Once you learn to use one of M3's Browsers, you will be mostly knowledgeable about the rest also.  To learn how to use the Browsers you should read one or more of the previous four sections in this manual and then read this section for more details on the Browser menu items and differences.

Menu items

The browsers' pop-up menu is available at any time and is the same, regardless than the fact they the pointer may or may not be over an image icon or that icon's selection status.
The actions provided by the pop-up menu are listed below.

• Refresh Now - Selecting this menu item causes the Browser to redraw it's content.
• Rescan - This item causes the browser to re-examine it's content and the redraw.
• Select>All - Select all images in the browser.  (When icons are selected their text is light colored on a black background)
• Select>None - Deselect all images.
• Select>Images - Select files known to be image files by M3.
• Select>Non Images - Select files which are not known to be image files by M3.
• Select>Storage>Accessible - Select images which are currently accessible to M3.  For example: Images in hard drive directories or on removable media which is believed to be currently present in the drive.
• Select>Storage>Non-Removable - Select images which are not on defined removable devices or media.
• Select>Storage>Removable - Select images which reside on defined removable devices or media.
• Select>Corrupt - Select images which are known to be corrupt by M3.
• Sort>Name - Sort images by name; case-sensitive.
• Sort>File Format - Sort images by file format.  File format is defined with-in the M3 database and not dependent on the file name's extension.
• Sort>Size - Sort images by size stored in the database.
• Sort>Access Frequency - Sort images by access frequency.  Images that you display more often (popular images) will be moved to the from on the list of images.
• Selected>Open All - Open all selected images into their own Editor Windows.  For safety reasons, there is an upper limit to the number of images that can be selected.
• Selected>Attributes... - Open the Database Object (attributes) window for the selected image(s).
• Selected>Accept - Mark selected image(s) as accepted.  Normally you will not need to perform this action since all images displayed in a Browser are accepted automatically.
• Selected>Skip - Skip the accept or reject marking for selected images.  Normally you will not need to perform this action since images displayed in a Browser are already accepted and skipping them has no effect.
• Selected>Reject - Reject selected image.  This menu item, like the previous two, is not normally used in the three standard browsers.
• Selected>Pass To>Slideshow... - Display the selected images in a new Slideshow window.  The images passed to the slideshow will not be deselected.
• Selected>Pass To>Virtual Browser... - Display the selected images in a new Virtual Browser.  The images passed to the slideshow will not be deselected.
• Selected>Pass To>Advanced Browser... - Display the selected images in a new Advanced Browser.  The images passed to the slideshow will not be deselected.
• Change Owner - Change selected images' associated userid in the M3 database.  This menu item not available in single-user systems.
• Remove - Remove selected images from the browser.  The images will not be deleted from disk however if the Browser is a Virtual Browser, the images will be unlinked.
• Delete - Remove selected images from the disk and the browser.  The images will be added to M3's Delete Confirmation dialog and removed from the Browser.  Whether or not they are actually removed from the disk depends on what you do in the Delete Confirmation dialog.
• Realize Path - Selecting this menu item will update the location of all files in M3's indices (but not actual data) and add any images not known by the database.  This is a very quick way to add or update a large number of files in the database and normally done if you move many files around using a Command Line or the Desktop.
• Information... - Displays the information shown at the bottom of some browsers for some of the files.

Drag and drop behavior is customized for each browser:

• Move - A move drag-and-drop will move files between Directory Browsers, add links for a Virtual Browser, and add the images to an Advanced Browser.  If you move images from a Virtual Browser or an Advanced Browser to a Directory Browser, the file will be moved from it's actual location.
• Copy - A copy drag-and-drop will copy files between Directory Browsers, add links for a Virtual Browser, and add the images to an Advanced Browser.  If you copy images from a Virtual Browser or an Advanced Browser to a Directory Browser, the file will be copied from it's actual location.
• Link - A link drag-and-drop from any source will add links for a Virtual Browser and add the images to an Advanced Browser.

When you copy or move files, they will be added to the Batch Process window.  They will be displayed as if the action was executed but it is up to you to give the final go ahead in the Batch Process window or to skip any of your actions.  The Batch Process window will also remember actions which could not be performed (i.e. out of disk space or media not inserted) therefore you can attempt to redo your action at a later time.

Please see the sections describing use of the Directory Browser, Virtual Browser, and Advanced Browser for more information on each individual Browser.