1.5. List View
In windows that contain a lot of icons, the list view is a powerful weapon in the battle
against chaos. It shows you a tidy table of your files' names, dates, sizes, and so on. In
Leopard, alternating blue and white background stripes help you read across the columns
in a list-view window.
You have a great deal of control over your columns, in that you get to decide how wide
they should be, which of them should appear, and in what order (except that Name is
always the first column). Here's how to master these columns:
1.5.1. Sorting the List
Most of the world's list-view fans like their files listed alphabetically. It's occasionally
useful, however, to view the newest files first, largest first, or whatever.
When a desktop window displays its icons in a list view, a convenient new strip of
column headings appears (Figure 1-17
). These column headings aren't just signposts;
they're buttons, too. Click Name for alphabetical order, Date Modified to view newest
first, Size to view largest files at the top, and so on.
It's especially important to note the tiny,dark gray triangle that appears in the column
you've most recently clicked. It shows you which way the list is being sorted.
When the triangle point supward, the oldest files, smallest files, or files beginning with
numbers (or the letter A) appear at the top of the list, depending on which sorting
criterion you have selected.

Tip: It may help you to remember that when the smallest portion of the triangle is at the
top ( ), the smallest files are listed first when viewed in size order.

To reverse the sorting order, click the column heading a second time. Now the newest
files, largest files, or files beginning with the letter Z appear at the top the list. The tiny
triangle turns upside-down.
1.5.2. Flippy Triangles
One of the Mac's most attractive features is the tiny triangle that appears to the left of a
folder's name in a list view. In its official documents, Apple calls these buttons disclosure


UP TO SPEED
Flippy Triangle Keystrokes
The keystrokes that let you open and close flippy triangles in a list view are
worth committing to memory.
First, pressing the Option key when you click a flippy triangle lets you view a
folder's contents and the contents of any folders inside it. The result, in other
words, is a longer list that may involve several levels of indentation.
If you prefer to use the keyboard, substitute the right arrow key (to expand a
selected folder's flippy triangle) or left arrow key (to collapse the folder listing
again). Here again, adding the Option key expands or collapses all levels of
folders within the selected one.
Suppose, for example, that you want to find out how many files are in your
Pictures folder. The trouble is, you've organized your graphics files within that
folder in several category folders. And you realize that the "how many items"
statistic in the status bar shows you how many icons are visible in the window.
In other words, you won't know your total photo count until you've expanded all
the folders within the Pictures folder.
You could perform the entire routine from the keyboard like this: Get to your
Home folder by pressing Shift- -H. Select the Pictures folder by typing the
letter P. Open it by pressing -O (the shortcut for File Open) or -
down arrow. Switch to list view, if necessary, with a quick -2. Highlight the
entire contents by pressing -A (short for Edit Select All).
Now that all folders are highlighted, press Option-right arrow. You may have to
wait a moment for the Mac to open every subfolder of every subfolder. But
eventually, the massive list appears, complete with many levels of indentation.
At last, the "items" statistic in the status bar gives you a complete, updated tally
of how many files and folders, combined, are in the window. up to speed

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