The Column View

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
OK, I just discovered the joys of using column view



However, I have a few beefs about it, and was wondering if the column view vets have any suggestions or at least just listen to me rant.



1. Whats the deal with the preview column? I click on the file I want, and it jumps away! How can I get rid of this (mostly) unnecessary column? Is there a pref that I'm missing, or a haxie that can get rid of it (or add an arrow widget that ?



2. Why is it that when I click to the right of a filename, it isn't selected? I mean, the entire row gets highlighted... wouldn't it make sense to be able to click there, too?



3. OK, this is just nitpick-y, but when you click in the scroll bar to jump back a few columns, wouldn't it be more intuitive to jump one column at a time?



Thats enough for now... but I'm especially peeved about #1... especially when the Finder hangs while Quicktime tries to load a certain movie or song.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    macusersmacusers Posts: 840member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by bauman

    OK, I just discovered the joys of using column view



    However, I have a few beefs about it, and was wondering if the column view vets have any suggestions or at least just listen to me rant.



    1. Whats the deal with the preview column? I click on the file I want, and it jumps away! How can I get rid of this (mostly) unnecessary column? Is there a pref that I'm missing, or a haxie that can get rid of it (or add an arrow widget that ?



    2. Why is it that when I click to the right of a filename, it isn't selected? I mean, the entire row gets highlighted... wouldn't it make sense to be able to click there, too?



    3. OK, this is just nitpick-y, but when you click in the scroll bar to jump back a few columns, wouldn't it be more intuitive to jump one column at a time?



    Thats enough for now... but I'm especially peeved about #1... especially when the Finder hangs while Quicktime tries to load a certain movie or song.




    For number 1, there is a way to turn it off in finder or folder/window preferences
  • Reply 2 of 12
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by bauman

    OK, I just discovered the joys of using column view



    However, I have a few beefs about it, and was wondering if the column view vets have any suggestions or at least just listen to me rant.



    1. Whats the deal with the preview column? I click on the file I want, and it jumps away! How can I get rid of this (mostly) unnecessary column? Is there a pref that I'm missing, or a haxie that can get rid of it (or add an arrow widget that ?







    Yeah - makes double-clicking a real challenge.



    Choose "View Options" from the View menu in Finder while a Column View window is frontmost. Uncheck "Show Preview Column"...
  • Reply 3 of 12
    baumanbauman Posts: 1,248member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by lundy

    Yeah - makes double-clicking a real challenge.



    Choose "View Options" from the View menu in Finder while a Column View window is frontmost. Uncheck "Show Preview Column"...




    Ah, wonderful! Thanks a bunch. I was looking in System and Finder Prefs, but never checked the Window prefs. This makes things much more bearable!
  • Reply 4 of 12
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by lundy

    Yeah - makes double-clicking a real challenge.



    actually you can double click normally even after the preview pane comes out... it won't make a difference... try it!
  • Reply 5 of 12
    code mastercode master Posts: 344member
    #1: Yeah, as Paul said, the double click is still registered even on a moving target.

    #2: I'm not certain I understand what you mean here. When I click to the right of a filename, it selects the file. That is what I expect it to do.

    #3: I don't know what style column view window you are using, but I have mine short and wide so that it shows about 5 columns at once (pic) and bumping back through them one at a time would take forever, especially since most of my stuff is easily 6 - 10 folders deep. I can see that on a smaller window, it may be more useful.
  • Reply 6 of 12
    baumanbauman Posts: 1,248member
    Ah, I understand now. You can select a file by clicking to the right of it's name, but you can't drag it anywhere. That makes sense, I suppose.



    I spent all yesterday afternoon importing Album cover art into iTunes four... I had them all organized in each album folder, and so I was just dragging them into iTunes. It was driving me up a wall that I couldn't drag from the entire row where the highlight appears. I mean, you can drag things in iTunes like that.... I suppose it was just the clashing of the two UIs.



    And, I had been using 3 columns in my window... I'll try shrinking the size of each column and adding more. I think 3 is just too few.



    Thanks everybody for your suggestions!
  • Reply 7 of 12
    reidreid Posts: 190member
    Now, you know what would be great? If you could have one column-view window that has a preview pane, and one that doesn't.



    I always have two column-view windows open at a time, so I can drag anything to anywhere at any time. Usually, I drag from the top window to the bottom window, after having navigated each to the appropriate folder.



    But sometimes I just want to quickly copy a big file from one place to another, and having to sit and wait for the preview pane to load is a pain. I know I can toggle the preview off with the arrow inside the pane in just one window, but if I could turn off the pane in the top window altogether, I think it would be ideal.
  • Reply 8 of 12
    baumanbauman Posts: 1,248member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Reid

    Now, you know what would be great? If you could have one column-view window that has a preview pane, and one that doesn't.



    I always have two column-view windows open at a time, so I can drag anything to anywhere at any time. Usually, I drag from the top window to the bottom window, after having navigated each to the appropriate folder.



    But sometimes I just want to quickly copy a big file from one place to another, and having to sit and wait for the preview pane to load is a pain. I know I can toggle the preview off with the arrow inside the pane in just one window, but if I could turn off the pane in the top window altogether, I think it would be ideal.




    Or what would be absolutely ideal, IMO, would be to have a little widget that looks like the arrows on folders. Click it to display the preview pane, but it would not show if you just click the file.
  • Reply 9 of 12
    johnqjohnq Posts: 2,763member
    What we need is a Split View Finder...
  • Reply 10 of 12
    kidredkidred Posts: 2,402member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Code Master



    #2: I'm not certain I understand what you mean here. When I click to the right of a filename, it selects the file. That is what I expect it to do.




    K, click,to the right of the file name and BECAUSE it's selected is why you should then be able to drag the file. You can't, that's his beef (and I agree)
  • Reply 11 of 12
    johnqjohnq Posts: 2,763member
    Column View has 2 distinct methods of selecting files.



    A: Select the icon or name to immediately be able to drag the item.



    B: Click and drag up or down in the white space to the right of the name and you can select multiple contiguous files without needing to hold a modifier. Works best if the columns have a reasonable amount of whitespace to the right of each column. If not you'll end up dragging the files by accident. So leave some space in columns. It's very useful.



    I think however they would have had more success with the List view/standard Finder dark rectangle selection technique....more consistent and obvious.
  • Reply 12 of 12
    nitzernitzer Posts: 115member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by johnq

    What we need is a Split View Finder...



    I agree! I came up with the same idea a couple years back. Even submitted the idea to Apple. I never made the swanky mockup though.
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