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Virtual Folder: Interesting tool at Bits du Jour today
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Posted by Ken
Mar 17, 2009 at 12:03 AM
Alexander Deliyannis wrote:
>Re its usability, my main comment is that if one
>doesn’t find any difference between this and using a bunch of shortcuts, then for them
>there really isn’t one. Virtual Folder is indeed a rather specific (and
>idiosynchratic) solution to a problem that many may not have at all.
>
>In my case, I
>rely rather too much on my desktop, drag-n-dropping the files on which I am working on
>to have at arm’s reach. This helps me focus, but I then need to remember to copy them back
>to their original locations if changed. At the same time, I often need to look to the
>related project files and keep those folders open as well. Last but not least, every
>now and then someone will call and interrupt my train of thought by asking for
>something completely different, I will navigate away and then will have to switch
>back to what I was doing.
>
>So I personally was looking for something that would help me
>keep what I need on my workspace without too much fuss. Shortcuts are not an option
>because the files are simply too many. .
Alexander,
I am sorry if I keep asking questions about this program, but I am trying to better understand what if offers that shortcuts do not.
Rather than dragging and dropping files, why do you choose not to create a shortcut instead? Then you would not need to copy the files back to another location.
If you are interrupted, why not open another Windows Explorer window so as not to disturb your existing work?
And, how does this program help you address too many shortcuts?
I ask not to challenge your work style, but to learn of the possible shortcomings of shortcuts in relation to this program. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your patience,
—Ken
Posted by Cassius
Mar 17, 2009 at 03:45 AM
Personally, I have shortcuts to my most used folders and usually arrange the folders by date last accessed. I also have keyboard as well as icon shortcuts to my most used programs.
-c
Posted by Cassius
Mar 17, 2009 at 01:35 PM
A clarification & addition.
I meant that I arrange the files in each folder by date last accessed.
Also, (in XP) I drag files to folder shortcuts on my desktop which puts the file into the folder corresponding to the shortcut.
============
Cassius wrote:
>Personally, I have shortcuts to my most used folders and usually arrange the folders
>by date last accessed. I also have keyboard as well as icon shortcuts to my most used
>programs.
>
>-c
Posted by Tom S.
Mar 17, 2009 at 07:29 PM
Ken wrote:
>Rather than dragging and dropping files, why do you
>choose not to create a shortcut instead? Then you would not need to copy the files back
>to another location.
Not to make too big of a deal of it but, like Ken, I’m also still confused. I frequently create folders for projects and put shortcuts to other folders with relevant files in them into this folder. My feeling is that if Alexander says there’s something useful here - and someone wrote a program to do it - then there probably is. I’d just like to understand how this program is different.
Tom S.
Posted by Alexander Deliyannis
Mar 20, 2009 at 08:58 AM
Tom S. wrote:
>My feeling is that if Alexander says there’s
>something useful here - and someone wrote a program to do it - then there probably is.
Apologies for taking so long to resopond; this is a rather hectice period at work.
Tom, many thanks for your confidence in me, but even after all these years of CRIMPing and trying out methods of organising, I am still capable of silly mistakes such as purchasing useless tools :-) Time will show if Virtual Folder is one of them.
However, here is an example of something VF can do that can’t be done with shortcuts: suppose you have a PROJECT folder at work, home and laptop; suppose also, as is often the case, that this folder is located in different drives in those three locations, i.e. in work it is at the infamous F: network drive, at home in D: and on your laptop on your G: USB backup drive. Suppose, also, that you use UltraRecall or some other information management program that includes shortcuts to your PROJECT folder documents. As you understand, those shortcuts will only work if the drive letter is always the same.
So you can use VF to create a single V: drive and, before starting work, making a virtual project folder within that drive; this way UltraRecall will always be pointing to V:\PROJECTS no matter where you are.
In other words, VF is a sort of graphical interface to Windows ‘junctions’ ( http://support.microsoft.com/kb/205524 ) or symbolic links. (Though as far as I know Windows does not support junctions to directories on remote shares as VF claims to do).
Hope this makes things more clear (to me as well by the way; I admit to have been baffled myself at first).