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June 30th, 2009
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!
Posted in Default Folder X, Development, Leopard, openmeta | No Comments »
June 27th, 2009
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
Posted in Default Folder X, Development, Leopard | 4 Comments »
June 14th, 2009
I’ve posted a developent build of Default Folder X with a number of fixes and improvements. The changes include:
- 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).
- Extended the startup delay in the workaround for python appscript applications so that they don’t run into errors when they receive AppleEvents.
- Previews now correctly follow aliases so that a preview of the original file is shown when you select an alias in an Open dialog.
- 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.
- Corrected a problem that would result in DFX not loading in multiple running applications that had the same creator signature (if you’re running both Photoshop CS3 and CS4, for example).
- Changed rebound so that filenames with a ‘:’ character are recognized correctly in Cocoa applications.
- Added a “computer” level menu at the top of the path hierarchy in the path menu that appears above the file listing in Open and Save As dialogs.
- Fixed an AppleScript problem that would cause preview to print a PDF file over and over again if you selected a PDF file and chose Print from the File menu in the Finder.
- New tags were sometimes not written out to the shared OpenMeta recent tag list.
- Added 64-bit PPC architecture to the scripting addition.
- Made tag completion insensitive to differences in diacritical marks.
- Fixed the Extras/DFX script so it doesn’t show a busy cursor when it pops up the menu.
You can download a copy using this URL:
http://www.stclairsoft.com/download/DefaultFolderX-4.2.1d15.dmg
Posted in Default Folder X | No Comments »
June 1st, 2009
 A couple of months ago Steve Becker, a fellow indie software developer, approached a number of us about putting together a different kind of software bundle. His concept was to take a grass-roots, “farmers’ market” approach: Bring a software bundle straight from the developers to you.
Usually, bundles are not assembled and marketed by the developers, but by someone else who does the advertising, marketing and payment processing. Those people usually reap the bulk of the profits revenue from the sale, passing only a small percentage of the sale price on to the developers of the software. Wouldn’t it be great if developers could just get together and bring you a bundle themselves?
This is the concept behind TheMacBundles.com, a web site that Steve has put together to deliver great software deals to you without the middleman. Default Folder X is one component of the bundle, along with other long-time favorites, such as DragThing, GraphicConverter, Spell Catcher X, Cover Stream, HoudahSpot, Mariner Write, and Steve’s own iPrint. It’s a great bundle of software and sells for $49.95, only $15 more than a copy of Default Folder X alone, and a $200 savings off the combined prices of all the apps.
Yes, the marketing isn’t as slick, but it’s a great deal on some excellent software. One of the things that convinced me to participate is that I personally own and use quite a few of these apps myself. So head over to TheMacBundles.com and get a deal on some great software! But hurry, the deal only lasts until June 14!
Posted in Default Folder X | No Comments »
May 14th, 2009
I’ve been coding up some new ideas and shuttling Ben back from Vanderbilt (speaking of Ben, keep an eye out for an AWESOME new iPhone app at gotow.net…). Meanwhile, there have been a couple of good mentions of Default Folder X out there:
Mike Thomas at mthomas.co.uk lists Default Folder X as one of his “to-die-for” apps
DFX is #2 in Tech Radar’s 5 best productivity boosting add-ons
And there will be a new Mac utility appearing here in the near future…
Posted in Default Folder X | No Comments »
April 3rd, 2009
Default Folder X 4.2 shipped today! It delivers support for OpenMeta tagging, improved Rebound behavior, a new AppleScript command, and compatibility with the latest developer build of Snow Leopard. Full details are on the release page. Also check out the list of OpenMeta compatible applications at the bottom of the page.
 Oh, and something that’s not mentioned in the release notes: As a side effect of some changes I made for Snow Leopard, DFX now loads in Java applications.
Thanks to everyone for the great feedback, testing help, and suggestions. As always, your input is what helps make Default Folder X such a great tool for all of us!
Posted in Default Folder X, Leopard, openmeta | No Comments »
March 27th, 2009
And now for something completely different…
Some of you may already know that I’m an avid mountain biker – I have almost as many bikes as I do Macintoshes (which is a little scary). Well, the gym I belong to is sponsoring a spin-a-thon to support the BikeTown Africa Project. On Sunday, we’ll have a gym full of people pedaling like mad on stationary bikes for four hours to raise awareness and money for BikeTown Africa.
What’s BikeTown Africa?
Founded in 2005 by the Kona Bicycle Co., the Bristol Myers-Squibb Secure the Future Foundation, and Bicycling Magazine, the BikeTown Africa Project provides new, well-built, low-maintenance Kona AfricaBikes to home health care workers in sub-Saharan Africa to facilitate the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients. Just $100 covers the cost of donating one bike, including training its user on maintenance and repair. Using a bike, a health care worker can visit eight or more patients per day instead of one!
What can you do?
The Weight Club and Virginia Tech University Honors are holding the spin-a-thon on Sunday. I’m participating and raising money from sponsors because I think this is a very worthwhile cause – it’s putting long-term, practical resources on the ground to help combat a huge health issue.
I’ve set up a page so you can sponsor me for the spin-a-thon here:
http://store.eSellerate.net/stclairsoft/biketown
You can give as little as $5, or as much as you want in $5 increments by buying more than one of the ‘donations’. I’m personally covering the payment processing cost, so your entire donation will be given to the BikeTown Africa Project. The spin-a-thon is this Sunday, so please make your donation before noon on Sunday.
Update: Well, the spin-a-thon is over (hence the crossed out donation link) but thanks to readers here and to the dedication of a a lot of folks at the Weight Club and VT University Honors, we raised $7440 for BikeTown Africa! Thank you!!
– Jon
Posted in Random Ramblings, Uncategorized | No Comments »
March 25th, 2009
 Default Folder X is the featured product today on MacZOT. Until midnight CST today (Wednesday, March 25) you can buy a copy for $19.95 – that’s 43% off!
If you’ve been waiting for a great opportunity to add Default Folder X to your toolbox of essential utilities, now’s your chance!
Posted in Default Folder X | 1 Comment »
March 21st, 2009
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 😉
Posted in Default Folder X, Development, openmeta | 2 Comments »
March 13th, 2009
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!
Posted in Default Folder X, Development, openmeta | 2 Comments »
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