Miller columns from Favourites

[Haakon Storm Heen]

Currently, when in column mode and selecting a folder from Favorites, say:

C:\Users\micro\VFX\MAYA\mousehouse\images\tex_wooden_plank

The entire hierarchy of folders are shown on the left side:

On macOS, when you select a folder in the Sidebar (same position as Favourites/Groups) the select folder is the left-most folder. This is simpler and saves screen real estate. 

Perhaps something similar could be considered for OneCommander?

Thanks for a great piece of software.

BR,

Storm

[OneCommander Support]

When I rewrite columns this might be added as an option - but it is like that by design - I hated in Finder that I couldn't see or open parent folder.

As of user-folder, I am old-school where user files have to be on a separate drive and not in user folder, so the system drive can be nuked, windows reinstalled without affecting user files or require backups

[Haakon Storm Heen]

In Finder you have to turn on .. I think they call it the status bar or path bar? Then on the bottom they render a breadcrumb UI where you can navigate all the way back to root. OneCommander already have that great UI element in the top left where the same thing can be achieved.

Also for the columns rewrite, perhaps the columns width can be automatically set to fit the width of the longest item in the column? See the screenshot; the MAYA folder could be automatically resized to be narrower, to allow for more space in the actual "Tests" folder (where file names could be truncated on smaller monitors).

I just moved back to Windows from many years on macOS (becoming a student again, learning vfx) and OneCommander has been a godsend. On Windows 11 the Explorer.exe has very weird UX, like the tabs in multiple explorer windows can not be consolidated to one window and such. I read online they are working on it, so I guess at least it has tabs now and didn't previously.

Keep up the great work, man!

Storm

[OneCommander Support]

The problem now is that when column is collapsed due to lack of space (your first image), then the breadcrumbs are also gone (since they are part of the pane), so there would be no way to get to the parent (and I'd like to get rid of Up arrow, back and forward in new layouts) since Up is same as a click on breadcrumb (and that line is taking space in all folder panes - although I am not sure what to do with sort arrows to increase the size of the pane for actual files).

There are plans to try to make panes autosize, but I am not sure if that will work as all folders have to be listed in the background, each item measured, so when switching tab or opening long path it may mean getting content and measuring all files in 10 ancestor folders, which might freeze for a bit too long to be good experience. Listing, and then resizing might work but it may also look bad. But that needs to be seen. It'll have to wait for the rewrite but there is another layout I am working on that needs to be finished before I get to that.

[Haakon Storm Heen]

If the left-most breadcrumbs (collapsed miller columns) are removed as part of the UI rewrite, a few ideas:

- When clicking on the folder name (above the arrow icons), the above UI appears. Perhaps a breadcrumb can be shown here where one can click one of the parent folders to go there?

- Or perhaps when hovering over the folder name (same place), such an UI element can appear where parent folders can be navigated to?

I just learned I can go to parent folder by simply doubleclicking in empty space below the list of items in a column. Now I have a dedicated "back" button on my mouse, but perhaps when the window is full and there is nowhere to click, perhaps doubleclicking on the empty space to the right of the "ThumbNailGrid" can serve the same purpose?

I have a second question; I'll open a new conversation for it.

[Haakon Storm Heen]

I see now such an UI element for breadcrumbs already is implemented, in side-by-side view:

While redundant now, this UI could be used also in column view. It is more readable because text is not vertical.

By the way, what do you think about the macOS Finders list-view? It is very useful for some things, in that you can expand

folders and see folder-contents in a nested way. It is possible to select files from multiple folders and operate on them

simultaneously, which is very nice. I understand this would be a big undertaking to implement. But macoS has it, and

OneCommander is the defacto Finder replacement at the moment. :-)