Directory Opus Manual

Adding a new Column

This is an example of a script add-in that adds a new information column to Opus.

This column, Is Modified?, indicates whether a file has been modified since it was created. This is performed by simply comparing whether the item's creation and modification dates are the same.

• For files that have been modified, the column displays Yes, and for files that haven't been modified it displays No. Nothing is displayed for folders.
• When sorting by this column, modified files are displayed above non-modified files.
• When grouping by this column, the two groups are labeled Modified and Never Modified.

The basic procedure to add a custom column from a script add-in is:

• Either:
  • In the OnInit event, create a ScriptColumn object with the ScriptInitData.AddColumn method.
  • Or, in the OnAddColumns event, create a ScriptColumn object with the AddColData.AddColumn method.

• Initialize the properties of the ScriptColumn** object. At a minimum you must populate the name and method properties. * Create a separate function in your script-add in, with the method name you specified for the column. This method will be called when Opus wants to retrieve data for your column.

// Set the script type to JScript to use this script
// The OnInit function is called by Directory Opus to initialize the script add-in
function OnInit(initData)
{
    // Provide basic information about the script by initializing the properties of the ScriptInitData object
    initData.name = "Is Modified Column";
    initData.desc = "Adds a column that indicates if a file has ever been modified.";
    initData.copyright = "(c) 2014 Jonathan Potter";
    initData.default_enable = true; // Create a new ScriptColumn object and initialize it to add the column to Opus
    var cmd = initData.AddColumn();
    cmd.name = "IsModified";
    cmd.method = "OnIsModified";
    cmd.label = "Is Modified?";
    cmd.autogroup = false; // we provide our own grouping information
    cmd.autorefresh = true; // refresh column when files change
    cmd.justify = "center";
    cmd.match.push_back("Yes"); // when searching, these are the only two options
    cmd.match.push_back("No");
}

// Implement the IsModified column (this entry point is an OnScriptColumn event).
// The name of this function must correspond to the value specified for the **method **property when the column was added in OnInit
function OnIsModified(scriptColData)
{
    // scriptColData is a ScriptColumnData object.
    // First check that this is the right column (it should be since we only added one).
    if (scriptColData.col != "IsModified")
        return;
    // We don't provide a value for folders since their timestamps don't mean much.
    // We set the sort key to 3 so they come last (in case the user is mixing files and folders).
    if (scriptColData.item.is_dir)
    {
        scriptColData.value = "";
        scriptColData.sort = 3;
    }
    // For files, are the two dates the same?
    else if (new Date(scriptColData.item.create).valueOf() == new Date(scriptColData.item.modify).valueOf())
    {
        scriptColData.value = "No";
        scriptColData.group = "Never Modified";
        scriptColData.sort = 2;
    }
    // the dates are different, therefore modified
    else
    {
        scriptColData.value = "Yes";
        scriptColData.group = "Modified";
        scriptColData.sort = 1;
    }
}