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Author Topic: Change the focus of all the"save or search in" possibilities at once  (Read 7462 times)

questorfla

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This is just an annoyance but if anyone knows the answer. 

When working with various editor programs like Paint, Notepad, etc.  I have to go to the same folder with each program to save the results of the items I am working on.  If there is a place to change the default locations used for everything all at once,  that might solve the problem.  Apparently each one uses the last directory that program was used in which is not the one I currently need it to be in. 

The layout is such that unless I am watching close, I :mad: end up in a previous subfolder which is in the same name for two levels up the path until it reaches the USER level where it will be in the User's layout.  I have to reset each one manually for the first save until they are all going to the same place. 

Examples would be saving images downloaded from the net.  If that is the first thing I need to do, I navigate to the correct user's directory and down to the correct subfolder and save the result.  If the next thing I do is open that image in Paint to add a background and then save the result, they end up in whatever location I last used Paint in.  The list is endless.  Every program remembers where it was last used and puts results there instead of using the current directory in focus at the time.   When I am in a hurry, this results in creating files that I cannot find later :(.  Or worse!  Overwriting files in a folder where they were already correct with the images that need to be in the another User's images folder.

I am not sure how Windows manages the "default remembered" folder for each program but the current setup has caused more than one time-consuming mistake that has to be corrected.  At  the same time, its normal setup I am sure has many advantages under other circumstances.

A utility to "make this my default location" would be a great right-click option.

skwire

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Re: Change the focus of all the"save or search in" possibilities at once
« Reply #1 on: October 16, 2014, 08:56 AM »
Search the forum for "dialog extenders."

questorfla

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Re: Change the focus of all the"save or search in" possibilities at once
« Reply #2 on: October 16, 2014, 09:27 AM »
Did that and got  lot of thread but most were pretty "dated" so much that I was afraid they listed programs that would not apply to Windows 8.  Is this just a "Duh" moment for only  me?  Am I the only one that this annoys?.  If I could just select the group of programs that I have to use in this project and set them all to have a common open/save-in path until they are all closed, that is really all i need.  I would not want to have to pick from a long list, I can do that by clicking back up the path and then back down again.  It is more the annoyance that I always assume I am where I thought I was.  And it seems every single windows utility does this.  Saving a weblink to saving a downloaded image to uploading a file to Saving in Paint.  Etc.  They all seem to hang on tot he last place they were used and have no way to make a single change affect them all. 
But I would d not want to undo whatever is set fr application I don't use in this procedure.  It is just a certain subset of applications that I have to do it to.  It is just an annoyance not a major thing.

questorfla

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Re: Change the focus of all the"save or search in" possibilities at once
« Reply #3 on: October 16, 2014, 09:42 AM »
found your favorite FlashFolders and will try it as well as Listary and the ahk script that Rhory wrote.  Thanks SKwire

skwire

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Re: Change the focus of all the"save or search in" possibilities at once
« Reply #4 on: October 16, 2014, 09:59 AM »
If I could just select the group of programs that I have to use in this project and set them all to have a common open/save-in path until they are all closed, that is really all i need.

It just doesn't work this way in Windows.  There's no common API that all apps must use when saving files.  Furthermore, some apps save their last-used info in the registry, others in local INI files.

questorfla

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Re: Change the focus of all the"save or search in" possibilities at once
« Reply #5 on: October 16, 2014, 10:18 AM »
ah.  Such is life :(

Stoic Joker

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Re: Change the focus of all the"save or search in" possibilities at once
« Reply #6 on: October 16, 2014, 11:32 AM »
This is why I always keep the currently active project(s) folder(s) open so I can drag and drop files into anything if need be. No this method doesn't scale well...but then again at my age neither does my memory.

dr_andus

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Re: Change the focus of all the"save or search in" possibilities at once
« Reply #7 on: October 16, 2014, 12:40 PM »
A utility to "make this my default location" would be a great right-click option.

It doesn't exactly do it that way but Direct Folders has several ways to achieve the same outcome (by showing a list of most recently saved to folders or by saving it as a favourite). Couldn't live without it. It does have some overlapping capabilities with Listary, but I prefer DF (have both but disabled Listary recently because I found I wasn't using it).

bob99

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Re: Change the focus of all the"save or search in" possibilities at once
« Reply #8 on: October 16, 2014, 12:43 PM »
Not sure if this will fit the bill but have you looked at Listary. http://www.listary.com/
You can set up a favorites menu and it can also keep track of recently accessed folders to provide easier navigation.
It helps me on a daily basis.

Edit: dr_Andus mentioned Listary while I was posting. Direct Folders is also good.

questorfla

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Re: Change the focus of all the"save or search in" possibilities at once
« Reply #9 on: October 22, 2014, 01:06 PM »
Someone somewhere posted a link to a program that makes TABS .  I think it was called Clover?  I DL'ed it and ran it on my Home system (as usual without reading instructions) and promptly forgot it was there.  A day or so later i noticed all kinds of odd things and uninstall-ed it.  Has anyone tried Clover?  This would certainly do the trick for one specific need. 
In that setup, I have to copy/paste, save as, etc a lot inside of PAINT and Notepad and a few others.  Drilling down to the level of the folder i need is just tedious and since it is the SAME folder for every project, i have accidentally saved files from one of them into the same sub-folder of a different project since the programs in question were used there last. 
I guess one way of doing ti would be to make a list of all the programs i use on each project in this manner, find out where they save their "last used path" at, and write a script to allow me to input the needed path all at one time in each of them.?  Sound possible?

dr_andus

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Re: Change the focus of all the"save or search in" possibilities at once
« Reply #10 on: October 22, 2014, 02:47 PM »
I guess one way of doing ti would be to make a list of all the programs i use on each project in this manner, find out where they save their "last used path" at, and write a script to allow me to input the needed path all at one time in each of them.?  Sound possible?

This is indeed one of the Pro features of Direct Folders (but I realise you may not want to shell out for that):

Pro: Jumps to the last used folder or any folder you specified.

Direct Folders Configuration 14-10-22 001.png

questorfla

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Re: Change the focus of all the"save or search in" possibilities at once
« Reply #11 on: October 22, 2014, 03:00 PM »
Then it is Pro for me DR! :Thmbsup:
Does it work on windows 8.1 x64 if you happen to know?

dr_andus

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Re: Change the focus of all the"save or search in" possibilities at once
« Reply #12 on: October 22, 2014, 03:01 PM »
Speaking of DF though, it does look like its development has been abandoned, unfortunately, and whoever is selling the software now is not very communicative (understatement). It works reasonably well on my Win7, 64-bit system with Dopus 10, but judging from customer comments on their blog (yes, the last post on DF was in 2012), there are some problems with Dopus 11 compatibility: Code Sector Blog.
« Last Edit: October 22, 2014, 04:40 PM by dr_andus, Reason: added correct URL »

questorfla

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Re: Change the focus of all the"save or search in" possibilities at once
« Reply #13 on: October 22, 2014, 03:34 PM »
I left a detailed request too.  I guess I will find out how fast they are :)

dr_andus

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Re: Change the focus of all the"save or search in" possibilities at once
« Reply #14 on: October 22, 2014, 05:00 PM »
Some the 12 alternatives at Direct Folders Alternatives and Similar Software - AlternativeTo.net might also be worth checking out.