Idea: "MakeNewFolder" clone for Windows 7

[Brian De Braganza]

Ok, "clone" is cheeky but I couldn't come up with a different topic name 

Ian Sharpe (http://www.iansharpe.com/) had a brilliant little utility (an application, not a system extension) for XP and 2000 only, called "MakeNewFolder" which was unique in that I have never seen anywhere such a tiny app with similar features.

Essentially, it opens a window where, using syntax, multiple folders including first level and (multiple) sub-folders at different levels of nesting can be created in one go in Windows Explorer in XP, either closing the window when finished or leaving open for new input, by option. It even saves command lines for future use/re-creation.

I will attach Ian Sharpe's help PDF file (zipped) for anyone interested in getting the full idea he had, but the following is an excerpt:

"Advanced syntax
To create multiple folders separate the names with vertical bars (probably Shift - \):
 
Some folder | Another folder | Yet another folder
 
This would create three folders in the current directory. Create sub-folders by naming them inside angled brackets:
 
Some folder < Another folder >
 
This would create "Some folder" and inside (beneath) it, "Another folder". Whenever you type a '<' character, MakeNewFolder automatically adds the closing '>' and places the insertion point between them. This helps keep your brackets balanced. Automatic addition of > can be turned off in the Options dialog.
 
The syntax can be extended and nested to create any folder structure you like:
 
Some folder < Folder A > | Another folder | Yet another folder
Some folder < Folder A | Folder B > | Another folder | Yet another folder
Some folder < Folder A | Folder B > | Another folder < Folder C | Folder D < Folder E | Folder F >> Yet another folder
 
The last example produces this structure:
 
                                   Current folder
                                            |
          -------------------------------------------------------
          |                                 |                                        |
     Some folder              Another folder                       Yet another folder
          |                                 |
     -------------             ----------------
     |                |            |                     |       
 Folder A    Folder B      Folder C          Folder D
                                                          |
                                               ----------------
                                               |                    |
                                            Folder E          Folder F


As someone who needs to create LOTS of folders for various organisational jobs in Explorer, the amount of time this saves is phenomenal and it is so easy to use.
I have been in touch with Ian Sharpe some time ago and he wasn't going to make this compatible with Windows 7 and I notice that he is no longer supporting the XP version or offering it on his website, although it is still available for download at various freeware sites (link below for Softpedia).

I know that Directory Opus can create multiple, first level folders (comma separated) but only in a Dopus window and there is nothing like the above functionality, that I know of, in any other XP application, let alone for Windows 7.

If anyone knows of an application that can do this in Windows 7 Windows Explorer and Desktop or can create an app that would have similar functions, I would be deeply grateful - although I don't know if this would be a 'quick hack' (I'm not a programmer).

Version 2.1.1 of MakeNewFolder is available for download at Softpedia at:
http://www.softpedia.../MakeNewFolder.shtml

and I have attached version 3 (which I can find nowhere on the web, now) and Ian Sharpe's help PDF file (zipped) for anyone interested. I guarantee they are spyware and adware free.

Brian De B

[MilesAhead]

What happens when you run Sharpe's program on 7? Does it not install? Traps out?  What?

[MilesAhead]

btw I have a utility called CreateDir you can download here:

http://www.favessoft.com/hotkeys.html

It doesn't parse levels like Sharpe's utility. It makes a chain of directories. You may be able to achieve some of the same effect using batch files with linear directory chains.

IOW to get Current Folder Some Folder under that with Folder A and Folder B under Some Folder(none of which exists yet) would use 2 params.  Assuming drive C: then the 2 folder chains would be "C:\Current Folder\Some Folder\Folder A" and "C:\Current Folder\Some Folder\Folder B"

You'd have to experiment to see if you could get what you want out of it.

[Brian De Braganza]

Hi MilesAhead,

Thanks for replying.

To answer your first question, MakeNewFolder installs in Windows 7. In XP, you launch it after opening a Windows Explorer window at the directory where you want to create the folders.  In Windows 7, because it looks for the XP-style Address Bar in Windows Explorer - which Windows Explorer in Windows 7 does not have - it returns an error "... so could not determine root path" and offers to default to the Desktop, but of course cannot create there either, because the path to a user's Desktop in Windows 7 has also changed from the standard path in XP. Bummer. (I don't know why Sharpe wouldn't change the code - he merely needed to change the paths to the current desktop and do a workaround for the breadcrumbs style bar in WE in 7.) I even tried using the "ClassicShell" extension to see if that helped, but no luck.

I will certainly try out your CreateDir app. The batch files idea is interesting too. Do you agree that Sharpe's idea is/was great, though?

Brian De B

[MilesAhead]

This seems familiar.  Maybe it was requested or something similar awhile back. To get the current folder an Explorer window is open to, the setting  "Display the full path in the Title Bar" has to be set.  Also Vista and W7 store the folder path differently than XP.  Depending what the programmer used to code the utility it could be a bit messy to extract the info. That's the only reason I can see for the reluctance. He might have this down to a couple of lines in XP whereas checking for both XP and Vista/7 can lead to spaghetti code.

I can't think of any other reason except maybe "been there done that."  I know some stuff I've written, especially shell extensions, I just don't ever want to look at again.  I got so sick of testing that I stopped even using the utilities myself.

The other consideration for me is I don't want to duplicate some else's user interface. Unless the person said the program is dead and buried or donated to the public domain I'd feel like I was ripping it off.

[Brian De Braganza]

@MilesAhead - I quite understand, although it wouldn't need to be a GUI copy. I wonder if something could be thrown together with AutoHotKey? Maybe I'll experiment myself.

Brian De B

[MilesAhead]

@MilesAhead - I quite understand, although it wouldn't need to be a GUI copy. I wonder if something could be thrown together with AutoHotKey? Maybe I'll experiment myself.

Brian De B

-Brian De Braganza (March 07, 2011, 11:41 PM)

I'll give a hint. On Vista and Windows7 I do GetWindowText (or in AHK it would be WinGetText) on the active window(assumed to be an Explorer folder)and the string with the current folder is between "Address: " and a line feed or end of line.  In AHK you might be able to dig it out with a regex. In AutoIt3 I use _StringBetween().  Once you have the current folder then you can manipulate things pretty easily.