Consider easier to read file lengths in directory listings. #24011
Description
Summary of the new feature / enhancement
There have over the years been multiple suggestions for "I think a directory listing should look different" , so I will apologise for adding one. I'm also aware that one can personalize the formatting XML and I have helped other people to do that.
OK.
I bought a new external hardisk and did a backup of my laptop (machine name Elasmo) Here's what I see
Directory: D:\WindowsImageBackup\ELASMO\Backup 2024-07-03 205724
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
-a--- 04/07/2024 01:36 859832320 0a72971c-7f53-43a3-b802-a18b0fcb0b5f.vhdx
-a--- 04/07/2024 01:35 776 71a539b2-457c-49bf-b00a-30c9b87935e1_AdditionalFilesc3b9f3c7-5e52-4d5e-8b20-19adc95a34c7.xml
-a--- 04/07/2024 01:35 17088 71a539b2-457c-49bf-b00a-30c9b87935e1_Components.xml
-a--- 04/07/2024 01:35 6884 71a539b2-457c-49bf-b00a-30c9b87935e1_RegistryExcludes.xml
-a--- 04/07/2024 01:35 10726 71a539b2-457c-49bf-b00a-30c9b87935e1_Writer4dc3bdd4-ab48-4d07-adb0-3bee2926fd7f.xml
-a--- 04/07/2024 01:35 1488 71a539b2-457c-49bf-b00a-30c9b87935e1_Writer542da469-d3e1-473c-9f4f-7847f01fc64f.xml
-a--- 04/07/2024 01:35 1484 71a539b2-457c-49bf-b00a-30c9b87935e1_Writera6ad56c2-b509-4e6c-bb19-49d8f43532f0.xml
-a--- 04/07/2024 01:35 2940 71a539b2-457c-49bf-b00a-30c9b87935e1_Writerafbab4a2-367d-4d15-a586-71dbb18f8485.xml
-a--- 04/07/2024 01:35 6722 71a539b2-457c-49bf-b00a-30c9b87935e1_Writerbe000cbe-11fe-4426-9c58-531aa6355fc4.xml
-a--- 04/07/2024 01:35 5402 71a539b2-457c-49bf-b00a-30c9b87935e1_Writercd3f2362-8bef-46c7-9181-d62844cdc0b2.xml
-a--- 04/07/2024 01:35 7345084 71a539b2-457c-49bf-b00a-30c9b87935e1_Writere8132975-6f93-4464-a53e-1050253ae220.xml
-a--- 04/07/2024 01:36 1298450612224 a33d2db2-06cd-47f6-887a-7853ac70e49f.vhdx
-a--- 04/07/2024 01:35 1528 BackupSpecs.xml
-a--- 04/07/2024 01:36 62914560 Esp.vhdx
How big are the 3 VHDX files ?
Once a number gets beyond half a dozen digits it is really hard to judge the size at a glance. In this case 1298450612224 needs me to count the digits to see it is 1,298,450,612,224 .
The default formatting could include commas, or could change the numbers to read either 1298 GB or 1.3TB (similar to file explorer in Windows) .
Proposed technical implementation details (optional)
Change the formatting XML to either
use "N0" (number separators, no decimals) as the format for the length column
OR
Use a script block to convert numbers above some size to TB, GB etc.