Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mcvax!ukc!s1!jrk
From: jrk@s1.sys.uea.ac.uk (Richard Kennaway CMP RA)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Finder proposal: "Select by..."
Keywords: Finder icon select criteria
Message-ID: <266@s1.sys.uea.ac.uk>
Date: 30 Nov 88 14:15:31 GMT
References: <2712@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu>
Organization: UEA, Norwich, UK
Lines: 60

In article <2712@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu>, mikem@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu (Mike Morton) writes:
> 
> As long as we're helping Apple redesign the Finder

I missed that.  Can anyone join in?  My 0.5p worth:

1.  I want an easy way to open the parent folder/volume of a Finder window.

For example:

Clicking on the title of a Finder window brings up a menu of (above the
title) all the parent folders back to the root.  Selecting any of them would
open that folder.

2.  Under MultiFinder, I want the Finder windows to always reflect the current
state of affairs, not the state of affairs obtaining when they were opened.
E.g. I write to a file from an application, the file is in a "View by
Date" window, so the displayed date/time is updated and the file moved to the
top of the window.

(Yes, I can imagine the potential inefficiencies, and large-scale rewriting of
Finder/Multifinder/file package this might require...)

3.  Under MultiFinder, when I use ResEdit or similar tool to change a file's
type or creator, I dont want Finder to insist it knows better and change it
back.  (Is this a bug or a feature?)

4.  When developing a program, I may have several different versions of it
present simultaneously.  They all have the same creator type.  At present,
if I double-click on a file of that creator type, it is not determined which
of the applications will be invoked.  I would like to be able to nominate one
of them as the preferred one.  The others would still be runnable by double-
clicking on them explicitly.

5.  I want the "Rebuild Desktop" feature to retain in the desktop file all
icons for all files present on the volume, not just icons for applications.
E.g. if I rebuild the desktop for a disc full of Word3 files, but not
containing Word3 itself, I want the Word3 icons (or as many of them as are
currently in use for files on that disc) to be retained.  (It should check
to see if they are damaged, since this is one reason for rebuilding
the desktop, and discard them if they are.)

Also, rebuilding the desktop should retain comments (everyone's favorite gripe).

6.  I want an easier way to get at icons on the desktop which are obscured by
other applications' windows.  At present I have to drag all the other windows
aside one by one.

7.  Under MultiFinder, why is the window showing memory usage by all
applications brought up by the "About the Finder" command (for which you have
to be in the Finder)?  "About MultiFinder" would be a more appropriate and
convenient place to put it.

8.  Not a Finder suggestion, but I thought I'd ask this here.  The
"About MultiFinder" command brings up a rather prosaic credits box.
Poking around with ResEdit reveals some much more interesting
"About"-type things.  Does anyone know how to invoke them?
-- 
Richard Kennaway                SYS, University of East Anglia, Norwich, U.K.
uucp:	...mcvax!ukc!uea-sys!jrk	Janet:	kennaway@uk.ac.uea.sys