Controlling 'type' of Windows Explorer

Baffin · External Since: Jul 20, 2007 Posts: 17

The MS document at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/experi...es/prod
talks about different 'types' of Window Explorer, eg., Music Explorer, Photo
Explorer, Document Explorer. In essence, Windows Explorer shows different
columns, etc depending (apparently) on the contents of ('type' of) a folder.

How do I control what 'type' of explorer gets used on a particular folder?

In specific, I have a tree of folders containing JPG and AVI file types.
When any of those folders is opened, one of the columns is "Date Taken", ie.,
it appears Photo Explorer is operating -- that's great, that's what I want.
However, a saved-search that draws from that same tree (and thus has only JPG
and AVI files) does not display the results using 'Photo Explorer' -- it
gives me "Date modified" instead (perhaps that's the Document Explorer view).
How can I get the saved-search to display its folder with the same columns
as the source folders?

More generally, how can I force a 'type' upon a folder? (I can imagine
wanting to do this in particular with saved-searches, which might return a
mix of file types.)

(Is there a way to find the 'type' of a folder? I looked under Properties,
etc but didn't find anything. What determines which 'type' of Explorer will
be used? Another place where I'd expect 'type' to be displayed to me is in
the dialog under Organize->Folder and Views, View, Folder Views, where it
says "... to all folders of this type" -- what type? It'd be helpful if it
said "... of the ______ type".)

I'm using Home Premium in Classic view.

(I'd provide screenshots but unfortunately this forum apparently doesn't
support images.)

brink · External Since: Aug 04, 2007 Posts: 1

Baffin;409445 Wrote:
> The MS document at
> 'Experience Windows Vista: Improved productivity'
> (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/experiences/productivity.mspx)
> talks about different 'types' of Window Explorer, eg., Music Explorer,
> Photo
> Explorer, Document Explorer. In essence, Windows Explorer shows
> different
> columns, etc depending (apparently) on the contents of ('type' of) a
> folder.
>
> How do I control what 'type' of explorer gets used on a particular
> folder?
>
> In specific, I have a tree of folders containing JPG and AVI file
> types.
> When any of those folders is opened, one of the columns is "Date
> Taken", ie.,
> it appears Photo Explorer is operating -- that's great, that's what I
> want.
> However, a saved-search that draws from that same tree (and thus has
> only JPG
> and AVI files) does not display the results using 'Photo Explorer' --
> it
> gives me "Date modified" instead (perhaps that's the Document Explorer
> view).
> How can I get the saved-search to display its folder with the same
> columns
> as the source folders?
>
> More generally, how can I force a 'type' upon a folder? (I can imagine
> wanting to do this in particular with saved-searches, which might
> return a
> mix of file types.)
>
> (Is there a way to find the 'type' of a folder? I looked under
> Properties,
> etc but didn't find anything. What determines which 'type' of Explorer
> will
> be used? Another place where I'd expect 'type' to be displayed to me is
> in
> the dialog under Organize->Folder and Views, View, Folder Views, where
> it
> says "... to all folders of this type" -- what type? It'd be helpful if
> it
> said "... of the ______ type".)
>
> I'm using Home Premium in Classic view.
>
> (I'd provide screenshots but unfortunately this forum apparently
> doesn't
> support images.)

Hi Baffin,

This will explain it and show you how to do it.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/77444-windows-explorer-folder-type-t...lates.h

Shawn

--
brink

*There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask them.*
_http://www.vistax64.com/ (\"http://www.vistax64.com/\")_
*Please post feedback to help others.*

Baffin · External Since: Jul 20, 2007 Posts: 17

"brink" wrote:
> This will explain it and show you how to do it.

I don't think that works for saved-search folders -- when I
rightClick->Properties on a saved-search folder, I don't see a 'Customize'
tab. Do you?

dean-dean · External Since: Oct 19, 2006 Posts: 1090

A saved search called Saved, for example, is actually a file named
"Saved.search-ms", which has a super-hidden file extension, much like a
Shortcut has a *.lnk extension that you don't see. It's not a File Folder
file type (also called a directory), therefore Windows Explorer can't treat
it as one. Any functionality of "Saved.search-ms", would fall under the
capabilities and purview of the file type. This can be confusing, given
it's Explorer folder-type view when opening one, which, in this respect, is
like the folder-type view seen when opening a *.zip file. But these
Explorer shell extensions have different context menu items and other
things, like different toolbar buttons in Explorer. All this stuff depends
on the extension type Explorer is associated with, and the way Explorer
is programmed to handle it.

So, in short, while a saved search may look like an opened folder, it's
really not. It shows objects that meet certain criteria, but the list is
not an html-type list, or anything like that, either. For example,
deleting a file in the list will delete the actual file, this being one
functionality of a *.search-ms file type.

"Baffin" <Baffin DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:0737593A-993A-4A2F-B3BE-9E60CBD5BFE8@microsoft.com...
> "brink" wrote:
>> This will explain it and show you how to do it.
>
> I don't think that works for saved-search folders -- when I
> rightClick->Properties on a saved-search folder, I don't see a 'Customize'
> tab. Do you?
>

Ronnie Vernon MVP · External Since: Jan 09, 2007 Posts: 1325

Baffin

In addition to the excellent information posted by Shawn and Dean-Dean.

Although the Search folders are not standard Vista folders, there are some
things that you can do to customize them.

For instance, you can customize the Columns to display the information you
want to see in the folder. These settings appear to stick between sessions
and reboots. You can also enable the Preview Pane ( Organize/Layout/Preview
Pane ) to make the folder act more like it has the Pictures and Video type
customization.

See the bottom of the article that Shawn posted on how to customize the
columns.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/77444-windows-explorer-folder-type-t...lates.h

Tip: If you find a frequent need to post screenshots, you can set up a free
account at one the image hosting websites where you can upload images. I use
http://photobucket.com/ and it works a treat. This way you can simply post
the URL for the image that everyone can view.

Sample:
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa86/rvmv/ManualLogOn.jpg
--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

"Baffin" <Baffin.TakeThisOut@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:53B4B895-D186-44D5-8B9C-4C3E9DBB09BE@microsoft.com...
> The MS document at
> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/experi...es/prod
> talks about different 'types' of Window Explorer, eg., Music Explorer,
> Photo
> Explorer, Document Explorer. In essence, Windows Explorer shows different
> columns, etc depending (apparently) on the contents of ('type' of) a
> folder.
>
> How do I control what 'type' of explorer gets used on a particular folder?
>
> In specific, I have a tree of folders containing JPG and AVI file types.
> When any of those folders is opened, one of the columns is "Date Taken",
> ie.,
> it appears Photo Explorer is operating -- that's great, that's what I
> want.
> However, a saved-search that draws from that same tree (and thus has only
> JPG
> and AVI files) does not display the results using 'Photo Explorer' -- it
> gives me "Date modified" instead (perhaps that's the Document Explorer
> view).
> How can I get the saved-search to display its folder with the same columns
> as the source folders?
>
> More generally, how can I force a 'type' upon a folder? (I can imagine
> wanting to do this in particular with saved-searches, which might return a
> mix of file types.)
>
> (Is there a way to find the 'type' of a folder? I looked under
> Properties,
> etc but didn't find anything. What determines which 'type' of Explorer
> will
> be used? Another place where I'd expect 'type' to be displayed to me is
> in
> the dialog under Organize->Folder and Views, View, Folder Views, where it
> says "... to all folders of this type" -- what type? It'd be helpful if
> it
> said "... of the ______ type".)
>
> I'm using Home Premium in Classic view.
>
> (I'd provide screenshots but unfortunately this forum apparently doesn't
> support images.)