Questions on New Directory Hotlist and History

[funkymonk]

As answered in the other thread this file is not an ini file.

True. Yet, by looking at the file I am sure that the information can easily be transformed to fit the current ini structure.

[petermad]

2Horst.Epp

If you don't need it, disable it.

The problem is that even if you disable "Show most frequently used directories" the list is still generated and the tcDirFrq.txt file is written at TC exit - even if Save Directory history at exit is also disabled.

There really should be an option to totally disable gathering info about "most frequently used directories", hence not writing to the file tcDirFrq.txt

I just tested this: I deleted the content of tcDirFrq.txt an then write protected it - that keeps TC from saving the info between sessions, but the function "Show most frequently used directories" can still be used per session (or not - depending on the context menu setting)

[petermad]

True. Yet, by looking at the file I am sure that the information can easily be transformed to fit the current ini structure.

The tcDirFrq.txt is in Unicode and most often wincmd.ini is not, so that is probably why Ghisler has chosen an external file and not wincmd.ini - and Unicode is needed to cover all filenames.

[ghisler(Author)]

That's one of the reasons. Others are
1. To have a separate list per PC (therefore local appdata)
2. The limtation of 64 k characters per INI section

[Sir_SiLvA]

That's one of the reasons. Others are
1. To have a separate list per PC (therefore local appdata)

Suggestion: Wouldnt it be better to use MAC address/pc name/username for that? => like %username%_tcDirFrq.txt ?

[Dalai]

2Sir_SiLvA
Why make it more complicated? %LocalAppData% is available everywhere and is already used for ThumbsLocation and TreeFileLocation, as I pointed out multiple times already in the other threads about this feature/file. Besides: A MAC address is unsuitable because a PC can have multiple NICs, including virtual ones for virtual machine software, VPNs and so on. %LocalAppData% already contains a username in its path, as it points to C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Local by default.

Not sure whether or not DirUsageLocation supports environment and/or pseudo environment variables. But I guess you can test that yourself .

Regards
Dalai

[Sob]

I like frequently used dirs, nice idea. But...

It's slightly unexpected that this by default kind of leaks between independent TC instances. If I intentionally start two TCs with different inis (/i=C:\path\to\tc.ini), I don't expect them to influence each other at all. But it can be fixed using DirUsageLocation, so probably not a big deal.

What I find more annoying is scrolling. If I want to access most frequently used dirs, I want it as straightforward as possible, i.e. one click on the arrow, next click on desired dir, nothing else, done. This currently doesn't work, because the most used dirs are always scrolled out of view. I'm not sure what would be best solution for this. Perhaps configurable limits for displayed items (one for most used and another for history) so that I could set total amount that wouldn't require any scrolling. Or maybe two independent scrolling areas, but that might be weird.

Also one cosmetic feature, is there any chance that the list could not use file list panel font? I have the traditional bold font there, because after looking at it for quarter of century, anything else looks wrong. But I can't say that I like it as much in this history list. I'm also sure that not everyone will agree with me, so maybe a simple ini option to use UI font instead? Please?

[Galizza]

Also one cosmetic feature, is there any chance that the list could not use file list panel font? I have the traditional bold font there, because after looking at it for quarter of century, anything else looks wrong. But I can't say that I like it as much in this history list. I'm also sure that not everyone will agree with me, so maybe a simple ini option to use UI font instead? Please?

Support

[petermad]

is there any chance that the list could not use file list panel font?

Then please make it configurable - I like the bold font in the Directory history, as well as in the Breadcrumb menu and the the new Folder tab list, which also use the font setting for the file panels

[tuska]

I like frequently used dirs, nice idea. But...

What I find more annoying is scrolling. If I want to access most frequently used dirs, I want it as straightforward as possible,
i.e. one click on the arrow, next click on desired dir, nothing else, done.

This currently doesn't work, because the most used dirs are always scrolled out of view.
...

I have noticed this fact as well.
I help myself by pressing the "Pos1" or "End" key on a German keyboard.

[Sob]

About unwanted scrolling, most visited seem to be hardcoded to 30 items, but there's already ini option for number of history items:

Code: Select all

[Configuration]
HistoryLen=<number>

Setting it to 18 results in all items being shown, but there's still unnecessary scrollbar, 17 gets rid of scrollbar. Not ideal (I'd prefer less items for most visited), but good for now.

[ghisler(Author)]

In beta 2, there will be a FrequentlyUsedLen entry which you can set to any number up to 200.

[tuska]

In beta 2, there will be a FrequentlyUsedLen entry which you can set to any number up to 200.

Thank you!