Do you understand what the phrase "Spatial Finder" means?
You say: "windows open in exactly the position of my last window" (hint: this is called browser behavior, not spatial behavior)
Spatial Finder: windows ignore your last window and open to "whatever I sized it 3 weeks ago" (each window space, position, size, etc is individually remembered by folder)
You would be served to read up some Finder history, like the link to arstechnica featured on the github, so you can understand what Spatial Finder means before weighing in on a tool specifically designed to bring back that feature.
Interesting, but I think part of what made Classic Mac OS' spatial Finder work is that every folder only ever had a single window associated with it (similar to how in the physical world, spaces like folders and drawers only have a singular location) and opening a folder opens that window. It feels a touch strange to apply spatial logic to an Explorer-style navigator file manager.
I see. While making this I found that if you hide the Finder sidebar and toolbar (both are options in the menu), then your scenario plays out. In a way it’s nicer than the video on my github.
Yeah, single-window mode has been in the Finder for a very long time (wanna say since 10.1 or something), but compared to the OS 9 Finder it's always been a bit flaky and will sometimes forget window sizes+positions. I figure that it's probably never gotten the level of attention required to make it polished.
It's also missing the open folder indicator that the Classic Finder had, where folders that had their window open somewhere had a different icon (filled with a stipple pattern). This is a bigger problem than it sounds like, particularly with OS X having multiple desktops and making it easier to lose windows.
I still use a Mac OS 9.2.2 based machine as my second brain, as no other file system I've used works like the human memory in the same way the spatial Finder does.
Great job bringing something similar to the modern Finder!
Ever since iTunes, I've always wanted to do this for music. Realizing I'm probably not going to get around to build that. Nowadays, would love it for Spotify.
While the Finder really sucks, this is jarring. I just wish the Finder remembered the view type (List, Icon, etc), but jumping the window size all around is difficult to look at and may block other elements (windows, desktop) I do want to see.
Ah yes, that may be an issue. But that is solved by not installing the "window_title_changed" hook, so that the scripts only take effect when new Finder windows are opened. In that case, windows never move around. All the points you mentioned are issues with the default behaviour of Finder (e.g. when opening a new Finder window as is, you cannot predict where it will open and so it may block other elements).
Yes, when opening a new instance of Finder, I expect that the position won't be what I expect. But moving folder to folder it will stay the same. Sadly the Finder doesn't seem to respect previous types of views (List, Icon, etc) but I see you have a solution for the window size changing.
This looks useful! A lot of the time, I open a Space to work on a project and I want all my folders arranged in a certain way. Until now, I’ve been using Shortcuts, but it would be nice if Finder just remembered where everything should go.
> Only folders inside the Documents folder are affected.
That's quite a caveat. The reason for it is:
> size and position are stored in a hidden .framedata.json file in that folder. When a folder is opened, this file is used to restore its state.
Couldn't this information be stored centrally in the user's home for any folders opened/moved/sized, avoiding this limitation?
Oh that’s not a limitation, it was a choice. You can remove that restriction by changing the appropriate line to scan ~ instead of ~/Documents.
> seemingly random positions and sizes
No they don't? I'm on Sequoia and Finder windows open in exactly the position of my last window. Height does vary on the view style though.
This looks maddening, it's the complete opposite of what I'd want.
> seemingly random positions and sizes
Indeed, so let's open each folder in an actually random position and size, whatever I sized it 3 weeks ago, really.
You can just choose not to use this. Nothing bad about having the choice, so no need to be negative.
Do you understand what the phrase "Spatial Finder" means?
You say: "windows open in exactly the position of my last window" (hint: this is called browser behavior, not spatial behavior)
Spatial Finder: windows ignore your last window and open to "whatever I sized it 3 weeks ago" (each window space, position, size, etc is individually remembered by folder)
You would be served to read up some Finder history, like the link to arstechnica featured on the github, so you can understand what Spatial Finder means before weighing in on a tool specifically designed to bring back that feature.
Interesting, but I think part of what made Classic Mac OS' spatial Finder work is that every folder only ever had a single window associated with it (similar to how in the physical world, spaces like folders and drawers only have a singular location) and opening a folder opens that window. It feels a touch strange to apply spatial logic to an Explorer-style navigator file manager.
I see. While making this I found that if you hide the Finder sidebar and toolbar (both are options in the menu), then your scenario plays out. In a way it’s nicer than the video on my github.
Yeah, single-window mode has been in the Finder for a very long time (wanna say since 10.1 or something), but compared to the OS 9 Finder it's always been a bit flaky and will sometimes forget window sizes+positions. I figure that it's probably never gotten the level of attention required to make it polished.
It's also missing the open folder indicator that the Classic Finder had, where folders that had their window open somewhere had a different icon (filled with a stipple pattern). This is a bigger problem than it sounds like, particularly with OS X having multiple desktops and making it easier to lose windows.
I still use a Mac OS 9.2.2 based machine as my second brain, as no other file system I've used works like the human memory in the same way the spatial Finder does.
Great job bringing something similar to the modern Finder!
Finder still supports spatial navigation mode. You just have to turn off the sidebar.
Ever since iTunes, I've always wanted to do this for music. Realizing I'm probably not going to get around to build that. Nowadays, would love it for Spotify.
While the Finder really sucks, this is jarring. I just wish the Finder remembered the view type (List, Icon, etc), but jumping the window size all around is difficult to look at and may block other elements (windows, desktop) I do want to see.
Ah yes, that may be an issue. But that is solved by not installing the "window_title_changed" hook, so that the scripts only take effect when new Finder windows are opened. In that case, windows never move around. All the points you mentioned are issues with the default behaviour of Finder (e.g. when opening a new Finder window as is, you cannot predict where it will open and so it may block other elements).
Yes, when opening a new instance of Finder, I expect that the position won't be what I expect. But moving folder to folder it will stay the same. Sadly the Finder doesn't seem to respect previous types of views (List, Icon, etc) but I see you have a solution for the window size changing.
Thanks!
This looks useful! A lot of the time, I open a Space to work on a project and I want all my folders arranged in a certain way. Until now, I’ve been using Shortcuts, but it would be nice if Finder just remembered where everything should go.