v1.10 series: Files not displayed in expected order

[jkm]

I thought this issue had already been discussed and a clear answer had been given..

If you have a problem with sort, remove columns entry from xnview.ini, there was a problem before 1.10.5 when importing previous config

I think Pierre was referring to bug 3894. It only occurred in particular circumstances. In my case it did not affect the sort order.
viewtopic.php?t=50443
It's a possibility.

[cday]

Based on an examination of the old versions, it does not seem that Pierre changed the sort order, accidentally or deliberately. The blanket statement "The default sort must have changed at some point" is not supported by testing. And if it wasn't the developer, how else could it get changed?

I made absolutely no change to my browser settings or to my .ini file and my sort order suddenly changed, but was restored to the previous sort order when I set the above browser View > Sort by settings, and that has been the experience of multiple other users.

It could be that this widely-reported issue was related in some way to a developer .ini change, although that doesn't obviously explain why the displayed browser sort order settings changed. So possibly two separate 'sort order' issues are being discussed in this thread explaining the above confusion?

[xnview]

o I'm sure that the sort order change in recent releases was unintended, and we can expect it to be corrected in the next release.

There is no change in sort order, but a version < 1.10.5 has a bug that reset the sort order

[Silesian]

@jkm:
As previously mentioned, I only use MP as a viewer. That’s why I’ve never deliberately changed the settings in the browser.

Why do you need to change settings in the browser to alter the default view order set by the OS’s file manager?
The OS file manager should always take precedence.

There are two different use cases:
1) Launching and using the MP browser with a switch to the viewer (the sort order can only be set in the browser) and
2) Launching the viewer from the OS’s file manager (my use case); in the viewer, the sort order cannot be set.

As I do not use the MP Browser, in case 2 the sort order should:
- either be adopted from the OS, or
- also be adjustable (which is currently not possible), or
- the typical Windows setting (named ‘numerical’) must be applied.

I think the KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid) has not been followed here.
This is a typical problem when you want to, or have to, please everyone!
In the end, no one has a complete overview anymore and things like this happen.

If you can also change the settings in different places and unintentionally, the concept is flawed.
And finally: I had the same issue on my PC and a laptop!

But anyway, Pierre has confirmed and fixed a bug.
Perhaps there will be further improvements...

[jkm]

Why do you need to change settings in the browser to alter the default view order set by the OS’s file manager?
The OS file manager should always take precedence.

There are two different use cases:
…
2) Launching the viewer from the OS’s file manager (my use case); in the viewer, the sort order cannot be set.

It’s cute to invoke KISS, but applications have to work in the real world, and Windows doesn’t keep things simple. The situation is more complex than you acknowledge…

Launching HOW?

Double-clicking a single image in a folder?
Multi-selecting a bunch of files (how EXACTLY) and drag-and-drop on the app icon?
Multi-selecting a bunch of files and using right-click Send To?
Using the “Browse with XnViewMP” context menu extension on a folder?

Because of the complexities involved, just saying “launching from the OS's file manager” is useless in this context.

So how exactly are you “launching” the app? And do you understand how the method of launch, and the way the OS actually implements that, affects what happens?

[Silesian]

@jkm:
It’s tempting to make the world seem more complicated than it is, but sometimes things are really quite simple. From the image preview in Windows File Explorer, I double-click on a single image in a folder and the image opens; then I open the next/previous one (using the RIGHT/LEFT keys) and so on. MPBrowser isn’t involved in this and its settings are irrelevant, for me.

This used to work and it works again now.
That’s all I want and now have again, thanks to Pierre, who knew the cause.

All of your other oh-so-complicated things described are irrelevant, thanks for your help.

[jkm]

In your use case, the application is only passed a single filespec. It is not provided an ordered list of files nor the sort order for the folder and does not know it. So the sort order in Explorer is irrelevant, other than for you setting your expectations.

The only reason it ever worked the way you wanted was because the sort order set in XnViewMP happened to be set to the equivalent sort order you were using in the folder. If you had ever changed the sort order in explorer, you’d have thought things were broken.

Perhaps it disappoints you to hear, but that’s the way things actually work.

Pierre didn’t do it for you. You fixed it when you changed the setting. It’s obvious you haven’t understood what you’ve been reading, so for you, the magic just works again. Glad you're happy. Bye bye.