Main Area and Open Discussion > General Software Discussion
Program Whose Time Has Come: virtual folders, collections, file baskets...
tranglos:
Some time ago (years, but how many?) I read about a file manager that gives you several "views" on your files: you have a calendar view with color-coded entries showing which project's files were worked on; you assign files to projects (nowadays one would say tags), filter by projects, date, age, and so on.
-housetier (July 27, 2009, 06:40 AM)
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Sounds good. Filtering and color-coding are available in advanced filenamangers to some extent. The idea for file collections has been raised again and again on TC forums, but the author doesn't seem swayed by it. (I recall him explaining that it would require a grounds-up rewrite of TC due to how the filelist panels are implemented).
On the other hand, I don't *quite* believe that explanation, since TC already shows search results in a file panel, and search results are a kind of a virtual folder, too. So is the "flat" view (Ctrl+B), which shows all files from all subfolders in a single list. These view are not persistent, but they support all or almost all the features that regular file panels do.
fenixproductions:
2tranglos
I also do not believe it is impossible in TC. There are few filesystem plugins for that but they all have some disadvantages.
As for branch view and search results we should remember that while they look like virtual filesystems, they are not. Presented files are interpreted like in standard view. All operations work on real files, no matter how it is shown.
For virtual files/folders there would be special need for additional set of methods for almost all existing ones or to make them all different. Without that, deleting file from virtual filesystem would delete the real one. It is problematic because there seem to be only "one per type" methods (one delete, one pack, etc.) but virtual systems need to operate on both: links and real resources.
wraith808:
Benubird PDF: http://www.debenu.com/benubird/features.html
- The weirdest of them all! Looks promising, with the (completely unnecessary but attractive-looking) ribbon interface. True collections as lists of files, great. Uses SQLite database, great. Claims to monitor files for changes, renames etc., pretty good. Drag a file to a collection - Benubird creates a physical copy of the file under its data folder! What the...? Let me repeat the question: what happens when you create a collection of video files, between 700 MB and 4.5 GB each? And why copy the files in the first place? For what purpose?
-tranglos (July 26, 2009, 06:56 PM)
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I use this pretty extensively, and I don't think it's meant to do what you want to do. It's a document library manager. It doesn't actually copy it to a folder underneath it's data folder when you add it- it only does this when you actually open it- I suppose so it doesn't have to access it from the database, and so that any changes are kept separately (which is reinforced by the fact that if you open something and change it, it asks if you want to save the changes). Other than that, the documents are kept in the database from my experience and observation. It's good for people who don't want documents strewn across their HDD- my use of it is I have a folder that I download documents to, or first copy them to when I haven't filed them. BenuBird monitors that folder and automatically imports them and tags them with an unfiled tag. I clean that up later, finding them in the collection by looking for the unfiled tag. I archive the original documents in a different location. It's been a godsend for me, as I don't have to go searching through folders for documents all the time.
tranglos:
I use this pretty extensively, and I don't think it's meant to do what you want to do. It's a document library manager.
-wraith808 (July 27, 2009, 10:19 AM)
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That's pretty close though, isn't it? :) While the name is not very revealing, the program is billed as something close to what I've described in the OP. Selections from the feature list:
# Watched folders: Watched Folders: Benubird PDF can automatically import files from folders chosen by you on a timer. It can even add author, tags or other document metadata to files during the import process.
# Collections: Organize your documents into collections so that they will only ever be one click away. Each file can belong to multiple collections, so you won't need to keep extra copies of your documents.
# Smart Collections: Dynamically generate collections of files based on rules such as "Author is Bill, Subject is Finance."
# Tags: Apply tags like "Urgent" or "Invoices" to files. The Tags Filter can then be used to locate them within a few clicks.
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All of this sounds very promising. Unfortunately, you are right, it is not *quite* designed for my purpose. Although...
It's been a godsend for me, as I don't have to go searching through folders for documents all the time.
-wraith808 (July 27, 2009, 10:19 AM)
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... this is just a succint expression of all my OP verbiage :) In other words, if I read nothing but your comment above, I'd still be inclined to believe it does what pretty much I need!
superboyac:
Nice tranglos, I always love your posts.
I'm a big DOpus user, and I've used the virtual file system it has. They are called collections in Dopus. now, I haven't used it extensively, so i can't answer all your questions, especially the ones about how it works behind the scenes. Here's what I know:
--You can see the collections only in DOpus. So you won't be able to use it with other file managers, including Explorer.
--I don't know where or how the collections are stored, but you access them with the prefix "coll://"
--The files are really virtual, so no extra copies or anything are made. yeah, that would tick me off too if a virtual system made duplicates.
--In the virtual system, you can have hierarchy. And it will either inherit the physical folder structure of the actual files, or you can make your own virtual hierarchy totally unrelated to anything physical. Furthermore, when you drag a folder into it, you can choose whether to inherit to the physical structure, or to merely link to that folder. The difference is that if you link, and then you double click on the folder, it will take you to the physical folder's location. If you inherit the folder structure, then when you double-click on the folder, you'll be taken to a virtual sub-folder that mimics the actual folder, but you're still in the virtual system. See the screenshot below:
--I don't know about scripts and stuff. DOpus is very configurable, so I think you can do a lot, I just don't know how at this point. I'm pretty certain you can apply the normal DOpus scripts to virtual folders. if that's the case, you should be able to do a lot of things.
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