[sdschramm]

I also sent this to help@cocoatech.com
Hopefully either users here, or the support staff will get back to me regarding these issues I have found.

----------------

Hello,

I have found many problems with Path Finder that I thought I would bring to your attention. I will try my best to describe, and or include screenshots or movies of what they issues are to better help you find the problem to fix. I'd appreciate comments regarding each issue as to if it is something I am doing wrong (that I can fix) or a it IS in fact a bug with the program that the developers of Path Finder can fix.

My system info:
Mac OS X Snow Leopard, 10.6.1
13" MacBook Pro
2.26GHz Core 2 Duo
4GB RAM, 320GB HD,
13" 1280 x 800 internal screen
+ 24" Dell 2408WFP external Screen @ 1920 x 1200.
Path Finder Version - 5.5.5 (870) (I always use the latest)

Here we go!

1. Graphics issues.
See: Screenshot 1
And: Screenshot 2
Not sure how it starts but it is very annoying when it does. Most of the time relaunching path finder will clear it up, for a little while.

2. Devices bar
See: Video Demonstration
For some reason, you can not edit the devices section of the side bar. For example, in the Mac Finder, I can drag and drop my volumes in or out of the side bar, as well as rearrange the order of them. In Path Finder, that is not possible. (but you CAN in the places section of the side bar, but not the devices section)

3. Can't use Quicktime 7?
See: Screenshot
We all know that Snow Leopard brought us Quicktime X - but there is a lot things it can not do compared to Quicktime 7, so therefore, the classic version is still needed. In Mac's Finder, you can right click a file and choose "open with" and then choose "Quicktime 7" but in path finder, you must manually find the app in the big long list of all applications. It takes a while to generate the list, and the system usually hangs until it is done. After selecting the same program over and over again, Path Finder doesn't seem to "learn" my choice, and therefore it does not come up in the "quick list" and that I means I have to find it the long way. I am aware I can set default programs for each file type (for example, open all MOV's in QTX but M4V's in QT7) But I do not want it that way. I want to be able to right click and have an option between the two versions.

4. Time Machine Support
See: Video Demonstration
In the OS X finder, if I open a folder and want to see it back in time, I can simply activate Time Machine and that folder will automatically open in Time Machine. With Path Finder, doing this opens a new finder window (usually opened to "desktop" or my "home" folder), and then activates time machine. Obviously, Time Machine would not work with Path Finder, but why can't Path Finder open the correct folder in the Finder before time machine activates? An example of this is, in Path Finder, you can right click a file and choose "reveal" and it will open it in the Finder. And in the Finder you can do the same thing to switch to Path Finder. Both programs talk to each other and tell each other what folder is open, and opens to that choice.

5. Quick View
More Info/Screenshot
Mac OS X 10.5 brought us Quick View, and 10.6 made it even better. However, Path Finder limits the abilities of Quick view. For example "X-Ray folders" does not work (google it, its a terminal option) as well as flipping thought document pages and playing audio video files are not possible unless Quick view is activated with the space bar. (In 10.6, you can simply click the play button or the left and right arrows by mousing over the icon.)

6. Icon Previews
See: Video Demonstration
And: Video Demonstration 2
When in Icon view, there is an option for the icons to show a thumbnail of pictures, moves etc instead of the generic "IMAGE" or "MOVIE" icon. Some times this works, other times it does not.

7. Toolbar Icons
See: Video Demonstration
When Dragging and icon over the "toolbar" area of a path finder window, the icons move "out of the way" but not back again. The video demonstrates this issue well.

8. Can't Count to Three?
See: Video Demonstration
Path finder doesn't always count the items in a folder correctly.

9. "Put Back" from trash?
See: My Screenshot
What it should like: Screenshot
In Snow Leopard, when you delete a file from the Mac Finder, it goes to the trash. If you open the trash, you can right click a file and choose "put back" with will put the file back to where it came before you deleted it. When deleting files in Path Finder, there is no "Put Back" option.

10. "Per-Window" Settings
See: Video Demonstration
"Per-Window" settings are not saved. For example, I set up my Documents folder one way, then go to another folder like the Applications folder and find the spacing setting it changed there as well. The video shows the problem.

11. Desktop size changes / Icon Layout
Video 1, Video 2, Video 3
After watching those three videos, I think you can see the problems. Basically, it has to do with the fact that my icons on the desktop do not seem to "save" their positions, and will move around. Sometimes it only happens when changing screen resolutions, other times it will happen whenever it feels like. You just have to watch the video to understand, at least the first one - Thanks.

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So, sorry for all the complaints and having to publicly post videos that show all of the problems Path Finder currently has, but I hope these provide a great help in fixing the problems, and I am very interested in hearing back regarding EACH issue. As the updates come out, and the problems are fixed, I will take down the videos, or mark them as "FIXED" to show everyone how great Path Finder really is!


Regards,
Scott

[binary]

1. If you have Dropbox installed, update to their newest beta version. It's available on the Dropbox forum. You may also want to grab the newest Path Finder beta by option-clicking Path Finder > Check for Updates. PF 5.5.6 disables a faulty version of Dropbox that interferes with Path Finder's icon rendering.

2. The Path Finder sidebar is designed always to sort alphabetically. We may provide manual sorting in a future release, but there haven't been many requests for it.

3. This is an OS bug. QuickTime Player Launcher is an application embedded inside of QuickTime 7, and its job is to be to re-route requests for QuickTime 7 to QuickTime 10. I'd suggest checking Apple's support forum, or doing a Google search for "Quicktime Player Launcher."

4. Time Machine is embedded in the Finder and can't be accessed externally. As a workaround, you can right click on a Path Finder folder or Path Navigator breadcrumb and choose "Reveal in Finder" before invoking Time Machine.

5. The Quick Look window is part of a private API (functionality not officially available to third party developers) so what we're able to do with it is rather limited. Apple opened up some QuickLook functionality in Snow Leopard, so we'll look into implementing things like interactive icon previews.

6. This may be related to #1

7. This is a known issue and will be corrected. Also, Path Finder 5.5.6 will allow you to lock toolbar items in place.

8. I haven't seen this bug before - does the file count update if you press the refresh button in the bottom right corner of the PF browser window?

9. I'm not sure how the Finder handles this, but we're investigating it.

10. "Per-window" is somewhat of a misnomer, it really should be "per-folder." If you'd like to make global changes, click the "per folder" header - it should now say "all windows" (all folders).

11. Can you please explain the problem? To be perfectly honest, while quick video clips and screenshots are generally quite helpful, I'm not able to watch 15 minutes of video.

[aherrera]

I'm having the same graphics/icon issues that Scott listed in #1.

I am running Dropbox, so I updated to their beta (0.7.65). I'm also running PF 5.5.6 (888).

I even quit and relaunched PF and the problem still occurred (admittedly with different file on the desktop). I can't confirm this 100% but it seems to happen with PDFs and PNGs. I haven't yet seen it with JPGs. Again, I'm not 100% sure of that.

I've attached a screenshot just in case it helps.

.angie

[binary]

Try removing the Dropbox contextual menu item from either /Users/[username]/Library/Contextual Menu Items/DropboxPlugin.plugin or /Library/Contextual Menu Items/DropboxPlugin.plugin and restart your computer. Let me know if this fixes the icon issue. The recent Dropbox beta seems to have solved most of the problem, but there may still be a minor conflict.

[sdschramm]

To all:

Thanks for the feedback.

Sorry not describing the issue in the last section (that had three videos) (also, I fixed the link to video 1 that does the very best job of explaining this issue).

But as you requested in text, problem 11 has to do with the fact that my icons on the desktop do not seem to "save" their positions, and will move around. Sometimes it only happens when changing screen resolutions, other times it will happen whenever it feels like. You just have to watch the video to understand - Thanks.

Also, I did update to the latest beta of Path Finder. It is worse. The graphic issues are still present, and my icons are moving around even MORE (about every 15 mins!)

I did just find that drop box plugin and have removed it. Time will tell if it will fix the graphics issues.

Regards,
-Scott

[aherrera]

Just a quick update... I removed the Dropbox contextual menu item a couple days ago and I haven't really seen the graphics issue pop up again.

[sdschramm]

yes, removing the drop box plugin has fixed the graphics problem.
I'm currently working with Steve with some special beta versions.
I think we finally got down to what is causing the icon position problems.
I will report back with more info later....but I think its safe to say some of these problems WILL be solved in the next public release!

[Glenno]

Originally Posted by sdschramm

2. Devices bar
See: Video Demonstration

For some reason, you can not edit the devices section of the side bar. For example, in the Mac Finder, I can drag and drop my volumes in or out of the side bar, as well as rearrange the order of them. In Path Finder, that is not possible. (but you CAN in the places section of the side bar, but not the devices section)

Originally Posted by binary

2. The Path Finder sidebar is designed always to sort alphabetically. We may provide manual sorting in a future release, but there haven't been many requests for it.

Hm, this may be a reason for me to hold off on buying Path Finder until manual sorting is allowed as it is in Finder. Like many, I do a lot of work in Photoshop and Final Cut Pro, and need to use a fair number of hard drives and RAIDs. They are named descriptively, and it helps a great deal to have them listed in the sidebar in a logical order. Alphabetical listing would be confusing.

I suppose a possible workaround for some might be to add a letter or number before each name. But to me that'd look weird and be a bit confusing; it's far preferable to keep the drive names clean and simple, and allow manual sorting like Finder does.

Basically, that's a long-winded +1.

Originally Posted by sdschramm

5. Quick View
More Info/Screenshot
Mac OS X 10.5 brought us Quick View, and 10.6 made it even better. However, Path Finder limits the abilities of Quick view. For example "X-Ray folders" does not work (google it, its a terminal option) as well as flipping thought document pages and playing audio video files are not possible unless Quick view is activated with the space bar. (In 10.6, you can simply click the play button or the left and right arrows by mousing over the icon.)

Originally Posted by binary

5. The Quick Look window is part of a private API (functionality not officially available to third party developers) so what we're able to do with it is rather limited. Apple opened up some QuickLook functionality in Snow Leopard, so we'll look into implementing things like interactive icon previews.

If it's possible, this would be terrific. Interactive icon previews are a nice, useful feature of Snow Leopard.

Originally Posted by sdschramm

9. "Put Back" from trash?
See: My Screenshot
What it should like: Screenshot

In Snow Leopard, when you delete a file from the Mac Finder, it goes to the trash. If you open the trash, you can right click a file and choose "put back" with will put the file back to where it came before you deleted it. When deleting files in Path Finder, there is no "Put Back" option.

Originally Posted by binary

9. I'm not sure how the Finder handles this, but we're investigating it.

As far as I can tell (both by testing in several applications and based on complaints in Mac forums), "Put Back" only works if you trash a file from Finder. Doesn't work if you trash an item from iPhoto, iTunes, Adobe Bridge, etc. Terrible limitation on Apple's part. The return of "Put Back" was one of the key reasons I finally switched to Mac -- I wouldn't use an OS without the feature. Really upset they didn't acknowledge this limitation in their literature.

So... does "Put Back" really not work if you trash something from Path Finder?

Thanks!

[straycat]

+1 on the manual sorting of volumes in the sidebar. it's also useful for keeping partitions of the same drive together.

[sdschramm]

Originally Posted by Glenno

So... does "Put Back" really not work if you trash something from Path Finder?

That's correct.