filenames in document selector right-justified

cycloid · Post by **cycloid** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 9:59 am

simple enough, if i'm editing multiple files in multiple locations it helps to turn the full paths on in the doc selector window to determine which is where. but then i have to massively stretch it because it starts on the left with the drive letter. most of the time this isnt what i want to know as files generally share the same drive and parent folder tree and all i can see in the selector it T:\somefolder\someotherfolder\.. repeated 20 times and not the actual file names!

tvienti · Post by **tvienti** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 6:01 pm

/agree

Lawrence Dol · Post by **Lawrence Dol** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 8:45 pm

Better, I think is to group the documents by their directory, shown right justified, and show only the simple filename, indented under the directory. I wouldn't want a full tree display because I usually edit my code about 15 directories deep.

indgosky · Post by **indgosky** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 8:48 pm

Lawrence Dol wrote:Better, I think is to group the documents by their directory, shown right justified, and show only the simple filename, indented under the directory. I wouldn't want a full tree display because I usually edit my code about 15 directories deep.

This is exactly what I came here to suggest today. Glad I searched first!

Code: Select all

.../project/src/com/domain/pkg1/
    ClassA.java
    ClassB.java
.../project/src/com/domain/pkg2/
    ClassA.java
    ClassB.java

So... PLEEEASE, Please, please, pretty-please?

hillsc · Post by **hillsc** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 3:12 pm

Oddly enough, this is similar to what I just logged in to request. I worry a bit about making it grouped by directory. That's a path that will ultimately lead to a little built-in "Windows Explorer" where the document selector used to be.

I think the easiest thing would be to add user-defined folders. Then, if the user wants them to map to physical directories, it's up to them. If another user wants to just create "source files", "ini files", no problem. Yet another might break it up by "project1" and "project2".

indgosky · Post by **indgosky** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 3:58 pm

hillsc wrote:...making it grouped by directory. That's a path that will ultimately lead to a little built-in "Windows Explorer" where the document selector used to be.

Not at all; what we're (or at least I'm) suggesting is a completely flattened view... merely grouping files together by common "prefix" (where prefixes happen to be paths), but no actual hierarchy. Just a visual grouping and a good way to deal with the long path names.

Manually configuring folder sets for each project or sub-project is really pretty heavyweight... it reminds me of all the "project configuration" one has to do with a full-blown IDE. The above proposed solution, on the other hand, automatically aids with visual organization and readability -- no expense to the user.

Cheers,
-mct

hillsc · Post by **hillsc** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 7:28 pm

I agree with that: a good way to deal with long path names. However, I'll let my own enhancement suggestion stand. I would like folders. Even just one level would be plenty. I only base this on seven years of TextPad use and frequently thinking, "Gosh, I wish I could group these open documents into folders."

Probably because it's not uncommon for me to have 50 or 60 files open at a time. So I'd like to group all source files together, all "scratch" files together, all "output" files together. Since a lot of times they're all in the same directory, sorting by this "prefix" wouldn't help me.

With or without folders, your request is still a valid one.