Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!mailrus!ames!amdahl!nsc!taux01!cyosta
From: cyosta@taux01.UUCP (Yossie Silverman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: 'Virtual' Folders - good idea!!
Message-ID: <796@taux01.UUCP>
Date: 1 Jul 88 20:33:05 GMT
References: <8806161351.AA09732@decwrl.dec.com> <3216@polyslo.UUCP> <3818@saturn.ucsc.edu> <12530@apple.Apple.COM> <5195@altaira.srcsip.UUCP> <2998@emory.uucp> <13123@apple.Apple.COM>
Reply-To: cyosta@taux01.UUCP (Yossie Silverman)
Organization: National Semiconductor (Israel) Ltd.
Lines: 33

In article <13123@apple.Apple.COM> tecot@apple.apple.com.UUCP (Ed Tecot) writes:
>All this talk about these horrid virtual folders makes me glad that we do user
>testing before making interface changes.
>
>If you have a hard time understanding why it is so bad, try explaining it to
>your grandparents.
>
>						_emt


Well.  I would like to throw in my own $0.02 of thought.  UN*X has always
had the "invisible" files (invisible under the ls command).  The method they 
adopted was to mark the file with a "." as its first character.  I don't
think this is a very nice method to use in Finder but I think "virtual"
folders would do the job in a similar manner.  Finder is an integral part
of the Mac environment (you can't even turn it off under MultiFinder) and
so I think that it should have some special file display facilities that
other programs wouldn't have, like minifinder (not the application, the
SFGetFile one).  The minifinder CAN'T sort by date,type, etc.. Nor can
it display by small ICON or even by ICON!  Why should there be any problem
with not allowing it to display "virtual" folders?  "virtual" folders should
be treated as what they are, a way of looking at your disk without cluttering
the display with unneeded information.  Another possibility would be to
add a menu ITEM "Show Hidden" and another "Hide" the first of which would 
display all hidden files, wherever they may be positioned, the second of
which would Hide/Unhide a file (should work in any view mode).  I think the
"virtual" folder method is nicer, but the second method has some merit too!

-- 
Yossie Silverman                                   What did the Caspian sea?
National Semiconductor Ltd. (Israel)				- Saki
UUCP: taux01!yossie@nsc.UUCP
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