I have no trouble seeing my SD Card in file explorer, but programs that use the standard open file dialogs won't list files on my SD card if they are in a subfolder of the My Documents folder. Also, it won't let me select those subfolders from the drop-down menu.
For example, if I'm opening a Pocket Excel file located in "storage card/My Documents/", then it will show up. But if its located in "storage card/My Documents/spreadsheets", then there's no way to open it using the Open File dialog. On the other hand, if its stored in "My Documents/spreadsheets" (in main memory), then there's no problem.
I never had this problem with my old Ipaq 1940, and its not very useful to have to dump all my storage card files into one directory, so if anyone can help me with this, it would be much appreciated.
UPDATE:
A quick synopsis for anyone who is confused:
First of all, let me say that I am using Windows Media 5 on an Axim x51v.
Secondly, the problem I'm describing has nothing to do with File Explorer. I'm only talking about the behavior of the Open File dialog that appears when you start programs like Excel and Word. If you don't know what I mean by "Open File Dialog", then just move on. Please don't write a post about how have no trouble seeing sub-folders of My Documents folder in File Explorer. I don't like to use File Explorer to open my files.
Now, that I've got that out of the way...
This behavior is apparently not a bug, but a design change in wm5. The Open File dialog in older versions of Windows Mobile would look for a "My Documents" folder on any removable storage cards, and list all the files in that folder, and any subfolders (up to 1 level deep). WM5 doesn't require you to have a "My Documents" folder. It just checks the root of the storage card and any subfolders in the root (up to 1 level deep). So, if you do have a "My Documents" folder (say, from an older version of Windows Mobile), it will search that folder, but not any subfolders within it.
Personally, I think this was a bad design choice. It means that, in order to make use of the standard WM5 Open File dialogs, you have to put your data folders in the root of the storage card. Any programs that you install to the storage card also get put there by default, which means that you end up mixing data folders with program folders which is messy and generally not a good idea. It also means that the folders of programs installed to the storage card will show up in the Open File dialog of applications. Also messy.
In addition, there is no back compatibility. People like me who carry a storage card over from an old version of Windows Mobile, will suddenly find that their data can't be seen by many applications. I think they should give users the option of where they want Windows to look for their data, or at least have the Open File dialog check to see if a My Documents folder exists on the card, and if not [i]then[i] start looking in the root.
Anyway, 3 solutions have been put forward:
1)Put your data folders in the root directory of the storage card
I don't like it for the reasons stated above, but I consider this to be the lesser of all evils. This is proably the solution I'll be using.
2) Hack the Open File dialog
There is a neat little program that will change the default Open File dialog to something more like the one in Windows XP. Rather than find the files for you, it lets you navigate through any folders and find the file yourself. This is probably a good solution for some people, but I don't like it personally. I like the added speed of having applications automatically search for files, and I think it is better suited for mobile use.
3) Add or delete a file called ignore_my_docs
I've seen the ignore_my_docs on my old PocketPC, but I've never seen it in WM5 and it doesn't seem to make any difference on my device, but I think I'll fiddle with it a bit more before I comment further on it.
__________________
*IMO, my opinion is not humble. It kicks ass no matter how many people disagree with it :approve:
:approve: Get the A12 Update! It can cure cancer and get out those tough, ground-in dirt and grass stains!
I imagine the reason is when applications need to populate a file list, its quicker to scan top level folders only.
Likewise on the device you can only have one subfolder in My Documents. If you were to have: \My Documents\Office\Word Files the contents wouldnt be displayed. The list of files would end with the Office folder. I experimented with notes since I have 100's of them and wanted to better organize them.
I figured it to be a limitation of WM. Contents of any folder wont go any deeper than one level on a storage card.
For example I have a folder named Office Docs. Everything in it is visible. If I further add subfolders (Word, Excel etc) the files wont be visible.
My only solution is to create several top level folders on the card. For example I am using this...
Ah! You are correct. I guess users of previous versions couldn't figure out that they needed to make a MyDocuments folder on their card. That's understandable. Of course, trust Microsoft to find a solution that makes everybody elses cards not work right :approve:
__________________
*IMO, my opinion is not humble. It kicks ass no matter how many people disagree with it :approve:
:approve: Get the A12 Update! It can cure cancer and get out those tough, ground-in dirt and grass stains!
I figured it to be a limitation of WM. Contents of any folder wont go any deeper than one level on a storage card.
.....
Zero problems seeing subfolders in WM2003SE.
Try: tap&hold in an empty area, below the last file listed in Explorer, then check next to View all files.
Or try using Total Commander (link in MyPDA).
For files that reside on my SD or CF cards I just use the file explorer to drill down into the sub folders to find the file I want to open. During the open process my X51V (WM5 A12) will open the application (word, excel, adobe, etc.) and inturn the file I desired.
For files that reside on my SD or CF cards I just use the file explorer to drill down into the sub folders to find the file I want to open. During the open process my X51V (WM5 A12) will open the application (word, excel, adobe, etc.) and inturn the file I desired.
Yeah, the real problem is some of the less polished apps, like emulators, that don't register the filetype, so the files just show up with generic icons and don't open the app when you click on them. Besides, when I'm on the go, I don't want to be fiddling with folder navigation. The whole design of the PocketPC OS is optimized to prevent that, and for good reason.
__________________
*IMO, my opinion is not humble. It kicks ass no matter how many people disagree with it :approve:
:approve: Get the A12 Update! It can cure cancer and get out those tough, ground-in dirt and grass stains!
Zero problems seeing subfolders in WM2003SE.
Try: tap&hold in an empty area, below the last file listed in Explorer, then check next to View all files.
Or try using Total Commander (link in MyPDA).
.
No, no, I can see the subfolders in the File Explorer, just not in the "Open File" dialog of most applications.
__________________
*IMO, my opinion is not humble. It kicks ass no matter how many people disagree with it :approve:
:approve: Get the A12 Update! It can cure cancer and get out those tough, ground-in dirt and grass stains!
That's a great hack, and I can see it being useful for people with complex filesystems, but I don't think its an optimal solution for most people or that its "better" than the way the PocketPC dialogs work normally. The way that Microsoft designed the Open File dialogs on the PocketPC makes sense. You usually have a small number of files and you need to get at them quickly because you are, presumably, "on the go". So it makes sense for an app to just show you all the relevant files and not force you to navigate through subfolders.
The basic idea is sound, its just executed poorly and isn't flexible enough. Now, obviously, the file dialog can't search the entire SD card every time you try to open a file because that would take too long. It has to pick a directory to start from and then limit the number of subdirectories it searches. But I should be able to define where I want it to start looking. And it shouldn't just start at the root, especially since that forces me to mix my personal data with the directories of programs that I have installed on the card, which is something that Microsoft usually tries to avoid
At the very least, they could have added a few lines of code to check for the existence of a MyDocuments folder on the SD card and start looking there if it exists. After all, they must have realized there would be a bunch of people walking around with MyDocuments folders on their cards. The way it works now, if I give my SD card to someone with an old OS, they just won't be able to see my files, and vice-versa. So, although the purpose of this change seems to be to make things simpler, its bound to cause a lot of confusion.
__________________
*IMO, my opinion is not humble. It kicks ass no matter how many people disagree with it :approve:
:approve: Get the A12 Update! It can cure cancer and get out those tough, ground-in dirt and grass stains!
I don't know whats causing the problem for you but I can see contents of "My Documents" located on my storage card and so can everybody else. Of course you have to have files there with the right file extensions.
Also, I've noticed you keep saying "MyDocuments". I don't know if thats a typo but on your PPC you need a space between "My" and "Documents".
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
.
.
.
.
.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
I cannot believed how confusing this thread is ... :rolling:
the question is about seeing more then 1 level deep during a "file open dialogue" ... that's like for example ... on your desktop notepad ... you would click " FILE ... OPEN ..." and be able to see all level no matter how many deep .. not just one ...
and yet .. looking back ... there are advice about "save as" trick/hack ...
also there are advice pointing to open the file from explorer and call out the file from there ...we all know that can be done !!
... how confusing !!
the question's purpose is to be able to make the " FILE ... OPEN ..." dialogue to look further down ... and yet all the advices are really off the mark !! :rolling: :rolling:
I don't know whats causing the problem for you but I can see contents of "My Documents" located on my storage card and so can everybody else. Of course you have to have files there with the right file extensions.
No, MarkFou above says he has the same problem, and offered the correct solution. Are you saying that the original, unaltered WM5 Open Files dialog automatically searches [edit: subfolders of] the "My Documents" folder on your SD card? Because nobody on this thread has claimed that yet. If it works on some people's cards then I will stop griping about Microsoft's bad design decision, and just gripe about their inability to make an OS that works the same on different people's devices :rolling:.
To be clear, I'm not talking about browsing files in File Explorer. That works fine. I'm talking about the "Open File" screen that appears when you launch apps like Pocket Word and Excel and some emulators like Gnuboy.
Originally Posted by akheron
Also, I've noticed you keep saying "MyDocuments". I don't know if thats a typo but on your PPC you need a space between "My" and "Documents".
You are right about that. That is a typo. My "My Documents" folder does, in fact, have a space.
__________________
*IMO, my opinion is not humble. It kicks ass no matter how many people disagree with it :approve:
:approve: Get the A12 Update! It can cure cancer and get out those tough, ground-in dirt and grass stains!
Follow Us
RSS Feed
Follow on Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
Addicted Member
