File tooltip

[H5820121]

Can you please make the file tooltip (in the search results) display the file's properties (size, modification date, and preferably the file's age) like the Windows File Explorer tooltip and Everything.
This is especially necessary for users of QuickLook preview, who then have no way of seeing the above properties.
Thank you!

[Jack251970]

I think these info is available in preview panel already.

[H5820121]

@Jack251970
As I mentioned, this is necessary for the user of QuickLook preview plugin, who then have no way to use the preview panel.

By the way, it would be very useful for me (and I'm sure for others too) if the file information also included the age of the file (i.e. how many days, months and years have passed since it was last modified), as it is in the LISTARY preview.
And another point, I don't know why the file information doesn't allow the name of the month to appear (instead of its number).
I would be grateful if you could help with this!

[Jack251970]

Sorry, you mean this plugin?

https://github.com/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher.Plugin.QuickLook

[H5820121]

@Jack251970
Yes.

[Jack251970]

@Jack251970 Yes.

Could you please move this issue to that repository? Thanks!

[H5820121]

@Jack251970 Yes.

Could you please move this issue to that repository? Thanks!

I have already opened a topic there before.
Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher.Plugin.QuickLook#7

[Jack251970]

Good! So I think we do not need to open another issue here.

[H5820121]

@Jack251970
I think it's still worth opening the topic here too, because even without the QuickLook preview issue, it's more convenient to have this information in a tooltip, and as it is in Windows File Explorer, so it is in Everything (and even though they have a preview panel).
And even if it's impossible for the QuickLook plugin to have a separate shortcut, the tooltip will help.
So please reopen the issue, thank you!

[Jack251970]

Get it.

[H5820121]

@Jack251970
By the way, I saw that you developed an amazing application, ContextMenuManager.
Do you know how to add, in FL's search results, to the file menu, an item to copy the file name only? Currently, there is only an option to copy the entire path.

[Jack251970]

@Jack251970 By the way, I saw that you developed an amazing application, ContextMenuManager. Do you know how to add, in FL's search results, to the file menu, an item to copy the file name only? Currently, there is only an option to copy the entire path.

You can check here:

Flow.Launcher/Plugins/Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Explorer/Main.cs

Line 53 in 2d2f7de

public List<Result> LoadContextMenus(Result selectedResult)

Basically, if you want to edit context menu, you can check IContextMenu interface.

[H5820121]

@Jack251970
I'm not a developer, could you please explain more what you mean, and what exactly I need to do, so that I can copy in FL search results only the file name and not the entire path.
Thanks!

[Jack251970]

@Jack251970
I'm not a developer, could you please explain more what you mean, and what exactly I need to do, so that I can copy in FL search results only the file name and not the entire path.
Thanks!

The things I talked about are all related to development. (I would like to share you with this because this emhancement is very easy to implement from code side. So it is a good idea to implement this by yourself)

[H5820121]

this emhancement is very easy to implement from code side.

Could you please do a PR for this and upload here for me the compiled file with the fix for this?

[Jack251970]

this emhancement is very easy to implement from code side.

Could you please do a PR for this and upload here for me the compiled file with the fix for this?

I've been busy with some other things currently and may not be able to do this. I'll follow on with this later if I get a chance.

[Jack251970]

@H5820121 I checked the codes and found the original codes have already set ToolTip for all records. So changing them to the format you described above could cause confusion for users. And since preview panel can provide this information, I think it looks like we do not need to change the tooltip here.

[H5820121]

@Jack251970

I checked the codes and found the original codes have already set ToolTip for all records.

Could you please explain more what you mean?

Please allow me to explain myself, since this is very important to me:

So changing them to the format you described above could cause confusion for users

In Windows File Explorer and Everything, the tooltip contains this information, and why would this cause confusion in FL? On the contrary, I am a new user of FL and it caused me confusion that the tooltip in FL does not have this information, since I am used to Windows File Explorer and Everything receiving this information in the tooltip.

And since preview panel can provide this information

But what will users of the QuickLook plugin do, since then the preview panel cannot be seen. I opened a topic about this, but it doesn't seem like it will be fixed.

[Jack251970]

@H5820121 Have you enabled Always Show Preview Panel feature?

[Jack251970]

@H5820121 As you can see above, I have one file Button-100.png with a long path and it already has tooltip to show its long path. For me, I think we should keep that tooltip because long path is not always visible in the results.

[H5820121]

@Jack251970

Have you enabled Always Show Preview Panel feature?

With the QL plugin this doesn't work well!

I think we should keep that tooltip because long path is not always visible in the results

Of course, I intend to display the file modification date (and better yet its age) in the tooltip in addition to that.

Thanks, I greatly appreciate your willingness to help!

[Jack251970]

@Jack251970

Have you enabled Always Show Preview Panel feature?

With the QL plugin this doesn't work well!

I think we should keep that tooltip because long path is not always visible in the results

Of course, I intend to display the file modification date (and better yet its age) in the tooltip in addition to that.

Thanks, I greatly appreciate your willingness to help!

For me, I have two concerns:

1. Adding this information to the tooltip will make it excessively long.
2. The preview panel already displays this information, which could lead to duplication.

@jjw24 @onesounds What do you think about this?

[onesounds]

I understand the necessity of this suggestion and will consider it for review.
However, I believe we should not accept it exactly as proposed.

1. If QuickLook itself had an option to display file properties, or

2. If there were a separate shortcut key for invoking a different preview panel when using QuickLook,

this issue could be resolved through those means instead.
(In that case, if users want to see file properties, they could simply trigger Flow's own preview panel using the designated shortcut key. As far as I know, the plugin structure already allows handling shortcut keys separately.)

This request arises because neither (1) nor (2) are currently available.
In fact, I believe this suggestion should originally have been directed to the QuickLook plugin repository, rather than here.
It also appears that QuickLook intentionally does not display detailed file information, likely as part of its design philosophy.

In our case, the tooltip is currently used primarily to show the full file path, and changing it directly would not be ideal.
Instead, we could consider introducing an option to allow users to customize the tooltip format, or perhaps display long paths over multiple lines (similar to how PowerToys handles it).
(Even in this case, we would need to organize and manage the tooltip output formatting properly.)

Another option could be using a popup-style control that fixes and displays the information at a specific location.

In any case, this proposal should not be implemented as-is.
It requires some experimentation and review of alternative approaches before proceeding.

[H5820121]

@Jack251970
@jjw24 @onesounds

What do you think about this?

I am in favor of an approach that respects the user and gives him the option (in the settings) to choose what is best for him.
(I myself and I'm sure many others will choose in the settings to display this information in a tooltip below the line of the path, as they are used to in Windows File Explorer).

Please do not "bury" this topic, because for myself (and I am sure for others, at least for QL plugin users) it is of great importance!

[Jack251970]

@onesounds I wonder if you have any ideas?