# Unfolding files

**URL:** <https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595>\
**Category:** Scenarios\
**Created:** [November 14, 2023, 12:27am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595 "2023-11-14T00:27:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 19\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![smilingtiger](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@smilingtiger](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/smilingtiger)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 12:27am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595/1 "2023-11-14T00:27:56Z")

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Good day. Is there any way to unfold several files at the same time automatically so that i can create a ToC?  
Thanks for your help

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**Author:** ![DTLow](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/dtlow/32/18161_2.png) [@DTLow](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/DTLow)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 12:43am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595/2 "2023-11-14T00:43:48Z")

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> [@smilingtiger](#):
>
> unfold several files

Can you provide an example of “unfolding” files

edit: answered below; un-folder files - selecting files within a folder for processing by selecting the folder

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**Author:** ![Grantst](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Grantst](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/Grantst)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 3:00am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595/3 "2023-11-14T03:00:23Z")

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Not sure what the question is. Do you mean select files by cmd click, and then tools\>create table of contents?

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**Author:** ![smilingtiger](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@smilingtiger](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/smilingtiger)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 9:31am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595/5 "2023-11-14T09:31:43Z")

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Yes correct. Suppose I have dozen a fine in a location with documents in these file (pdf) so i would like to unfold all these files so i can see their contents, i can do that manually but if i have hundred of files that is laborious. So Unfold the files just as I would do in an Outliner (Omnioutliner for ex)

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**Author:** ![BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/bluefrog/32/135_2.png) [@BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/BLUEFROG)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 8:06pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595/6 "2023-11-14T20:06:46Z")

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Please provide a screen capture of what and where you’re _folding_ things.

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**Author:** ![smilingtiger](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@smilingtiger](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/smilingtiger)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 11:58pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595/7 "2023-11-14T23:58:27Z")

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Let me rephrase

1. Let say I have 20 folders in my DB
2. I want to unfold these folders so i can see the content (pdf) and can get a ToC  
Is there anyway to select all folders and unfold them automatically instead of doing it one by one

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**Author:** ![DTLow](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/dtlow/32/18161_2.png) [@DTLow](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/DTLow)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2023, 12:11am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595/8 "2023-11-15T00:11:51Z")

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> [@smilingtiger](#):
>
> I want to unfold these folders

Got it; the Unfolding Files request is like un-folder

I could do this with an applescript using children of selection  
A script also allows creation of a customized Table of Contents

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**Author:** ![cgrunenberg](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/cgrunenberg/32/7172_2.png) [@cgrunenberg](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/cgrunenberg)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2023, 5:54am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595/9 "2023-11-15T05:54:02Z")

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> [@smilingtiger](#):
>
> Let say I have 20 folders in my DB

Are all these groups enclosed in one group? Then just Option-click on the enclosing group’s triangle to expand (“unfold”) the group and all its subgroups in _List_ view.

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**Author:** ![chrillek](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/chrillek/32/29340_2.png) [@chrillek](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/chrillek)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2023, 10:14am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595/10 "2023-11-15T10:14:47Z")

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> [@smilingtiger](#):
>
> Let say I have 20 folders in my DB

These things are actually called “groups” in DT. And it’s a good idea to stick to the correct terminology, as that prevents misunderstandings.

- Files in DT are files in Folder
- Groups in DT have _no_ representation in Finder unless you use _indexed_ folders
- in which case a group can be a folder

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**Author:** ![BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/bluefrog/32/135_2.png) [@BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/BLUEFROG)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2023, 1:59pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595/11 "2023-11-15T13:59:30Z")

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What @DTLow seems to be describing is ungrouping. That’s possible by selecting a group or several and choosing **Data \> Ungroup Items**. I don’t think that’s what you’re looking for.

Beyond @cgrunenberg’s suggestion for Option-clicking the disclosure triangle to expand a group and its subgroups, you can make a smart group in the parent group with criteria of **Kind is Any Document** , if you want to be able to see all the documents within those groups.

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**Author:** ![smilingtiger](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@smilingtiger](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/smilingtiger)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2023, 6:29am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595/12 "2023-11-16T06:29:50Z")

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Yes you are right, the terminology i used was totally inaccurate…due to the fact that my DB are in French and I got confused …

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**Author:** ![smilingtiger](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@smilingtiger](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/smilingtiger)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2023, 6:33am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595/13 "2023-11-16T06:33:18Z")

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Got it …I did not even notice these commands existed …still it works in List views and only in the left panel, it seems it does NOT expand in the main window in List view, is that normal?

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**Author:** ![smilingtiger](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@smilingtiger](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/smilingtiger)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2023, 6:37am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595/14 "2023-11-16T06:37:13Z")

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My purpose is to expand or condense all groups so that I can create a ToC easily as I would do with Omnioutliner then i would not really need Omnioutliner any longer …

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**Author:** ![cgrunenberg](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/cgrunenberg/32/7172_2.png) [@cgrunenberg](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/cgrunenberg)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2023, 7:16am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595/15 "2023-11-16T07:16:20Z")

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> [@smilingtiger](#):
>
> still it works in List views and only in the left panel, it seems it does NOT expand in the main window in List view

Please clarify, I’m not sure what you’re describing here. The “left panel” is the sidebar but not the _List_ view, by the way,

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**Author:** ![smilingtiger](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@smilingtiger](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/smilingtiger)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2023, 3:10pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595/16 "2023-11-16T15:10:13Z")

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When i control-click a group in the side bar i have the two options expand/condense but i do not have these two options when i control-click in List view

Path to perfection:  
Just a small detail : you translated Table of Contents by Table des matiéres it should be table des matières the accent is an “accent grave” not an “accent aigu”

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**Author:** ![cgrunenberg](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/cgrunenberg/32/7172_2.png) [@cgrunenberg](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/cgrunenberg)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2023, 3:53pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595/17 "2023-11-16T15:53:32Z")

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> [@smilingtiger](#):
>
> you translated

Not sure who did it but not me 😂 Anyway, thanks for the hint.

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**Author:** ![BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/bluefrog/32/135_2.png) [@BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/BLUEFROG)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2023, 4:22pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595/18 "2023-11-16T16:22:13Z")

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> When i control-click a group in the side bar i have the two options expand/condense but i do not have these two options when i control-click in List view

Again, do you actually need to expand them all to do what you’re intending to do?  
The smart group I suggested would show you all the documents in the selected parent group and its subgroups. You could select the desired documents and create a table of contents via the Tools menu command.

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**Author:** ![smilingtiger](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@smilingtiger](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/smilingtiger)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 12:03am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595/19 "2023-11-17T00:03:17Z")

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Thanks you very much … it works like a charm, very smart … Exactly what i wanted

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**Author:** ![BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/bluefrog/32/135_2.png) [@BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/BLUEFROG)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 12:44pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/unfolding-files/77595/20 "2023-11-17T12:44:44Z")

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You’re very welcome 🙂