Preference to open last used file?

Panorama X
1

Something tells me that this was covered before but I can not find it.

When opening Pano X from the Dock, Pano X automatically opens a new db. Rarely do I want a new db but instead most always want the last used db. Is there, or can I request a preference to accomplish this?

(Yes, I do know that I can manually select from the Recent dbs at the Dock icon, but that forces me to examine a long list and figure out what I named it (that might be similar to others) when what I want is simply my last used. Kinda like browsers do (or allow.)

2

There isn’t currently an option to do this, but I’d say this is on the “to do someday” list.

select from the Recent dbs at the Dock icon, but that forces me to examine a long list

FYI – the list is in chronological order. The most recent file, which is the one you say you want to open, is the one closest to the bottom in the dock menu, and closest to the top in the Recent menu.

3

Good to hear that yours is working and in a meaningful order.

My dock is not listing the most recent Panorama X files from the Pano X dock icon. They are Pano X files, but they are not the most recent.

As for my Apple menu, Recent Items, Documents, those are in alphabetical order.

I’m not finding any options that would alter the behavior.

I do know that this is not under your control, but as Apple is less responsive than ProVUE, I’ll opt to wait for the someday option.

Robert Ameeti

4

I think this has to do with the phenomenon of some databases not appearing in the recent documents menu. I had a database where the option “Exclude from Recent menu” accidentally was checked (in Database Options). Once I had corrected that setting, the recent documents popup menu in the Dock began to work correctly.

5

Wow. Interesting. Yes, there was previous discussion on the ‘Exclude from Recent Menu’ checkbox and it was thought that the user had inadvertently checked that box.

The file I created earlier today was not listed in the Dock recent files. I opened Pano X by the Dock icon. It opened a new db. I found the file I was wanting in Pano X’s Open Recent listing. I checked the Database Options… (which has an ellipsis but I believe this is incorrect behavior), and sure enough, this file had the Exclude from Recent Menu checkbox checked! (I’ve not ever bothered to touch that checkbox.) I unchecked that box and then made a change, Saved, and then closed. I did this multiple times but it still does not appear in Dock/Recent Files listing. It appears to be listed regardless in the Apple menu. Thus, I am not sure what the checkbox is accomplishing if anything. Again, I do believe that Panorama does not any control over whether a document appears in the Dock Recent Files listing.

I’m believing that ProVUE only controls whether a file is listed in Panorama’s Open Recent listing but alas, my file was listed there even though the checkbox was checked to not list it.

FWIW, if a user opens Pano X with the dock icon and gets a new blank db created, and then chooses to use the Open Recent menu choice to open another db, the unused, unaltered untitled db should be closed automatically before the new db is opened. No need to keep an blank db in the background.

Robert Ameeti
(949) 422-6866

6

In an ideal world, that might be the case. But if Panorama X is open with no windows, Open Recent and Open Favorites are greyed out, which is not what I would like.

7

I wouldn’t like that either. I don’t like that. It is a bug – and I was the person that originally filed it as a bug. It is a bug that I have spent a LOT of time trying to fix. Key word “trying” – so far no progress. Somewhere Apple’s code is doing this behind my back and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to make it not do that. :frowning2:

I do believe that Panorama does not any control over whether a document appears in the Dock Recent Files listing

Robert, you’ll be surprised to know that this isn’t the case. First of all, Panorama’s File>Open Recent menu is actually maintained by Apple’s code, as are the Dock menu and the recent items in the Apple menu. This is part of Apple’s standard document handling code – a document is automatically added to all the menus when the document is opened. However, Apple provides a way to opt-out, and that is what the checkbox does. I use this opt-out to prevent Panorama’s library and wizard menus from appearing in the various Recent menus (they are just databases, so otherwise they would show up in the Recent menus, which I think we can all agree would not be good). I set up the preference option because you might want to do the same thing, for example if you have a database that opens secretly via a procedure and you don’t want it to ever appear in the Recent menus. This preference option will keep the document out of all the Recent menus, in the app, in the dock, and in the Apple menu.

I believe Apple stores the Recent items in their preference database, which they use for thousands of preferences (and Panorama programmers can now use also). I think they are stored internally as what Apple calls “bookmarks”, not simply the file names or paths, so you can actually move a file to a different folder and it will still appear in the Recent menus and will still actually open, even if it is in a different location than when it was last opened. All of this is opaque to Panorama, and there isn’t even any of my code handling any of this other than telling Apple’s code when I want to opt-out, it’s all taken care of by Apple.

I did encounter a situation once where new recent items weren’t appearing in the menu. Apparently the internal data structure Apple was using got messed up. The only solution was to use the File>Recent>Clear Menu command. That cleared up the problem and it didn’t come back. Perhaps you need to try that.

I use the Dock menu to open recent documents ALL the time. It’s great. Opening recent documents from the Apple menu is not so useful, as you say, it is a long alphabetical list, which is awkward.

By the way, in the discussion above anywhere I say “document” I mean “database”. Apple’s terminology is document, since we are discussion their code, I am using their terminology.

8

Hmmm. I thought that the ‘Open Recent’ was fixed but as of 0.9.001, it is still not working. (I do not have the ‘Exclude from Recent Menu’ checked.)

On the pedantic side, is a single Panorama file really a database? or is it properly a ‘table’? Should it take at least 2 ‘tables’ to then be a database?

I also thought the File menu update might include the tweak to show ‘Panorama X’, rather than ‘PanoramaX’.

9

Has the issue with what happens when you start PanX? No choices in preference to open last database used, etc., at least that is what I am finding.

10

Panorama X used to automatically open a new database when you launched it, as a workaround to problems that occurred when there was no open database. Those problems have been solved, and the workaround has been discontinued.

If you launch Panorama from its own icon in the Finder, or on the Dock, it launches with no open database.

11

I read about that. I was wondering if there was any interest to open the last database used, set in preferences, when launching from the dock. Now, the only way I seem to be able to open the last one I used is to click on that icon, which I now keep on the desktop. As you know, in Pan 6, there is a preference list.

12

This is the preference list in Pan 6. The first three are problematic with recent operating systems.

45 pm

13

If you click and hold the Panorama X icon in the dock a list will popup with all the recent Panorama files. Select one of those file names and Panorama X will open to that file.

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14

Got it. Thanks…