Requested Reconsidering the 8bf-plugin situation

[Sam_Zen]

Different threads have been written about this.

A request to re-arrange the whole situation about opening 8bf-files (Effects).
Now there are distinctions between Abobe and Filter Factory items, according to some old situation.
Other categories has been included in the meantime, like Filters Unlimited.
All three wih their own DLL in the main IV plugin-dir : 8BF_Filters.dll - FFactory.dll - funltdiv.dll
And then, every plugin with an install-procedure will take or can be placed in its own plugin sub-directory.
So now, there are 3 ways to get to a dialog to open a plugin :
1) Crtl+K for Adobe types
2) K for Filter Factory types
3) Menu Image/Effects/Filters Unlimited...
I don't know about the dialog of 3) because I haven't any plugin of that.
Some ini-files also play a role here (in the IV-root):
8BF_Filters.ini - contains the paths to latest bunch of opened plugin-pack
FFactory1.ini - contains all registered groups with path to their several effects.

First recommendation :
Filter Factory types have become somewhat outdated, although it has a better dialog than Adobe types,
because there's a distinction of a 'group' and 'files', so 'subdir' and the range of several effects.
So the opening dialogs between 'Ctrl+K' and 'K' should be exchanged, because the more simple 'K' should
point to the most detailed settings.

Second recommendation :
For navigation purposes it would be nice if any plugin-related dialog would start, if not at the latest used path,
then at least at the Irfan View main plugin directory, instead of C:/.

[matera]

8bf filter dialog thoughts, hopes, wishes, and meandering mutterings:

1. Most desirable - separate filter management from use. Move INI editing features to a separate dialog, to be opened by an Add/Remove button. This would de-clutter the everyday user interface and prevent accidental removal of filters.

2. Make it possible to add a single filter, using a file open dialog rather than the directory one. Duplicates are not sifted out when Adobe filters are added. The only way to restore an accidentally removed filter without having to take out a dozen duplicates afterward is to put it in its own new folder. I can edit the paths in the INIs in order to delete the extra folder and get things back to normal, but that's a scary geekish workaround for newbies.

3. Make the Adobe window like the Filter Factory one, with the two panels (or have headers in the list?), and keep filters grouped. The filters in the list are grouped (anonymously, alas) IF they are added all at once, but if one is removed and added back, it winds up separated widely from the others. The only way to avoid that, and to avoid the duplicate issue, is to remove all of a group (a tricky job) and put them back as a group (which works fine IF the group is in its own folder!). Then the order of the whole list is changed...oy. It's also nice to know what's from who/where without starting up the filter - and some of them have no interface, they just do their thing.

Another big drawback of adding the whole directory, especially with the Adobe lot, is that it makes it hard to permanently remove a filter that has been deemed useless-ugly-and-hateful. One may have to search the INI before removing it to discover its cryptic file name and whereabouts (this is six months after I put it there, I finally got around to giving it a real try-out, and I have NO idea! LOL).

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A meaningful warning message, rather than just no results when trying to add filters that aren't right, would be nice.

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Besides all that, there is still the little problem that some filters can be added to either or both sets, and some will work from both dialogs while others (some FF in Adobe) will crash IV. People who are accustomed to leaving it to the software to organize their files - the dump it all in one folder crowd - will always have trouble with that. Of course it might be a good thing to help them to change their bad habits, but I suppose there's scant hope of that.

For those who do know how to make a folder, searching all 8bf files for "Filter Factory" seems to be the surest way to sort them out if they have gotten mixed together.

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Can you guess that I just re-organized all my filter junk? LOL

[Sam_Zen]

Very nice contribution. I was forced to re-organize my filter locations as well, when considering this issue...
You mention a lot of aspects, so I will let it sink, before going in on the details.