Author Topic: Open/Save Dialog Utilities - response to Nudone's Blog from May (Read 70050 times)

Scott · « **Reply #25 on:** July 15, 2005, 02:36 PM »

PS Hot Folders is pretty nice. Just to point out, though:

* It doesn't save folder/file histories on a per-application basis--only globally (actually, for some reason, the file history feature didn't work at all for me).

* It doesn't save favorite files/folders on a per-application basis--only globally.

* It adds just one button to Open/Save dialogs, and you access everything from there.

* It doesn't add other things to the dialogs, such as an easy indication of the current path, or drive buttons.

I'm emphatically not trying to be a jerk, putting down mouser's mentioned software. Just trying to save somone some trouble, since I had to install PS Hot Folders to find out that it's not right for me. Not everyone will care about the things I mentioned.

And on the other hand, there is no idiotic splash screen, and--GOSH!--you get a registration code as soon as you order (unlike, in both cases, XFilesDialog). And I can only imagine the license isn't as much of a thumb-up-the-ass.

The drag-and-drop configuration is really nice as well.

nudone · « **Reply #26 on:** July 15, 2005, 03:28 PM »

are we having a software review on all this sometime soon?

Darwin · « **Reply #27 on:** July 15, 2005, 03:34 PM »

Ha ha ha - thanks, Scott. I know you are writing out of frustration, but the "thumb up the ass" line gave me the best laugh of the week!

mouser · « **Reply #28 on:** July 15, 2005, 04:03 PM »

i nominate scott for this review.. starting next week?

Scott · « **Reply #29 on:** July 15, 2005, 04:03 PM »

Ummm, uhhh...

Nutty · « **Reply #30 on:** July 15, 2005, 06:49 PM »

There's a bunch more of this kind of app that haven't been mentioned yet, but here are two free implementations:

Folder View <http://www.folderview.com/folderview/> is freeware, and enhances Explorer in several useful ways to help find often-used folders easier. It's very configurable, and I've found it quite useful once I got used to it.
DM2 <http://dm2.sourceforge.net/> is open source, and provides a bunch of unrelated little Explorer enhancements, one of which is a simple favorites list for open/save dialogs. This one doesn't yet seem to work with Office dialogs, however it appears that it is still being actively developed.

While I'm at it, here's some additional shareware ones that were pretty good that I found before discovering Folder View, in case it doesn't really do it for you:

Dialog Box Assistant <http://www.win-utilities.com/dba/>
Direct Folders <http://www.codesecto...om/directfolders.asp>
Folder Cache <http://www.nesoft.org/foldercache.shtml>

Darwin · « **Reply #31 on:** July 16, 2005, 10:20 AM »

Hi all and in particular Scott - I've heard back from the developer of XFilesDialog and he seemed receptive to modifying the sound notification in the next trial version which is a plus but wasn't too hot on the idea of changing his pricing

No big surprises there. Unfortunately, I hadn't thought to mention the splash screen at startup. I'm so used to it at this point that I'd forgotten about it. Of course, now that it's been brought to my attention again, it's bugging me!

rjbull · « **Reply #32 on:** September 12, 2005, 04:27 AM »

I don't think this is quite the same thing, but some might find it useful - part of a post on TalkAboutShareware:

OpenWide by Luke Hudson

http://lingo.atspace.com/index.html

OpenWide was written to avoid a few [more] minor annoyances with Windows.
This program allows you to specify the position and size of Windows' Open and
Save dialog boxes, and also to specify where the initial focus should be and
which view will be the default.

Good luck with it and enjoy.

This is a test release. Limited testing has shown it to work on a release of
Win2000 Professional and a release of WinXP Home.

Features
Set position and size of Open & Save dialogs

Set initial keyboard focus

Set initial view style

Drag & drop folders onto the title bar of an Open/Save dialog box,
and the view will change to that folder!

mouser · « **Reply #33 on:** September 12, 2005, 07:51 AM »

i like the drag and drop idea!

clif_notes · « **Reply #34 on:** September 12, 2005, 07:23 PM »

I saw Nutty mention one that I use. Of all the explorer enhancements I've tried over the years this is the best of the freeware add-ons in my opinion.

Folder View - easy file browsing to your favorite folders
Website
Category: Freeware

Review by Clif
I've tried Windows Explorer add-ons before. Most of them made my system unstable. This one seems rock solid and has saved me tons of time while I move files around to keep things tidy. Two thumbs up!
Tip: Create an empty folder in MyDocuments and make it the default folder during the configuration. Then you can later drag and drop your favorite folders onto the empty Folder View toolbar.

Quote from the WebSite
Folder View is a free (freeware) add-on for Windows that drastically enhances the way you browse the folders on your system. Files are often scattered around many different folders on the harddisk and locations on the network. Every time you want to copy, move, open or save a file, this situation leads you to a quest through levels of folders. With Folder View, these quests are over. Folder View enhances the Windows file Explorer by making all folders you need available in a single click. It integrates with other applications, speeding up opening and saving of files and also lets you copy and move files very quickly.

rjbull · « **Reply #35 on:** September 13, 2005, 04:05 AM »

In Total Commander http://www.ghisler.com I can just press Control-D and it pops up a list of favourite directories... and if I want to navigate to another dirctory, press Alt-F10 and start typing the partial directory name. With slight variations on hotkeys, pretty much standard features of Norton Commander clones.

mouser · « **Reply #36 on:** September 13, 2005, 04:13 AM »

just my 2cents since its easy to confound favorite directories w/ the main thing these programs add, imho.
having something let you pick from your favorite directories to go to is nothing to me.
what's key is the ability to go to your favorite programs from within the file open/save dialog of any application, which is what these dialog extenders do.

rjbull · « **Reply #37 on:** September 13, 2005, 08:56 AM »

what's key is the ability to go to your favorite programs from within the file open/save dialog of any application, which is what these dialog extenders do.
-mouser (September 13, 2005, 04:13 AM)

I launch my favourite, or in some cases <sigh> not-so-favourite programs from a program launcher, usually Horst Schaeffer's QSEL
http://home.mnet-online.de/horst.muc/

What have I missed?

mouser · « **Reply #38 on:** September 13, 2005, 12:06 PM »

i use a launcher too - but the open/save dialog things are completely different -
what they do is let you quickly jump to your favorite directories from open/save dialogs.

for example lets say you are using your word processor, you click open,
and up pops file open dialog. tools like Filebox Extender and others discussed by nudone add a button to these file open dialogs that lets you quickly jump to your favorite folders to choose the file to open.
they also can expand the size of the dialogs and switch them into certain modes, like details mode.

rjbull · « **Reply #39 on:** September 14, 2005, 03:45 AM »

i use a launcher too - but the open/save dialog things are completely different -
what they do is let you quickly jump to your favorite directories from open/save
-mouser (September 13, 2005, 12:06 PM)

I see, thanks. I just don't seem to have a desperate need for that. Maybe because I still use DOS programs as much as possible

rjbull · « **Reply #40 on:** September 15, 2005, 11:07 AM »

Folder View <http://www.folderview.com/folderview/> is freeware,
-Nutty (July 15, 2005, 06:49 PM)

I see it's now possible to donate via PayPal... DonationWare strikes again.

Nighted · « **Reply #41 on:** September 26, 2005, 11:30 PM »

I use Select Folder Express. It lets you right click in a folder or open/save dialog, select a favourite directory and that directory opens in the current folder or open/save dialog. Couldn't tell you if it works with office applications...I don't use them. www.eusing.com/SelectFolder/SelectFolder.htm

Kuntau · « **Reply #42 on:** September 25, 2007, 09:41 AM »

hi.. sorry to revive this back

... It is now 2007! Anyone found any better better open/save dialog solution?

JohnFredC · « **Reply #43 on:** September 25, 2007, 10:49 AM »

I've used the ACDSee tool ImageFox for... I guess nearly 10 years. It is not free (actually sort of expensive: $30), but works great. I think development halted years ago, but no matter to me. Haven't tried it on Vista yet. Haven't tried Vista itself yet, either.

ImageFox maintains dialog sizes and positions by application. It also maintains two favorite folders lists, global and by application. It has a document previewer pane that you can hide if you like (by application also) and place either to the right of the dialog or beneath it. No access to the Windows Places bar, though, and it doesn't work with Office dialogs. It also has an aggravating bug where in some cases the shortcut to the folder will replace the filename in the dialog.

Download ImageFox here.

Darwin · « **Reply #44 on:** September 25, 2007, 11:54 AM »

I now use the Enhanced Dialog component of Object Desktop. It's not available as a standalone product. Unfortunately, it is the only component that I use! I discovered ED after purhcasing OD, so can't really complain too much. Anyway, it's the best of the bunch in my opinion (I have current licences for XFilesDialog, File-Ex, and Direct Folders - none of which I have installed at the moment).

Darwin · « **Reply #45 on:** September 25, 2007, 11:56 AM »

PS Check out the Donationcoder review of Dialog Extenders.

tomos · « **Reply #46 on:** September 25, 2007, 12:06 PM »

url is broke there Mike

oh the pain of cut & paste

Darwin · « **Reply #47 on:** September 25, 2007, 12:16 PM »

No it's not. I don't know what you're talking about!

PS thanks for pointing that out to me...

rjbull · « **Reply #48 on:** September 26, 2007, 03:52 AM »

I use some of the dialog box extender features ("Favorite folders lists for file open/save dialogs") in PowerPro, which I run anyway, so may as well gain extra beneifits.