Tools Options Index dialogue box (discussion)

[ChrisGreaves]

Options_02.png (51.43 KiB) Viewed 2358 times

After two or more months of use, I find myself thinking that the dialogue box shown above has several problems, many of which can be attributed to the basic design of this box. A proposed modification of the basic design may remove many inferior problems.

The current box attempts to please two audiences who have disparate needs.

(a) The box is a visible list of those drives that have been or are part of a vast pool of drives available for indexing. In this sense the box is a “shopping inventory” for Everything.
(b) The box tries to serve the users whose most pressing question/problem is “Which drives are being used in the current index?”.

To this short list we can add a third item that is raised in a few posts on the forums.
(c) Drive-Sets.

A proposal is made here to allow the user to build groups or sets of drives to be used as the basis for an Index.

A simple example: I am preparing a User Tutorial and require a set of files as sample data for my examples and exercises so that readers can duplicate my findings. This exercise file set is held on a 64 GB memory key that appears as drive F on my system, distinct from drives C and T which form my regular index. I would like to toggle (perhaps with a shortcut key) between the index of F and the index of C and T, so that I can use Everything to show an example search and then switch back to using Everything to manage documents and pictures.

The topic "can I have individual databases for multiple Hard Drives" provides an argument for this proposal.

Options_02b.png (66.69 KiB) Viewed 2358 times

When the user wants to know “Why didn’t <this> file show up in my Result List?” the circled items in the image above are most likely to answer that question

Options_02c.png (67.24 KiB) Viewed 2358 times

When the current index is insufficient, the user turns to Everything to answer the question “Well, right now, what other drives are, or have been, available to me?”. The history might even be dated (“keep for ??? days”) so that an off-line devices that a colleague brought along 30 days ago might joggle the user’s memory (<slaps forehead>!)

I do not know enough about Everything code to work out fine details, and this idea may be impossible. But I look back at my past two months and feel that every time I visit the dialogue box there is extraneous data that I read but cannot use on this visit.

My predominant question is “OK, my search failed. Exactly WHAT is indexed right now?” “What is in/out my index that skews these results.

Here is a generic search for Offline.

I suspect that over the past two or three years that are many more topics that herald confusion in the users minds. There may be a better way to change the current interface, and whether it occurs or not, I think that it is worth discussion.

Thanks, Chris

[void]

Everything will automatically index NTFS volumes by default.
Everything will not automatically index FAT volumes as this can take a long time.
FAT volumes and network drives can be quickly added from the Index menu.



Individual databases would kill search and sort performance of Everything.
However, I am considering an option to do this.

Everything is currently design to setup which volumes are indexed once.



Improving the FAT/NTFS/ReFS options is on my TODO list.
Being able to see the "Include in database" status for each drive is requested often.
Another common request is to list all volumes ignoring the file system.

An information dropdown bar to ask the user to index a missing drive is also on my TODO list.
For example, the user searches for e: but this drive is not indexed, Everything will ask the user if they want to add the E: drive to their index.

Thank you for the suggestions.

[ChrisGreaves]

Improving the FAT/NTFS/ReFS options is on my TODO list.
Being able to see the "Include in database" status for each drive is requested often.
Another common request is to list all volumes ignoring the file system.

Hello Void. I spent part of yesterday writing "What’s Governing My Results?" which is this user's view of devices (drives, folders, file lists etc.) and I'll email you a copy in a few days when it is finished.
Thanks, Chris

[void]

Thank you for working on your write up.

[ChrisGreaves]

Hello Void. I spent part of yesterday writing "What’s Governing My Results?" which is this user's view of devices (drives, folders, file lists etc.) and I'll email you a copy in a few days when it is finished.

Hello Void. A month has passed. I am not sure that I mailed you my little document, but I reopen the discussion with one thing I am certain of:-
An alternative or extra GUI form would have great use on both sides of the problem.

(1) Everything must know how it most recently built the index. That is, exactly what conditions governed the current index.
(2) In Human-readable terms it might look like this:-

Drive C:
Except these folders ...
Drive T:
Except these folders ...
Drive W:
[Except these folders ...]

(3) I think that being able to tell users what the current index is made of, instead of users having to wade through the different panels of the Tools, Options, Indexes panels would help users solve many of their indexing problems,

(4) Such a layout should help a user see WHY "Myfile" is/is not included in the result List.

(5) If it fails in that purpose, the contents of the display would save gurus a lot of time in posing the same questions about what is entered for each type of file, and so on.

(6) There would perhaps be fewer red-herring questions about "Monitoring Changes", "USN journals" and so on. After all, changes are probably less likely to affect results as much as the specific drives and folders that form the basis of the index.

I would volunteer to test out a trial version if it appeared in the main Tools, Options, Index panel; there is plenty of space for it there.
Thanks, Chris

[void]

A few things about the UI design:
Everything expects the user to setup their indexed volumes once. (if at all)
Everything started with support for NTFS only.
Everything has built onto what was already there to add support for ReFS/FAT/Folders etc.

Now that all volumes types are supported (either natively or through folder indexing) the indexing UI does need a redesign.
However, this will not happen for Everything 1.5.
You'll have to wait for a future release.
I will take your suggestions into consideration when rewriting the new UI.

Hello Void. A month has passed. I am not sure that I mailed you my little document

Please send me a copy.

(1) Everything must know how it most recently built the index. That is, exactly what conditions governed the current index.
(2) In Human-readable terms it might look like this:-

Correct, Everything stores a list of volume paths (C:), volume names (\\?\Volume{xxx}), volume roots and a copy of the exclude list in your Everything.db

(3) I think that being able to tell users what the current index is made of, instead of users having to wade through the different panels of the Tools, Options, Indexes panels would help users solve many of their indexing problems,

I will consider adding a "what is indexed" UI where you can add/remove volumes/folders.

For now, you can view what is indexed under Tools -> Debug -> Statistics.

(4) Such a layout should help a user see WHY "Myfile" is/is not included in the result List.

Yes, having a single list of all included volumes/folders would make this easier.

(5) If it fails in that purpose, the contents of the display would save gurus a lot of time in posing the same questions about what is entered for each type of file, and so on.

It would also help with detecting duplicated indexes which is a common issue.
User indexes C: as an NTFS volume and as a folder.
This shouldn't occur any more with Everything 1.5 as Everything 1.5 will now chuck an error message when adding an already indexed volume as a folder.

(6) There would perhaps be fewer red-herring questions about "Monitoring Changes", "USN journals" and so on. After all, changes are probably less likely to affect results as much as the specific drives and folders that form the basis of the index.

The USN Journal settings could be (and probably should be) buried under an Advanced dialog box.
"Monitoring Changes" should be simple enough for the user to understand.
I don't want to make Everything too simple with no options.
I would assume most users will monitor changes, so this "Monitoring Changes" option could also be buried under "advanced".

I would volunteer to test out a trial version if it appeared in the main Tools, Options, Index panel; there is plenty of space for it there.

Yes, please.
A rewrite will not happen until Everything 1.6.
Thank you for your suggestions.

[ChrisGreaves]

Hello Void. A month has passed. I am not sure that I mailed you my little document

Please send me a copy.

Attached.
I had a quick read-through. The document is a draft, and is incomplete. It reads largely that there is a need for a simplified GUI that looks at indexes from the typical user (non-Guru) point of view.

For example, I need my boot drive C: and my decrypted data partition T:.
I might want to swing in a SUBST drive W:, or a backup drive Y:/Z: occasionally, but at my level, those are rare instances.

I know that since then you have mentioned that changes will be made for 1.6. Thanks for that.

I am also conscious that Everything has grown by user suggestions, so there is much that is bolted on to an earlier, simpler structure.

Thanks, Chris

[ChrisGreaves]

(3) I think that being able to tell users what the current index is made of,

I will consider adding a "what is indexed" UI where you can add/remove volumes/folders.
For now, you can view what is indexed under Tools -> Debug -> Statistics.

Right now this generates 181 lines of data which, while accurate, is not user friendly.

FAT Index
Path: T:
Path: V:
NTFS Index
Path: C:
Path: W:

Of those 181 lines only six are needed to tell me where Everything is obtaining data to be indexed. I admit that in my current setup is simple – no Include/exclude etc.
I AM surprised to see drive V: mentioned. Just half an hour ago (for purposes of documenting some other aspect of Everything) I took screen snapshots of my Tools, Options, Indexes which showed only C: and T:. I have to get back to Volume C stopped being indexed

This shouldn't occur any more with Everything 1.5 as Everything 1.5 will now chuck an error message when adding an already indexed volume as a folder.

Excellent. Thank You

The USN Journal settings could be (and probably should be) buried under an Advanced dialog box.
"Monitoring Changes" should be simple enough for the user to understand.

The cut-off point is debatable, but certainly a two-tier approach which allows the User to determine 90% of failures without posting a question ought to be advantageous to all of us.

I don't want to make Everything too simple with no options. I would assume most users will monitor changes, so this "Monitoring Changes" option could also be buried under "advanced".

Agreed. In very general terms, each of the user diagnostic boxes might sport an “Advanced” command button that opens up a five-gallon can of worms and/or offers the opportunity to expert debugging data for upload?
I believe that a dedicated user who needs to access a SUBST drive on a decrypted partition on a network on the other side of town will be happy to slog through the process of isolating data to assist in a query, and that this is time well spent by Gurus helping out.

A rewrite will not happen until Everything 1.6.

Understood!
Thanks for your responses. My past two weeks have been a bit disrupted, and I am in danger of losing the stream of thought!
Cheers, Chris

[void]

Right now this generates 181 lines of data which, while accurate, is not user friendly.

The Debug menu is more so for me.
Some users might find it useful.

Agreed. In very general terms, each of the user diagnostic boxes might sport an “Advanced” command button that opens up a five-gallon can of worms and/or offers the opportunity to expert debugging data for upload?

Help -> Troubleshooting information currently covers all the advanced setting changes. (monitoring enabled)
Help -> Debug -> Statistics covers advanced USN Journal / NTFS volume information.

I will consider adding user-readable output somewhere that is just a simple list of volumes.
Perhaps if the user hits Ctrl + C on a simple list of volumes to index, all the information is copied to the clipboard as tab delimited text.