Upcoming changes to toolbar

[Tim]

We hope to release another build very soon, and I’d like to give you a heads-up on a change concerning the Sessions toolbar.

So far the default toolbar layout has had a drop-down “combo tree” control for selecting an existing session, on a secondary toolbar row of Folder Compare session:

http://www.scootersoftware.com/cirrus/toolbar1.png

Unlike in BC2, all the comparison views are now savable sessions, and can be selected from the Sessions drop-down. Some of us have configured all our session types to include the Sessions toolbar, but it takes up a lot of space. It generally is too wide to fit on the primary toolbar row.

In Build 445 we’re trying a Sessions button that drops down the session tree. It’s small enough for us to position in the same place on all primary toolbars:

http://www.scootersoftware.com/cirrus/toolbars2.png

The button doesn’t display the name of the selected session, although that still appears on the window or tab caption. We’ve kept the button simple-looking, without an icon, so it doesn’t unduly complete with the important display filters.

We found here that the change took some getting used to, but we see the benefit in having a consistent session selector available in all views. We’ll be interested in hearing what you think of it.

[Michael Bulgrien]

I like it. I never did like all the large dropdown combo-boxes. I often had to do a double-take to make sure I was clicking on the right thing (Session dropdown vs Path dropdown). The Session button looks much better, in my opinion. The only "getting used to" I anticipate is not having the component buttons at the far left. I'm sure it won't take too long to get accustomed to that change.

Edit - And I guess if it really bothers me, I can drag the Session button to the right of the component buttons, though I think it makes sense to have them where your screenshots show them to be.

[Tim]

I should also mention that when you install this new release you will likely need to manually rearrange your toolbars. We don’t have a convenient way to reset toolbar positions to the new defaults.

[Michael Bulgrien]

Is it necessary for the file filter combo box to be so wide?

http://mysite.verizon.net/bulgrien/jing/FileFilters.png

Could it, perhaps, be resized based on the contents?

[Tim]

Not necessary, but people have asked for it to be wider too. Unfortunately it's not user-sizable. Maybe we can have some kind of small vs. large setting, or respond to whether it's on the first or second toolbar.

[goldsy]

The button is a welcome addition. I found myself traversing the session menu far too often.

[shanawalt]

Is there an easy way to select a session in order to inherit the filters, but not change the folders that are currently being viewed? I have a number of complex filters that I've saved as sessions, but when I load a session it also changes the folders I'm viewing and I have to manually change them back. All I really want is the filter.

So far I really like Cirrus. Good job. :)

[Tim]

There isn't a direct way to load another session's filters, but you might try this:
Open your saved session with the complex filters
Copy the contents of the Filters edit on the toolbar.
Select Tools > Options > Folder Views and make a new line in Filter Presets, something like "My Special Filters ( )" and paste your filters between the parentheses.
Now, in any new session, you can select My Special Filters from the toolbar.

[shanawalt]

That did the trick and is exactly what I wanted. Thanks!

-Steve

[ron]

I like the new button too.

[ron]

We don’t have a convenient way to reset toolbar positions to the new defaults.

Is there an inconvenient way :p ? I just installed a copy on a Vista VM and I kindof like the default arrangement.

[Craig]

The toolbar positions are stored in %AppData%\Scooter Software\Beyond Compare 3\State.xml in the <Toolbars> nodes. You can either delete the entire file or just those specific XML nodes.

[ron]

Not necessary, but people have asked for it to be wider too. Unfortunately it's not user-sizable. Maybe we can have some kind of small vs. large setting, or respond to whether it's on the first or second toolbar.

Do the same thing you did with the Sessions button.