Folder Shortcut support

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wcfields
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Folder Shortcut support

Post by *wcfields »

I use Folder Shortcuts alot, because I like having folder links sorted alongside folders, not mixed in with files.

I wish that TC would recognize which folders are Folder Shortcuts, and go directly to the target folder when you open them, rather than having to click on the target.lnk file as a second step.

If you can do just that, that would be good enough for me.

More difficult would be to duplicate Windows Explorer's full functionality: it remembers when you browse to a folder via a Folder Shortcut, and when you Backspace to the 'parent' directory, it goes back to the folder containing the Folder Shortcut, rather than to the actual parent. So in Explorer, Folder Shortcuts are a fully navigable two-way 'wormhole' through the directory tree.

ALTERNATIVELY:
Another way to achieve my objective is to use Junctions. However, they have a downside: deleting a file transfers the file from one disk to another (if the link target is on a different disk, which is usually the case for me). This is using Recycle Bin, of course, which I want to keep doing. For a large file, it freezes TC for a few moments before you can continue using.

So another solution is for TC to be more aware of Junctions when deleting, and send the deleted file to the Recycle Bin on the same physical disk, rather than just looking at the drive letter of the path and sending it there.

Implementing both of these would be good, too. ;)
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Nice alternative to junctions

Post by *StatusQuo »

Support++,
if optional and deactivated by default for normal users.

These "Folder Shortcuts" work similar to junctions, with a little less risk (at least moving the shortcuts should not damage the original).
However it can be fatal to browse e.g. the start menu, deleting files that don't belong there -
you could be accidently deleting files from the original place instead...
Explorer changes the displayed path to prevent that (if it's noticed by the user).

An access question comes to mind, too:
Should TC's find function (Alt+F7) and the SyncTool (cm_FileSync) find the contents behind such a link?
(They do, when using junctions - the don't, when using normal links.)

Workaround to get a similar behaviour:
You can open the contained target.lnk in the other panel (Ctrl+Left or Ctrl+Right)
or in a new tab (Ctrl+Up), which can be closed to return to the previous position (Explorer's wormhole-effect, light version).
  • To create these "Folder Shortcuts" (tested in Win2k/XP) for testing:
    drag a directory into the Windows Start menu with the RMB, then select "create shortcut".

    The result is a normal directory, containing the 2 files Desktop.ini (hidden, system) and target.lnk.
    The directory itself must be given the read-only attribute to make the shortcut work
    (you can also use this attribute as a built-in on/off-switch for the link function.)
Last edited by StatusQuo on 2007-10-30, 22:35 UTC, edited 1 time in total.
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icfu
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Post by *icfu »

With "Winbolic Link" you can create shell links pretty easily:
http://www.pearlmagik.com/winbolic/

Here is a nice article covering hardlinks, junction, shell links, etc...:
http://shell-shocked.org/article.php?id=284

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Post by *StatusQuo »

2icfu
Winbolic sounds much more convenient, thanks for the hint.
Also the article:
and some throwaway info, like the file name, attributes, you know. Non-essentials.
Very nice. :D
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ts2034829
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Folder shortcuts revisited

Post by *ts2034829 »

Hi All --
First of all, please excuse my dumb question, but what does "Support++" mean? Do I assume correctly that it is "added to list of planned features"?
If so, what is the status of that issue? Just yesterday I came across the same problem as the original poster - tried to create a link to a folder and was somewhat disappointed that it was listed among files instead of folders.
Then found this thread and tried the shell shortcut solution, with no luck.
Any update on this topic will be appreciated.

Regards,
Tomasz
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Post by *petermad »

but what does "Support++" mean?
It means that the person who wrote the reply supports the request to a certain degree - usually one two or thee plusses are used.

The only one that can add anything tho the planned features is the author of the program Christian Ghisler [ghisler(Author)]. TC is basically a one-man-project.
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Balderstrom
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Re: Folder Shortcut support

Post by *Balderstrom »

This would be a non-issue if TC had per TAB Histories, as well as GlobalHistory. the BackSpace or Alt-Left etc, could be configured to go "back" in the Browsed folder history for the Tab itself.

Due to there only being a global history, as soon as you change Tabs in the pane the Browsed-Folder-History sequence becomes disjointed.

The secondary issue - to get .lnks together with Folders can mostly be resolved by naming Shortcuts with an Exclamation point or leading underscore. Though an option to Sort Folder.lnk's mixed in with Folders wouldn't hurt.

Hopefully one day we will see per Tab Folder Histories. If Internet Browsers mixed all their Tab histories together it would make the Forward/Back buttons useless. Which is pretty much how I see TC's forward/back commands currently: they serve very little purpose. The global history has it's uses - but its generally necessary to open it and pick the place to go from the drop down menu.

As far as deletion to the recycle bin from Junctioned folders...
That would be nice, if you were using TC's delete method for it to delete from the "real path" if you had Security permission to that path.
ts2034829
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Re: Folder Shortcut support

Post by *ts2034829 »

Actually, my problem would be nicely and fully resolved by the option to have folder links sorted together with folders. Instead of creating a shell link, I can make a plain shortcut to a folder, which, when clicked, immediately gets me to the target location.
Prefixing the shortcut with a ! does help, but only if you are sorting by name. I sort files by extension, so the shortcut (with extension lnk) falls way down the file list, forcing me to scroll a few pages down... which kind of defeats the purpose of the whole exercise.
Oh well, maybe I'm just too lazy... One click, two clicks, regardless, it's still so much superior to Explorer :wink:
Regards, Tomasz
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Beano
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Post by *Beano »

*BUMP*

Has this folder-link-sorting suggestion been implemented since the last post?

I could not find an option for it in TC v8.01 but maybe I just missed it.

Thank you.
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leopoldus
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Re: Folder Shortcut support

Post by *leopoldus »

ts2034829 wrote:Actually, my problem would be nicely and fully resolved by the option to have folder links sorted together with folders.
Support ++
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DrShark
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Follow "Folder shortcuts" (+WCX API for dirs)

Post by *DrShark »

TC 9 as a new feature: following .url files pointing to directories within Total Commander. Could you please also add following for Folder Shortcuts (folder links)?

It is a special type of Windows links made using (some info here from Wikipedia) a folder with the system attribute set (for me works with R/O only too), containing a hidden "desktop.ini". The desktop.ini content is:

Code: Select all

[.ShellClassInfo]
CLSID2={0AFACED1-E828-11D1-9187-B532F1E9575D}
Flags=2
In Explorer such links work like junctions, but also work on FAT and, in addition, they allow to hide files in such folders because Explorer only shows lnk target location content. TC currently on real file system shows those "hidden" content including target.lnk (in virtual locations like \Desktop\\ TC follows such link folders, and also correctly shows their icons even with "All icons" enabled instead of "All icons+EXE/LNK (slow)".)

I suggest by default to follow such folders on real file system, and view their hidden content using Ctrl+PgDn (maybe with virtual WCX plugin). The Alt+F7 search could show target content by default, and also hidden content with "Search archives" option enabled. Currently Ctrl+PgDn and "Search archives" behaviour may be added without virtual WCX, but as a special feature for folders. The WCX concept has benefits, because WCX plugins like NTFS Streams could also be used for folders.
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Post by *MVV »

I wouldn't support such virtual folders by default, only with an option.

Current TC behaviour (displaying physical folder contents) is more virus-resistant, and usually there is no really useful in such folders. I don't know easy way of creating such shortcuts for user folders, only for some predefined system ones.
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Post by *DrShark »

MVV wrote:I wouldn't support such virtual folders by default, only with an option.
Not a problem for me.
MVV wrote:I don't know easy way of creating such shortcuts for user folders, only for some predefined system ones.
Well if you got one, copy this folder shortcut (those folder with system attribute, desktop.ini and target.lnk inside) with TC with different name (Shift+F5), enter it with TC, extract target.lnk, change those target.lnk target location (it can be any path, not only some system dir) and copy it back to your new folder shortcut replacing existing target.lnk and that's it.
Creation from scratch is similar: make a folder with proper attributes and desktop.ini, make new regular shortcut with target.lnk name and your desired target path, then copy target.lnk to your folder. I have a vbscipt for making folder shortcuts, but not adapted it for using with TC yet. I saw also a powershell script for this somewhere on the web.
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DrShark
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Post by *DrShark »

MVV wrote:Current TC behaviour (displaying physical folder contents) is more virus-resistant, and usually there is no really useful in such folders.
Viruses may hide in file streams which is even more dangerous, but TC can't even show them internally. And in virtual folders like \\Desktop\ TC already follows folder shortcuts so adding such behaviour to real fs paths will make behaviour consistent.
MVV wrote:I don't know easy way of creating such shortcuts for user folders, only for some predefined system ones.
This post has a link to a tool which creates them.
2Hacker
Thanks for merging the topics. Since you didn't remove this post, I added some topic content here.
Last edited by DrShark on 2017-03-25, 00:13 UTC, edited 3 times in total.
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Post by *Hacker »

[mod]Thread Folder Shortcut support merged.

Hacker (Moderator)[/mod]
Mal angenommen, du drückst Strg+F, wählst die FTP-Verbindung (mit gespeichertem Passwort), klickst aber nicht auf Verbinden, sondern fällst tot um.
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