MyFiles

Frequently Asked Questions

Disk cataloger. File organizer. Disk and file cataloging. What is it? Why do I need Argentum MyFiles?
Is there a way to make it so that certain properties would come up automatically in the property pane? I want some properties be automatically available without having to use Add command all the time.
Can I play with complex subsets of items, not only simple branches?
How can I filter out folders in the tree?
I get "An error occurred while attempting to initialize the Borland Database Engine (error $210C)" message while starting Argentum MyFiles or opening a tree.

Disk cataloger. File organizer. Disk and file cataloging. What is it? Why do I need Argentum MyFiles?

A disk cataloger or a file organizer is an application that records the directory structure, but not the contents, of a volume. The saved directory structure of a volume is called a disk catalog. Since loading a disk catalog is much faster than loading the directory structure from the actual disk, searching and browsing a disk catalog is much faster than searching or browsing an actual disk.

More important, a disk cataloger can store disk catalogs for more than one volume. And, a volume does not need to be available on the desktop while you are browsing the catalog. This allows you to have a single disk catalog containing the library of all of your CD-ROM's, DVD-ROM's, removable media volumes, network locations and floppy disks. Using a disk cataloger you can, in one move, search all of your volumes, be they available on your desktop, in a box next to your computer, or at the office on the other side of town. And, because only the directory information - not the actual volume data - is saved, disk catalogs are quite compact.

A simple example. Assume that you have a number of CD-ROM's, each containing several thousand files. On one of these discs is a file that you would like to view. You have no idea which disc contains the file. Without a disk cataloger, you would need to insert each CD-ROM individually and use Windows Find File to search for the file. This can be quite time-consuming, considering how long it takes to insert, search, and eject a CD-ROM. With a disk cataloging application, as long as all of those CD-ROM's were scanned into a catalog file, you need only to search that file. The search will be extremely fast, and you don't need to insert any of the CD-ROM's except for the one that actually contains the file.

Besides the primary purpose of a basic file organizer to store, search, browse and organize your disk collection, a good file cataloging program should also be able to describe the contents of a disk catalog with your own comments, extract additional file information (descriptions) from files of common types, export disk catalogs into good-looking HTML reports and rich XML files. With Argentum MyFiles you are able to store, search, browse, organize and share your collection! All features are packed into one combined product.

Is there a way to make it so that certain properties would come up automatically in the property pane? I want some properties be automatically available without having to use Add command all the time.

You can use so-called favorite properties. Specify the names of your favorite properties in the options dialog. Once set they will be automatically available each time you edit an item. Note that favorite properties are unique for each tree, hence you should specify them for each tree separately.

Can I play with complex subsets of items, not only simple branches?

Sure you can. Don't underestimate such a powerful feature as filtering. First, mark the desired items with the green balls, second, don't forget to actualize the filter (though you can skip this step in some cases), third, trigger the switch to filter the view in the explorer. That's all! You can now do what you want with the filtered tree.

How can I filter out folders in the tree?

Just apply a filter to the tree with the folder scope selected and '*' (default) wildcard query - all the folders in the tree will be marked.

I get "An error occurred while attempting to initialize the Borland Database Engine (error $210C)" message while starting Argentum MyFiles or opening a tree.

This is because you have BDE (Borland Database Engine) installed on your computer, and the BDE application is running while you are trying to run Argentum MyFiles at the same time. There are two workarounds: (1) do not launch Argentum MyFiles together with the BDE application, or (2) place "am.exe" file from the Argentum MyFiles folder into the BDE folder (usually "C:\Program Files\Borland Database Engine") and run Argentum MyFiles directly from the BDE folder. This should help.

Have Questions?

You can read more on how to keep your files, folders and disks organized here at Argentum MyFiles' online manual. A complete set of documentation is also available with the program installation.

Argentum™ MyFiles Online Manual

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