sort folders by time

[Former user]

OS: Slackware 15.0 HiFile-0.9.8.25.AppImage

Sort by time (ascending/descending) doesn't work on directories, only works on files.

Thanks.

[Vladimir Kraus]

This ticket originally container request to display ownership but I created a separate ticket https://bitbucket.org/vladimir-kraus/hifile-issue-tracker/issues/24/add-ability-to-display-ownership-users-and for this so that we do not mix two things together.

[Vladimir Kraus]

Regarding folder modification time: This might be actually quite confusing topic for many common users. They might tend to think that folder modification time shows the last time when any change occurred in the folder. But this is not true. Folder modification time shows time when the folder itself was created or changed or when an item directly contained in this folded was added, removed or renamed. But it does not reflect for example when any file in this this folder was edited or when any change in any nested child folder was made.

To allow users see the latest modification made in a folder or its contents, it is necessary to run Items->Folder (Ctrl+Enter) contents action, which will go through the folder contents and collect all information such as number if items, total size and last modification. This might be quite a lengthy operation, as it recursively visits all nested subfolders and their content. After finishing this operayion, the folder content modification time is shown and you can sort it.

But this may be useful for less experienced users who might misunderstood the real meaning of folder modification time. More experienced users may however really need to see the folder modification time as returned by the operating system. So this ticket is about implementing this option for the more experienced users who know what hey are doing.

[Vladimir Kraus]

Implemented in 0.9.8.26. By default folder CONTENT modification time is displayed (which must be calculated by Ctrl+Enter or "Items"->"Folder content" action. But this default option can be changed by going to Preferences->Advanced->Folder modification time mode. There you can select "Folder modification time" which will always show the modification time as returned from the operating system. Or you can select "Content modification time preferred" which will show content modification if available and folder modification in other cases. Showing the modification time of course enables sorting in item list views.