Editing File manager (section)

==Spatial file manager==
[[File:Nautilus-spatial.png|thumb|The [[Nautilus file manager]] had a spatial mode, which was removed with the arrival of GNOME (and with it Nautilus) version 3.x.  Each of these windows displays an open directory.]]
'''Spatial file managers''' use a spatial [[interface metaphor|metaphor]] to represent [[computer file|files]] and [[directory (file systems)|directories]] as if they were actual physical objects. A spatial file manager imitates the way people interact with physical objects.

Some ideas behind the concept of a spatial file manager are:

# A single [[window (computing)|window]] represents each opened directory
# Each window is unambiguously and irrevocably tied to a particular directory.
# Stability: files, directories, and windows go where the user moves them, stay where the user puts them ("preserve their spatial state"), and retain all their other "physical" characteristics (such as size, shape, color and location).
# The same item can only be viewed in one window at a time.

As in navigational file managers, when a directory is opened, the [[icon (computing)|icon]] representing the directory changes—perhaps from an image showing a closed drawer to an opened one, perhaps the directory's icon turns into a silhouette filled with a pattern—and a new window is opened to represent that directory.

Examples of file managers that use a spatial metaphor to some extent include:
* [[Amiga]]'s [[AmigaOS|Workbench]]
* [[Apple Computer|Apple]]'s [[Macintosh Finder|Finder]] 5 to 9
* [[BeOS]]'s [[OpenTracker|Tracker]]
* [[Digital Research]]'s [[Graphics Environment Manager|Desktop]] (implemented in Atari TOS and as a somewhat reduced version for PCs)
* [[Enlightenment (window manager)|E17]] file manager
* [[GNOME]]'s [[Nautilus file manager|Nautilus]] from version 2.6 (default until 2.29, completely removed in 3.0)
* [[Haiku (operating system)|Haiku]]'s [[Haiku Tracker|Tracker]]
* [[Konqueror]] has the option to turn into spatial mode
* [[MATE (desktop environment)|MATE]]'s [[Caja file manager|Caja]] (though the default mode is navigational)
* [[OS/2]]'s [[Workplace Shell]]
* [[RISC OS]] Filer
* ROX-Filer file manager ([[ROX Desktop]])

Dysfunctional spatial file managers:
* [[Windows Explorer]] in [[Windows 95]] was set as a spatial file manager model by default; because it also worked as a navigational file manager, directories could be opened in multiple windows, which made it fail all the above criteria. Later versions gradually abandoned the spatial model.
* [[Apple Computer|Apple]]'s [[Macintosh Finder|Finder]] in [[macOS]] was designed with a similar integration of spatial and navigational modes, meaning that the spatial mode did not actually work.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/mac-os-x-10-5.ars/12#divided |title=Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: the Ars Technica review: The Finder: An application divided against itself |date=2007-10-28 |first=John |last=Siracusa |access-date=2008-04-20}}</ref>