Version 5.5.2 of Default Folder X is available. It works on Apple’s recent macOS 11.1 Big Sur beta release.
Amusingly, the biggest problem on macOS 11.1 was the new version numbering scheme that Apple is using for Big Sur. Default Folder X checks the OS version and had always assumed that if the minor revision number (the ’15’ in 10.15.7, for example) changed, it was a major new OS release, because that’s the way it’s always been in the past. Big releases like going from Mojave (10.14) to Catalina (10.15) generally require significant testing and development to ensure compatibility, so it just disables itself and waits for me to finish a compatibility update.
So when Apple went from Big Sur 11.0.1 to Big Sur 11.1 beta (with a version number change that surprised a lot of us developers), Default Folder X said “Oh no, it’s a major OS release! I don’t know what to do, so I’ll just be safe and do nothing” and refused to even look at the Open and Save dialogs. So yeah, redoing the OS-version-checking logic and making a minor functional tweak was all that was actually necessary to get things working on 11.1.
In the process of testing Default Folder X on the Big Sur 11.1 beta, I did find a bug that could potentially cause file dialogs to lock up for what seems like an eternity (potentially as much as 2 minutes), so that’s also fixed in 5.5.2. Because of that, you should update if you’re running Big Sur, even if you’re not using 11.1.
TL;DR: There was a bug in Default Folder X 5.5 that resulted in it failing to launch correctly. Version 5.5.1 delivers a fix. If you’ve been affected and are having trouble updating to version 5.5.1, read on.
What Happened: First, my apologies. Default Folder X 5.5 introduced a new feature that tracks changes to files and folders synced via the cloud. Part of the startup process is to look at your current cloud settings to determine which folders need to be watched. In the case of Google Drive File Stream, Default Folder X didn’t properly read old settings files, resulting in the launch process being disrupted and leaving it running, but with no user interface (no icon in the menu bar, no toolbar in Open and Save dialogs, etc). This also breaks the auto-update mechanism, so you have to update to version 5.5.1 manually.
So yeah, big oops. In retrospect, I should have coded that even more defensively than I did so that the error would have been caught. I’m sorry.
How to Fix It: If you’ve been bitten by this bug, you have to manually download and install Default Folder X 5.5.1. Ostensibly, that’s not hard – just download 5.5.1 5.5.3 from this link:
Once the download completes, double-click on the .dmg file and drag the Default Folder X app to your Applications folder.
Now here’s the rub: If you ran the old, broken version 5.5, you may get an error message saying that you can’t replace it.
It’s still invisibly running, but there’s no clear way to quit it. The regular macOS “Force Quit” procedure – accessed by pressing Command-Option-Esc on your keyboard – won’t show Default Folder X even though it’s running. Here’s what to do instead:
1. Run Activity Monitor. It’s located in /Applications/Utilities.
2. Use the search field in Activity Monitor’s toolbar to locate Default Folder X in the process list.
3. Click on the (x) icon in Activity Monitor’s toolbar.
4. Choose Force Quit when prompted.
Now you’ll be able to drag the new copy of Default Folder X 5.5.3 to your Applications folder. Once it’s there, just open your Applications folder and double-click Default Folder X to launch it.
Version 5.5 of Default Folder X is finally done and available for download. It’s a universal application that runs natively on both Intel and Apple Silicon powered Macs, fully supports macOS 11.0 Big Sur and includes a number of benefits for users of older macOS versions as well.
One new feature is nearly invisible, but can be super convenient. Default Folder X now keeps track of changes in shared folders that are synced from the cloud. If something gets synced to your Dropbox or OneDrive folder, the changes will appear immediately in Default Folder X’s Recent Files and Recent Folders menus. So if your coworker updates a document in a shared Dropbox folder and then accosts you on Slack to review it, you can just select it straight from your Recent Files menu. I’ve tried to be an equal-opportunity cloud supporter: This feature works with iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and Box Sync.
Along with updating Default Folder X’s internals to work with Big Sur’s Finder and Open / Save dialogs, this release also updates its look to fit in with Big Sur’s iOS-ish look and feel. As you may have seen in the beta releases, Default Folder X has a new app icon and new toolbar icons all around. It’s not an enormous change, but it does integrate more smoothly with Big Sur.
There’s also smarter handling of Finder windows when you have more than one “Finder” running (meaning you’re also using Path Finder or ForkLift), some additional “hidden preferences” (see the release notes – the documentation’s being updated now, so doesn’t show them yet) and some important bug fixes.
A new public beta version of Default Folder X is available, updating support for Big Sur so DFX works with the macOS 11.0.1 beta that Apple released today.
Version 5.5b5 also refines the toolbar icons that Default Folder X displays next to all of your Open and Save dialogs (screenshot over there ➜) and polishes up its preferences window in preparation for a final release (this image ⬇︎).
I’ve also addressed a few issues that people have reported, including getting the front-to-back order of Finder windows correct when you’re running alternate Finder apps like Path Finder or ForkLift. And the menu and drawer buttons that Default Folder X puts in your Finder toolbars will no longer keep jumping back to their default positions after you’ve carefully reordered them exactly the way you like.
Things are looking very good for a final release soon, so if you’ve been a slacker about reporting a bug in a beta version of Default Folder X, hurry up and let me know about it! You can reach me on Twitter @stclairsoft or via email at DefaultFolderX@stclairsoft.com.
You can download Default Folder X 5.5b5 from the Beta Testing Page, where you’ll also find a list of all the changes made since version 5.4.6. Note that you don’t need Big Sur to run the beta – it supports macOS 10.11 or higher, and provides fixes and enhancements there too. You just won’t get the nifty outline icons that Big Sur folks see – what a loss!
So a Default Folder X user just emailed and asked this:
I have been a Mac user for 30 years and would love to find a tool that allows me to click a button (or make this the default filename) while in the “Save…” dialog box that will prepend a formatted date to the beginning of the filename. like so:
2020-09-08 Filename.ext
Now, you can set up an AppleScript to do this using Default Folder X’s GetSaveName and SetSaveName verbs. However, that would require that you run the AppleScript whenever you want the date prepended, which is a bit of a pain if you want all of your filenames formatted this way. But I realized as I was replying that you can actually automate this by using (or rather, slightly abusing) an existing feature in Default Folder X.
on getDefaultFolder(appName, dialogType, firstTime)
-- only do this for save dialogs
if dialogType is "save" then
-- get the current date
set dateObj to (current date)
-- then format it as YYYY-MM-DD
set theMonth to text -1 thru -2 of ("0" & (month of dateObj as number))
set theDay to text -1 thru -2 of ("0" & day of dateObj)
set theYear to year of dateObj
set dateStamp to "" & theYear & "-" & theMonth & "-" & theDay
-- then prepend that to the name in the save dialog
tell application "Default Folder X"
set theName to GetSaveName
set theName to dateStamp & " " & theName
SetSaveName theName
end tell
end if
-- finally, don't give Default Folder X a default
-- folder, so it just continues on normally
return ""
end getDefaultFolder
If you save this script in a file named “GetDefaultFolder.scpt” in this location:
It will magically prepend the date in the format ‘2020-09-15’ to the beginning of all of your filenames in Save As dialogs. Note that you can still edit the name afterwards if the default filename (like “Untitled 4”) needs to be modified.
Default Folder X can automatically add buttons to the toolbar in all Finder windows so that you can quickly get to its menus or drawer. I’ve had a number of inquiries from folks that use Path Finder as a replacement for the Finder, and they want those same buttons in their Path Finder toolbars.
Unfortunately, Default Folder X can’t automate this, so you’ll need to add the buttons manually. Here’s how to do it in Path Finder 9:
Default Folder X 5.5.7 (and later) directly supports adding its buttons to the Path Finder toolbar if you’re using Path Finder 10.0.4 or higher. Just turn on the checkboxes in your Default Folder X preferences to add them to the Finder toolbars and it’ll automatically add them to Path Finder too.
Version 5.4.6 of Default Folder X is now available. For new users, it offers a Quick Start dialog that quickly shows you a few of Default Folder X’s primary features.
For those of you already familiar with Default Folder X, this release is more about bug fixes. At the top of the list is a fix for an elusive problem that could cause the “Save all attachments” dialog in Apple Mail to respond very slowly or get stuck on-screen. There are also corrections for some fairly minor, but annoying issues.
Version 5.4.5 of Default Folder X is now available to enhance your Open and Save dialogs even more. Default Folder X has always provided hierarchical menus that let you very quickly navigate to a folder or file you want, but sometimes those menus aren’t sorted the way you want them. To switch between sort-by-name and sort-by-date, just hold down the Option key before mousing over a menu or submenu – that can make it much faster to find what you’re looking for.
This release also addresses some performance issues if you’re using ARCHICAD or if you’re using screen-sharing while working from home. And there are bug-fixes, including a fairly common one for folks who access files on a NAS or server.
Version 5.4.3 of Default Folder X, our app for managing files and folders in Open and Save dialogs and the Finder, is now available. This release speeds things up when opening items in the Finder, ForkLift and Path Finder, as well as when saving files to slow servers over a network. It also brings little improvements in several areas:
The on-the-fly previews (the ones you see when traversing Default Folder X’s menus, in its Finder drawer, and in Open dialogs) have been improved to look better and display more smoothly.
It’s now easy to make Default Folder X forget all of your recently used files, folders and Finder windows all at once. Just hold down the Option key when choosing “Forget Recent <whatever>” at the bottom of a menu, and the menu command will change to “Forget All Recent Data”.
For any AppleScripters out there, there are new commands for managing files and folders in DFX’s Finder drawer, and an option to pop up its menu at a specific screen location. Note that if you’re using a macro utility that can run AppleScripts (like Peter Lewis’ excellent Keyboard Maestro), this can make it really handy to get to Default Folder X’s menus without going up to the menu bar.
There are also more than a dozen bug fixes, covering everything from occasional reliability issues to more esoteric problems with Pro Tools, Rogue Amoeba’s Fission app, and the built in screen capture utility in Mojave and Catalina. Oh, and Default Folder X’s Finder-click feature will now recognize all the tabs in Finder windows that aren’t in the current Space (if you’re using Mission Control to manage multiple workspaces). That was a really weird one.
Itemized release notes with all the details are available on the Default Folder X Release page, as usual, along with download links.
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