it...

[Balderstrom]

Why can it not just be a list of pointers?
Any folders within such a TempPanel would have to be Junctions, thus any files within a junction would just be the real files.

The only other files in question would be in the root dir of the TempPanel, and they are pointers to the actual files.

The temp panel would only need to list/store information about the file/shortcuts that duplicates required information about the file.

Any action performed in this "Temp/Panel" would affect what is being pointed to. The temp panel would need to be given permission to affect the actual files pointed to, via deletion/rename/etc.

All these lists/and sublists, sounds like it is being made more complicated than it is.

You would need one, maybe two extra commands, Remove From List, and Rename in List. As any actual Delete/Rename, would affect the real file/folder.