Fully Collapsed Sessions Tree

[Michael Bulgrien]

In the Interface options for the Home view, please provide a checkbox to open the home view with a fully collapsed sessions tree. Please, this is really important to me!

[Tim]

The session tree automatically opens to the most recently used item (in my mind an extremely useful feature). Let's refine your request to one of these:

[ ] Don't auto-select most recently used session

[ ] Never auto-select an auto-saved session

[markf_2748]

Could you add "Expand All" and "Collapse All" buttons or icons for the Home window sessions tree (similar to what is available in Folder Compare)?

[Erik]

Expand All and Collapse All are on the session treeview's right click menu.

[markf_2748]

Thanks, RMB works well.

[Michael Bulgrien]

[ ] Never auto-select an auto-saved session seems like a good choice. It preserves the useful functionality while alleviating my immediate issue with auto-saved sessions. I assume that, if the last session opened was not from a manually saved session (i.e. launched via the explorer context menu) and I have not saved the session, then BC will open the next time with the session tree fully collapsed.

[Michael Bulgrien]

I need to clarify... It is not just the "Auto-saved" sessions that I would like to collapse. It is also the "New" branch. I've used the tweaks dialog to remove the new session buttons. When I launch a new session via the sessions tree, I do not want the "New" branch to automatically be expanded the next time I launch BC3. So, my suggestion is really:

[ ] Never auto-select new and auto-saved sessions

[Tim]

The "New" node is opened as a convenience, in lieu of showing the buttons. It's not just opened due to the auto-select feature. So, I think your suggestion is:

[ ] Collapse New Session node and never auto-select auto-saved sessions

[Michael Bulgrien]

Yes, that is the functionality I am looking for... Or separate into two configurable settings:

[ ] Collapse New Session node
[ ] Never auto-select Auto-saved sessions

[Tim]

Is there anyone else that this is important to?

[penguin22]

I can agree with having the option to disable the open to Auto-Saved sessions.

The wording Never auto-select Auto-saved sessions might need some tweaking (see above, have the option to Open to Last Used Session, and default it to enabled). Unless you think that what is in the paranthesis does not fully cover what you are trying to accomplish.

[Tim]

I can agree with having the option to disable the open to Auto-Saved sessions.

Thanks, but would you personally enable the option? Do you find it a hassle when BC3 opens to a long list of saved or auto-saved sessions?

[penguin22]

Actually I like the feature of remembering the last used session personally, but could see how it would bother some and be worth having the option to disable. That's why I vote for leave enabled by default because most users wouldn't necessarilly look for it unless it bugs them having it.

After updating to the 453, all of my old auto-saved sessions for some reason poped into Today, but since that one time, they have remained in the proper days. And those that all showed in Today, as of now are in the More than 6 days category.

[Pete]

Regarding the expanded/collapsed state of the Session tree when BC starts:

1) I'll likely never use the "Auto-Saved" or "New" branches of the tree. I'd like them to always be collapsed (or ideally not there at all) when BC starts and while BC is running.

2) On the other hand, I'd like BC to remember the expanded/collapsed state of each folder and subfolder of the sessions that I've explicitly saved. Even if my previous BC session started from Windows Explorer (per Michael's example), I'd like the Home view to never automatically collapse my explicitly saved sessions, but rather to always maintain the state they were in when I last exited BC.

Regarding whether BC automatically selects the last-used session when it starts, it doesn't matter to me if this happens or not, but I would only want it to select one of my explicitly saved sessions.

[Pete]

I was just playing with this and decided that the current behavior is pretty much the opposite of what I would want or expect: when I start BC it collapses every level of my explicitly saved sessions and expands/selects an obsolete "Auto Saved" session. And all this despite that I had selected one of my explicitly saved sessions before I exited BC.

[Pete]

I was just playing with this and decided that the current behavior is pretty much the opposite of what I would want [...]

Oh, my mistake, I just discovered that the "last session" is the last one that I ran, not the last one that I selected in Home view. So the problem is not so bad then.

[Tim]

I'll likely never use the "Auto-Saved" or "New" branches of the tree. I'd like them to always be collapsed (or ideally not there at all)
You can get rid of the AutoSave branch of the tree. Select Tools | Options | Interface and set "max auto-saved sessions" to zero.

You might not want to eliminate the New (Edit session defaults) node. That's the most convenient place to examine and change session defaults.

[Pete]

Thanks, Tim. However, when I set the max auto-saved sessions to zero, BC crashes after a restart. I can send a crash report if necessary.

Also, I didn't realize that the "New" branch that's discussed in this topic is really the "Session Defaults" folder. I agree that I want to keep this visible.

[Aaron]

Thanks, Pete. This should be fixed in the next release.

In the future, when you encounter crash reports, you can just send one our way (they give us your settings and stack trace automatically to help us reproduce the issue in house).

[Michael Bulgrien]

[ ] Collapse New Session node
[ ] Never auto-select Auto-saved sessions

Tim, perhaps you will appreciate today's post more than the ideas previously discussed in this thread. Instead of an option to "Never auto-select Auto-saved session", how about an option to always auto-select the last session launched from the home view:

[ ] Collapse New Session node
[ ] Auto-select last launched session

Why? The main reason that I despise the current auto-select of auto-saved sessions is because my workflow often proceeds like this:


Open a user-defined folder session
Update files from one side to the other
Perform a common edit on the pathnames on both sides
Update files from one side to the other
Repeat this pathname edit and file update cycle about 8 more times. Due to the number of related updates I am doing, it is easier for me to perform these minor pathname edits than to save a separate session for all ten folder pairs accessed during my workflow from this common starting point.


After I have applied all updates related to the first user-defined folder session, I return to the home window to initiate the same activity on the next user-defined folder session. In other words, I am about to do the very same steps above, but from a different starting point. However, when I close the first folder session, the auto-saved sessions tree is open and a new auto-saved session is auto-selected rather than the user-defined session I used as a starting point. I must then collapse the auto-saved session tree and locate where I was in my user-defined sessions to continue my activity with the next user-defined session I wish to use for a starting point.

I would prefer that the auto-selected session would be the last one I opened from the home view rather than the last auto-saved session created. If I happen to open an auto-saved session from the home view, then I would not mind if that auto-saved session were auto-selected when I return to the home view, but I still would not want any other newly created auto-saved sessions to be auto-selected. I think you will agree that this preserves the usefulness of the auto-select feature (something is always auto-selected) but provides the user with more control over what will be auto-selected.

[Michael Bulgrien]

P.S. If I launch a new session via the "New" session tree, this would be the only time that I would expect the auto-saved session to be selected when I return to the home view.

[Michael Bulgrien]

Tim, perhaps you will appreciate today's post more than the ideas previously discussed in this thread. Instead of an option to "Never auto-select Auto-saved session", how about an option to always auto-select the last session launched from the home view:

[ ] Collapse New Session node
[ ] Auto-select last launched session

Why? The main reason that I despise the current auto-select of auto-saved sessions is because my workflow often proceeds like this:


Open a user-defined folder session
Update files from one side to the other
Perform a common edit on the pathnames on both sides
Update files from one side to the other
Repeat this pathname edit and file update cycle about 8 more times. Due to the number of related updates I am doing, it is easier for me to perform these minor pathname edits than to save a separate session for all ten folder pairs accessed during my workflow from this common starting point.


After I have applied all updates related to the first user-defined folder session, I return to the home window to initiate the same activity on the next user-defined folder session. In other words, I am about to do the very same steps above, but from a different starting point. However, when I close the first folder session, the auto-saved sessions tree is open and a new auto-saved session is auto-selected rather than the user-defined session I used as a starting point. I must then collapse the auto-saved session tree and locate where I was in my user-defined sessions to continue my activity with the next user-defined session I wish to use for a starting point.

I would prefer that the auto-selected session would be the last one I opened from the home view rather than the last auto-saved session created. If I happen to open an auto-saved session from the home view, then I would not mind if that auto-saved session were auto-selected when I return to the home view, but I still would not want any other newly created auto-saved sessions to be auto-selected. I think you will agree that this preserves the usefulness of the auto-select feature (something is always auto-selected) but provides the user with more control over what will be auto-selected.

P.S. If I launch a new session via the "New" session tree, this would be the only time that I would expect the auto-saved session to be selected when I return to the home view.

Tim,

I'm still waiting for your thoughts on this. Suppressing the "Auto-saved" sessions is important to me... And I believe the ideas I expressed in my last set of posts retain the benefits of your current design while allowing for removal of the Auto-saved clutter 90% of the time.

[Michael Bulgrien]

I'm still frequently annoyed because my manually saved sessions are off the screen! (http://screencast.com/t/EPcCAq9qxw).
I've bumped this post a couple times now. It would be nice if it received a little consideration.

[Tim]

Erik is now working on a "Sticky session selection in Home view" tweak. It won't be in 3.0.3 which will likely be released yet today, but it should make it into 3.0.4.

It should be close to what you've suggested, although if you select one of the New session types an launch a session, it will come back to that New session item (not the auto-saved session spawned from it).

[xtabber]

I personally find the home screen to be tedious to work with. I have a very large number of saved sessions, some of which are used frequently and some quite rarely. Some have similar purposes, but don't appear together in a sorted list.

What I would really like is to be able to group sessions into named categories or subfolders rather than have one long list to scroll through, but at the very least, a session MRU list (as in BC2) would be a great help in quickly finding the most often used sessions quickly.

[Craig]

Right click on the tree and select New->Folder, or press [Ins] to add a folder to the tree. You can then drag & drop the sessions to move them.

[Michael Bulgrien]

Thank you for the sticky sessions in 3.0.4

Now, if you can just add another tweak leave the New tree collapsed (when buttons are not on the home view) I'll be happy. Please, I want my personally saved session tree to have primary focus on the main view. I would prefer having to expand the New tree to start a new session from scratch than having to collapse it every time I launch BC3 and want to navigate my saved sessions tree!

[Erik]

In 3.0.5, we'll make the expanded state of the "New" folder sticky when the home view is tweaked not to include the new session buttons

[Michael Bulgrien]

Great! Sticky is even better than a tweak!!!

[xtabber]

Right click on the tree and select New->Folder, or press [Ins] to add a folder to the tree. You can then drag & drop the sessions to move them.

This is a very nice fature. It is not mentioned in the hlep file. It should be added to the page on managing sessions.

Any possibility of a session MRU list?