Well, here's MS's description of the namespace:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de.../namespace.asp
Basically, the namespace is a way of organizing information in a familiar
paradigm, files & folders, even when no corresponding file or folder exists
in the file system (hard drive(s)).
Desktop, Computer, Control Panel, & Network are all examples of namespace
folders. The file system is a subset of the namespace, contained in the
Computer folder.
The namespace is rooted at the Desktop. The folder tree in the left-hand
pane of an Explorer window shows what I refer to as the 'namespace path'.
For example, the namespace path of 'C:\Windows' would be
'Desktop\Computer\C:\Windows'.
Namespace items can be a combination of virtual & file system objects. What
you see on the Desktop is a combination of:
C:\Users\<UserName>\Desktop
C:\Users\Public\Desktop
and various virtual items such as Network, Control Panel & Recycle Bin.
The <UserName> folder on the Desktop is a namespace folder, but, on a
standard install of Vista, its contents reflect file system items --
specifically, the contents of 'C:\Users\<UserName>'. If you redirect the
location of of one of the user's special folders, say 'Documents' (and
accept the option to move its contents), you will see that 'Documents' still
appears in the <UserName> folder on the Desktop, but not in
'C:\Users\<UserName>' -- that's one of the tricks of the namespace.
So, in terms of saved views, there is only an issue if there is more than
one namespace path to the folder. In Vista, this would be <UserName> and
all it's subfolders. The view saved for:
'Desktop\<UserName>'
is not used when you access
'Desktop\Computer\C:\Users\<UserName>'
It saves its own view. In practice, once a user settles in to a preferred
access method, this shouldn't present problems & can actually be
advantageous, allowing the user to maintain two separate views -- say tiles
or list for 'Desktop\<UserName>' and its subfolders but details for when
navigating the drives.
As for templates, the most important aspect of templates are that they
control what tasks appear in the toolbar. 'New Contact' is only available
for folders using the Contacts template; 'Slide Show' is only available for
folders using the 'Pictures and Videos' template, etc. There is no way for
a user to add the 'Slide Show' button to the toolbar of a folder that is
using the 'All Items' template. There are default view settings associated
with the various templates that govern such things as icon style and what
columns are selected by default -- it is these default view settings that
can be modified using the 'Apply to Folders' option. But the default view
settings are only applied the FIRST time a folder is viewed using a
particular template, after that, the saved view settings for that specific
folder are applied.
The expected templates are applied to the user's shell folders by default:
the 'Documents' folder uses the 'Documents' template, the Pictures folder
uses the 'Pictures and Videos' template, etc. I think what frustrates most
users is 'content-sniffing', which is how Explorer, when viewing a folder
for the first time, 'guesses' which template to use. Based on the posts
I've seen in these newgroups, it seems a little over-eager to assign the
'Pictures and Videos' template to any folder that contains an image file
among its contents. Content-sniffing can be over-ridden with the reg edit I
detailed elsewhere in this thread.
--
Good Luck,
Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
"Ed" <ehecht@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:ebGlDCjdHHA.4720@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> What do you mean about "namespace path" to the folder? I've been reading
> a lot of the questions and answers regarding the views in vista changing
> or not being consistant, and the focus of the answers has always been on
> the notion of templates. I thought the whole idea of the template is that
> a kind of file would retain certain view characteristics regardless of
> where it was.
>
>
>
> "Keith Miller MVP" <k.miller79@no.spam.verizon.net> wrote in message
> news:ucA580mcHHA.4352@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> 'Apply to Folders' in Vista works on a per-template basis. Different
>> defaults can be saved for 'All Items', 'Documents', 'Pictures & Video',
>> etc.
>> You need to be sure of what template the current folder is using before
>> using 'Apply to Folders'.
>>
>> This also means that the default will only be applied to folders of that
>> type.
>>
>> As for a specific folder forgetting it's view, folder views are unique
>> based on the namespace path to the folder -- the saved view for
>> 'Desktop\UserName\Pictures' has no bearing on the view of
>> 'Desktop\Computer\c:\Users\UserName\Pictures', it can remember different
>> view settings -- even use a different template. So make sure that's not
>> the cause of the discrepancy that you are seeing.
>>
>> If that's not it, post back. Lots of things we can check! :-)
>>
>>
>> --
>> Good Luck,
>>
>> Keith
>> Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
>>
>> "Jeff Ingram" <ingramje29@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>> news:etT%23SVmcHHA.4624@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> The default view of folders sometimes reverts back to previous settings.
>>> I've setup a folder with the view that I'd like for all of my folders,
>>> with
>>> Details, Size, Create Date, & Modified Date (turned off Tag since it's
>>> of no
>>> use to me whatsoever since I can't use it for MPEGS, AVIs, or Real
>>> files)
>>> and then clicked Tools/Folder Options, then clicked the View tab and
>>> under
>>> Folder Views, where it says: You can apply the view (such as Details or
>>> Icons) that your are using for this folder to all folders of this type.
>>> I
>>> click the "Apply to Folders" button.
>>>
>>> Later I'll come back to that very same folder and the view has changed.
>>> And
>>> not all of the other folders on the system have taken on those same
>>> settings.
>>>
>>> I know in XP all I had to do was the same procedure that I outlined
>>> above
>>> and I could get all my folders to look the same.
>>>
>>> What gives with Vista?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Jeff
>>
>