Can you add the "Navigation Pane" to a programs save dialogue window?

Wolygon · 13 May 2012

Hey,

I searched for this but I admit I wasn't overly thorough. So I apologise in advance if this has already been answered.

In some programs (eg. Firefox) the save dialogue window has the Navigation pane on the left. Whereas other programs (eg. Foxit reader, acrobat reader) do not. I find this heavily inconvenient as I use the navigation pane extensively.

I actually went to switch to Acrobat from Foxit and found it also didn't have the navigation pane.

Heres what I mean:

Firefox save dialogue window:

Can you add the "Navigation Pane" to a programs save dialogue window?-firefox.png

Foxit save dialogue window:

Can you add the "Navigation Pane" to a programs save dialogue window?-foxit.png

So I was wondering if there is anyway to get the navigation pane in the foxit/other programs save dialogue window.

Thanks
Wally

MilesAhead · 13 May 2012

The program has to do some COM mumbo jumbo to use system libraries. Notice how these articles mention IFileDialog

Anything with an I stuck on the front of it means you have to mess with a bunch of COM stuff to use it. The 'I' being "Interface."

Windows 7 Libraries and the Common File Dialog

Developing with Common File Dialogs

Bacisally, if you're not getting paid big bucks, it's a lot of hassle for no gain.

(The short answer is you can't stick 'em on someone else's program from outside that I ever heard about.)

Neutron16 · 13 May 2012

MilesAhead is right.

That is called "Windows XP style common File/Open dialog box". It works on Vista and 7, because it is hardcoded in application itself.

Pretty much the only thing you can do here is just customize these places on the right (Here is a tutorial).
Or turn it off.

Wolygon · 14 May 2012

Hey guys, yeah I didn't think there would be a way.

Pretty much the only thing you can do here is just customize these places on the right (Here is a tutorial).

But this is totally what I was looking for, thank you so much. This 90% as good :). Works great.

Thanks so much guys, very happy.

Wally

MilesAhead · 14 May 2012

Also thee's a neat little free utility Nav Customizer that makes it easy:

Windows 7 Navigation Pane Customizer: Show, Hide, Rename Items In Windows Explorer Navigation Pane | door2windows

I've used it on win7 32 bit and haven't had any problems. As always it's a good idea to run a restore point before using to make sure it's stable on your system. But it's always worked well for me.

Just check the boxes for the categories you want shown.

Wolygon · 14 May 2012

Hey,

Thats not the same thing as this changes the "navigation pane" instead of the "common places bar", but useful all the same. Definitely easier then doing it manually, I'll be using it.

Thanks
Wally

[EDIT]
And you don't need to log off and in again. Very nice :)

MilesAhead · 14 May 2012

Yeah, it's for the common dialogs Vista/W7 but related and nice to have. I was using a DLL that altered Explorer to have multiple tabs. But I found just by putting the Drives in the NavBar and right clicking, then hitting 'e' I could open a new window with the drive or folder. Eliminated the need at least for me, of tabbed explorer. When I want to do complex stuff like sync folders I use FreeCommander anyway.