Hi all,
I’m reposting this from another thread (with some edits):
First off, I just want to say that so far I really like the update and appreciate all the work that went into it.
With that said, I just want to bring up what seems to be a change in viewing options that changes my workflow (unless I am missing something and that certainly is possible).
In DTPO 2 I live in the 3 Pane view with the widescreen option. There doesn’t seem to be the 3 Pane view option in DTP 3. It basically looks like some of the functionality of the second column (displaying the folder structure) was basically merged into the the first column (sidebar) by now being able to drill down the folder structure in open databases.
However, what seems to be missing is the ability to select multiple folders and have all the files contained in the selected folders display in the third column (no matter where the are in the hierarchy). In DTPO 2 the 3 Pane view with widescreen enabled there was a nice segregation between open databases (column 1), just the folder structure (column 2), the files contained in each folder (column 3), and the selected document itself (column 4).
The functionality of being able to select multiple folders in column 2 and have all the enclosed files displayed in column 3 was great and I used it everyday.
Now, with widescreen enabled, column one has the folder structure (but multiple folders cannot be selected), column 2 has a mix of both folders and files when viewed as a list (which looks cluttered when expanded and makes navigation less efficient), and column 3 has the selected document itself.
Am I missing something? Was this design change intentional, or is this previous behavior just missing from the beta?
I don’t have an answer, just chiming in to ask the same thing. I don’t select multiple folders all that often (although it is useful) but I exclusively use three pane. It looks like it is gone, and if so, then I’m not sure what, if any, view I can get used to to replace it.
Welcome @JohnnyPants
It looks like it is gone, and if so, then I’m not sure what, if any, view I can get used to to replace it.
It’s not gone. The Navigate sidebar functions as the Three Pane view did, only showing groups, not files.
The middle pane functions like the Split View, showing both.
I played with that some, and it is similar, but not quite the same. I’m probably jsut being picky, and I will admit I just started playing with it (and it does look great!). My issue is more just that I’m not used to opening up the toggles (and having to close them after) to each database. But looking at it, I guess I did that for each sub-group if I had them anyway, so it isn’t a big change. I think it is more just getting used to it, and an extra click occasionally. I’m sure as I play with it I’ll get it to where I’m comfortable, but I did like it to act more like an email program like it was before.
but I did like it to act more like an email program like it was before.
It’s actually more like Apple Mail than it was previously. Previously it had more features common to the Finder.
@BLUEFROG, can the ability to select multiple folders in the Navigate sidebar be added? And in addition, also an option for the middle pane to not act like split view so only documents are shown like in DTPO2?
The result would be to have the same functionality, but with one less pane.
@BLUEFROG, regarding the functionality being more like Apple Mail, in the case of how selecting folders work in DTP3, I wish it was more like Apple Mail. In Apple Mail I can select multiple folders and any emails contained in (even nested) folders will be displayed in the middle pane. That is how DTPO works, but changed in DTP3.
One point of friction (which I briefly touched on in the original post) with the new implementation is that the middle pane is visually cluttered because it’s both duplicating the file structure and displaying the enclosed documents. Whereas in DTPO after navigating (or selecting multiple folders in) a nested structure, a flat structure of documents would be presented.
Again, I just want to say that I really appreciate all the work and care that clearly went into this version. You guys are great, and it isn’t my intention to detract from this release!
can the ability to select multiple folders in the Navigate sidebar be added?
@cgrunenberg would have to respond to this.
Is there any way to show only groups in this view option? In my workflow, with all the files showing up in the group structure, it is hard to get clear group structure overview.
Fyi, in DTPO 2, I used 3 pane option with: 1. Datadbases, 2. Group structure in a tree manner, which helps me to navigate through the groups and folding/unfolding sub groups to control which instances of groups I want to see at once. (This helps me a lot, when I treat this structure view as my table of contents.) 3. List view of all files of which selected group contains.
I hope, at least, if you could provide an option to show or not to show individual files in a group structure.
Any future solution for this matter?
Again… @cgrunenberg would have to respond to this.
That’s not possible right now, we’ll consider this for upcoming releases (unlikely at least til the final version 3.0 as bugs have the highest priority)