4.6 Enable tag to set or clear protected or hidden file attribute

[devenh]

Kirk,

I've suggested a couple of times that it would be useful if PM could set or clear a file's hidden or protected attribute.  Unfortunately, this feature hasn't made it into 4.6 

I was thinking that perhaps if there were a really simple (easy for me to say  ) way to implement this feature, maybe there would be a better chance of it making the cut. 

In this spirit,  I would suggest simply (there's that word again) allowing the user to enable the status of the image tag checkbox to reflect the status of the hidden or protected file attribute.  To implement this, the following options would be available in the Preferences | Files dialog box in a drop down box titled "Tag checkbox options":

None (as is now)
Show protected file attribute
Show hidden file attribute

If the user selects "Show protected file attribute", then the Tag checkbox reflects the files protection status and changes made to the Tag checkbox are reflected in the file's protected attribute.

The point of all this is to be able to mark files within PM in a way that other non-image aware apps can recognize.  Perhaps I want the tagged images not to be archived.  With this feature, the tag could be visible via the attribute to other programs.

Deven

[Kirk Baker]

Deven,

I've suggested a couple of times that it would be useful if PM could set or clear a file's hidden or protected attribute.  Unfortunately, this feature hasn't made it into 4.6 

I was thinking that perhaps if there were a really simple (easy for me to say  ) way to implement this feature, maybe there would be a better chance of it making the cut. 

In this spirit,  I would suggest simply (there's that word again) allowing the user to enable the status of the image tag checkbox to reflect the status of the hidden or protected file attribute.  To implement this, the following options would be available in the Preferences | Files dialog box in a drop down box titled "Tag checkbox options":

None (as is now)
Show protected file attribute
Show hidden file attribute

If the user selects "Show protected file attribute", then the Tag checkbox reflects the files protection status and changes made to the Tag checkbox are reflected in the file's protected attribute.

The point of all this is to be able to mark files within PM in a way that other non-image aware apps can recognize.  Perhaps I want the tagged images not to be archived.  With this feature, the tag could be visible via the attribute to other programs.

If we decide to add such a feature, it won't be in version 4.6.  The feature set for version 4.6 is almost complete.

Part of the reason the life-cycle for version 4.5.x was so long was because we kept on adding features to it.  We're going to try and avoid that process on future releases.  It makes it much harder to maintain a written manual and delays the ability to make the kind of structural changes needed to move Photo Mechanic into the future.

As for this feature in particular, if a number of users express interest in being able to display/manipulate file attributes from within Photo Mechanic, then we'll consider it.

-Kirk