The Graph View

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The main FolderSizes graph view, which appears within the lower right-hand half of the screen, provides valuable visual information about the sizes of the sub-folders contained within the scanned folder.

 

Different Types of Graphs

 

FolderSizes provides several different types of file system data visualization mechanisms, as follows:

 

•Bar Graph - This presents a series of horizontal bar graphs correlative to the current detail view display. You can view more or less bar graph entries by manipulating the Subfolder Depth setting (via the View menu).
•Pie Graph - Similar to the bar graph implementation, but within a fixed space (e.g. no scrolling) for a more compartmentalized view of spatial distribution of sub-folders.
•Folder Map - Based upon the TreeMap concept first designed by Ben Shneiderman, the folder map provides a complete view of all subfolders (all all levels of depth) within a single, space-constrained view. Unlike bar or pie graphs, this view allows for deep visualization of the target file system structure without the need for scrolling or drill-downs.

 

Common Features

 

With the exception of the folder map, the order in which the FolderSizes view displays subfolders is determined by the sort order of the list report contained within the upper right-hand half of the screen. In other words, to sort the graph contents, just sort the detail list above it.

 

Clicking sections of a FolderSizes graph will highlight the corresponding folder in the detail list at the top of the screen. Double-clicking a bar will drill into the associated folder. Hovering over certain graph sections will reveal the associated folder information in a small pop-up window.

 

The toolbar that appears directly above the graph view allows you to access common graph-related features such as options (including colors, fonts, etc.), export to file, and switching between the available graph types (e.g. pie or bar graph).