View/Navigation vs Browser... and non-displayable files

[Olivier_G]

(a spin-off from this previous thread)
I just had trouble understanding the logic for View navigation (in detailled mode).

1. List all types of file in: Browser>Items displayed>Show items in view
2. All files will appear in Browser
but 3. In normal view, XnView will navigate only through displayable files (including icons in exe after dialog, but not PDF for me)
but 4. In fullscreen view, XnView will navigate through all files (except PDF for me) and display a blank screen for non displayable files (this time, exe icons are not displayed)

What it should be:
=> normal and fullscreen view should have the same logic/list
=> View should navigate through ALL files listed in Browser (and display more informative things that just a blank screen) to be consistent...
=> ...OR navigate only through displayable files and/or according to user's setting.

That last possibility requires separate filetypes settings for View/Navigation in 'Items displayed'.
I support it, especially for browsing Image/Video while navigating through images only...

More opinions?

[xnview]

1. List all types of file in: Browser>Items displayed>Show items in view
2. All files will appear in Browser
but 3. In normal view, XnView will navigate only through displayable files (including icons in exe after dialog, but not PDF for me)
but 4. In fullscreen view, XnView will navigate through all files (except PDF for me) and display a blank screen for non displayable files (this time, exe icons are not displayed)

Do you have isntalled ghotscript? You should have pdf files...

[Olivier_G]

Do you have isntalled ghotscript? You should have pdf files...

I installed a GPL Ghostscript (8.15) for CutePDF... but I don't need to see PDF in XnView and won't install an AFPL version for now.
Obviously, most people won't have AFPL Ghostscript installed and won't be able to view PDF document in XnView.

Some suggestions:

After finding that no AFPL Ghostscript is installed, XnView should treat PDF files as non-displayable files.

Instead of showing a blank screen for non-displayable files (or skipping them in normal view), XnView should show basic information: icon; file name; path; filetype; file size; modified/created/accessed date... and provide the usual shell-based context menu (ie: Open, etc...)
By the way: I believe it should also show an hexadecimal view if General>Open Hexa view if not a picture=ON, but it never worked for me unless manually selecting 'view in Hex mode'.

When XnView finds an exe with several icons, it should directly show all of them (at least in fullscreen it would be better than the blank screen).

This way, XnView should be able to have a View/Navigation list consistent with the Browser's list... while still being enjoyable!

[Olivier_G]

That last possibility requires separate filetypes settings for View/Navigation in 'Items displayed'.
I support it, especially for browsing Image/Video while navigating through images only...

I just realized that View/Navigation settings should be relative to Browser view mode's list ('Thumbnail' or 'Other') and can't be absolute -> they can only act as filters...

Any idea how to display those 'View/Navigate' settings as a new column in the 'Browser>Items displayed' while keeping that panel clear and logical?

Yeah... I am right in the middle of that Options thing and already have 22 panels/screenshots ready, but I want to optimize to the max before showing them...

[xnview]

After finding that no AFPL Ghostscript is installed, XnView should treat PDF files as non-displayable files.

Ok, i'll check this problem if AFPL is not installed...

[xnview]

After finding that no AFPL Ghostscript is installed, XnView should treat PDF files as non-displayable files.

Ok, i'll check this problem if AFPL is not installed...
But if you disabled PDF from Browser/Items displayed, you have always a blank screen??

[Olivier_G]

But if you disabled PDF from Browser/Items displayed, you have always a blank screen??

I haven't been able to get any screen (blank/displayed) as PDF were simply skipped in my situation (no APFL Ghostscript).

However, I believe that if you disable PDF in Items displayed, you won't get any screen at all: they shouldn't be listed and XnView shouldn't Navigate/View through them... -> there should be no trouble here.

[Olivier_G]

Just to clarify things, I will quote an example provided by Helmut in the other thread:

Some XnView versions ago, we had a file list for the browser and we had a seperate file list for the view made. This meant that in browser you have seen files A, C, E, and when navigating in viewer you navigated over files B, D, E. And people were completely confused and kept asking: "Why are my files not shown". So we decided to have only one file lists for browser and viewer. And I think we shouldn't change this unless there are really good reasons.

This is what I called "consistent" in my first message: the basic idea is that View should navigate through ALL files exactly as listed in the Browser at the time of switching to View... whether they are displayable or not, can be opened or not. This is currently not the situation in XnView...

Now... there could be good reasons not to navigate through specific files (not displayable, certain filetypes, etc...), but it should still be logical and preferably at user's preference. I believe this is still not the situation for XnView... (ie: Normal/Fullscreen discrepancies, some undisplayable files bring blank screen and some not, etc...)

And please remember that for non-displayable files, XnView could show many informations (filename, path, filetype, icon, filesize, creation/modification/acess dates...) in addition to the optional HexaView.

...and that was my #500 !!!

[Olivier_G]

My opinion is as follow:
- Default setting should be Navigate through displayable formats only
- If option 'Show hexadecimal for non-displayable file' is ON, Navigate through ALL files (with info+hexa for non-displayable)
- And provide additional filters for more flexibility (there is already View>File list>Play Movie/Sound, but this could be improved)

More opinions?