Auto Column widths if possible please.

[ecammit]

I would like to see an option in Pathfinder's preferences that you could turn on / off that will automatically set the widths of the columns of column view to the width of the longest file / folder name in that directory.

Also, if this option is turned off, I would like to be able to resize the column to the width of it's items manually by double-clicking the resize button. It would work in a similar manner to how it works in Excel, whereby you double click between the columns in the header, and it resizes the coulmn to the width of the widest cell.

[Bruce]

I like this idea.

The one distinction (perhaps it is included in author's idea) is that the double click on column separator will also shrink the column width to the longest item -- if column was too wide with too much 'white space'.
Again, it is similar to how Excel works.

[Anonymous]

How about a reasonable minimum and maximum sizes? Set to the same value, you get one size of columns. People who want to soon go blind can make the minimum smaller and use tiny fonts. Those of us who have already gone blind can leave the minimum where it is and select an 18 point font, with a longer maximum.

No idea if that's going to be suitable or not, I just see no reason why a 512 character file name would be worthwhile to have ts name spelled out. (No idea offhand what the max limits are, but still, anything over about 60 chars in a name is getting way out of hand..)

Just my two cents (I really should sign up for an account on this thing at some point I suppose)

[DanHM]

I've always thought this one of the more intuitive features of Excel (because there aren't many, necessarily...), and wished that both the Finder and PF would implement something similar where practical. I also like the auto-fit idea, but it should very definitely be inactive by default. Users should make the conscious choice otherwise it could be very confusing.

[peanuts]

One feature missing from the browser so far is to have it automatically adjust for the width of the filenames as an option. I would prefer to have it in each listing view if possible. Yes and the ability to turn it off would be essential but at the moment its our only choice.

Thanks
Paul

[NeXTer]

I definitely second that. An option to have it done automatically would be very nice, but at least implementing the stock Finder behavior of autosizing the column when the resize grip is doubleclicked would work nicely.

In the icon view it would be nice if the standard method (ellipsis) method of truncating long filenames was used. Just chopping the name after the second line is a tad... Abrupt.

And as a new user I'd like to say a big THANK YOU for implementing a proper shelf.

[neilio]

We probably won't add in the "automatically resize" feature (it would make for some crazy column widths) - at least not yet - but the ability to double-click on the column resize widget to jump to the correct width is coming in Path Finder 4.

[NeXTer]

Oh, should have some reasonable limits of course, like not going wider than the width of the parent control or something.

Looking forward to v4.

[egrieco]

We probably won't add in the "automatically resize" feature (it would make for some crazy column widths) - at least not yet - but the ability to double-click on the column resize widget to jump to the correct width is coming in Path Finder 4.

I have been waiting for someone (Apple or you) to implement auto sizing of columns for years now. Computers should do all the menial chores possible and leave the creative stuff to the humans. Making the columns the proper size is definitely a menial chore.

The code is already there to figure out the size automatically when the resize thumb is double clicked. It should be trivial to make it activate when a new column is created.

What do you mean by "crazy column widths"? If you are worried about the columns getting too wide then add some limits in the preferences. Not wider than the current window would be a good general rule though.

[Sydde]

With all the other efficiency features PF offers, it seems to me like column view is becoming passé. Now if only it could retain my .plist settings between major upgrades.

[janpeeters]

Hi Neilio and others,

i also would love an auto column resize. A 'easy' solution to rediculous widths is the ability to set a max width in preferences or set it to an average filenamelength (you can do a little survey on that) and set that value as a embedded max.

I would love this feature, because your eyes are much more at ease when most filenames are not truncated and there's no space lost with too wide columns.

[egrieco]

Does PathFnder have the ability to automatically size the columns in column view yet?

This feature was originally requested back in the end of 2003 as you can see in this thread. It should be simple to implement as the code to actually size the column exists. All that needs to be added is a preference to trigger the code automatically rather than forcing the user to double click.

If the feature is not being added intentionally could someone please explain why it is preferable to have columns incorrectly sized by default?

[grotsasha]

I think the following reason makes sense:

We probably won't add in the "automatically resize" feature - it would make for some crazy column widths

I think Finder doesn't resize automatically for the same reason.

[egrieco]

Could you please define crazy column widths for me.

Having the columns wide enough to read the file names and no wider seems pretty sane to me. Making the user resize the column when the computer is perfectly capable of doing that is insanity as far as I can see.

[prospero]

Hello folks,

i'd like to suggest the option to define in the preferences to automaticaly set the row width to the length of the filename. I know i can do that manually by double clicking on the row separator, but an automatic function would be a great help.

greets from germany to all

[prospero]

I see the issues with the auto width for columns. But may i suggest to use it with some prefs like:

- auto resize to doc/foldernamelength unlimited: > yes/ no
- auto resize to doc/foldernamelength AND to max. XXX-Size (user-editable): > yes, with max. size = XXX/ no
- static width XXX-Size (user-editable): > yes, Size =XXX/ no

I think this would be a good solution to fit the needs for every one.

greets
Guido

[egrieco]

It's been 2 years since I originally posted and 4 since this idea was initially posted on the forums here.

Is automatic column resizing some kind of holy sacrifice to the gods of procrastination?!

PLEASE add this feature! What do I need to do to get this simple and already mostly implemented feature added to PathFinder. I bought an upgrade hoping that might encourage the addition of this feature but to no avail.

All that must be done is:
1. Add a checkbox in the preferences labeled "Automatically resize columns".
2. In the constructor for columns add a conditional call (based on the preference above) to the existing code to automatically resize the column.
3. Done. Refinements like minimum and maximum width can be added later.

Words cannot express my frustration that 4 years later this exceedingly simple change has still not been made.

[Drdul]

I would also love to see an automatic column width feature. But it has to work properly. Right now, if I double-click the || symbol at the bottom of the divider bar, the columns frequently re-size too small. File names are often truncated because the column width is too narrow to display the full name. In other cases where all the file names are short, the folder name in the bar at the top of the column is truncated. So before adding the automatic re-sizing feature, the existing re-sizing feature needs to be fixed.

[Drdul]

I think Finder doesn't resize automatically for the same reason.

I'm guessing that the reason most people buy PF is that it supposedly offers more than the Finder. So it doesn't make a strong case to justify the lack of a feature in PF because it's not in the Finder. "Crazy" column widths can be avoided with a simple preference setting that limits the maximum width to a set number of pixels. I use a 30" screen, so I can handle a pretty wide column width that someone on a 13" MacBook might consider "crazy."

This suggestion/request highlights the fact that compared to the Finder, PF doesn't offer all that much any more. IMO, the only remaining significant benefit of PF is tabs. Any other minor advantages of PF are offset by the fact that the Find feature in PF is nowhere near what the new Finder offers. Since upgrading to Leopard, I've been using the Finder far more than PF. I suspect I'm not the only one who's noticed that the gap between PF and the Finder has narrowed considerably.

If Cocoatech wants to put some distance between PF and the Finder, then a feature like automatic column widths is precisely the sort of thing you should be looking at adding to PF. An improved Find feature would help, too!

[egrieco]

I pretty much agree with Drdul. The main reason I used to use PathFinder was the easy ability to show/hide invisible files outside of the terminal. Since I have found an applescript to do that in the Finder proper I rarely use PathFinder anymore. The one feature that I would LOVE to see is the subject of this thread, auto-resizing column widths.

That seems unlikely given that this thread was started on Nov 18, 2003 and its now May 5, 2008 with no progress whatsoever made regarding this feature.

What I don't understand is why the developer apparently refuses to completely implement a feature that is 90% there already. All that needs to be done is remove the requirement that the user double-click the column resize box to trigger this functionality and instead have it triggered automatically whenever an new column is created.

WTF Cocoatech!

-Thoroughly disappointed user

[Flyby]

I guess I should have come here first.

As a recent convert form the Dark Side, I was sure I was going to like the column view in Finder, until I realized it didn't auto resize. While looking for a replacement, and with all the hype around Path Finder, I assumed this would be an included feature.

Since it appears the rest of you have been after them for 5 years with no success, is it safe to assume that this isn't going to happen? If so, can you recommend an alternative?

I'm sure there are other great features in Path Finder, which I will explore during the trial, but the lack of column sizing is a deal-breaker for me. I appreciate that you can't let the widths float free, but you should be able to let them float to "x" user-defined characters.

[egrieco]

...
Since it appears the rest of you have been after them for 5 years with no success, is it safe to assume that this isn't going to happen? If so, can you recommend an alternative?
...


That's the strange thing, so many programs use column views and yet I can't think of a single one that automatically resizes columns for you. You are forced to manually resize them, or more oddly as in PathFinder and many programs, they will resize to the correct width as long as you double click them. The difficult part of the code has been implemented. Yet, I can't for the life of me understand why the user should be forced to invoke it manually for each column.

To any developers out there with more free time than me, here is a golden opportunity for you. Make a file browser with auto-sizing column views that can merge directory trees and automatically but safely remove duplicate files. I'll be your first customer.

I apologize for the rant but I truly don't understand the resistance by almost a whole industry to implementing a such a trivial feature. Is this part of some secret developer's oath I missed?

[egrieco]

Just checking in again since PathFinder 5.0.0 (495) is out. As far as I can tell automatic column resizing has still not been implemented.

Apparently double clicking the resize widget is a critical step in resizing the column width. If somehow this step were not performed by the user, say automatically by the computer on column creation, then the results would be catastrophic and all hell would break loose.

[Limbus]

I am all for implementing this. I use it under WIndows with DOpus and once I enabled it I never looked back. I don't see how this can hurt anyone if it is an option. You could disable it on a small screen.

Cheers, Florian