Sharepoint - Adding Column(Folder)

[granular]

Using Sharepoint 2003
Location - Shared Documents

When I am in the Shared Documents section of my project I can see my list of folders, however I cannot see if anything exists inside until I open the folder. I have not come across any section in the "Modify Settings and Columns" section that would leave me to believe this option exists.
I did find that I could view all the documents with out the folders, however there is no path/location column to identify where it is. So my question is this, Has anyone come across this functionality or has anyone been able to accomplish this with alternate functionality/programming?

Please let me know your convenience.

Thanks,
msmegal

 

[MaxEd]

Folders aren't particularly the best way to organize your data in Sharepoint. Since Sharepoint is a database it would behoof you to use metadata to identify the folders based on the information you are storing so that you can easily find it using filters intead of drilling so deep a folder structure. Sharepoint has a limit on the length of the URL so as your folder structure becomes more complex you will begin to generate errors.

-Laughter works miracles.

 

[SPV]

I agree MaxEd. I get the impression that folders were only included in SharePoint to stop it feeling too unfamiliar. They seem to have been bolted on as an afterthought because, lets face it, they don't really work (once you start creating views to filter the documents it really helps to ignore folders).

It's a shame they even bothered really, because the generic metadata idea is much more powerful.

 

[granular]

MaxEd and SPV,

Thank you for the information. I'm a total rookie when it comes to the proper way of putting a Sharepoint server together, but the information provided makes complete sense. I was trying to find a solution with the current design, however I may want to re-think how/what I'm doing.

Great information.

M

 

[joesenna]

Here is a suggestion

Open a doc library and go to the properties for the web part. Click on custom view. Here you can create a custom view. You can add a column for an identifier label and then group by that label. This gives the + expandable functionality that allows for drill down from file category to the files themselves.

Another option is the display, you can also use a preview display so when you roll over a folder the files are displayed dynamically.

Another optio is to add a column with a file count...this is a # of files in the folder....makes the site more intuitive for the user. Couple of suggestions...help that helps.