Author Topic: Enhanced File Dialog (Read 36612 times)

Darwin · « **on:** December 02, 2006, 09:58 PM »

Thought I'd posted about this in the past (but can find no evidence that I did...). Has anyone else tried Stardock's Enhanced File Dialog? It's currently only available as part of the Object Desktop Suite BUT it is an excellent dialog extender - and I have actually purchased licenses for four others, File-Ex, XfilesDialog, DirectFolders and Places Bar Wizard. The last works with Office apps and runs nicely alongside EFD. This is desireable because EFD does not work with Office dialogs.

I've written to Stardock encouraging them to consider releasing a stand-alone version - I can't see myself renewing my Object Desktop subscription (I flirted with WindowBlinds for a stretch but returned to my Windows Classic minimalist desktop after a few months) and I'd like to continue to benefit from ongoing development work on EFD. I *hope* they will consider my request. Anyway, just wondered if I am the only one that thinks that it's great!

Mike

PS Direct Folders is great - have it installed on my second notebook while File-Ex is on a third! I like XfilesDialog a lot but don't have anywhere to run it at the moment!

cranioscopical · « **Reply #1 on:** December 03, 2006, 08:09 AM »

Thanks for the alert!
So far, File-Ex suits me best, out of those that I've tried.
My trouble with utilities is that I get so accustomed to whatever I'm using that 'different' tends to mask 'better' when trying something else.
Do you mind saying what you see as the main advantage of Stardock's Enhanced File Dialog? I'd be interested to know.

Darwin · « **Reply #2 on:** December 03, 2006, 02:05 PM »

Hi Chris,

Ummm..., er...., ah... Enhanced File Dialog "Enhance(s) your common file dialogs with additional features, including most recently used folders, shortcuts, sorting options, custom sizing, text shortcuts, grid lines, and more! " As far as I can tell, it doesn't even have a website devoted to it - I cribbed the above from the history file.

What I like best about it is that it resizes my dialogs and makes the places bar much more useful - something that none of the other dialog extenders that I have tried do. It gives you the same flexibility that the Office 2003 (and XP?) places bar provides and enables it in all dialog boxes. You can set the app to ignore specific applications (Scansoft/Nuance's PDF Converter must be ignored for example as the zdplus.exe component crashes when EFD modifies its dialogs) and you can force EFD to hook into other processes that aren't automaticlly enhanced, Foxit Reader for example. The recent folders and recent files are nicely implemented as well - links on the places bar. All in all, I like it because it is configureable.

Here's a screenshot of my Notepad "save as" dialog:

Enhanced File Dialog

cranioscopical · « **Reply #3 on:** December 03, 2006, 08:11 PM »

I'll look into it some more, I'd certainly like to modify the places bar in MS dialogs.
Thanks for taking the time to reply!

Darwin · « **Reply #4 on:** October 07, 2007, 08:30 AM »

Just an update - I uninstalled Enhanced Dialogs this morning... I'm a bit gutted about doing so BUT it has resoved two issues on my notebook, one hoped for and one entirely unexpected. I have a 16 bit program that refused to cough up any open, save or other "browse to a location" type dialogs. Ripping out Enhanced Dialogs resolved that issue nicely. Removing it ALSO got rid of a seriously annoying problem that I was having and that I had never connected to ED: whenever I tried to open or save files in Notepad (and a restricted set of other applications, the names of which escape me), I would be asked to log into first a webdav folder that I use for work and then into my MS Live account. I had to hit cancel a number of times in order be able to perform the operation that I wanted to perform. It was very annoying, not to mention disturbing, and now it's gone...

I've reverted back to XFilesDialog and it doesn't feature either of these annoyances.

cranioscopical · « **Reply #5 on:** October 07, 2007, 10:55 AM »

I uninstalled Enhanced Dialogs this morning... I'm a bit gutted about doing so BUT it has resoved two issues...
-Darwin (October 07, 2007, 08:30 AM)

Isn't it annoying when features that become nearly essential in most situations are the very ones that prohibit success in others?
(Or perhaps I should say isn't it annoying when we have to rely on older but practically irreplaceable software, though your issue with notepad makes me wonder about that.)

I never did try EFD as I didn't want the Object Desktop Suite.

The extenders I've used all cause issues with at least some programs. Has EFD no exclusion mechanism? I bet you'll miss that places-bar modification for a while.

Thanks for the update.

Darwin · « **Reply #6 on:** October 07, 2007, 11:55 AM »

You're right - I am in places-bar modifiication withdrawal, but am surviving so far. I no longer have either Direct Folders or File-Ex installed on any machines and might dust their installers off to take them for a spin, as well.

EFD does have an exclusion mechanism but for whatever reason excluding the exe for the 16 bit app didn't do the trick. I suspect I needed to reboot for it to work... However, having been looking for some time for an excuse to deep six all Stardock software from my system, I seized the opportunity and did so! WRT notepad - it's actually metapad that was having the problem (I've replaced notepad on my system with metapad), which I use to open txt files for quick viewing (ultraedit for editing).

tomos · « **Reply #7 on:** October 07, 2007, 12:18 PM »

I wonder is there anything else does the same job -
I'd love some thing like that (a la Darwins screenshot post #2)
I'd pay for it even

Darwin · « **Reply #8 on:** October 07, 2007, 12:39 PM »

I wonder is there anything else does the same job -
I'd love some thing like that (a la Darwins screenshot post #2)
I'd pay for it even
-tomos (October 07, 2007, 12:18 PM)

Yes, this is what makes having had to uninstall it so sad. However, as I noted above, I suspect strongly that if I were to reinstall it, exclude the 16 bit executable, reboot, and try again all would probably be well. The WORST thing about ED is that it's ONLY available as part of the Object Desktop suite and you can't download an installer for it (you have to use StarDock central). It's raining, I'm bored, and I've *just* created an image of my harddrive - I'm off to see if my hunch about ED is correct...

Darwin · « **Reply #9 on:** October 07, 2007, 01:47 PM »

Nope. Installed it, rebooted (to activate it, despite this not being mentioned as necessary - it is!), re-excluded the exe files, rebooted and still no joy. Uninstalled and all was immediately well. Looks like I'll be with XFilesDialog for the foreseeable future...

tinjaw · « **Reply #10 on:** October 07, 2007, 01:51 PM »

I own/use Direct Folders and love it, but I find it very unstable. It constantly crashes on me. Even if I block several programs for using it. They haven't come out with an update for quite some time. Version 3.21 was released in December 2006. I should email them and see if they plan on releasing anything more stable then the present version.

edbro · « **Reply #11 on:** October 07, 2007, 01:56 PM »

I wonder is there anything else does the same job -
I'd love some thing like that (a la Darwins screenshot post #2)
I'd pay for it even
-tomos (October 07, 2007, 12:18 PM)

If you want an enlarged dialog box and favorite folders then you can do both using Powerpro. This is mine:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b387/edbro9/untitled.jpg

Enhanced File Dialog

The favorite folders on the left is attached to all file dialog boxes.

Darwin · « **Reply #12 on:** October 07, 2007, 03:25 PM »

psst, tinjaw - don't get nighted started on Direct Folders

Nighted · « **Reply #13 on:** October 07, 2007, 04:22 PM »

Direct Folders...

Has anyone tried FlashFolder Tool? It's actually not bad.

rjbull · « **Reply #14 on:** October 07, 2007, 05:17 PM »

If you want an enlarged dialog box and favorite folders then you can do both using Powerpro. This is mine:
-edbro (October 07, 2007, 01:56 PM)

edbro,

I knew you can have favourite folders because I have a version of them, but how do you use PowerPro to enlarge dialog boxes?

TIA...

jzippo · « **Reply #15 on:** October 08, 2007, 02:09 AM »

Yes, FlashFolder is perfect for my needs. I love how it is able to make the dialog browse to a folder that is open on my desktop.

tomos · « **Reply #16 on:** October 08, 2007, 02:23 AM »

If you want an enlarged dialog box and favorite folders then you can do both using Powerpro. This is mine:
-edbro (October 07, 2007, 01:56 PM)

edbro,

I knew you can have favourite folders because I have a version of them, but how do you use PowerPro to enlarge dialog boxes?

TIA...
-rjbull (October 07, 2007, 05:17 PM)

Configure > GUI control / Enlarge file open/save dialogs

I'm actually using Filebox Extender to do the same thing...

But is there a way of changing whats on the list on the left of open/save box ?????
or
to paraphrase
what/how favourite folders?

rjbull · « **Reply #17 on:** October 08, 2007, 03:48 AM »

If you want an enlarged dialog box and favorite folders then you can do both using Powerpro. This is mine:
-edbro (October 07, 2007, 01:56 PM)

edbro,

I knew you can have favourite folders because I have a version of them, but how do you use PowerPro to enlarge dialog boxes?

TIA...
-rjbull (October 07, 2007, 05:17 PM)

Configure > GUI control / Enlarge file open/save dialogs

-tomos (October 08, 2007, 02:23 AM)

Thanks, tomos, I should have looked...

tomos · « **Reply #18 on:** October 08, 2007, 05:02 AM »

I knew you can have favourite folders because I have a version of them...
-rjbull (October 07, 2007, 05:17 PM)

so...
what's with the favourite folders then

But is there a way of changing whats on the list on the left of open/save box ?????
or
to paraphrase
what/how favourite folders?
-tomos (October 08, 2007, 02:23 AM)

are they from win explorer?

EDIT: "I knew you can have favourite folders because I have a version of them" or
did you just mean you have the standard version..(i.e My Comp, My Docs, etc)

rjbull · « **Reply #19 on:** October 08, 2007, 10:05 AM »

I knew you can have favourite folders because I have a version of them...
-rjbull (October 07, 2007, 05:17 PM)
so...
what's with the favourite folders then

But is there a way of changing whats on the list on the left of open/save box ?????
or
to paraphrase
what/how favourite folders?
-tomos (October 08, 2007, 02:23 AM)

are they from win explorer?

EDIT: "I knew you can have favourite folders because I have a version of them" or
did you just mean you have the standard version..(i.e My Comp, My Docs, etc)
-tomos (October 08, 2007, 05:02 AM)

PowerPro has lots of ways of adding and tracking favourite folders; it's an infinitely configurable program. I've only got a simple version because I don't understand the complex ones. Quoting from Powerpro's Help:

Favorite folders lists for
file open/save dialogs

PowerPro can help you maintain and use lists of favorite folders for standard open/save dialogs. You can manually maintain a list of favorite folders; you can have PowerPro capture folders as you use them in open/save dialogs; and you can combine these two approaches to have an integrated list of both manually set favorite folders and recently used folders.
You can display favorite folders in a menu or a bar (or both); see bottom of this help topic for more on bars.
MS Office does not use standard open/save dialogs. PowerPro can recognize these dialogs and send favorite folders to them for your favorite list, but it cannot capture the folder used from these dialogs.

In my case, when an Opoen files dialog box appears, PowerPro automatically pops up a short list of very frequently used folders. Pressing a hotkey gives me a second, larger list of less frequently accessed folders.

Does that explain anything... or were you just having a silly five minutes?

edbro · « **Reply #20 on:** October 08, 2007, 10:52 AM »

As I mentioned above, I use Powerpro to manage my favorite folders. But, if anybody is looking for a very simple method there is another route to take.

Create a folder and then place shortcuts to all your favorite locations in that folder. Now you can use TweakUI to place that folder in your Common Dialogs. Now you can have an unlimited number of favorite locations that are only 2 mouse clicks away. If you refer back to my screenshot above, that is what the "shortcuts" folder is on my common dialogs. So, you can see, I use both methods.

tomos · « **Reply #21 on:** October 08, 2007, 11:32 AM »

PowerPro has lots of ways of adding and tracking favourite folders; it's an infinitely configurable program. I've only got a simple version because I don't understand the complex ones. Quoting from Powerpro's Help:
...
In my case, when an Opoen files dialog box appears, PowerPro automatically pops up a short list of very frequently used folders. Pressing a hotkey gives me a second, larger list of less frequently accessed folders.

Does that explain anything... or were you just having a silly five minutes?
-rjbull (October 08, 2007, 10:05 AM)

both - yes will go definitely check that out - it could be such a timesaver...

Darwin · « **Reply #22 on:** October 08, 2007, 02:41 PM »

Update: I've switched to File-Ex for now as XFilesDialog was conflicting with Webroot's Window Washer and refused to ignore it... Yes, I know, I don't really *need* Window Washer but there it is...

Grorgy · « **Reply #23 on:** October 08, 2007, 03:04 PM »

I like the look of fille-ex, probably because I understand it from the screenshots

(and I can never get the stardock one to work no matter what i do, i'm beginning to think its not compatible with window blinds, must give fileex a try

Darwin · « **Reply #24 on:** October 08, 2007, 03:35 PM »

That's bizarre, George. I am "stardock free" now, but had WindowBlinds and Enhanced File Dialog running together without conflict. The only thing that I can think of suggesting you try is installing EFD, setting it up and then rebooting. Nowhere does it tell you to do this, but I've always found it necessary to get EFD to work! If you can use EFD it's worth it!