Managing Your SVS Layer List

If you're like me you have plenty of layers in your SVS Admin list. Here are a few tips I'm using that may help you manage your list a tad better.

Managing Autostart Layers

I have a number of autostart layers that were scattered around the alphabetized layer list and wanted to indicate that they were autostart without having to check each one as well as force them to the TOP of the list.

Click to view.

Which layers are autostart?
What version of Adobe is which?
Which version of 7-Zip am I running, do I need an update?

I simply renamed all my autostart layers and prefaced the name with a "." (dot, a period). This puts the layer all the way to the top because Windows sorts most punctuation marks before numbers and letters.

Using Special Characters

Actually you can use quite a few characters to force a layer to the top of the list or even the bottom if you wish. The characters "! " # $ % & " ( ) * + , - ." all come before alphanumerics. You can see how things are sorted by just opening up the Windows app charmap and taking a peek, all characters are sorted on this table the same way they'll sort in the list. You can see the "!" (exclamation point or bang) is the very first in the list so anything starting with "!" will always come first.

Oh, and do you have that one hot app you want to stay the most tippy top? Then double the character you choose to preface your layer's name with. ".Adobe" becomes "..Adobe" since TWO of these low valued characters beat out just one.

Click to view.

Now it's sorted the way I want it to be...

All my autostart layers are at the top since they all start with a dot (period).

The Activate ActivateOnStart layer stays at the top of the list since it has 2 dots ahead of the name.

I can tell at a glance what version of each program I am running.

Sorted this way you can also reactivate or deactivate all your autostart layers at once easily. Say you've deactivated them for some reason like layer maintenance or export. You can simply click the first one and SHIFT click the last one thereby choosing all your autostart layers, then RIGHT click and choose the action you want to take on all these layers, like activate or deactivate.

Click to view.

Activating or deactivating just my autostarts is easy.
Click the top one, SHIFT click the bottom one and RIGHT click -- choose the option you want

Custom Sort Orders

If you just don't like the alphabetical list another alternative is to preface the names with ascending numbers. This way you can order your list in any way you want.

So;

Adobe
Google Earth
Word

Can become;

1) Google Earth
2) Word
3) Adobe

Version Tracking

Another helpful tip is to always add the version number of your application to the layer name. That way you know exactly what version you're running when it comes time to updating or try another version of the same app.

Using the same example from above they become;

1) Google Earth 4.0.1693
2) Word 2002
3) Adobe 7.08

Now you know exactly what layer is what version thereby avoiding the potential confusion of having layers of different versions of the same app.

I am finding SVS to be more and more helpful in evaluating, updating and even eliminating apps due to it's layering abilities. These tips make it just that much more of a joy to work with.