Default folder when opening.

[Jim Marriner]

Greetings all,

In Encore 5.0.1 is it possible to define (nominate) a default folder when opening a file? I have tried to do this using Export Current Score Settings To Default Score Template without success.

Thanks in advance,
Jim M

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Jim,

[quote="Jim Marriner"]In Encore 5.0.1 is it possible to define (nominate) a default folder when opening a file? I have tried to do this using Export Current Score Settings To Default Score Template without success.

As you probably already know, when you call File>Open, the directory offered is the one involved in the most recent Open, Save As, Export MIDI, or Print PDF File To operation.

I knmow of no way to override that.

Best regards,

Doug

[commnthings]

As you probably already know, when you call File>Open, the directory offered is the one involved in the most recent Open, Save As, Export MIDI, or Print PDF File To operation.

Far more interesting, if you open a file from somewhere in E4.5 and then close E4.5 and open E5 (E5Win, at least) the default folder is the one you last used in E4.5.

And vice versa.

One solution would be some sort if .INI file that saved things like default file locations, preferences, etc. FYI, other programs (e.g. MS Word and other Office products) allow saving of these sorts of things. Does Encore use the Registry to save these things?

Bob

[Rob M.]

I did a quick test, and was surprised to find that Encore (well, E455W, anyway) doesn't honour the folder identified in a Windows icon's properties dialogue in the "Start in:" field.

That does work with many Windows applications -- or seems to.

[commnthings]

That does work with many Windows applications -- or seems to.

Yes, it does. But it doesn't work in many others.

Bob

[Paul Flush]

No help for Windows users I realise, but for years the Mac has been able to use 'Default Folder' (St.Clair Software) to do this job. It takes the user to the last folder used for any particular file as well as seeing 'recent folders' or 'favourites' directly from the 'open' or 'save' dialogue boxes. Very useful when working on a couple of projects at the same time. Is there anything like this for PC?

Paul

[commnthings]

Here's another aspect to the "Opening Folder" issue. If I start Encore (E501Win) by double-clicking a file in File Manager (or Windows Exploder for those of you who must use it) that does NOT set the "current" folder for Encore. In the attached example I had previously opened a file from the F:\Back...\Bugs folder and then closed Encore. I reopened it by double-clicking a file from the F\E500...\Recorder folder. When I went to open another file from that same folder the Open File dialog defaulted to the earlier ...\Bugs folder.

I think it would be a good thing for Encore to recognize the folder most recently accessed from within Encore as the "current" folder.

I'll post this as a Feature Request.

Bob

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Bob,

I think it would be a good thing for Encore to recognize the folder most recently accessed from within Encore as the "current" folder.

Encore/Windows 5.x does very nearly that, with a wrinkle or two.

Here is my description of that:

***************
The rules used as to what directory is "offered" for a file operation are interesting.

The following seems to be the situation for Encore 5.0.1.

The file operations involved in this report are Open, Save As, Export MIDI, and Print PDF File To.

With an Opened file, or a new score that has been Saved As a file, active:

File Open - The directory offered is the one involved in the most recent Open, Save As, Export MIDI, or Print PDF File To operation.

Save As, Export MIDI - The directory offered is the one associated with the active file (from which it was opened, or to which it was saved).

Print PDF File To - The directory offered is the last directory to which a PDF file has been saved. [I note that this may be dependent on the behavior of the PDF pseudo printer driver involved, and is not wholly under the control of Encore.]

With an new, unsaved score active [as at the beginning of a session]:

File Open, Save As, Export MIDI - The directory offered is the one involved in the most recent Open, Save As, Export MIDI, or Print PDF File To operation.

Print PDF File To - The directory offered is the last directory to which a PDF file has been saved. [I note that this may be dependent on the behavior of the PDF pseudo printer driver involved, and is not wholly under the control of Encore.]
***********

Not mentioned there is what comes up when we start a new session. I think it still follows these rules (with the pertinent prior history preserved between sessions). I quick check suggest that is so.

I think the passage in blue is the one that pertains directly to your issue.

Best regards,

Doug

[Rob M.]

I think it would be a good thing for Encore to recognize the folder most recently accessed from within Encore as the "current" folder.

You make a good point, Bob. The bolded phrase is the key in your statement. A file opened from Windows Explorer (ugh -- I hate that file manager!) should be an exception. Doug's rules should apply otherwise.

My thinking is that if a user is opening a file from Windows Exploder (ugh --I use another file manager!), s/he is doing so because that file is in a non-standard location (perhaps a flash drive or e-mail attachment folder?), and s/he may not want to keep the file or its progeny in that location.

To put it another way: one cannot reliably make the same set of assumptions for a file opened from Windows Expeller (ugh!) as one would for opening a file from the File/Open menu within the program.

However, I'll certainly grant that if a program won't honour a user's preferences for a "home" folder, that user is more likely to use Windows Exploiter (ugh!) to find and open the file. But better that the program honour those preferences where possible, so that the user doesn't have to go anywhere near Windows Exhumer (yecch!).

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Rob,

I think it would be a good thing for Encore to recognize the folder most recently accessed from within Encore as the "current" folder.

You make a good point, Bob. The bolded phrase is the key in your statement. A file opened from Windows Explorer (ugh -- I hate that file manager!) should be an exception.

Do you mean that opening a file that way should not make the directory it was in the subsequent "current directory"? That would be no exception to Bob's definition -"the folder most recently accessed from within Encore". [color added.]

Best regards,

Doug

[Rob M.]

Hi, Rob,

I think it would be a good thing for Encore to recognize the folder most recently accessed from within Encore as the "current" folder.

You make a good point, Bob. The bolded phrase is the key in your statement. A file opened from Windows Explorer (ugh -- I hate that file manager!) should be an exception.

Do you mean that opening a file that way should not make the directory it was in the subsequent "current directory"? That would be no exception to Bob's definition -"the folder most recently accessed from within Encore". [color added.]

Badly phrased on my part, Doug. I had meant that a file opened from the file manager (whichever one!) should be an exception to the "rules" you suggested, not to Bob's suggested behaviour. The program should continue to honour the user's preference for the "home" folder; if no preference has been set, then the default should be (as Bob suggests) "the folder most recently accessed from within Encore" [color added], regardless of the folder from which the file was originally opened in Windows Explorer (or whatever).

(And thanks for the careful analysis that went into your statement of Encore's behaviour. It should be very helpful.)

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Rob,

Getting away from the semantics (and what "it" is an exception to which one of my rules):

I have my own idea of who this should work, and it is certainly not as simple as that for any file operation, the offered directory should be the last directory involved in any consummated file operation (suggested by the simplistic recommendation).

For example, I believe that the offered directory for Export to MIDI should be the directory involved in the last consummated Export to MIDI operation. I may in fact want to open various score files (maybe from a common directory), and for each, export a MIDI file (to a common, but different, directory. (I did that about 200 times yesterday.)

And I'm not sure how the user sets a "home" directory, either globally for Windows or for a specific application, like Encore. Are you perhaps referring to the provision in a Windows shortcut to declare a "start in" directory for the application?

And if that were done, then when we open Encore, would the initial offered directory (initial in this Encore session) for:

• File Open
• Save As
• Export to MIDI

be that directory, rather than the one that we would have offered today (as a result of the history of directory use during the prior session, as I describe in my "rules")?

Best regards,

Doug

[Rob M.]

I have my own idea of who this should work, and it is certainly not as simple as that for any file operation, the offered directory should be the last directory involved in any consummated file operation (suggested by the simplistic recommendation).

Well, it has been observed (all too often, correctly) that the simple answer is usually the wrong answer...

For example, I believe that the offered directory for Export to MIDI should be the directory involved in the last consummated Export to MIDI operation. I may in fact want to open various score files (maybe from a common directory), and for each, export a MIDI file (to a common, but different, directory. (I did that about 200 times yesterday.)

Oooh, that would be lovely. That's a degree of flexibility that I have never seen and therefore never thought to look for -- even though Encore is certainly not the only application software that is capable of outputting more than one file type. If there is other Windows application software that will provide different default folders for its files depending on file type, I've not heard of it.

And I'm not sure how the user sets a "home" directory, either globally for Windows or for a specific application, like Encore. Are you perhaps referring to the provision in a Windows shortcut to declare a "start in" directory for the application?

Yes. But Encore doesn't honour that setting.

And some Windows applications do allow the user to set a default folder for the application within that application. For the sake of a handy example, MS Word. But Encore doesn't have such a setting.

I would not be interested in setting a single global default for all Windows applications. That's far too all-embracing and far too inflexible. But who knows -- maybe some day Windows will offer an option similar to that described above by Paul a week ago.

And if that were done, then when we open Encore, would the initial offered directory (initial in this Encore session) for:

• File Open
• Save As
• Export to MIDI

be that directory, rather than the one that we would have offered today (as a result of the history of directory use during the prior session, as I describe in my "rules")?

As you've demonstrated, there are no perfect answers. Users differ too much in the way they use the software at hand. I'd be happy to have Encore (or any application) honour the default folder of my preference (which, of course, presumes some way of defining that default, which Encore doesn't seem to provide). I'd also be quite content with software that behaved as you describe in your "rules". And if the latter, I'd even forgive it for defaulting to the folder from which a file was opened in the file manager if that was the last file operation. I know that some users would appreciate that behaviour, even if I'm not one of them.

But how about something a bit novel in Windows application software: the above discussion demonstrates that there are different answers for different situations and for different users. How about a file operation dialogue that recognised

a declared user preference
the last folder used within Encore
the last folder used in Windows Explorer for a file operation involving Encore
any other appropriate "rule" you've described

and offered them as options in a File Open, File Save As, or Export to MIDI operation?

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Rob,

For example, I believe that the offered directory for Export to MIDI should be the directory involved in the last consummated Export to MIDI operation. I may in fact want to open various score files (maybe from a common directory), and for each, export a MIDI file (to a common, but different, directory. (I did that about 200 times yesterday.)

Oooh, that would be lovely. That's a degree of flexibility that I have never seen and therefore never thought to look for -- even though Encore is certainly not the only application software that is capable of outputting more than one file type. If there is other Windows application software that will provide different default folders for its files depending on file type, I've not heard of it.

No, not by file type - by operation. I was speaking of the two operations File>Open and File>Export to MIDI. Note also that File>Save As and File>Export>MIDI are two different file operations (not just two different file types), and there would be nothing unprecedented about them having different offered directories.

However, there are applications that do provide different default folders for different file types. MS word, for example, allows one to set a different default folder for document files (.doc) and templates (.dot).

And I'm not sure how the user sets a "home" directory, either globally for Windows or for a specific application, like Encore. Are you perhaps referring to the provision in a Windows shortcut to declare a "start in" directory for the application?

Yes. But Encore doesn't honour that setting.

Indeed, and not a good thing. I just wanted to be sure I knew what was being spoken of.

And some Windows applications do allow the user to set a default folder for the application within that application. For the sake of a handy example, MS Word.

Not really. MS Word allows one to set a different default folder for various things (as I think you mentioned), not a default folder for the application (which I do not believe has any meaning there). Here's how it looks in Word 2003:

Word_file_locations_01.gif (29.7 KiB) Viewed 2012 times

Note the column heading, "File types:".

Best regards,

Doug

[Rob M.]

And some Windows applications do allow the user to set a default folder for the application within that application. For the sake of a handy example, MS Word.

Not really. MS Word allows one to set a different default folder for various things (as I think you mentioned), not a default folder for the application (which I do not believe has any meaning there).

Thanks for adding a necessary distinction. I was indeed thinking of the files created by the application, not of the application itself.

Again, you have expressed what I intended, as opposed to what I said.