Hi,
Thanks for the welcoming!
And for refs to FARR v2 threads. I guess I mostly rehashed thoughts already discussed.
Anyway, browsing through the threads on actions and filters stimulated me (well that and the fact that I immediately liked FARR's simplicity a whole lot) to elaborate my suggestion a bit more. So here's req 3 & 4 revisited.
My aim was a solution for users that only need 1-3 special filters and (mostly) 1-3 special actions for each file category.
STRUCTURE & SETTINGS -------------------
Shift, Ctrl & Alt are MODKEYS (not changeable)
On some settings page, let users set
- CATEGORIES = files/folders grouped through some property (basic: file extension(s), max/min size, older/newer than date x, folder. Advanced: combos of properties, arrays of (different) combos ...)
- 1-3 FILTERS (defined via categories)
- ACTIONS = copy path; kill; edit; do checksum ...
- Let users tie each FILTER to a MODKEY
- Let users tie 1-3 ACTIONS to each CATEGORY (advanced: even more actions)
- For alternative 1 (below): also tie MODKEY 1-3 to ACTION 1-3 for each CATEGORY
(Presets/templates would simplify all these settings of course.)
OPERATION -------------------
When focus is on search field
[input] >>> [result]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
type text >>> do default search
enter/F2/F3... >>> do default action on result1/2/3...
tab/arrow down >>> stop search & focus result1
hold modkey1/2/3 (during/after type) >>> run filtered search 1/2/3
release modkey >>> snap back and do default search
modkey + tab/arrow down >>> stop search & focus result1
When focus is on results list
[input] >>> [result]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
release modkey >>> DO NOT snap back to default search (only snap back when search field has focus)
arrows up/down >>> navigate list
enter/F2/F3... >>> default action on result1/2/3...
Alternative 1:
hold modkey1/2/3 + enter >>> Action1/2/3 on selected
press+release modkey1/2/3 >>> Action1/2/3 on selected
hold modkey1/2/3 + F2/F3... >>> Action1/2/3 on result2/3...
Alternative 2:
press CTRL + enter >>> context menu list with Action1/2/3 and more as options
arrows up/down >>> navigate list
release CTRL or enter again >>> do action selected in list
(Advanced: instead of list, use 3x3 cell matrix. Hold up & right to select upper right cell. And so on.)
To help remember filters & actions and their modkeys, add three small boxes forming an L shape somewhere in the GUI. The tags on the boxes describes available modkey filters/actions and correspond to the relative placement of the shift, ctrl and alt keys on standard keyboards. When holding a modkey, its box is colored/highlighted.
7 requests: wheel, pg up, filters, action mods, resize bug, minimize, 2xCtrl