Java Desktop System Release 3 User Guide

Using Views to Display Your Files and Folders

The file manager provides several ways to display the contents of your files. The file manager includes viewer components that enable you to display particular types of file in the view pane. For example, you can use a web page viewer to display HTML files in the view pane. You can use a text viewer to view plain text files in the view pane.

You can also use the file manager to open a file in an appropriate application. For more information, see Opening Files.

The file manager includes views that enable you to show the contents of your folders in different ways. For example, you can show the contents of a folder in the following types of view:

Icon view

Shows the items in the folder as icons.
List view

Shows the items in the folder as a list.

Use the View menu to choose how to display a file or folder. You can also use the View as drop-down list to choose how to display a file or folder. When you display a folder, you can specify how you want to arrange or sort items in the folder. You can modify the size of the items in the view pane. The following sections describe how to work with icon view, list view, and views of files.

To Choose a View in Which to Display a File or Folder

Choose the type of view in which to display the contents of a file or folder from the View menu.

Alternatively, to choose a view, choose View -> View as. Select the view that you want to use from the Open with Other Viewer dialog, then click on the Choose button.

You can also choose the type of view from the View as drop-down list. The View as drop-down list is located at the right side of the location bar.

You can display different folders in different views. The file manager remembers the view that you choose for a particular folder. The next time that you display the folder, the file manager displays the folder in that view. To return the view for the folder to the default view specified in your preferences, choose View -> Reset View to Defaults.

To Arrange Your Files in Icon View

When you display the contents of a folder in icon view, you can specify how to arrange the items in the folder. To specify how to arrange items in icon view, choose View -> Arrange Items. The Arrange Items submenu contains the following sections:

The top section contains an option that enables you to arrange your files manually.
The middle section contains options that enable you to sort your files automatically.
The bottom section contains options that enable you to modify how your files are arranged.

Choose the appropriate options from the submenu, as described in the following table:

Option	Description
Manually	Select this option to arrange the items manually. To arrange the items manually, drag the items to the location you require within the view pane.
By Name	Select this option to sort the items alphabetically by name. The order of the items is not case sensitive. If the file manager is set to display hidden files, the hidden files are shown last.
By Size	Select this option to sort the items by size, with the largest item first. When you sort items by size, the folders are sorted by the number of items in the folder. The folders are not sorted by the total size of the items in the folder.
By Type	Select this option to sort the items alphabetically by object type. The items are sorted alphabetically by the description of their MIME type in the `File Associations` preference tool. The MIME type identifies the format of a file, and enables applications to read the file. For example, an email application can use the `image/png` MIME type to detect that a PNG file is attached to an email.
By Modification Date	Select this option to sort the items by the date the items were last modified. The most recently modified item is first.
By Emblems	Select this option to sort the items by any emblems that are added to the items. The items are sorted alphabetically by emblem name. Items that do not have emblems are sorted after items with emblems.
Compact Layout	Select this option to arrange the items so that the items are closer to each other.
Reversed Order	Select this option to reverse the order of the option by which you sort the items. For example, if you sort the items by name, select the Reversed Order option to sort the items in reverse alphabetical order.

The file manager remembers how you arrange the items in a particular folder. The next time that you display the folder, the items are arranged in the way that you selected. In other words, when you specify how to arrange the items in a folder, you customize the folder to display the items in that way. To return the arrangement settings of the folder to the default arrangement settings specified in your preferences, choose View -> Reset View to Defaults.

To Resize an Icon in Icon View

In icon view, you can change the size of the icon that represents an item that is displayed. To change the size of an item in icon view, perform the following steps:

Right-click on the item that you want to resize, then choose Stretch Icon. A rectangle appears around the item, with a handle at each corner.
Grab one of the handles, then drag the icon to the size that you want.

To return the icon to the original size, right-click on the icon, then choose Restore Icon's Original Size.

You can also resize objects on the desktop background.

To Modify the Behavior of a View

You can modify the behavior of a view in the following ways:

Specify that the view is the default view for a particular file or folder.
Specify that the view is the default view for a file type or all folders.
Specify that the view is an item in the View as submenu for a particular file or folder.
Specify that the view is an item in the View as submenu for all of a particular file type or for all folders.
Specify that the view is not an item in the View as submenu for a particular file or folder.

To modify the behavior of a view perform the following steps:

Choose View -> View as.
Select the view that you want to modify from the table in the Open with Other Viewer dialog.

Click on the Modify button. The following table describes the options on the Modify dialog:

Option	Description
Include in the menu for `item-name` items	Select this option to include the view in the View as submenu for this type of item.
Use as default for `item-name` items	Select this option to use the view as the default for this type of item.
Include in the menu for `item-name` only	Select this option to include the view in the View as submenu for this item only.
Use as default for `item-name` only	Select this option to use the view as the default for this item only.
Don't include in the menu for `item-name` items	Select this option to exclude the view from the View as submenu for this type of item.

Click OK, then click Cancel to close the Open with Other Viewer dialog.

Note –

You can also modify the actions that are associated with a file type in the Edit file type dialog in the File Associations preference tool. To open the Edit file type dialog, click on the Go There button.