FolderSizes Help

The  FolderSizes Scan Data Panel provides visibility and accessibility to the product's in-memory file system database.

The Scan Data Panel is different from the Folder Browser panel in a number of important ways.

1)First, the Scan Data Panel shows only file system nodes that FolderSizes knows about. It is not designed primarily for file system navigation, but rather is a reflection of the in-memory database that FolderSizes constructs and maintains when analyzing file systems. This makes it valuable tool for numerous analysis tasks, including exploration of data loaded from XML (either just for review, or for comparison purposes).

2)Next,  the selection of a Scan Data Panel tree node will not interrupt a file system analysis currently in progress. This allows for the review of file system analysis data from multiple perspectives during file system analysis.

3)A small icon appearing next to each file system node reveals that node's current scan state:

a)Complete - FolderSizes is finished scanning this file system node

b)Working - FolderSizes is currently scanning this node, or one of its children

c)Partial - FolderSizes has partial knowledge of the file system node

d)Import - The file system node is the product of an XML data load

e)Compare - The file system node is in comparison mode

f)Queued - The file system node is waiting to be scanned

4)The Scan Data Panel has a single "virtual root" node labeled "All scan data" which contains all file system analysis roots. This provides a highly unique and useful perspective across multiple file system points. For example, if you scan local drives "C:\", "D:\", and "E:\" then switch to the Folder Browser Panel, all of these nodes will appear below the virtual root, which in turn shows aggregate information about these paths.

Interacting with the Scan Data Panel

The Scan Data Panel also provides a range of useful functions that can manipulate how file system nodes are presented, and even manipulate them directly. The Scan Data Panel toolbar exposes the following commands:

•Remove - Erases the selected file system node from the file system analysis database. FolderSizes will no longer "know about" this node, and it will be re-scanned if encountered again during a file system analysis operation. Importantly, use of this feature does not affect the file target system itself - is simply erases information from the FolderSizes in-memory file system database (which, consequently, reduces FolderSizes memory usage in direct correlation to the size of the node).

•Refresh - Erases the selected file system node from memory, then immediate re-scans it.

•Tree functions:

oFind Deepest Node - Locates and selects the deepest folder nesting within the file system database, expanding the tree as needed.

oExpand Selected - Allows for expansion of the selected file system tree node by 1, 2, or 3 levels (or fully).

oCollapse Selected - Allows for the complete collapsing of the selected file system tree node (also collapses all children)

•Size Sort - Sorts the tree from largest file system node to smallest. When off (the default), the tree will be sorted alphabetically.

•Toggle Legend - Toggles on/off visibility of the legend that appears near the bottom of the Scan Data Panel.