Total Commander

Total Commander has a very solid, but somewhat unique selection system which works well for the product.

However, Windows XP and Vista selection techniques do differ somewhat, and are probably more well-known and familiar with users.

I was wondering whether it may be possible in the near future to add / modify a couple of behaviors, or if the selection system is 100% locked in and for the sake of consistency and there are no plans to make any adjustments.

For instance - one Item I am used to in Windows is "Rubber Band" selection, where you click the left-mouse button, drag a window around / intersecting the files you want to select, and then release the left-mouse button.

Another is that I would like to have the object underneath of the current cursor location to provide an inverted look and be included when users hold down the SHIFT key and use the arrow keys to enclose their selection. For instance, if I have 10 files in a folder, and start at the bottom, then hold SHIFT down and start moving the arrow key, I would like to be able to press the up arrow key 5 times and have that top line, the one with the marquee selection box be included in the inverted selection as a 6th item.

In the example below, the cursor marquee box started on the BonkEnc.exe file, then I held down the SHIFT key and pressed the Up Arrow 5 times. As the image hopefully shows, that marquee box / cursor location is NOT included in the selection and is not inverted.

I would like the option of having instead of that marquee box, to have whatever is under the current location to be inverted like the CDRip.dll file is, which is just below the BonkEnc.dll file.

Again, the current selection does work well, especially when you really get used to it. But I would at least like the option of the modified cursor / SHIFT-ARROW selection concept and then perhaps the addition of a "Click and Drag Bounding Box" type of feature.

I do very much like the 7.x version of the program, but sometimes I get a bit goofed up because Explorer and many other programs do it one way and TC does it in a slightly different way, and as a result, I will sometimes make some mistakes in file operations as a result.

Thank you in advance for any help you may be able to provide.

Image: http://www.pdscomputing.com/files/tcmd-01.png

Explorer is the thing to forget when you get TC.
Anyway, check Operation tab in Configuration dialog. You will find a selection mode switch.

MVV wrote:Explorer is the thing to forget when you get TC.
Anyway, check Operation tab in Configuration dialog. You will find a selection mode switch.

Thanks for the reply.

All I did find there seemed to be Right-Mouse button (NC) vs Left-Mouse Button (Windows).

Is there an entry for keyboard selection? Or to have the file underneath the marquee box be inverted and part of the selection?

One of the best things about TC is that it is keyboard based. It is with this manual method that I most often make mistakes, because it differs from about every other method if selection in Windows and in other apps.

Thanks

2DudeBoyz

drag a window around / intersecting the files you want to select, and then release the left-mouse button.

"rectangle" gives some good search result on this topic, including e.g. this one.

I would like to be able to press the up arrow key 5 times and have that top line, the one with the marquee selection box be included in the inverted selection as a 6th item.

In Explorer the cursor position is always marked, in TC it is not.
So in Explorer you can't move the cursor without removing the previous selection (or pressing the Ctrl key).
TC is better here IMO.

MVV wrote:Explorer is the thing to forget when you get TC.

Yep, TC is there to do things better than Explorer.

StatusQuo wrote:2DudeBoyz

drag a window around / intersecting the files you want to select, and then release the left-mouse button.

"rectangle" gives some good search result on this topic, including e.g. this one.

I would like to be able to press the up arrow key 5 times and have that top line, the one with the marquee selection box be included in the inverted selection as a 6th item.

In Explorer the cursor position is always marked, in TC it is not.
So in Explorer you can't move the cursor without removing the previous selection (or pressing the Ctrl key).
TC is better here IMO.

MVV wrote:Explorer is the thing to forget when you get TC.

Yep, TC is there to do things better than Explorer.

I'm in agreement that the way TC handles it is very functional already. I genuinely like the program, but sometimes I get a brain fade and forget that TC is the one place where the selection mode is slighly different, and as a result, I make some mistakes. The fault is entirely mine.

I know I'm the one screwing up, but I still wanted to ask if it might be something the author would consider adding as an Option. I do not want to prevent the current method from being used, but having the ability to check a box in the config menu that lets TC function more like most of the other Windows apps out there in regards to keyboard selection methods in particular, would really be great.

I see in the Configuration Dialog that a provision has been made to use the original NC method, or the "Left mouse button ( Windows standard ). I guess that got me thinking how cool it would be if there was also an option for keyboard selections to function in the "Windows standard" way as well.

The mouse selection thing really isn't that big of a deal for me, because with TC, I can get a lot more done a lot faster just by sticking with the keyboard.

But again, because that one behavior is different, I end up making mistakes that I wouldn't otherwise be making.

Sincerely - I do not blame TC and I am certainly not bashing TC. But selfishly, it would be a relief if one simple option could be added to allow the keyboard selection to behave like a typical Windows app does.

I'm just so used to the default Windows method that I'm having trouble adjusting.

If TC could be tweaked slightly so that by checking a box, I was able to toggle to a mode that has the same behavior as other Win apps do, it would be great.

Just a tweak / opton so that whatever line the cursor is on would be inverted like it is in other Windows apps, and whatever line the cursor ends up on is included in the selection set created when I do use the SHIFT-arrow keystrokes, as it is in other Windows apps, would really be helpful to brain-dead geeks like me.

I'm hopeful that the coding for such a behavior option would not be that hard to pull off, and I just wanted to ask if the author would consider it.

The mouse banding box thing really isn't a big whoop - honest. I just threw that in because it seemed somehow related as it involved selection also.

But the big thing for me is that Cursor / Shift-Arrow type of selection behavior, and I was hoping that simply asking for an option would not seem unreasonable and would not be some big controversy that might get people kinda torqued off at me.

I am not talking about taking anything AWAY from TC, but I am asking for a useful addition to the behaviors already provided for.

I don't want to see TC get screwed up. I just want to ask for a bit of help to prevent ME from screwing up.

If that sounds unreasonable to you, then I apologize for that. But it would be incredibly helpful to me (and maybe a few others), and if users didn't at least ask, then the possibility of having this added would be almost non-existent. I just don't understand why simply making the request is a bad thing, and I don't want to get barked at just because I thought of asking for that feature.

Nobody loses here - you still get to keep the behavior you are familiar with - and maybe I'm lucky enough to get an option for a different behavior.

I do indeed hope the author will consider it. I really would appreciate it.

Thanks

2DudeBoyz
What mode do you currently use? And more important, what exactly are those "mistakes"? Providing actual examples helps a lot better.

DudeBoyz wrote:For instance, if I have 10 files in a folder, and start at the bottom, then hold SHIFT down and start moving the arrow key, I would like to be able to press the up arrow key 5 times and have that top line, the one with the marquee selection box be included in the inverted selection as a 6th item.

Optionally imitating Explorer behavior would be OK, of course, if there's no technical problem -
maybe it's also useful for future users, that are still using Explorer today...

roentgen wrote:2DudeBoyz
What mode do you currently use? And more important, what exactly are those "mistakes"? Providing actual examples helps a lot better.

I am testing right now the 7.04a version. I have under CONFIGURATION and the OPERATION screen, where it says MOUSE SELECTION MODE, I have chosen LEFT MOUSE BUTTON (Windows Standard) instead of the default of USE RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON (as in NC)

Thse are for the mouse though. Since he already provides two ways of doing it for the mouse, I guess I was hoping he might provide two ways of doing it for the keyboard also.

Mistakes Explanation.

For instance - I'm doing a backup from my C: drive to an external FireWire or USB 2.0 drive. I go into a folder where I have about 20 files listed some PNG and some JPG, for example. I go down to the first JPG file, hold down SHIFT and press the UP ARROW until I get to the top of the JPG files. Then I press F5 and copy over.

The problem is though, that I forget that with TC, I have to not only go to the TOP of the JPG files, but I must go ONE LINE PAST the JPG files to get all the JPG files selected.

So when I screw something up and want to go to my backup and re-copy all the original JPG files over, I have all but one of those files.

For example:

01.JPG
02.JPG
03.JPG
04.JPG

I start on 04.JPG and hold down the SHIFT key, press the UP arrow until the cursor / marquee box is on 01.JPG and then I press F5, cause that is how it does it in every other place in windows and I'm totally used to that.

In all other cases, all 4 JPG files are copied to the backup so I can restore them later. But with TC, only 3 of the 4 files have made it over.

I'm a fast typist and sort of a Type A brain behavior dude, so I just do it fast without really thinking too much that "oh wait, I'm in TC, I have to do it a different way". My mind is already kind of racing, and I'm working on a deadline or something and am kind of in a hurry. Clients can be pretty demanding.

So, since every other thing from Windows 3.1 to Windows Vista does the SHIFT-ARROW type of selection one way, that is usually the way I do it.

Clients typically don't have TC installed, so again, I end up doing it the Windows way most often. But there are some things that TC does that other apps don't - like let you preserve the date and time on FOLDERS when you copy them, for example. So I am doing my work in TC cause it's all cool, bippin' and boppin' around and geeked on cola, and I miss something because the behavior is different.

I understand it may sound selfish and kinda unfair or weird, but hey, that's kinda the way I work, and I'm usually very fast and very efficient. Usually I make very few mistakes because I know how everything is setup on my system and I try to get apps that function in a similar manner. Like Corel Draw 7 instead of Adobe Illustrator. Like Paint Shop Pro 7.04 instead of PhotoShop Elements. Norton Ghost 2003 for DOS instead of Acronis True Image.

I figure - hey, the programming dude was cool and added a second option for the mouse, so he may be open to the idea of adding a second option for the keyboard.

So basically, I can set the software to work in the exact same way as all my other stuff, and I won't have to stop and think and lose track of where I'm at when ideas are flying through my head as I'm trying to meet a deadline.

Hope that makes sense.

I do think the keyboard behavior addition would be a lot easier to do than the mouse rubber-band selection thing, and I'm hoping that he could just slap it in there really quick and send out a minor update.

There ya go - ramblin' again, am I. Sorry about that.

To select ALL .jpg I would use Alt+Numpad+

About "LEFT MOUSE BUTTON (Windows Standard)": I only activated once and got so scared of how it behave that I never used it again, so sorry I can't provide any more assistance for it.

PS: I wouldn't "learn" TC at work

I think I'd just like to have the option to have TC manual file selection, via Shift-Arrow, or PG UP / PG DN or END / HOME, etc.

Not only just by making the object under the cursor inverted like the rest of a selection and also included in that selection, but having the "Anchor Point" (for lack of a better term) of the selection be the same as the typical / standard Windows behavior does.

For example, if I hold down SHIFT and use the UP arrow to go to the top of a selection of files, but then continue holding down SHIFT and switch to using the DN arrow, the current result I get in TC is not the same result I would get in Explorer windows, file open / save dialogs, etc.

As I have indicated, I'm not looking to change or take any features away from TC at all.

I would simply like to see a selectable option to enable such behavior should you wish to.

Similar to an existing implementation of mouse behavior in the
CONFIGURATION > OPTIONS > OPERATION dialog:

Mouse Selection Mode

- Use Right Mouse Button (As In NC)
- Left Mouse Button (Windows Standard)

adding a similar option based on that might look like:

Keyboard Selection Mode

- Use Original Behavior (As In NC)
- Use Alternate Behavior (Windows Standard)

I hope that makes things a little clearer. Sometimes I simply don't express myself as well as I wish to at any given moment, so even though it may be repetitive, I try to come back later and explain it a bit differently so that my ramblings are a little more understandable.

Thank you for the discussion. That's one of the great things about forums and the ability they offer to "Group Think", as it were.

Any comment from the programmers about this?

Just wanna know if it's worth considering or not.

Thanks much.

Still no response from the authors / developers. Would it be appropriate to try emailing the suggestion directly to them? Or is that not an accepted / preferred method for such requests?

Thanks

DudeBoyz,
Well, the author reads everything and it's up to him to choose when and if to respond.
I guess the status is something like "few people have requested this, so let's see if it gets more support, until then it has low priority, if any".

Roman

Oh yeah, the good ol' times...:
http://www.ghisler.ch/board/viewtopic.php?p=101873

Icfu

Hacker wrote:DudeBoyz,
Well, the author reads everything and it's up to him to choose when and if to respond.
I guess the status is something like "few people have requested this, so let's see if it gets more support, until then it has low priority, if any".

Roman

Thanks for the reply. Sorry if I got impatient.

I've been recommending TC to more folks lately and started using the app more to show them how it works and all, and I guess I just wanted to see what the possibility might be of adding this functionality.

Some people comment that it's not like the rest of what Windows does, and I acknowledge that to them but more often then not, they are willing to deal because the rest of the feature set impresses them. There are features in TC you just can't find in most apps, if any, and that is what I try to focus on. Preserving Date and Time for directories during a copy or move is a winner. Makes backups / drive sync much easier for most.

Anyway, I hope the authors will consider the request. It would be nice to have as an optional behavior.

Thanks