Here’s the 4.2.1b2 build of Default Folder X:

http://www.stclairsoft.com/download/DefaultFolderX-4.2.1b2.dmg

The new menu preview feature now has an on / off switch in the preferences window, and due to popular demand the small sized previews have increased to 192 x 192 (instead of 128 x 128).  The zoom-when-you-pause feature now works reliably on all systems, and this build works correctly under Mac OS 10.4.  Please download it and give it a spin!

Send any bug reports, impressions, and feature requests to defaultfolder@stclairsoft.com.  Here’s the full 4.2.1 change history from the ReadMe:

• Default Folder X now gives you file previews in its menus.  As you mouse through Default Folder X’s hierarchical menus from the menu bar, you’ll see a preview of the file that’s highlighted in the menu.  Hover there for a couple of seconds and the preview will enlarge.
• In Open and Save As dialogs, Default Folder X now puts a “Computer” item at the top of the folder hierarchy in the path menu.
• New Spotlight tags were sometimes not written out to the shared OpenMeta recent tag list.  This has been fixed.
• Spotlight tag completion now ignores differences in diacritical marks.
• Added support for Fluid site-specific browsers when they’re running as menu extras.
• Previews now correctly follow aliases so that a preview of the original file is shown when you select an alias in an Open dialog.
• When two folders with the same name are in a menu, the menu items for them will now include the name of the parent folders that uniquely identify those folders (Default Folder X used to just show their immediate parent folders, but sometimes those had the same names too).
• Fixed an AppleScript problem that would cause Preview to print a PDF file over and over again if you selected a the file in the Finder and chose Print from the File menu.
• Changed the rebound feature so that filenames with a ‘:’ character are recognized correctly in Cocoa applications.
• Corrected a problem that would result in Default Folder X not loading in multiple running applications that had the same creator signature (when running both Photoshop CS3 and CS4 at the same time, for instance).
• Default Folder X was saving empty Finder comments, resulting in Spotlight attaching empty com.apple.metadata:kMDItemFinderComment attributes to some files.  This has been fixed.
• Fixed compatibility problems with python-based applications that use appscript.
• Added support for 64-bit PowerPC applications to the scripting addition.
• Corrected inconsistent rebound behavior on network server drives.
• Fixed the Extras/DFX script so it doesn’t show a busy cursor when it pops up the Default Folder X menu.

Thanks!

So I rolled a new preview method into Default Folder X’s system-wide menus in the menubar.  Now, not only can you browse all of your files and folders through its quick hierarchical menus, but you can see file previews in little bubbles, like this:

And if you hover over the menu item for a few seconds, that little preview will expand into a large one so you can see more details.  Just browsing my hard disk with this has turned up ton of images and documents I didn’t know I still had!

This and a slew of other improvements are in the first beta release of Default Folder X 4.2.1.  You can download a copy here to try it out:

http://www.stclairsoft.com/download/DefaultFolderX-4.2.1b1.dmg

There’s a full change log in the Beta Read Me file, and usual disclaimers about it being a prerelease version apply (it may have bugs, etc).  I’d love to get some feedback on both the menu item previews and the other improvements, so grab a copy, give it a try, and let me know your thoughts!

- Jon

Here’s another development build with refinements to Default Folder X’s new OpenMeta support:

http://www.stclairsoft.com/download/DefaultFolderX-4.2d10.dmg

Changes include:

• Made the autocompletion always respect the case of what you’ve typed, rather than forcing the capital or lowercase form you used last time.
• Fixed an OpenMeta problem that resulted in previous builds failing to start up under Mac OS 10.4.
• Changed OpenMeta tag fields so that it no longer selects all of the tags when Default Folder X first displays them.
• Fixed the localized nibs - they were not connecting the controls in the Spotlight comment window correctly.
• A new AppleScript command, ClearRecentFolders, clears the list of recently used folders in the currently active folder set.
• Corrected a bug that caused Default Folder X to print warning messages in the console like ” ** No alias data for item 0 (folder name) **” when there was a Smart Folder open in the Finder.
• Streamlined DFFinderWindowServer to minimize overhead.

Please keep the comments and feedback coming!  As soon as I’ve got localization strings back, this version should be ready to roll.  In the meantime, I’ll work on compatibility with future operating system changes

There’s been quite a bit of debate in Ironic Software’s forums about OpenMeta.  I was initially wary of some of the implementation details, but after discussing it with Tom Andersen, who wrote the OpenMeta code, I’m confident it will serve us all well.  I’ve posted a summary of my thoughts on their forums at http://ironicsoftware.com/community/comments.php?DiscussionID=755/.

Now that I’m comfortable with OpenMeta’s direction, I’ve finished a pre-release build of Default Folder X that provides OpenMeta tagging support.  You can download it here:

http://www.stclairsoft.com/download/DefaultFolderX-4.2d8.dmg

Please install it and have a look.  I’d appreciate hearing your thoughts and reports of any bugs you find.  The best way to submit your comments is via email to DefaultFolder@stclairsoft.com.

Thanks!

Thanks to Rick Meikle’s careful detailing of exactly what has been wrong with Default Folder X’s “rebound” feature, I’ve now rewritten the rebound code to work much better.  It’s in the latest development build of DFX, which is available here:

http://www.stclairsoft.com/download/DefaultFolderX-4.1.2d3.dmg

In addition, I’ve added a hidden option to display files as well as folders in Default Folder X’s hierarchical menus.  When you select a file, the file dialog is taken to its parent folder and the file is selected if the current application can open it.  To get to the switch to turn this on, go to Default Folder X in System Preferences and click on the “Settings…” button while holding down the Option key.  Turn on the bottom checkbox in the window that comes up - it’s labeled “AlwaysShowFilesInMenus”.

As always, your comments, feedback, and bug reports are crucial to making better software, so speak up!