Classic Shell: Forum

First of all, thank you for this great program. I LOVE it!!

One question. Is it possible to set a filter to a CustomItem so that it shows only the .exe files in a folder?... If it is not possible for now, I'd like to suggest you this feature for future versions.

Alex.

You can search for .EXE files in a folder in Windows Explorer. Then save that search. You can add a CustomItem that links to this saved search file. Searches are usually auto-saved in %userprofile%\Searches and extension is .search-ms but you can move them anywhere you want

If you mean expanding a saved search that expands as a menu to show only EXE files from a menu, then that isn't currently possible.

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and helped a little with Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

Yeap. That's what I meant.

My storage of portable programs is almost bigger than the installed one. I keep them in a folder which has subfolders by categories, and then I placed there each portable in its category. So I created a Custom Item to open that big folder as a Menu, and it works great! but many of the portables programs have many complementary files (other than the executables), and this is a little annoying and some times dificult to look for the right file.

Well, I hope that a custom filter could be a good idea, no only for .exe files, but also for other customers possible needs.


Thanks again!

It wasn't done earlier for performance reasons. .search-ms files are XMLs so the saved search criteria is stored and every time it is accessed, Explorer runs a search, which might be slow.

You can do one thing. If your portable programs are on a local drive, add that folder to the system path. Then Classic Start Menu will be able to search only the EXE file names from that folder.

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and helped a little with Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

Please, explain a little more! I didn't know what a system path is. I found this instructionson the web, and I tried so, but I just got to creat an item which opens my Portables Folder in a new window.

How can I have an item which open the folder and subfolders like menus and submenus, showing only the .exe files?

I meant you cannot create an item showing only EXE files from a folder as an expanding menu. You can either link to a saved search folder or add it to the path.Here is how to link to a saved search folder:
1. Open the concerned folder in Explorer.
2. In the search box, type *.exe.
3. Click 'Save search' on the command bar or appropriate Ribbon tab. Suppose you save it as: "EXEs in Folder.search-ms".
4. Open %userprofile%\Searches, drag the saved search to the Start button, wait for the menu to open and drop to pin it to the Start Menu folder area.

Another approach is to add it to the path so you can search for EXE names from the Start Menu's search box. Here is how to you can add the folder to the system path.

Suppose the folder is C:\PortableApps\, then open System Properties from Control Panel -> Advanced System Properties -> click Environment Variables. In the 'System variables' section, locate the 'Path' variable and double click it. In the variable name value, go to the end of the field and add a semicolon followed by the folder path to it.

For example, if the Path variable value is:
%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\
after adding it should look like:
%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\PortableApps\

Make sure you end the folder you add by a backslash \ and that there aren't any typos. Click OK twice. Now from the Classic Shell Start Menu search field, you can SEARCH for the EXE names in the folder you just added. It's not the same as viewing them as a menu but it does filter out the rest of the files.

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and helped a little with Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

I have a simpler solution. Just make a folder with shortcuts to the exes and add it to the menu. Any time you add a new exe, create a new shortcut. Or more - with different arguments. That's what shortcuts are for.

^^ Sure it's simpler but that means creating a shortcut and putting it in the menu every time for any new portable app added to the folder.

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and helped a little with Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

Certainly I was doing so in the beginning. But when my portable applications were growing in number, I wondered if there is a way to make it automatically.

Anyway, nobody would wants get drown in a glass of water. This is not a problem really, but as it happens many times, it could be a chance to discover new features useful for other needs.

You might be able to remedy/make it easier this with Autohotkey, create a script that when pressed, creates a shortcut for selected files and sends them to a pre-set directory

Thank you, GauravK and everybody!! Good points and alternatives. For now, I'll keep the way I already have (which is very, very good, anyway), but I'll give a try to the ones you mention, that sound interesting.