Using Views to Display Your Files and Folders

The file manager includes views that enable you to show the contents of your folders in different ways, icon view, and list view.

  • Icon view

    Figure 6-13 Shows the items in the folder as icons.

    Figure 6-13 The Home Folder displayed in a icon view.

  • List view

    Figure 6-14 Shows the items in the folder as a list.

    Figure 6-14 The Home Folder displayed in a list view.

You may use the View menu, or the View as drop-down list to choose between icon or list view. You can specify how you want to arrange or sort items in the folder and modify the size of the items in the view pane. The following sections describe how to work with icon view and list view.

6.6.2.1. To Arrange Your Files in Icon View

When you display the contents of a folder in icon view, you can specify how to arrange the items in the folder. To specify how to arrange items in icon view, choose View ▸ Arrange Items. The Arrange Items submenu contains the following sections:

  • At the top is an option that enables you to arrange your files manually.
  • The middle section contains options that enable you to sort your files automatically.
  • The bottom section contains options that enable you to modify how your files are arranged.

Choose the appropriate options from the submenu, as described in the following table:

Option Description
Manually Select this option to arrange the items manually. To arrange the items manually, drag the items to the location you require within the view pane.
By Name Select this option to sort the items alphabetically by name. The order of the items is not case sensitive. If the file manager is set to display hidden files, the hidden files are shown last.
By Size Select this option to sort the items by size, with the largest item first. When you sort items by size, the folders are sorted by the number of items in the folder. The folders are not sorted by the total size of the items in the folder.
By Type Select this option to sort the items alphabetically by object type. The items are sorted alphabetically by the description of their MIME type. The MIME type identifies the format of a file, and enables applications to read the file. For example, an email application can use the image/png MIME type to detect that a PNG file is attached to an email.
By Modification Date Select this option to sort the items by the date the items were last modified. The most recently modified item is first.
By Emblems Select this option to sort the items by any emblems that are added to the items. The items are sorted alphabetically by emblem name. Items that do not have emblems are last.
Compact Layout Select this option to arrange the items so that the items are closer to each other.
Reversed Order Select this option to reverse the order of the option by which you sort the items. For example, if you sort the items by name, select the Reversed Order option to sort the items in reverse alphabetical order.

6.6.2.2. To Arrange Your Files in List View

When you display the contents of a folder in list view, you can specify how to arrange the items in the folder. To specify how to arrange items in list view, click on the header of the column specifying the property by which you wish to arrange the items. To inverse the sorting order click on the same column header again.

To add or remove columns from the list view choose View ▸ Visible Columns

The file manager remembers how you arrange the items in a particular folder. The next time that you display the folder, the items are arranged in the way that you selected. In other words, when you specify how to arrange the items in a folder, you customize the folder to display the items in that way. To return the arrangement settings of the folder to the default arrangement settings specified in your preferences, choose View ▸ Reset View to Defaults.

6.6.2.3. To Change the Size of Items in a View

You can change the size of items in a view. You can change the size if the view displays a file or a folder. You can change the size of items in a view in the following ways:

  • To enlarge the size of items in a view, choose View ▸ Zoom In.
  • To reduce the size of items in a view, choose View ▸ Zoom Out.
  • To return items in a view to the normal size, choose View ▸ Normal Size.

You can also use the zoom buttons on the location bar in a browser window to change the size of items in a view. Table 6-4 describes how to use the zoom buttons.

Table 6-4 Zoom Buttons
Button Button Name Description
Zoom Out button Click on this button to reduce the size of items in a view.
Normal Size button Click on this button to return items in a view to normal size.
Zoom In button Click on this button to enlarge the size of items in a view.

The file manager remembers the size of items in a particular folder. The next time that you display the folder, the items are displayed in the size that you selected. In other words, when you change the size of items in a folder, you customize the folder to display the items at that size. To return the size of the items to the default size specified in your preferences, choose View ▸ Reset View to Defaults.

Directories and File SystemsSelecting Files and Folders