Feature Request: Expandable File Filter editor in Preset Editor

[cheaters]

The Format editor correctly expands as the Preset Editor window is resized, but the Files → File Filter editor remains fixed at only about one or two visible lines regardless of the window size.

For simple filters this isn’t an issue, but more advanced Groovy filter expressions quickly become difficult to edit because most of the code is hidden and requires constant scrolling.

Could the File Filter editor be made vertically resizable, or at least expand with the Preset Editor window in the same way the Format editor already does?

It seems inconsistent that the Format editor uses the available space while the File Filter editor does not.

Thanks a bunch

[rednoah]

What is your use case? Can you share your very long and complex multi-line file filter expression so that we can see what you can see?




EDIT:

I had a look and it wasn't growing horizontally to fill out the window width. FileBot r11059 makes the File Filter / File Order expression field grow horizontally as well. As far as I can tell, it'll already grow vertically automatically as you add extra lines. That's already there in recent FileBot releases.

[cheaters]

That is not the behavior I’m seeing in the current signed macOS PKG release, FileBot 5.2.3 (r10990).

The File Filter field remains approximately 1–2 lines high:

* adding additional lines does not increase its height;
* resizing the Preset window vertically does not increase its height.

The Format field does expand with the window, but the File Filter field does not.

I recorded the behavior here:

https://tmpfiles.org/wMwxiWjMSQN5/scree ... 4.41pm.mp4

I’m currently using the signed macOS PKG release, FileBot 5.2.3 (r10990).

I don’t see a signed macOS installer for r11059 on the FileBot download page. My understanding is that revision builds such as r11059 are development builds rather than normal downloadable macOS releases.

Is there a signed PKG available for testing r11059, or should I wait until the change is included in the next public macOS release?

Regarding your question about my use case, I don’t think it’s relevant in this case because the behavior is independent of the filter itself. Whether the filter is one line or many, the File Filter editor either resizes correctly or it doesn’t. The screen recording demonstrates the UI behavior I’m seeing with the current release.

[cheaters]

:?: What is your use case? Can you share your very long and complex multi-line file filter expression so that we can see what you can see?


EDIT:

I had a look and it wasn't growing horizontally to fill out the window width. FileBot r11059 makes the File Filter / File Order expression field grow horizontally as well. As far as I can tell, it'll already grow vertically automatically as you add extra lines. That's already there in recent FileBot releases.

As a side question, when revision numbers such as r11059 are mentioned, is there a way for users of the signed macOS PKG release to determine which revision a download contains?

The download page and release archive list version numbers (e.g. 5.2.3) but not the internal revision, so it’s difficult to know whether a particular fix is available or how to obtain the revision being referenced.

[rednoah]

You can check the revision number in the top right: [FAQ] How do I open the Debug Console / Groovy Pad?

The latest build in Latest Beta Revisions and Release Candidates is currently from 2026-07-20 09:02 so a beta build for r11059 or higher does not currently exist. But I can push a new beta build anytime if you need it right away. There's usually a new beta build every 1-2 weeks.

The Format field does expand with the window, but the File Filter field does not.

I see. Although both expand if possible, if your custom format is already using all the vertical space, then the file filer will not be able to grow. I'll see if I can give both of them the same grow priority.

Note that your file filter is rather simple and could easily be written in a single line as well. That said, the video illustrates the issue, and you should be able to use simple multi-line file filter expressions if that is what you want to do.

UPDATE

FileBot r11060 will try to give you at least 3 lines of file filter code. I was only able to set the minimum height in the end. Notably, I was not able to write layout constraints would allow either code areas to grow as we might expect under all circumstances. If your format code has many many many more lines than the file filter code, then the format area will always take up most of the space because it wants to be really large. If both code areas have the same number of lines then they will grow proportionally. So if you have a lot of format code, but also want a bigger file filter area, then you can just add lots of empty lines to the end of the file filter area to make it similar in preferred size to the format code area.