use-revolution Digest, Vol 9, Issue 45

[Richard Gaskin]

Roger Guay wrote:
 >>> What I would like to do is essentially recreate the hierarchical
 >>> folder environment that one typically sees in MAC OS X folders
 >>> with View set to "As List"  In other words I want to be able to
 >>> create new folders, name them move them around, put created
 >>> "documents" in them, and put some folders inside of  others etc. 
For my twit brain this is turning out to
 >>> be very complicated!
 >>>
 >>...if you need to completely mirror the sometimes complex
 >> behaviors of those apps, would there be a downside to encouraging the
 >> user to use those?
 >>
 >> If you just need a subset of behaviors reading up on these Transcript
 >> tokens should help get you started:
 >>
 >> directory
 >> folders
 >> files
 >> detailed folders
 >> detailed files
 >> create folder
 >>
 > Thanks for your reply, Richard.  Coming from you I will heed your
 > suggestion that perhaps there is a better metaphor to use than the
 > Finder.  Besides, it's just too difficult to do!

Glad to be of help, but it was more of a question than a suggestion. :) 
  There may be times when implementing something like the Finder may be 
a good move, but often a subset of the things essential to your app may 
get you through the day with a much higher ROI.

I'll be facing a similar challenge scheduled for August on an app that 
needs some file/folder stuff.  But we're using this design phase to pin 
down the essential must-haves first, so hopefully we'll be able to 
deliver what we truly need at a very low cost, and leave the full Finder 
experience to Apple's excellent team. :)

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Media Corporation
  ___________________________________________________
  Rev tools and more:  http://www.fourthworld.com/rev