Sort columns not working

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janiko
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2016 5:37 pm

Sort columns not working

Post by janiko »

Hi all,

I have DC4 (4.0.1) and I can't sort the duplicate files list by clicking on the column name :( The list remains with default sort option (by group).

Any idea ?
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DigitalVolcano
Site Admin
Posts: 1717
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:04 am

Re: Sort columns not working

Post by DigitalVolcano »

Uncheck the 'Always sort by group first' checkbox.

http://www.duplicatecleaner.com/manual4 ... t=MTkw#top
punar
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun May 22, 2016 5:02 pm

Re: Sort columns not working

Post by punar »

Unchecking the 'Always sort by group first' checkbox is useless. It just makes the sort order even more chaotic.

Actually the whole sorting algorithm used by Duplicate Cleaner needs a complete rewrite. files and folders aren't sorted in a logical order at all. Take a look at my thread here where I have tried to explain the problem:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1647
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Edit 2017-01-07:
Sorting was fixed in v4.0.4
Last edited by punar on Sat Jan 07, 2017 12:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
B00ze
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 12:26 am

Re: Sort columns not working

Post by B00ze »

Good day.

I must add my voice here, sorting is "broken" because all it does is sort WITHIN groups (which is useless when all groups contain only a few files). Turning off "Always sort by group first" is also useless because then the groups are broken-up. What you need is to first sort the whole list by whatever column the user chooses, then starting from the top, creating a new linked list as you go along, do a full scan and add any duplicate files to each item, removing the item and its duplicates from the first list and adding them to the target list. It's not difficult to code. You added colors to the SIZE column because you think "oh we can't sort because which of the duplicates would we chose?" but sorting by size/name/path AND ALSO by GROUP is easy, and the resulting list is easy to understand; no one will be all lost when they sort. And if you allow sorting A->Z and also Z->A then both permutations of groups of 2 files [(a,z) and (z,a)] can be generated. I agree it will never be perfect (groups of 3+ duplicates will never sort all 3+ possible ways) but it would be far better than what we have now.

I would consider this a high priority enhancement.

Thank you.
Best Regards,
punar
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun May 22, 2016 5:02 pm

Re: Sort columns not working

Post by punar »

Version 4.0.4 seems to have fixed the sorting. It looks perfect now!
dbague
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2017 6:35 pm

Re: Sort columns not working

Post by dbague »

i have version 5.0.5 and sort columns do not work (at least for size it does not)

the little triangle atop the column header acknowledges the click, but no effect on data column.

Sorry: i had the checkbox "sort by group first" checked. leaving this post here in case other distracted users.
Cadill
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2014 2:27 pm

Re: Sort columns not working

Post by Cadill »

Using version 4.1.4. For some reason "Always sort by groups first" is checked and the option is grayed out so I can't change it. Anyone know why that would be? Thanks!

UPDATE: You have to be in "Details View" (see view options at the top) in order for "always sort by groups first" to be selectable/unselectable. Problem solved!
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