Requested "Save" and "Save As" Dialog Box with preferred locations like MS Word does

[hansmeier]

I'd like to have a list of preferred locations (editable by me) like the new MS Word versions, see picture:



The requested feature is the box at the left, where you can add several locations to then be quickly accessable.

You might add, for example, the directories "Scans for work", "Screenshots", "Photos"..... so you don't have to browse through your directory tree each time you would like to save a scan, then a screenshot, then a scan, then a edited photo...

Disclaimer: This is not my screenshot. I found it via a Google search. All rights belong to the original creator. It is only used to illustrate the feature request and hosted by www.ithelpdesk.qut.edu.au

[WellOiledPC]

Welcome to the Forum, hansmeier. Looks like you forgot to attach the screenshot...

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

Welcome to the Forum, hansmeier. Looks like you forgot to attach the screenshot...

I have no problem seeing the screenshot.

[WellOiledPC]

I see it now - must be some glitch with my Internet connection...

[Sam_Zen]

Fortunately my IrfanView doesn't show this left box of the save dialog, and I don't miss it.
This left box seems to me being part of windoze, not of IrfanView.

Maps like 'My documents' or 'My photos' are silly M$ inventions, causing a lot of inefficiency.
Better organize one's own categories into dedicated directories.

Apart from the optional renaming, which can take place in both dialogs, the directory conditions of 'Save' and 'Save as' are, I think :
'Save' starts with the directory of the source file, 'Save as' starts with the latest directory where a file has been saved.
So if the graphic material is well organized, it could be 1 click upper or lower directory to get the right one to save in.

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

Another possibility would be to remember the save folder for each file type, so that when you select the file extension, IrfanView automatically changes the Save As folder to the folder you last used for that file type.

[hansmeier]

Better organize one's own categories into dedicated directories.

I did.

So if the graphic material is well organized, it could be 1 click upper or lower directory to get the right one to save in.

Apparently we have different beliefs on the meaning of "well organized". I do think that my directory structure is well organized, and still I have to jump several folders. Example:

d:\studies\master\biomechanics\
Here I want to place scans of my work done at the university regarding the biomechanics course

d:\studies\abroad\letters\
Here I want to place scans of the letters regarding my studies abroad

d:\private\letters\
Here I want to place scans of private letters

d:\photos\2010\
Here I might want to save a resized photo by a new filename

d:\out
Here, after resizing them, I usually save photos that I want to send friends. After selecting, resizing and saving the pictures, I can then easily zip this directory and send the ZIP to my friends.

See, this means a lot of jumping between folders. If I could set these folders as Quicklinks to save in, I would be very happy.

Another possibility would be to remember the save folder for each file type, so that when you select the file extension, IrfanView automatically changes the Save As folder to the folder you last used for that file type.

Not useful for me, as I save every file as JPG, but I can imagine your proposal being useful for some people.

[MItaly]

Fortunately my IrfanView doesn't show this left box of the save dialog, and I don't miss it.
This left box seems to me being part of windoze, not of IrfanView.

Usually a good integration with the operating system is considered a good thing, because you provide a consistent interface to the user, who, in this way, doesn't need to learn how every different save dialog works. And by the way, the left links are customizable and can be quite useful...

So if the graphic material is well organized, it could be 1 click upper or lower directory to get the right one to save in.

It's not so obvious, one could have a different organization than yours...

[aaa3]

Maps like 'My documents' or 'My photos' are silly M$ inventions, causing a lot of inefficiency.
Better organize one's own categories into dedicated directories.

i wholeheartedly agree in this; but not for not having that group left-side. the only things i use there are of great utility: recent. if one keeps it manually cleean, it allows very quick navigation in a complicated and deep structure (*). so my +1 for having it.

imo (im absolutely noob in this) its probably the type of open dialog selected in the rad tool (e.g. lazarus, delphi, ms visual cr*ps) in which iv is programmed, must be just a few clicks to change.

[*remark: well... for example, if there are some partially redundant/similar themed dirs but navigationally/locationally quite far from each other; or if one is doing a "human multithreading", i.e. working with 3-4 different topics, each only have one of its own dir area but they are far, and just once to switch is ok but multiple times back and forth...]

[cwb3106]

I like this suggestion, particularly if the Vista dialog could be used. Windows XP limits the number of folders on the left and provides no UI to change them (they can be changed with the TweakUI powertoy). Vista has a much more useful dialog which allows a large number of "favorite" folders and includes a UI to manage the list. I assume that Windows 7 is similar.

[Mij]

Maps like 'My documents' or 'My photos' are silly M$ inventions, causing a lot of inefficiency.
Better organize one's own categories into dedicated directories.

I do organize my folders into my own categories but have always used these M$ "inventions" like My???? for storing shortcuts to my favorite folders of that category. They act like an index.
Many of the favorite folders themselves have shortcuts back to the relevant My???? folder too. Then in an Open or Save dialog if one of those favorites appears I can click on the shortcut to My???? and have immediate access to any of the others.

Handy to have shortcuts to these My???? index folders on the desktop too. It is usually quite quick to navigate from anywhere to the desktop either by repeatedly clicking the Up a Level arrow in the dialog or from the dropdown list of the Look In box. Then it is just two double clicks into any of the favorites.

[WellOiledPC]

Well, I have my own file management system - it isn't too well organized or even easy to explain in a few lines, but I'm used to it and get by. Personally, I too have never found the My?????? folders to be of much use - it is more an interim dumping ground for files I haven't yet classified. I also dislike having too many 'Shortcut tos' on the Desktop, as I prefer putting shortcuts to frequently-used programs there, rather than to files or folders.

My wife has a HUGE problem my filing system (as well as the way I laze around at home, but thats another story...) and I feel the same way about her filing system! Not that she finds more use for the My?????? folders too!

The answer that emerges is that file systems are completely people-based. And that isn't a bad thing either!

[Mij]

In fact I just have a single shortcut on the desktop that points to a folder called MyLinks where all the favorite shortcuts are kept (so it's 3 double clicks really). I mention it because I notice that it does appear on the drop down list of Save In in my Save As dialog. There it is called just Links rather than MyLinks and appears under my user folder name. I am not sure what I did to get it there though.

I also notice that when you save a text file of Slideshow images the Browse drop down box opens as a full Explorer dialog including the Favorites bar. I presume that bar is suppressed in the Save As dialog to leave room for the Options dialog to be shown over the other side.

P.S. I bought my wife her own computer. Saves a lot of aggravation.

[WellOiledPC]

In fact I just have a single shortcut on the desktop that points to a folder called MyLinks where all the favorite shortcuts are kept (so it's 3 double clicks really). I mention it because I notice that it does appear on the drop down list of Save In in my Save As dialog. There it is called just Links rather than MyLinks and appears under my user folder name. I am not sure what I did to get it there though.

I also notice that when you save a text file of Slideshow images the Browse drop down box opens as a full Explorer dialog including the Favorites bar. I presume that bar is suppressed in the Save As dialog to leave room for the Options dialog to be shown over the other side.

P.S. I bought my wife her own computer. Saves a lot of aggravation.

I got the wife her own laptop - a rather dated Celeron-M with 512 MB RAM, but good enough for her requirements. That didn't solve my problem though - now she has 2 computers to lose (err, save) her files on!

[Silversleeves]

For quick navigation in XP, I rely most often on Direct Folders, which has both free and Pro (shareware) versions. Like DefaultFolder or Directory Assistance on the Mac side, it lets you configure frequently-used folders on your system, which are accessed via a left-click in any unclaimed space in an Open or Save dialog. IrfanView's dialogs don't balk at it either, which is a good thing.

There's also the freeware TweakUI, but this would only work if you could do, as is done with some apps in Mac OS X and Linux, something to turn off the custom open/save dialogs and use the operating system's default. I didn't see any such "switch" in the preferences to the current version of IrfanView-- not that I was looking too hard -- so it might be there's some re-coding involved. Nice idea, come to think of it.

BZT