Archive for December, 2022

Default Folder X 6.0d19 : Better drag-and-drop in the Finder

Thursday, December 29th, 2022

A new pre-release build of Default Folder X version 6 is available! Click here to download it. If you haven’t been following along, previous posts have covered new features like the wider filename edit box in Save dialogs, new Quick Entry window, and post-save actions.

In this build I’ve rewritten the drawer that Default Folder X (optionally) attaches to Finder windows. It now properly supports dragging to reorder items, selection and multi-selection of items in the drawer, dragging items into folders that you’ve added to the drawer, and more.

This makes the drawer much more helpful as a temporary “shelf” when moving items between folders, as well as a handy place to organize files and folders while you’re working with them. They’re easy to get to, even if they’re actually located in multiple different folders.

One of the challenges with the drawer was finding a way to make it scale as you add more items to it. It shrinks the icons as more are added, then as you mouse through them, spreads them apart so you can read their filenames.

I’ve been experimenting with this for quite a while, and I’d appreciate feedback on how it works for you in practice. Suggestions are more than welcome!

Posted in Default Folder X, Development, Version 6 | 4 Comments »

Default Folder X 5.7.3 fixes issues on Ventura

Thursday, December 22nd, 2022

Version 5.7.3 of Default Folder X works around issues in macOS Ventura that have been causing problems for some of you.

A bug in Ventura’s metadata API could cause Default Folder X to crash when it tried to ask the system for information about the selected file in an Open dialog. This release recovers from the error, though it won’t be able to show some metadata information (like the width and height of jpeg or png images) when the problem occurs. I’ve submitted the bug to Apple so we’ll hopefully have a resolution to the underlying problem at some point.

Another issue in Ventura is its handling of drag-and-drop operations in file dialogs. This, in a round-about way, was causing Default Folder X to hide the mouse cursor for several seconds when switching from one folder to another in Open and Save dialogs. Default Folder X 5.7.3 works around this problem as best it can, usually reducing the length of time the cursor goes missing to an almost-unnoticeable fraction of a second. Again, I’ve submitted a bug report to Apple – fingers crossed that they address this 🤞🏼

Default Folder X 5.7.3 also fixes some minor bits, moving the default position of the button for Default Folder X’s Finder drawer further to the left in the Finder’s toolbar so it doesn’t get hidden behind the “>>” button when Finder windows are small. Descriptions of Default Folder X’s AppleScript commands have also been improved in its AppleScript dictionary so details of their operation are clearer. And finally, the popup path menu in the Open and Save dialogs of Affinity apps will now respect the Dark Mode interface setting in your Affinity Photo / Designer / Publisher settings, even if the rest of macOS is running in Light Mode.

As always, if you’re already running Default Folder X, just choose “Check for Update” from its menu in your menu bar. If you’re not, download Default Folder X and save yourself time and headaches while opening, saving and managing your files!

Posted in Default Folder X, Ventura | No Comments »