Author Topic: Directory Opus 10 (Read 105976 times)

Shades · « **Reply #125 on:** February 09, 2013, 04:58 AM »

I also should say that Dopus 5 on Amiga used a similar concept as 'the Gimp', a small window containing the buttons for the (programmable) file actions and small explorer-like windows.
directory-opus-5.5-with-amiga-forever-2010.jpg

directory-opus-5.5-with-amiga-forever-2010.jpg

As I see the amount of "hate" that type of interface creates among users, I can imagine that GPSoftware is not likely to implement it soon. Personally, I wouldn't mind having to work with this type of interface at all. But I think the sales of this DOpus version would never cover for the amount of work GPSoftware would have to do.

clean · « **Reply #126 on:** February 09, 2013, 10:03 AM »

Very fine, cthorpe, no need to give you the benefit of the doubt a second time in a row when you SYSTEMATICALLY twist my words in order to "answer" to something else I never said, or even better, to make me not having said things that are obviously there. (Just a hint, though, do it "by accident", here and here, then it will perhaps go unnoticed and pass your manipulative message, but if you do it with every sentence, well, it's ineffective when it becomes too apparent.) Thank you.

Shades, I don't understand your argument, neither on the user experience level nor on the technical level. Why not have a third pane, and functionality "go/copy/move to pane 1/2/3" instead of "go/copy/move to the other pane" when never ever I'm asking for "copy/move to both other panes" - where's the prob I don't seem to see here? And again, I don't see the necessary functions to write a script in the DO command reference for selecting e.g. pane 4 as the target pane.

Just drop it. The real prob with DO is elsewhere: It's considered superior, and whenever you ask for a function that isn't there, you get the answer, "it's possible", without anybody telling you which way it could be possible. It's very similar to the alleged "superiority" of Apple: it's just "better", and that's about it. We're speaking of adoration of divinity here, while facts belong into quite another category. It's a revolting business scheme but which pays, man's nature being the way it is.

And finally, as said before and in any such file commander, scripts could copy/move, in the end, to tabbed (= invisible) folders, but wouldn't bring you the visual display of that third pane by this, or then by hiding one of the two folders currently on display.

And yes, copying / moving around files is core functionality of a file manager, not "you do it alone", and as such it should be assisted by your paid file manager, whilst in fact, functionality here is very poor everywhere (just compare the "go" functionality of these file commanders with their respective "copy/move" functionality, e.g. in XY). Another functionality is bulk renaming, here you'll have much more functionality, too, in most file commanders, than with "copy/move", and then I'd suppose most people do lots more of copying / moving files, than they do mass renaming. So I'm in my right to consider this state of affairs weird.

Nudel · « **Reply #127 on:** February 10, 2013, 06:35 PM »

As I see the amount of "hate" that type of interface creates among users, I can imagine that GPSoftware is not likely to implement it soon. Personally, I wouldn't mind having to work with this type of interface at all. But I think the sales of this DOpus version would never cover for the amount of work GPSoftware would have to do.
-Shades (February 09, 2013, 04:58 AM)

You can do something very similar to that Opus 5 UI example (and I guess the GIMP UI, although I haven't used GIMP much so I may have misunderstood) in the Windows versions of Opus using floating toolbars. I think that's what they were originally added for in Opus 6 (the first Windows version). There may be some caveats that I'm not thinking of right now, but I think setting a floating toolbar to "Keep On Top: Opus Only" would be quite similar to what Opus 5 had. There's also a "same size buttons when not docked" setting for each toolbar under Customize -> Toolbars, which exists to let you make grids of buttons like Opus 5 had.

I wouldn't use floating toolbars for this myself, as I think it becomes fiddly when you have to manage the toolbar(s) as a separate window, but it might suit some workflows. Personally, I tend to open, move, resize, close windows quite dynamically so it would be a pain to manage the toolbars on top of that, but I know other people do things very differently and e.g. always keep particular apps in particular spaces on the screen, or use virtual desktops, etc. So what doesn't work for me might be great for someone else. The option's certainly there.

I do have one floating toolbar, but it's docked to the bottom of my second monitor, a bit like a second taskbar, and is used for launching various apps and documents that I used often enough to want quick access to but not often enough that I want them pinned to the taskbar itself.

The real prob with DO is elsewhere: It's considered superior, and whenever you ask for a function that isn't there, you get the answer, "it's possible", without anybody telling you which way it could be possible.
-clean (February 09, 2013, 10:03 AM)

We sometimes answer dozens of questions a day on the Opus support forum, going into great detail if it's needed, at least if the person asking has linked their account. (Sometimes when they haven't linked their accounts as well, but we don't always have time to help everyone in detail and it's only right to focus on the paying customers.)

If something can't be done then we'll typically just say so, too. (And if we thought something could be done but then, looking into the details, it can't or it doesn't work very well, then we'll correct our mistake and say sorry pretty quickly.) Opus does enough that we don't have to be shy about what it doesn't do. And while we're always working to make it do more, there are some things we don't want it to do, because everything is a trade-off in design and complexity, both for us when writing the software and for everyone else when using the software. (Even with those, we change our minds sometimes.)

From this and the Two Classes of Membership Here? thread, you seem to have a chip on your shoulder about Opus for some reason. I don't know the history, so maybe it's justified (apologies, if appropriate), but I'll just say that people would be more inclined to help you & consider your ideas if you didn't escalate every difference of opinion into insults and personal attacks.

cthorpe · « **Reply #128 on:** February 10, 2013, 07:13 PM »

Very fine, cthorpe, no need to give you the benefit of the doubt a second time in a row when you SYSTEMATICALLY twist my words in order to "answer" to something else I never said, or even better, to make me not having said things that are obviously there. (Just a hint, though, do it "by accident", here and here, then it will perhaps go unnoticed and pass your manipulative message, but if you do it with every sentence, well, it's ineffective when it becomes too apparent.) Thank you.
-clean (February 09, 2013, 10:03 AM)

Wow. So that's how you treat people who are trying to help?

I've re-read the enormous amount of text you have posted in this thread, and I still don't understand what it is you want or why you want it in the first place. Maybe you should take a moment and think about whether or not your posts are clear.

All I do know, is that I'm done with this thread. It's not worth my time to offer free advice when you respond in such a manner.

C

clean · « **Reply #129 on:** February 14, 2013, 01:18 PM »

cthorpe, you were certainly not trying to help, not the first time, and not the second time. prick, me "insulting" you or your product? I tell you something: There's a current thread here about MS Office 2013/365, and people here say, it's too expensive, blah blah, switch to the free spin-off of OpenOffice sacked in by Sun. In fact, it's perfectly possible to buy a decent MS Office (= 2010, = not the latest, very problematic version) for LESS than this D "Opus" costs.

Now I certainly don't call you crazy, prick, you're smart people knowing how to play human nature of idiotic customers. But yes, I call totally crazy those people here that think a simple file manager that does NOTHING else than what the competition does (and sometimes does not even that, e.g. columns / comments / metadata, and your virtual folder system isn't that brilliant either, to name just a few points of many), is worth MORE than an office suite: totally crazy people, just incredibly dumb. Cynic people (= first you buy, then we'll tell you no it's not available, har, har) rule. Chapeau. Do what you want.

mouser · « **Reply #130 on:** February 14, 2013, 01:34 PM »

Come on folks, take it down a notch.. there's no reason this thread has to get out of hand like this.

skwire · « **Reply #131 on:** February 14, 2013, 02:05 PM »

@clean: The fact remains that GPSoftware can charge whatever they feel the market will bear. I'm sure there are plenty of Directory Opus users that will say that it's worth several times over what they paid for it. Personally, I'm not a fan of per-machine licenses and I feel it's a bit over-priced but it's not my place to complain about such things. They wrote it, they can charge whatever they like for it. :shrug:

I've been an Altap Salamander user for years and years now. I know it has its quirks but, since I've used it for so long, it's the file manager that I'm most efficient in. For the record, I know of an older file manager that has three panes. It's not the prettiest, and you may have already tried it out, but it's called Control3 and you can find it here: http://www.theabsolute.net/sware/control3.html

Nudel · « **Reply #132 on:** February 14, 2013, 04:11 PM »

In fact, it's perfectly possible to buy a decent MS Office (= 2010, = not the latest, very problematic version) for LESS than this D "Opus" costs.
-clean (February 14, 2013, 01:18 PM)

That does not seem true to me.

Even with academic discounts, I cannot find a version of Office 2010 (not the latest version, not being updated) that costs less than any version of Opus 10 (the latest version, regular and significant updates). Even if you ignore differences in the number of machines you can use, the old version of Office still costs far more than the latest version of Opus.

Office 2010 prices from Amazon UK, Opus prices from the GPSoft website using Google's exchange rates.

£299 Microsoft Office Professional 2010 (2 PCs)
£247 Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010 (2 PCs)
£185 Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010 (1 PC)
£125 Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010 (3 PCs)
£82 Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010 (1 PC)
£65 Microsoft Office University 2010 Academic (1 PC)
£46 Opus 10 Pro (1 PC + 1 Laptop)
£39 Opus 10 Pro (1 PC + 1 Laptop) with Academic discount
£20 Opus 10 Light (1 PC)
£17 Opus 10 Light (1PC) with Academic discount.

But, hey, if you want to buy a copy of Opus 9 (not the latest version) from us for £65 (the cheapest version of Office 2010 I can find on Amazon, and that requires proof that you're an academic) then I'm sure we can work something out!

Edit: I'll spare everyone the thread bump but, responding to the post just below this one, getting Office for €13 via the Home User Program is hardly relevant here. To qualify for that you must work for a company that has committed to paying Microsoft thousands and thousands in regular licence fees. Again, I'm sure we could arrange something similar if someone wants to throw that kind of money at us. The total cost of Office is still higher, however you look at it; with the HUP you get Office cheap because your company has already paid for the bulk of it. And most people don't qualify for it anyway.

gmB2k1 · « **Reply #133 on:** February 17, 2013, 11:52 AM »

I bought Office 2013 Pro Plus for 13€.

Check this out: http://www.microsofthup.com/

Josh · « **Reply #134 on:** February 19, 2013, 08:29 PM »

Perhaps Nudel can answer this, but does anyone else know if there is a way to find out if this is anywhere on the horizon for a BdJ offer or other similar discount on another site?

tomos · « **Reply #135 on:** February 20, 2013, 02:59 AM »

Josh -
you know there's a 25% DoCo discount? -
verified as of Jan 2013

Josh · « **Reply #136 on:** February 20, 2013, 10:32 AM »

tomos, I might have to jump on that one but I am going to hold out "Just in case" it shows up with the 40% advertised on BdJ. I will give it the 60 day eval period to see if one pops up.

Directory Opus appears to have the featureset I require, other suites fall short on one key feature or another. Directory Opus also feels the most polished and well thought out. That said, I really have to find a way to justify spending this amount of money on a file manager. We'll see. Here's hoping.

Thanks for the heads up!

Shades · « **Reply #137 on:** February 20, 2013, 11:12 AM »

[Fanboy alert]
Since my Amiga days DOpus has been part of my computing routines. Working on a computer without DOpus I honestly feel like having to tie shoelaces with one hand tied on my back.

You can even make your own routines (for example: renaming of files into a format you like) and associate that routine with a button or menu item in the DOpus screen. I have a few of these routines made and a lot of work is now done by clicking on one button.

That is the feature I appreciate the most in DOpus.
[/fanboy alert]

Josh · « **Reply #138 on:** February 20, 2013, 11:16 AM »

The renaming capability is one of the MAJOR features that has turned me on to the tool!

J-Mac · « **Reply #139 on:** February 20, 2013, 05:40 PM »

Josh,

I worried a bit about the high price of DOpus when I purchased it, but it seemed tro have all I wanted and more.

That was in early 2007, for V.9. Five years later was the first time I was charged for an upgrade, though the program was actually updated quite a bit - including making it Windows 7 compatible - with no associated costs.

It's a deal IMO.

Jim

Josh · « **Reply #140 on:** February 22, 2013, 06:50 PM »

I just have to say that I have been dealing with Greg Perry over email for support over connectivity to SFTP servers. He has been extremely responsive and I think it is hard to find this level of personalized support.

I am still evaluating to ensure there isn't something that I might not be able to work with, but this product is really nice.

evamaria · « **Reply #141 on:** March 07, 2013, 12:44 PM »

Could anybody confirm if this commander is able to let you sort your entries manually
a) in normal listers (physical folders)
b) in file collections?
By manual sorting, I mean manual arrangement of entries, by mouse and/or by alt-up/down-arrow or such.

Is this possible?
If not, there would always be sorting by some metadata, I suppose? Is that possible, at least? But of course, it would be one step too much, which I would like to avoid. (xplorer2 does this, but neither a nor b.)

tomos · « **Reply #142 on:** March 07, 2013, 01:19 PM »

^NAFAIK

I know XYplorer does (a) - not sure about (b).

I dont think Dopus does (a) or (b) -
just searched the help file and didnt find anything in that direction.

evamaria · « **Reply #143 on:** March 07, 2013, 04:12 PM »

Thank you for this hint, but I don't see how I could do it in XYplorer. I do "View" - "Views" - "List", then "View" - "Auto Refresh" (deselect), then I try with the mouse, to rearrange files within the same folder / list, but I cannot move them this way, within the list.

tomos · « **Reply #144 on:** March 07, 2013, 04:24 PM »

^it's a little more complicated -

XYplorer file manager has this feature -
Menu >Tools >Customise List >Manual Sorting
then
drag n drop to sort.

I havent used it in a while - it doesn't seem to work with large thumbnails, but does work with the details-with-[small]-thumbnail view.
-tomos (November 30, 2012, 07:46 PM)

Will work with thumbnails if:

By default, if you left click on a thumbnail, it will display at full size. This makes it difficult to drag! Go to:
menu >Tools >Configuration >Thumbnails >Turn off: popup image on mouse down (bottom of window).
Then try it as instructed above and it works fine.
-tomos (November 30, 2012, 08:12 PM)

I havent used it much myself -
I presume it's only set for current tab - and not sure if it sticks e.g. if you navigate away from folder

evamaria · « **Reply #145 on:** March 07, 2013, 05:06 PM »

Thank you very much, I hadn't been aware of this. Unfortunately you are right, it is not persistent (in the help file index its under "Manual Sorting"), and of course the real interest of such a (persistent!) feature would lie in manually rearranging the files within a file collection / virtual folder, since these files would come from different physical folders and would be named according to their respective "source folders", thus being mixed up when displayed alphabetically.

As said, in xplorer2, such files could at least be sorted by any metadata ("tags" - and it's also possible to manually rearrange them in "scrap containers", but that is not persistent, same problem as in XYplorer), but this implies the need to "tag" files (by using the "comment" column for this, for example), and tagging is another concept than building up virtual folders, so this mixes up two very different concepts.

That's why I had hoped that Directory Opus was able to do better here than its competitors, but it seems nobody has solved this problem so far.

DonL · « **Reply #146 on:** March 08, 2013, 01:03 AM »

Permanent Custom Sort Order (PCS) is on XYplorer's road map since long, and all the thinking has been done, I more or less just need to type in the code. Only I'm not sure about the importance of this feature compared to other ideas I have. I have the impression that only very few people would actually use PCS.

DonL · « **Reply #147 on:** March 08, 2013, 01:06 AM »

BTW, "Distribute" (aka Multi-Target-Copy) is on my list as well. It will be pretty awesome and integrate perfectly and seamlessly with the XYplorer architecture.

Curt · « **Reply #148 on:** April 01, 2013, 06:16 PM »

..., as in Norton Commander of the Ancient Age,...
-clean (February 08, 2013, 06:58 PM)

it doesn't have to be of ancient age; WinNC is still being maintained: last updated March 30 2013!

"Norton Commander Download": http://winnc.com/nor...n_commander_download
or http://www.snapfiles.com/get/winnc.html

Blog: http://dunesmultimed...rclonewinnc5800.html (the blog's address is in Denmark, the server is in USA, the company is in the Netherlands, the text is in Dutch, and the download link is missing the initial "h".)

-but be aware that the company is calling version 5.8 for a major update...
and that the price now is $25
30 days trial, but some features disabled.

Tuxman · « **Reply #149 on:** April 01, 2013, 06:19 PM »

Also it's ugly.