Columns

[runmode]

I'm just having a hard time with columns.
Have already read many threads about custom columns and views in the forum.

What is the INI-Setting

home_columns_custom

doing exactly?
It does't seem to set the columns of the home view.

The example

home_columns_custom=name;path;date modified;size

given here:
viewtopic.php?t=9994#home_columns_custom
has no effect on my result view or on my troubleshooting information.

When I applied the INI-setting from the search bar:

/home_columns_custom=name;path;date modified;size

the status line showed only:
home_columns_custom=
which doesn't look as a confirmation (full command expected).

Before that, I set my columns using

/new_window_command_line=/columns=[…] and
/new_tab_command_line=/columns=[…]

Any dependency?

[tuska]

Hi,

Please see point 7.3. Everything: Bookmarks (including default view):
Google Translate: German/Deutsch -> English

[void]

When I applied the INI-setting from the search bar:

/home_columns_custom=name;path;date modified;size

the status line showed only:

home_columns_custom=

Thank you for bringing this issue to my attention.

home_columns_custom is a virtual ini setting and is currently read-only.
The next update will set the home columns correctly.

For now, you can set your default columns under Tools -> Options -> Home -> Columns

[runmode]

Thank you @void!

@Tuska:
I didn't know what to make of your external link. I was not pleased to find me transferred to a Total Commander forum with a German thread for Everything for beginners, without warning. I spent half an hour on the German text which was suffering from the automatic translation that you triggered in the link - only to find a backlink to a doubtful "Really useful set of bookmark searches" thread in Void's original forum. I classify your guidance off and back on the the forum as spam activity for your Total Commander integration project, even if it might not be commercial. This is confirmed by the fact, that your alleged contribution 'default view' to the bookmark collection you are referring, does not exist in this CSV code, and the ini setting 'home_columns_custom' my forum question was dealing about, was not mentioned anywhere! At least I've learned a lesson how to recover my bookmarks, after my bookmark area was messed by beginner's search examples, which did not include what you promised. This was the most complicated way to reply 'I don't know' to my question, what a waist of time to follow that. Thank you anyway.

[tuska]

2runmode

I'm sorry that you completely misunderstood my attempt to help you with ‘home_columns_custom’
and apparently didn't find the relevant information for a 'Default view' under section 7.3, which I mentioned.

- Bookmark name: Everything - Standard View/Default View ALT+Y
- Additionally, the following is required
  1. Everything Options - Advanced: new_tab_command_line | new_window_command_line
  2. Everything Options - Home

If you're still interested in this topic, you can also read about it here in the Everything Forum:
"Default view - Standard view"

The author raises an important point here:
Options - Advanced -> new_tab_command_line, new_window_command_line

[santilli]

Thank you @void!

@Tuska:
I didn't know what to make of your external link. I was not pleased to find me transferred to a Total Commander forum with a German thread for Everything for beginners, without warning. I spent half an hour on the German text which was suffering from the automatic translation that you triggered in the link - only to find a backlink to a doubtful "Really useful set of bookmark searches" thread in Void's original forum. I classify your guidance off and back on the the forum as spam activity for your Total Commander integration project, even if it might not be commercial. This is confirmed by the fact, that your alleged contribution 'default view' to the bookmark collection you are referring, does not exist in this CSV code, and the ini setting 'home_columns_custom' my forum question was dealing about, was not mentioned anywhere! At least I've learned a lesson how to recover my bookmarks, after my bookmark area was messed by beginner's search examples, which did not include what you promised. This was the most complicated way to reply 'I don't know' to my question, what a waist of time to follow that. Thank you anyway.

i'm glad you got a proper answer but this is too funny

[runmode]

2runmode
I'm sorry

Gladly accepted!

I opend the discussion something like I've familiarized myself with the topic, and I coudn't have missed your elaboration outlined in red.

[void]

Everything 1.5.0.1409a makes home_columns_custom settable.

Everything 1.5.0.1409a also fixes an issue with home_columns_custom not being applied as a policy.

[tuska]

Everything 1.5.0.1409a makes home_columns_custom settable.

home_columns_custom ... overwrites partially existing columns ... in Options - 1.5.0.1409a (x64) -> Home -> Columns

In addition, the defined columns have not been fully imported into Home -> Columns.
Only the first column was imported (“Name”).

The same problem occurs if the setting (Use last value) was selected in Home -> Columns.

2void
Please check.

Everything.ini

Code: Select all

home_columns=1
home_columns_custom=name;path;Extension;size;Total Size;date modified;Date Created
new_window_command_line=-columns [{"name":"Name","width":372},{"name":"Path","width":595},{"name":"Extension","width":75},{"name":"Size","width":80},{"name":"Total Size","width":89},{"name":"Date Modified","width":104},{"name":"Date Created","width":104},{"name":"Date Accessed","width":133},{"name":"Title","width":148},{"name":"Subject","width":148},{"name":"Comment","width":148},{"name":"Tags","width":148},{"name":"Authors","width":148},{"name":"File List Name","width":178},{"name":"Column A","width":133}]
new_tab_command_line=-columns [{"name":"Name","width":372},{"name":"Path","width":595},{"name":"Extension","width":75},{"name":"Size","width":80},{"name":"Total Size","width":89},{"name":"Date Modified","width":104},{"name":"Date Created","width":104},{"name":"Date Accessed","width":133},{"name":"Title","width":148},{"name":"Subject","width":148},{"name":"Comment","width":148},{"name":"Tags","width":148},{"name":"Authors","width":148},{"name":"File List Name","width":178},{"name":"Column A","width":133}]

 

2026-05-01_home_columns_custom_Standardansicht_Default view_Spalten.png (123.55 KiB) Viewed 845 times

 
P.S.:
In a case like this, might it even be possible - as an option -
to select the columns from 'home_columns_custom' via a dropdown menu,
in addition and separately and on a separate line to any columns that may already exist

[void]

home_columns_custom in your Everything.ini will currently not work.
The config is loaded before the properties are loaded.
When Everything does a column lookup by property name, nothing is matched, so you just end up with the Name column.

home_columns_custom is a virtual ini setting value. (not a real setting value)
home_columns_custom maps to the following individual setting values:
path_column_visible=1
size_column_visible=1
last_write_time_column_visible=1
...
For now, I recommend setting these values instead.
property-name_column_visible



home_columns_custom will work from the search box with /home_columns_custom=
home_columns_custom will work when defined as a policy.

home_columns_custom is the only virtual ini setting that isn't applied from the Everything.ini
What I will do for the next update is use a slower column property name lookup so home_columns_custom will work from your Everything.ini



Setting home_columns_custom will also set home_columns=1

[tuska]

2void
Thank you for the prompt reply and for the continued development of this topic.

My main question was how home_columns_custom affects my settings:

0. Bookmark "Everything - Default View (ALT+Y)"
1. Everything Options - Advanced: new_tab_command_line | new_window_command_line

Code: Select all

new_tab_command_line=-columns [{"name":"Name","width":372},{"name":"Path","width":595},{"name":"Extension","width":75},{"name":"Size","width":80},{"name":"Total Size","width":89},{"name":"Date Modified","width":104},{"name":"Date Created","width":104},{"name":"Date Accessed","width":133},{"name":"Title","width":148},{"name":"Subject","width":148},{"name":"Comment","width":148},{"name":"Tags","width":148},{"name":"Authors","width":148},{"name":"File List Name","width":178},{"name":"Column A","width":133}]
new_window_command_line=-columns [{"name":"Name","width":372},{"name":"Path","width":595},{"name":"Extension","width":75},{"name":"Size","width":80},{"name":"Total Size","width":89},{"name":"Date Modified","width":104},{"name":"Date Created","width":104},{"name":"Date Accessed","width":133},{"name":"Title","width":148},{"name":"Subject","width":148},{"name":"Comment","width":148},{"name":"Tags","width":148},{"name":"Authors","width":148},{"name":"File List Name","width":178},{"name":"Column A","width":133}]

2. Everything Options - Home
Columns:

Code: Select all

Name;Path;Extension;Size;Total Size;Date Modified;Date Created;Date Accessed;Title;Subject;Comment;Tags;Authors;File List Name;Column A

home_columns_custom will work when defined as a policy.

Generally speaking, I won’t be making use of this option.

home_columns_custom is the only virtual ini setting that isn't applied from the Everything.ini
What I will do for the next update is use a slower column property name lookup
so home_columns_custom will work from your Everything.ini

However, I will give it a try once a software update has been released.

Thank you for your efforts.

[void]

P.S.:
In a case like this, might it even be possible - as an option -
to select the columns from 'home_columns_custom' via a dropdown menu,
in addition and separately and on a separate line to any columns that may already exist

There's only the two options: (Use last value) and a list of columns.
I would like to only have one custom list at this stage to keep things simple.

My main question was how home_columns_custom affects my settings:

You should never see the columns from home_columns_custom.
new_tab_command_line and new_window_command_line with -columns will override your home columns.
Is this what you see?
Right click result list column header -> Organize Columns -> Reset OR Alt + Home will load your home columns.

[tuska]

P.S.:
In a case like this, might it even be possible - as an option -
to select the columns from 'home_columns_custom' via a dropdown menu,
in addition and separately and on a separate line to any columns that may already exist

There's only the two options: (Use last value) and a list of columns.
I would like to only have one custom list at this stage to keep things simple.

Thank you for letting me know.

My main question was how home_columns_custom affects my settings:

You should never see the columns from home_columns_custom.
new_tab_command_line and new_window_command_line with -columns will override your home columns.
Is this what you see?
Right click result list column header -> Organize Columns -> Reset OR Alt + Home will load your home columns.

Everything.ini (A blank line has been inserted simply to improve clarity...)

Code: Select all

home_columns=1
home_columns_custom=name;path;Extension;size;Total Size;date modified;Date Created

new_window_command_line=-columns [{"name":"Name","width":372},{"name":"Path","width":595},{"name":"Extension","width":75},{"name":"Size","width":80},{"name":"Total Size","width":89},{"name":"Date Modified","width":104},{"name":"Date Created","width":104},{"name":"Date Accessed","width":133},{"name":"Title","width":148},{"name":"Subject","width":148},{"name":"Comment","width":148},{"name":"Tags","width":148},{"name":"Authors","width":148},{"name":"File List Name","width":178},{"name":"Column A","width":133}]
new_tab_command_line=-columns [{"name":"Name","width":372},{"name":"Path","width":595},{"name":"Extension","width":75},{"name":"Size","width":80},{"name":"Total Size","width":89},{"name":"Date Modified","width":104},{"name":"Date Created","width":104},{"name":"Date Accessed","width":133},{"name":"Title","width":148},{"name":"Subject","width":148},{"name":"Comment","width":148},{"name":"Tags","width":148},{"name":"Authors","width":148},{"name":"File List Name","width":178},{"name":"Column A","width":133}]

I must not use this combination, because if I do, only the “Name” column will be displayed after a restart.

> Right click result list column header -> Organize Columns -> Reset
... has no effect; in other words, the ‘Name’ column remains on display.
I have set the ‘Everything’ filter to be activated by ALT+Home.

At least I now know that I must not use 'home_columns_custom' and 'new*' at the same time.

This isn't a problem for me at all, as I just wanted to find out what happens and whether it's correct
when I use the commands together.

[void]

You should never see the columns from home_columns_custom.

Looking into this more.
You will see your home columns for the first window shown.

new_window_command_line and new_tab_command_line only applies to new windows and new tabs created from the first window.



home_columns_custom will currently not work from your Everything.ini
You will see just the Name column if it is used.
This will be fixed in the next update.

[tuska]

2void

Yes to the previous message.

home_columns_custom will currently not work from your Everything.ini
This will be fixed in the next update.

What are the implications here?
Would that mean that the 'home_columns_custom' option overrides 'Home: Columns'?

[tuska]

2void

Options - 1.5.0.1409a (x64) -> Home -> Columns:

Code: Select all

Name;Path;Extension;Size;Total Size;Date Modified;Date Created;Date Accessed;Title;Subject;Comment;Tags;Authors;File List Name;Column A

I could only find this setting – including column widths – in the ‘Session.json’ file and in "Troubleshooting Information - 1.5.0.1409a (x64)".

What do you think of the following scenario?

In a new command, ONLY THE COLUMN NAMES from Home -> Columns are saved, e.g. “home_columns_visible”
OR an existing command name is used, such as “home_columns_custom” (please note:‘defined as a policy’!).

Let’s therefore take the command ‘home_columns_visible’ as a test:
‘Home > Columns’ would correspond to ‘home_columns_visible’ in this case.
The column widths would still be definable separately in Advanced: new_tab_command_line | new_window_command_line.

Test examples:
1. Changes to columns in ‘Home > Columns’ are saved in Everything.ini under ‘home_columns_visible’
    The setting in Everything.ini under ‘home_columns_visible’ is updated:
    home_columns_visible=Name;Path;Extension;Size;Total Size;Date Modified;Date Created;Date Accessed;Title;Subject;Comment;Tags;Authors;File List Name;Column A

2. Changes to columns in Everything.ini under “home_columns_visible” are saved in ‘Home > Columns’
    The setting in ‘Home > Columns’ is updated.
--
3. Column widths can still be saved separately in Advanced: new_tab_command_line | new_window_command_line.

The same applies to the home_columns_custom command, although this can only be used in conjunction with ‘defined as a policy’:
home_columns_custom=Name;Path;Extension;Size;Total Size;Date Modified;Date Created;Date Accessed;Title;Subject;Comment;Tags;Authors;File List Name;Column A

If implemented, I suggest using the following command names and their meanings:
home_columns_visible   -> 'defined as a policy'
home_columns_custom -> without 'defined as a policy'

I am unable to say whether this scenario would have an impact on viewtopic.php?t=9994#column_visible,
namely property-name_column_visible, property-name_column_pos, property-name_column_width

Please review.
Thanks!

[void]

home_columns_custom will currently not work from your Everything.ini
This will be fixed in the next update.

What are the implications here?

Using home_columns_custom in your Everything.ini will currently set the columns to just the Name column.
I should point out that home_columns_custom isn't normally in your Everything.ini
It would have to be manually added.

Would that mean that the 'home_columns_custom' option overrides 'Home: Columns'?

Yes.
Home columns are defined by setting home_columns to 1 and setting each individual column visibility and position. (eg: path_column_visible, path_column_pos, size_column_visible, size_column_pos, etc...)
home_columns_custom is a virtual setting which maps to home_columns and all the individual column visibility and position settings.

In a new command, ONLY THE COLUMN NAMES from Home -> Columns are saved, e.g. “home_columns_visible”

home_columns_visible would basically do what home_columns_custom is already doing.
I would like to remove all the column_visible settings and replace it with one JSON setting in a future version of Everything.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[tuska]

2void
Thank you for the clarification and explanations!