Recent Folders Help

Name:	Recent Folders
Version:	1.9
Last update:	2019-11-27 14:12:47

This feature is similar to the package Recent Files, but keeps track of the parent folders (and optionally volume names) of all recently used files rather than the actual filenames. You can turn this package on by selecting the Alpha ↣ Global Setup ↣ Features menu item and clicking on the checkbox next to Recent Folders.
Click here to display the Features Preferences dialog and activate this package.

'Recent Folders' Menu

This package creates and inserts a new File ↣ Recent Folders submenu which contains the names of all remembered folders, added whenever a file is opened in Alpha. Selecting any folder or volume it this submenu name will open a standard OS Find File dialog using the selected item as the default location. This package also defines several different contextual menu modules similar to the menus described below.
To set the max number of items listed in the menu (15 is the default) select Recent Folders ↣ Recent Folders Prefs.
This dialog contains additional preferences which determine how the Recent Folders menu is built -- read the Recent Folders Preferences section below for more information.

'Save (A Copy) In' Menus

This package can also insert two new Save submenus into the File menu, named Save In and Save A Copy In. These menus will contain the exact same list of folders/volumes as the Recent Folders menu. These are added if the Save (A Copy) In Menu preferences are turned on in the preferences dialog.
Selecting any menu item will either save a copy or save the current window IN the selected folder, bypassing the Save dialog. You will be prompted for the name of the file to be saved. If the target file already exists, you will be asked if you want to replace it -- clicking on No will cancel the operation.

'Show In Finder' Menu

This package can also insert a File ↣ Show In Finder menu. This menu will contain the same list of folders/volumes as the Recent Folders menu. This is added if the Show In Folder Menu preference is turned on in the preferences dialog.
Selecting any menu item will attempt to display the selected folder in the Finder.

Recent Folders Preferences

This package has a number of different preferences which can change how the list of recent folders will be built. Changing any of these preferences will affect ALL of the submenus added by this package. Click here to display the Recent Folders Preferences panel.

Order Items Alphabetically: Order all items alphabetically. Otherwise, items are listed in the order in which they were last accessed, the most recent listed first.

The remaining preferences can take on several different values:

Number Of Recent Folders: The number of folders/volumes remembered when building the list. This will include items that might be ignored by the next three prefs.
Display In Folder Menus ...: Items can be displayed with their full path name, only their tails, or with distinct file tails. With the second option, duplicate items are ignored, and only the most recent folder with the given name is used in the menu. With the third option, duplicate folders are listed with their parent folders to indicate an unambiguous location.
Missing Folders Should Be ...: When building the menu, the existence of folder/volume can be checked, and if found to be missing can be ignored, included, or dimmed in the menu.
Note: In the Windows OS, folders which might exist over a network are never checked to see if they actually exist, since this might cause a big hangup -- they are always included in the menu. In the Mac OS, networked items ARE checked for existence.
Networked Folders Should Be ...: Since networked items (in the Windows OS) are never checked to see if they exist, and selecting a missing networked item might cause trouble, it might be useful to mark them in the menu so that you know which ones they are. Networked items can also be simply ignored, or included in the menu. This preference currently has no effect in the Mac OS.
Volumes Should Be ...: Technically, any file in the top level of a volume (such as your hard drive or an ejectable disk) is not actually contained in a folder. Volume names can be ignored, included, or placed in their own section in the menu.

Recent Folders Utilities

The main File ↣ Recent Folders menu also contains the following commands:

Clear Menu: Flushes the list of all remembered folders and volumes.
Recent Folders Prefs ...: Opens a dialog to change the preferences described above.
Recent Folders Shortcuts ...: You can set keyboard shortcuts to open/save/display any item in the cache of recent folders. Click here recentdirs::folderShortcuts to set these now. These shortcuts normally require this package to be activated -- otherwise the list of folders is not maintained.
Recent Folders Help: Opens this window.

Known problems

Please report any problem or bug you encounter to Alpha's Bug Tracker.

License and Disclaimer

Copyright (c) 2001-2019, Craig Upright.
All rights reserved.
The recentFolders package is free software and distributed under the terms of the new BSD license:
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
Neither the name of Craig Upright nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL CRAIG UPRIGHT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.