Alright kids... here's the deal. I'm planning on integrating support with a documents folder in the next version of the suite as well as the apps. The goal is to make it easy to load from and save to the portable media. So, for instance, rather than 'Desktop' being the default setting in Portable Firefox, it would default to the documents directory on the portable drive (if it exists... otherwise, it would set it to desktop).
Here's the dilemna. What do we call it? And where do we put it? The original suggestion was to just have a Documents folder in the root of the drive alongside the PortableApps directory. This would mostly work well... but there are some issues with that approach... some software requires a directory located there. U3, for instance. As well as some portable CMS software (with which I'm not familiar).
So, there are a couple options:
1. We place a folder in the root alongside the PortableApps directory with a custom name. PortableDocs or PortableDocuments would be likely candidates. That way, it would be easy to find and use. But, this would cause issues in terms of having the apps all nicely contained in a single folder.... which is more of an issue for folks that may be using this locally or on a network.
2. We place a folder within the PortableApps folder called either Docs or Documents. This would keep everything nicely together and happy. It would also make it easy to move your entire portable existence from one drive to another. It would be a little harder for the user to find from Explorer, since it would be within another directory. A relatively minor issue, though.
This is mostly of interest with the Portable Apps Suite at the moment... though that will be changing. I'd love to hear others' thoughts on it.
Regards,
John
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2
Then everything is nicely contained in one folder
BTW just woke up so might not be as productive
----
R McCue
@John check out my post on the beta testing forum
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
2 - then every thing is nice and tidy.
And we can use briefcase
gotta love Windows
----
R McCue
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
I vote for number 2. I like everything contained together. I would suggest PortableDocuments as the name. Although anything but "My Documents" would be fine.
-Justin
2 as well. It makes it easier to have and move around n my mind.
Deuce
"Portable Software: Just the beginning..."
Deuce
Portable Software: Just the beginning.
I hope to soon be finished with a new portable app:
A portable app launcher.
I will discuss it more in another topic where more appropriate, however one feature it will have for it is rsyncing (yes, even on windows) your
thumdriveletter:\Documents direcotry with your My Documents Direcory found on windows. I am using wxPython to write this application, as it I will discuss in it's more appropriate topic, but just to let you all know it should work:
Win95
Win98/ME
Win2000/NT
and Windows XP
The application, will have a button on it that automatically syncs your documents with your My Documents Folder.
--
Josh Lee
Software Engineer
Zertis Technologies, LLC
Neet.
JH: Go with #2. You can create a batch file to access it if you're worried about navigation:
@ECHO OFFSTART explorer \PortableApps\PortableDocuments
Or just add it to PStart.
~nm35
I vote for #2. The ability to transfer everything to another drive appeals to me. Thanks, John
Jerry
Is the location of the portable documents something that could be changed in the INI files of the applications? If that's the case, it would be perfect because then the relative directory could be anywhere you want it to be and not be required to be in the root, or in a subfolder of PortableApps.
Rob Loach [Website] [Projects]
Sounds like a great idea. My workaround so far has been to make a shortcut on the computer's My Documents folder to the \Portable Documents folder on my drive.
Personally, I'd prefer option 1. It makes it easier to backup the documents folder more frequently than the programs folder. The best option would be to have it be configurable, so the user gets to choose where to put it.
I would prefer option 1 myself as I like to keep what I've downloaded seperate from my portable applications (until I've played/checked out the download and decide whether I want to add it to my suite of programs).
Rob's approach to an .ini file is an excellent idea. Give's people lot's of choice.
Brilliant idea on the INI file.
I use \Documents to hold my stuff, and \PortableApps for my portable stuff. I keep just PStart in the root of the drive.
What about a shared Windows profile (like \nm35) in the root of the drive that all the apps could reference, that would store desktop/documents, etc? That would be neat...
~nm35 {blog} {standalone apps}
I personally would like the folder in the root. But it may be easier for the majority of users if it was all inclusive... Why not give an option.
I really need this to work now, and I was trying to figure out how to set the My Documents field under Options -> Paths, in POo, to be dynamic like the rest. For some reason everything else changes when the usb drive is mounted as a different drive letter except My Documents is set to c:\documents and settings\%username%\My Documents. If the others can change how come My Documents can't?