[wish] navigation-tabs: allow only one non-locked tab

[A.Mlynski]

Hello,

lately, I'm working on projects that are distributed through many directories on different drives. I really like the directory/navigation tabs (Ordner-Tabs/Register in the german translation), and I lock the ones I need to go back to regularily.

However, everytime I go to a locked tab and navigate up or down the directory tree, I get a new tab, and my tabs-bar gets really messed with those tabs.

Allowing 'cd' for the locked tabs does not help much, either: when I use CTRL+D or other navigation tools, I may change the directory in the current tab to a place that the tab's name as no longer any relation with.

My suggestion: introduce a global configuration flag to set the following behaviour:

[x] Only allow one non-locked tab at a time.

Whenever any navigation activity would open a new tab in the current TC version, do the following if the option is set: look for a non-locked tab; if one is found, activate that tab and do the navigation there; otherwise: open a new tab.

I hope that this is a minor change at one dedicated place in the code, and it would tremendously aid my work by not messing the tab bar any longer.

Thanks for considering!

[Balderstrom]

Allowing 'cd' for the locked tabs does not help much, either: when I use CTRL+D or other navigation tools, I may change the directory in the current tab to a place that the tab's name as no longer any relation with.

At this point, I usually, duplicate the Tab, the new tab will have a meaningful title, and the old tab will revert back to its original path when you go back to it. Also setting to open newTab beside current is helpful in this regard as well. ... Although the automatic reverting back to its initial-locked path is an annoyance to many of us.

[MVV]

I don't see any practical reason in mode when TC will replace any opened tab with some other.

A.Mlynski, I suggest you to use 'Lock, but directory changes allowed' instead of just locking tabs. So, when you will go to parent dir, TC will just open this dir in locked tab and won't create new tab. When you switch tab to other and back (or restart TC), tab will revert its locked folder. Also you may use Ctrl+\ to revert it (also look in help about LockedGoToDriveRoot ini-parameter).

Also there is a 'Close all tabs' command (Ctrl+Shift+W) which closes all inactive non-locked tabs.

[JohnFredC]

This request is similar in over all affect to my long-term hope for a "designated" folder tab to which "unallowed" navigation would automatically be redirected.

The user would identify the "designated" tab for each panel in Options either by name or position.

Then, an attempt to navigate within a locked folder tab would be redirected to that designated tab by default.

I personally would set the first tab on the left in each panel as the designated tab. That would reinforce motor memory for mouse and eye movement to that location on the screen, enhancing the haptic benefits, and reducing the confusion that accompanies the frequent proliferation of unwanted folder tabs in TC.

[ghisler(Author)]

Try LockedTabChange=2 in wincmd.ini. From the help:

What to do when changing dir on locked tab:
0: always create a new tab
1: re-use tab with same dir
2: re-use first unlocked tab
3: re-use last unlocked tab

Currently 1 is the default. So if you set it to 2 or 3 and don't open any tabs yourself, TC will always use a single unlocked tab.

[JohnFredC]

Thanks Christian. Not exactly what I wanted, but close enough.

Is there a future possibility of allowing "first unlocked tab" to also mean "first locked but navigation allowed tab"? I prefer fixing a name for each tab, but allowing navigation.

There are so many INI-only options in TC... I just can't keep up with them all.

[ghisler(Author)]

Currently the option makes no distinction between locked tabs where dir changes are allowed and where they aren't allowed, so you will unfortunately have to used an unlocked tab for this function.

[A.Mlynski]

Try LockedTabChange=2 in wincmd.ini. From the help:

What to do when changing dir on locked tab:
0: always create a new tab
1: re-use tab with same dir
2: re-use first unlocked tab
3: re-use last unlocked tab

Currently 1 is the default. So if you set it to 2 or 3 and don't open any tabs yourself, TC will always use a single unlocked tab.

Thanks - that's just what I needed! I love the way you think about what people might want when you provide parameters like these!!