Search feature window could use some adjustments and fixes

[Forez]

Here are some of my humble suggestions which should improve the user experience with the Search files/folders feature (that shows up after pressing CTRL+F):


#1] Make it possible to turn on and off Columns used by the section containing list with search results. Not everybody needs / wants to see e.g. Created date in order to get to the Attributes


#2] Make it possible to re-arrange order of those Columns. Currently user is unable to adjust their placement in any way


#3] Make it possible to store and load up profiles of Columns for this feature. And as there already is the Profiles Tab that holds settings which are applied to all other of the Tabs (thus affecting criteria of a particular saved search query), settings for Columns should be stored as some other profiles


#4] Although the user is able to choose for the Search files/folders window under its

Search files/folders > Options > Size

from 4 options, the Column of Size informs users of what units are used by it only when the

Search files/folders > Options > Size > Auto size (KB, MB, GB, TB, PB)

option is chosen. And although using logic and own memory it is possible to distinct units after switching to using 1 of the remaining 3 options, for convenience reasons users should not be subjected to testing of their cognitive abilities. So either when using any of those 3 options show also designations to all digits within that Size Column - or reserve showing Size Column only for that 1 particular option of Auto size (KB, MB, GB, TB, PB) but automatically switch to showing new / separate Column with a proper header that reflects choice made by the user in Options


#5] When user switches between settings available under

Search files/folders > Options > Size

the changes coming out from this move are applied only to newly re-drawn positions in the Size Column. Therefore in order to see items presented to user with a newly switched-to Size notation, the user has to perform a scroll up / down of the list with already presented results, all the way to the point of hiding of all items that were present on the screen before a switch in Options was performed. In other words: it as a little annoying bug that gets fixed when user manually performs a refresh-like action


#6] Option for switching view from the default one to the view that contains the 2 extra Tabs of Search result and Search log is hard to perform on high screen resolutions, due to the line that needs to be double LMB-clicked being just few pixels high. Therefore this view switching should be made available also in form of an icon placed either as the first or the last one in the line with the already always visible 13 icons located just above the list with results (i.e. just below the Search results and Search log Tabs). Additionally this view switching should be made possible also through the Options menu, because the row with those 13 icons is present in the Search results Tab is not present at all when user is in the Search log Tab


#7] The list with results in its default mode of view is utilizing only ~60% of vertical space of the overall Search files/folders window due to how much space is taken by various options in the Location Tab. In order to make the list longer (and thus present more results on a single screen) I propose to:

#7A] Use only 1 line for the File name section. Although filtering expressions can be very long, I personally in my FreeCommander on a 3840 x 1600 screen have a ridiculous situation where its box is extremely wide despite me almost never using Regular expressions - but the tick box with name of this sub-feature / option is adjacent to the left edge of the window and then followed by nothing more but and an empty space all the way to the right edge, thus wasting almost a whole precious line

#7B] Use just 1 line for all of the Search file content section. If I am not mistaken, the longest name of an encoding page in the default English version of FreeCommander has merely 35 characters - and thus there is no need for the Encode drop list to take almost all of the horizontal space - therefore one line could accommodate the boxes of Case sensitive, Whole words only and Exclude files containing the text, while a second line would host the >>Encoding:<< text, its box and the (conditionally visible) red arrow icon (that shows up when some encoding becomes actually selected)

#7C] Use less lines for all of the Search in section. I understand the logic behind a very long box for Folders (because paths containing multiple sub-folders can be extremely long), but currently this section also grabs 3 lines for its options while at the same time leaving empty its middle area. In other words: all below the current Folders line can be hosted in maybe even as little as 1 line

#7D] Because other Tabs apparently are matched in height to the tallest one, which currently happens to be the Location one, after implementation of the above propositions a similar reworking in other Tabs might be needed

[Forez]

Here are some of my humble suggestions which should improve the user experience with the Search files/folders feature (that shows up after pressing CTRL+F):

Because some changes have been made (somewhere before Build 946 64-bit Donor Portable) while some aspects still remain untouched (in comparison to Build 912) and in overall I inquired about many aspects, for a convenient read-out I will append / comment them one-by-none after quoting them in their entirety

#1] Make it possible to turn on and off Columns used by the section containing list with search results. Not everybody needs / wants to see e.g. Created date in order to get to the Attributes

This is still relevant - in general: because a significant reduction of number of Columns have been implemented

#2] Make it possible to re-arrange order of those Columns. Currently user is unable to adjust their placement in any way

This is still relevant - to some extent: because there is now

Search files/folders > Options > Search result - columns...

option, but it does not seem to work fully. Therefore I made a bug report: viewtopic.php?t=14237

#3] Make it possible to store and load up profiles of Columns for this feature. And as there already is the Profiles Tab that holds settings which are applied to all other of the Tabs (thus affecting criteria of a particular saved search query), settings for Columns should be stored as some other profiles

Or to the contrary: use a different concept of making these current Profiles contain also individualized arrangement of Columns

#4] Although the user is able to choose for the Search files/folders window under its

Search files/folders > Options > Size

from 4 options, the Column of Size informs users of what units are used by it only when the

Search files/folders > Options > Size > Auto size (KB, MB, GB, TB, PB)

option is chosen. And although using logic and own memory it is possible to distinct units after switching to using 1 of the remaining 3 options, for convenience reasons users should not be subjected to testing of their cognitive abilities. So either when using any of those 3 options show also designations to all digits within that Size Column - or reserve showing Size Column only for that 1 particular option of Auto size (KB, MB, GB, TB, PB) but automatically switch to showing new / separate Column with a proper header that reflects choice made by the user in Options

All option of

Search files/folders > Options > Size >

seem to be gone - and apparently it is the Auto size (KB, MB, GB, TB, PB) that is imposed / mandatory

Why have those others been removed?

#5] When user switches between settings available under

Search files/folders > Options > Size

the changes coming out from this move are applied only to newly re-drawn positions in the Size Column. Therefore in order to see items presented to user with a newly switched-to Size notation, the user has to perform a scroll up / down of the list with already presented results, all the way to the point of hiding of all items that were present on the screen before a switch in Options was performed. In other words: it as a little annoying bug that gets fixed when user manually performs a refresh-like action

Because it is no longer possible to switch to a different

Search files/folders > Options > Size >

therefore the bug is unable to manifest itself (assuming the bug had not been removed before removal of these Options was enacted)

#6] Option for switching view from the default one to the view that contains the 2 extra Tabs of Search result and Search log is hard to perform on high screen resolutions, due to the line that needs to be double LMB-clicked being just few pixels high. Therefore this view switching should be made available also in form of an icon placed either as the first or the last one in the line with the already always visible 13 icons located just above the list with results (i.e. just below the Search results and Search log Tabs). Additionally this view switching should be made possible also through the Options menu, because the row with those 13 icons is present in the Search results Tab is not present at all when user is in the Search log Tab

This is still relevant - even more: because there is now on the market e.g. a 52" monitor with a 21:9 aspect ratio with 2560 vertical pixels meant for people wanting to maximize productivity. But how can you maximize your workflow, if when searching for items using FreeCommander you might need to stop to aim for a thin line?

#7] The list with results in its default mode of view is utilizing only ~60% of vertical space of the overall Search files/folders window due to how much space is taken by various options in the Location Tab. In order to make the list longer (and thus present more results on a single screen) I propose to:

This waste of vertical space is in my humble opinion still the most profound drawback of the FreeCommander's search feature

#7A] Use only 1 line for the File name section. Although filtering expressions can be very long, I personally in my FreeCommander on a 3840 x 1600 screen have a ridiculous situation where its box is extremely wide despite me almost never using Regular expressions - but the tick box with name of this sub-feature / option is adjacent to the left edge of the window and then followed by nothing more but and an empty space all the way to the right edge, thus wasting almost a whole precious line

This is still relevant - fully: because what could be squeezed in 1 line still takes 2

#7B] Use just 1 line for all of the Search file content section. If I am not mistaken, the longest name of an encoding page in the default English version of FreeCommander has merely 35 characters - and thus there is no need for the Encode drop list to take almost all of the horizontal space - therefore one line could accommodate the boxes of Case sensitive, Whole words only and Exclude files containing the text, while a second line would host the >>Encoding:<< text, its box and the (conditionally visible) red arrow icon (that shows up when some encoding becomes actually selected)

This is still relevant - fully: because what could be squeezed in 2 lines still takes 3

#7C] Use less lines for all of the Search in section. I understand the logic behind a very long box for Folders (because paths containing multiple sub-folders can be extremely long), but currently this section also grabs 3 lines for its options while at the same time leaving empty its middle area. In other words: all below the current Folders line can be hosted in maybe even as little as 1 line

This is still relevant - fully: because what could be squeezed in 2-3 lines still takes 4

#7D] Because other Tabs apparently are matched in height to the tallest one, which currently happens to be the Location one, after implementation of the above propositions a similar reworking in other Tabs might be needed

This is still relevant - assuming the Location Tab will be shortened in whatever way: because in is only then it will become (visually) clear if e.g. content of Duplicates Tab will overflow its current height