"Programmers are very comfortable with nested systems, where an instance of an object is stored in another instance of the same object. Humans, on the other hand, generally have a very difficult time with the idea. (...) In a file cabinet, you never see folders inside folders, Pendaflexes inside Pendaflexes or file drawers inside file drawers."
(Alan Cooper, in 'About Face - The essentials of user interface design.')
FOLDER - TREE
Sometimes Folder Tree users write me asking for suggestions on Javascript books and other Web-developement subjects. Here are my picks:

Designing with Javascript

Tells all you want to know about the language

About Face: The Essentials of User Interface Design
No one should design a GUI (Web pages included) without reading this first.

Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference
Helps in writing DHTML code that not only runs smoothly but also is cross-browser compatible.

Javascript Programmer's Annotated Archives; With Cdrom
This book features the Folder Tree script!


The Internet is a wealthy source of information, entertainment, and wonder. The Folder Tree script has enabled me to give back, even if just a small contribution.

I wrote the first version of the script back in the beginning of '97. I realized that everybody else was reinventing the wheel creating all different types of "navigation bars" when the requirement had already been addressed with the well known Windows 95 File Explorer's hierarchical tree of folders and documents.

However, there was no easy way of creating that kind of dynamic tree with html. I searched the Net and no one else was offering that kind of control for download, so I decided it was a good time to learn Javascript!

Soon after, I started getting requests from other Web authors that wanted to add the tree to their sites. During '97 my home page went through a metamorphosis from a site with personal information that also featured a new cool control, to the home page of the Folder Tree that also featured some personal information...

Early adopters of the Folder Tree were fundamental to its development. They made me improve the documentation, they reported bugs, and in some cases they even contributed with new code, following along the same lines of better known open source projects. Being in contact with so many different people, learning about their needs, their experiences, and in some cases their lives, made me a richer person.

'98 was the year of Dynamic HTML and the Folder Tree mailing list.

Just as before, learning more about Web design, in this case DHTML, was a good reason for getting back to the keyboard and rewrite the whole thing: version 2.0 was born.

With the new version the number of users kept growing. People come to my site from all different places: after seeing the tree in someone else's page, doing a search on a Javascript directory service, or in some cases by finding the link in places where the script was prominently featured like Developer.com or dhtmlzone.com.

I soon realized that I did not have the time to support the script by myself. On June '98 the Folder Tree mailing list was created. It has now (April '99) 123 active members, people from all over the world, of all types of ages, professions, and education levels.

The community wanted better performance, more features, more compatibility, but I didn't have the time to keep up. In the beginning of '99 some of these members created new versions of the script (they called it different flavors of version 3).

Recently I was contacted by members that wanted to release version 4. The plan is to have all the best features of the previous parallel versions in a single package with professional support for a small fee. Below you will find a link to the Version 4 home page. There you will find a downloadable evaluation copy version.

This is how this story ends. Like everything else, the Folder Tree has gone commercial.


See the latest version running and download the evaluation copy from Essence Associates, or mail them your questions.

Join the mailing list.

The version 2.0 is still available, but without support:

Marcelino Martins
April, 99.




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