Classic Shell: Forum

I'm not sure if its a bug, or just hasn't been implemented, but shouldn't the new status bar show the combined file-size when multiple files are selected, rather than the free space?

Also the 'detailed info for single selection' feels cluttered, I would suggest removing the text 'item type:', 'rating:','Dimensions:','Size:', ect also some separators, and the 'description' field should be the last item on the left.

Also perhaps a color picker for the status bar

The Space remaining on drive, can be justified right maybe? (info on the folder justified right, info on selection justified left.)

Look at the right side area of the status bar (to the immediate left of where the Zone is shown). That area shows the combined size (like all past versions of Windows dating back to Windows 95).

The information that is shown in the status bar when a single file is selected comes from the tooltip. Whatever the tooltip shows will be shown on the status bar. Starting with Windows XP, you can modify what the tooltip shows from the registry. You can in fact tweak everything in the registry in newer versions of Windows - what properties the tooltip shows, what properties the Details pane shows, what the Details tab in Properties shows etc on a per-file type basis.

The status bar behaves like the Explorer status bar in Windows 95 to Windows Vista.

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I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

oh I thought it was a re-implementation by classic shell, completely re-adding everything , ill look into that then ^.^

It is a re-implementation, but it is done to look like the old status bar.
The info for individual files comes from the system tooltip and is not re-implemented. It is very dependent on the file type. Whoever implements the file type decides what goes into the text.

the entire text is, or just the description field?
also if you are re-implementing it, wouldn't you have the power to cut certain keywords, at least for the most common file types, to make things better organized?
It just makes sense that stuff dealing with the same objects is grouped together, which is why i feel folder size should be far right, and filesize far left

also whats with the security zone thing, does it only have 2 options, computer and internet?, it doesn't seem to recognize network locations as such?

The size of the selected file or total size of all files in the folder minus subfolders is always organized in a section of its own. It does not show folder size at all. Cutting keywords can make certain users unhappy as every user has his preferences as to what properties he prefers to see. That is why the infotip is registry-customizable. You can remove what values you don't want to see for particular file types from the registry and add your own. Also, some infotip property values may be long, some may be short short, hence everything is shown in serial order, one property after the other, to make optimum use of limited available space. If the status bar were to organize it into sections, then there might be space wasted if the earlier property's value is too short.

For example, if you go to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\SystemFileAssociations\.jpg, you can see some values there and properties. Refer to this page: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/cc144133(v=vs.85).aspx and you can customize the Properties shown in the tooltip, details pane etc.


The zone will be shown as "Local intranet" for a network share if you uncheck "Automatically detect intranet network" from Internet Options -> Security tab -> Sites and then check "Include all local (intranet) sites not listed in other zones" and "Include all network paths (UNCs)".

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I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

The info comes as a single text line from the system. I have no control over how it is generated and I don't want to have one.
The layout of the status bar is standard. The first field is larger and is variable size because it can display variable text. The fixed-size fields are right-aligned. Some people may not like it but that's the convention.

In my opinion the total folder size seems far more more important than the size of only files directly in the folder. In-fact I think its also more important than space remaining on a particular drive (especially nowadays), and should remain visible even with files selected. Though because in its current implementation it matches XP, it would suffice to simply add the option, with its current setup being the default
@zone, wouldn't just the icon suffice for identifying the browsing location?, Also the steps to include a 'local intranet' zone seem like they have more effects than changing the zone in the status bar.. ill just leave that be, as i don't really care for the zone information anyways...


@Cutting Keywords can make certain users unhappy:

It could always be Optional... Though since those keywords are mostly file type specific.. implementation would be difficult.. so this suggestion can be ignored (unless theres an easy way to detect what is meta-data and what describes it)

@Limited Space: Cutting keywords, and the text for the Zone fields would further reduce total space needed
I wasn't suggesting static sections, but rather dynamic separators that would simply be placed between the meta-data
a separator is equivalent to around 3 characters in space? compared to 2 characters in space currently being used (a comma, and a space) But I would consider the readability increase worth it.






Here's some Ascii for; no-files selected, multiple files selected, a generic file selected, and a sample JPEG; in that order. (Z)=zone image

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________| 13 Items(104 MB) | (Z) (C: 100GB Free)

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4 Items selected (24 MB) |___________________________________________________________________| 13 Items(104 MB) | (Z) (C: 100GB Free)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Misc.TXT(125 KB) |(Insert attributes defined by file type)____________________________________________| 13 Items(104 MB) | (Z) (C: 100GB Free)

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Cat.JPEG(125 KB) | Un-rated | Dimensions 840x1000_______________________________________________| 13 Items(104 MB) | (Z) (C: 100GB Free)


Im only requesting the first 2: because the others would require parsing the meta-data. which would be considerable work and i wouldn't ask for it as you would have to:
(parse the text for ", " and replace it with " | " Except in certain fields (IE Tags, and Description section)
I cant think of any other common meta-data that would include commas, that couldn't be replaced; so in MOST common cases it should look fine.
Also parsing out "Size: XXX" and "Type: XXX" is recommended so you can display them at the beginning, without redundancy)

Alternatively (and the route I would choose) for a single selected file, is to OPTIONALLY only show Generic meta-data;
having check-boxes for: Size, File Type, Date created/accessed/modified, and any other metadata you felt worthy...



Also, It seems that the the size for selected files doesn't take folders into account either.. I would like that to change as-well (maybe with the same toggle as above)
And if possible re-implementation of the folders size in the size column for details view. (though this may be difficult/impossible)

Missed your post with my last one Ivo: though it seems most of it was covered


Though I respect convention, I do not consider it an adequate reason to forgo better options. Even if the default state follows convention I would atleast like the option to make anything selection specific align left, with the data on the right remaining static regardless of the selection.

1) There is nothing simple about showing the total folder size. It can take many seconds, even minutes to calculate, and by that time it may already be out of date.

2) As I said, I don't have any control over the tooltip text and I don't want to have control over it. It is between the implementor of the file type, the OS, and the user. There is a huge number of potential file types and fields. The OS already has a customizable system for displaying file info. I don't want to implement an alternative customizable system for displaying file info and be responsible for handling all possible file types.

1) Yea I guess the only way to quickly do this would be to create a cache of the drive.. so I understand its exclusion

2) As I stated, Im not requesting that you deal with all the different file types. I AM requesting a generic option that only shows meta-data applicable to all file types. Even if that means only the name, type, and size be displayed on the left.... (id like modified/accessed/created, though it is far less important to me)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Misc.TXT(125 KB) |____________________________________________________________________| 13 Items(104 MB) | (Z) (C: 100GB Free)


The information for multiple/no items selected still stands, with exception to including sub-folder size

All of this data is readily visible in Explorer. The status bar shows harder to find info, like pixel size for images, version for DLLs, etc. It is a lot more useful than repeating what you can already see.

Besides, all that is a moot point. The status bar code needs to work on Windows 7, and that status bar can't be customized. Also text like "Disk free space" is localized by the system so I can't simply add my own text.

I would argue that dimensions and all the other data is also readily available in the hover tooltip for files the only status bar info I even care about is size of files in selection


@The status bar code needs to work on Windows; I'm assuming your talking about how windows 7 has its own status bar, that you implement these features onto, rather than displaying your own status bar in windows 7?

@text being localized; true that any text you add would be one more thing for translators to work on.., but at least If i wanted i could change this text in the registry? thats good enough for me