Can't sort files and folders

Two questions:
1. In a folder I want to sort the items in order allways folders first and second files by namne but sometimes the folders last. Is it any way to solve this? The Mac mixed sorting makes me mad.
2. When in Finder-menu View the choice Clean Up and Arrange by is grey and can't be used. How come? Is it possible to make these choices active?
Svante

It's always frustrating when the designers didn't think to do it 'your' way. But we all figured out how to drive cars that were built 'their' way and we can do this too. The fact that MicroSoft did it another way, just is not relevant to working with your Mac. We're still coping with sillyunderscoresover here, and now our apps quit on us when we close their windows.
You like a hierarchy that puts folders before individual file items: Make a folder, call it "Directories" (or even better " Directories", or "•Folders"), put all your folders in that window into it, and if you want, make a companion "Documents" folder for everything else. Click the flippy triangles of both to reveal their contents. There, everything in list order, folders first. You will have to do a teensy bit of handfiling you're not used to, but as others mentioned a simple naming convention would have spared you that (and this suggestion). If you truly hate the look, you can make invisible custom icons for the two folders and use a style like:"••••••Folders•••••", "-----Files----" so they look like headers.
People have complained about missing this Windows 'feature' before without ever convincing me of its virtue. I can see which items are folders and don't need them artificially at the top (Sort by kind does that if ever I do) and find the integrated alphanumeric list useful for grouping unfiled documents near their folders. When I want the first item(s) on the list to be a folder, I so name it. You can cope, just like you can learn to navigate a new subdivision with all the cul-de-sacs. Now if I could just get used to this silly idea North Americans have that we should drive on the right.
Message was edited by: Ed Hanna
Message was edited by: Ed Hanna

Similar Messages

  • Can't sort files and folders. Sorry doubble mailed

    Two questions:
    1. In a folder I want to sort the items in order allways folders first and second files by namne but sometimes the folders last. Is it any way to solve this? The Mac mixed sorting makes me mad.
    2. When in Finder-menu View the choice Clean Up and Arrange by is grey and can't be used. How come? Is it possible to make these choices active?
    Svante
    Message was edited by: Svante

    It's always frustrating when the designers didn't think to do it 'your' way. But we all figured out how to drive cars that were built 'their' way and we can do this too. The fact that MicroSoft did it another way, just is not relevant to working with your Mac. We're still coping with sillyunderscoresover here, and now our apps quit on us when we close their windows.
    You like a hierarchy that puts folders before individual file items: Make a folder, call it "Directories" (or even better " Directories", or "•Folders"), put all your folders in that window into it, and if you want, make a companion "Documents" folder for everything else. Click the flippy triangles of both to reveal their contents. There, everything in list order, folders first. You will have to do a teensy bit of handfiling you're not used to, but as others mentioned a simple naming convention would have spared you that (and this suggestion). If you truly hate the look, you can make invisible custom icons for the two folders and use a style like:"••••••Folders•••••", "-----Files----" so they look like headers.
    People have complained about missing this Windows 'feature' before without ever convincing me of its virtue. I can see which items are folders and don't need them artificially at the top (Sort by kind does that if ever I do) and find the integrated alphanumeric list useful for grouping unfiled documents near their folders. When I want the first item(s) on the list to be a folder, I so name it. You can cope, just like you can learn to navigate a new subdivision with all the cul-de-sacs. Now if I could just get used to this silly idea North Americans have that we should drive on the right.
    Message was edited by: Ed Hanna
    Message was edited by: Ed Hanna

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    Last edited by Nazgulled (2009-08-05 14:41:47)

    toad wrote:
    Nazgulled wrote:Surely there must be a way to have the same sorting collation in Linux like in Windows
    Ah, no. The way they are doing it is nonsensical and not good practice for a unix style system. Having said that, some solutions have already been offered in this thread.
    While you are free to continue to ask others to help you achieve your aims, it may be more convenient for you to adapt to a structure that is displayed the same way under all systems (just to avoid frustration - not saying you _should_ do it ).
    I really don't care if it's nonsensical, I use Windows 95% of the time or more, it's my main OS, I'm used to it and I like it. Why should I care if it's not a good practice for a unix style system? I just want things to behave the way I like and for a free system like Linux where it doesn't even compare to Windows in terms of freedom in what I can do with it and configure the way I like, it sure is hard to change the way folders/files are sorted...
    It sucks that there isn't a proper solution but I'm not going to adapt anything, that would be nonsensical... But if I have to, I can live with the fact that there isn't a good solution and leave it as it is
    Thanks everyone for their input, "topic closed".

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