FolderService — Window Folder Management API Reference

FolderService is the central authority for managing window folders (categories) in BetterWinTab. It holds a live ObservableCollection<WindowFolder> that the UI binds to, handles all filter evaluation against enumerated windows, and serializes/deserializes folder configuration through AppSettings. The service distinguishes between the built-in All Windows folder, user-created smart and manual folders, and the two singleton special folders — Clipboard and Recycle Bin.

Constructor

`FolderService(WindowEnumerationService)`

Initializes the service and immediately adds the built-in All Windows folder as the first entry in Folders.

public FolderService(WindowEnumerationService windowService)

windowService

WindowEnumerationService

required

The window enumeration service used by RefreshAllFolders and RefreshFolder to obtain the current list of open windows.

Properties

`Folders`

public ObservableCollection<WindowFolder> Folders { get; }

The live, ordered list of all folders. The UI binds directly to this collection — adding or removing folders is immediately reflected in the overlay sidebar. The All Windows folder (FolderType.All) is always at index 0 (SortOrder = 0).

Methods

`RefreshAllFolders()`

Re-evaluates every folder’s filter rules against the current set of open windows. Internally calls WindowEnumerationService.GetAllWindows() once and passes the result to RefreshFolder for each folder, avoiding redundant enumeration.

public void RefreshAllFolders()

Clipboard (FolderType.Clipboard) and Recycle Bin (FolderType.RecycleBin) folders are skipped — their Windows collections are always cleared and left empty because they represent actions rather than window groups.

`RefreshFolder(WindowFolder, List<WindowInfo>?)`

Refreshes a single folder’s Windows collection. If allWindows is not supplied the service calls GetAllWindows() internally.

public void RefreshFolder(WindowFolder folder, List<WindowInfo>? allWindows = null)

folder

WindowFolder

required

The folder whose Windows collection should be rebuilt. The collection is cleared before repopulating.

allWindows

List<WindowInfo>?

default:"null"

An optional pre-fetched window list. Pass this when you are refreshing multiple folders in a loop to avoid redundant system calls.

Filter logic by FolderType:

`FolderType`	Filter behaviour
`All`	All enumerated windows
`SmartProcess`	Windows whose `ProcessName` matches `folder.ProcessFilter` (case-insensitive)
`SmartClass`	Windows whose `ClassName` matches `folder.ClassNameFilter` (case-insensitive)
`SmartRules`	Windows matched by `folder.Rules.Matches(w)`; falls back to all windows when `Rules` is `null`
`Manual`	Windows whose `Handle` is in `folder.ManualWindowHandles`
`Clipboard`	No-op — collection left empty
`RecycleBin`	No-op — collection left empty

`CreateSmartProcessFolder(string, string, string, string)`

Creates a new smart folder that automatically populates itself with all windows belonging to a specific process.

public WindowFolder CreateSmartProcessFolder(
    string name,
    string processName,
    string icon = "\uE756",
    string bgColor = "#2D3A2D")

name

string

required

Display name shown in the folder sidebar (e.g. "Chrome").

processName

string

required

The process name to filter by — case-insensitive match against WindowInfo.ProcessName (e.g. "chrome", "Code").

icon

string

default:"\"\\uE756\""

Segoe MDL2 / Fluent icon glyph. Defaults to the Tag icon (\uE756).

bgColor

string

default:"\"#2D3A2D\""

Hex background tint applied to the folder tile. Defaults to a dark green.

return

WindowFolder

The newly created folder, already appended to Folders with SortOrder set to the current collection count.

`CreateManualFolder(string, string, string)`

Creates a new manual folder where windows are assigned explicitly by the user rather than matched by a rule.

public WindowFolder CreateManualFolder(
    string name,
    string icon = "\uE8B7",
    string bgColor = "#2D2D3D")

name

string

required

Display name for the folder.

icon

string

default:"\"\\uE8B7\""

Segoe MDL2 icon glyph. Defaults to the Folder icon (\uE8B7).

bgColor

string

default:"\"#2D2D3D\""

Hex background tint. Defaults to a dark blue-grey.

return

WindowFolder

The newly created folder, appended to Folders.

`CreateSmartRulesFolder(string, FolderRuleGroup, string, string)`

Creates a composite rules folder (v2 smart folder) that evaluates multiple conditions with AND/OR logic via a FolderRuleGroup.

public WindowFolder CreateSmartRulesFolder(
    string name,
    FolderRuleGroup rules,
    string icon = "\uE756",
    string bgColor = "#2D3A2D")

name

string

required

Display name for the folder.

rules

FolderRuleGroup

required

The composite rule group. Each condition in the group is evaluated by calling rules.Matches(WindowInfo).

icon

string

default:"\"\\uE756\""

Segoe MDL2 icon glyph.

bgColor

string

default:"\"#2D3A2D\""

Hex background tint. Defaults to a dark green.

return

WindowFolder

The newly created folder, appended to Folders.

`CreateClipboardFolder()`

Creates the special Clipboard History folder and appends it to Folders.

public WindowFolder CreateClipboardFolder()

return

WindowFolder

A new WindowFolder with Type = FolderType.Clipboard, Name = "Clipboard", icon \uE8C8 (Copy), and background #2A2A3D.

This is a singleton folder — only one Clipboard folder should exist at a time. RemoveFolder will refuse to delete it, so you must ensure CreateClipboardFolder() is not called more than once during a session. Check for an existing FolderType.Clipboard entry in Folders before calling.

`CreateRecycleBinFolder()`

Creates the special Recycle Bin folder and appends it to Folders. Clicking this folder in the overlay opens the Windows Recycle Bin shell view and hides the overlay.

public WindowFolder CreateRecycleBinFolder()

return

WindowFolder

A new WindowFolder with Type = FolderType.RecycleBin, Name = "Recycle Bin", icon \uE74D (Delete), and background #2A2A2A.

Like the Clipboard folder, this is a singleton — only one Recycle Bin folder should exist at a time. Check for an existing FolderType.RecycleBin entry in Folders before calling.

`RemoveFolder(string)`

Removes a folder from Folders by its unique Id string.

public bool RemoveFolder(string folderId)

folderId

string

required

The WindowFolder.Id (a Guid string) of the folder to remove.

return

bool

true if the folder was found and successfully removed; false if the folder was not found or is a protected built-in type.

The following folder types are protected and cannot be removed with this method — RemoveFolder will return false without making any changes:

FolderType.All — the built-in “All Windows” folder
FolderType.Clipboard — the Clipboard History folder
FolderType.RecycleBin — the Recycle Bin folder

`LoadFromSettings(AppSettings)`

Restores the full folder list from a previously saved AppSettings object. The current Folders collection is cleared and rebuilt from scratch.

public void LoadFromSettings(AppSettings settings)

settings

AppSettings

required

The settings object to read folders from. Folders with Type == FolderType.All present in settings.Folders are ignored — a fresh All Windows folder is always prepended.

The load sequence is:

Folders.Clear()
Add a new All Windows folder at SortOrder = 0
Add all non-All folders from settings.Folders, ordered by SortOrder ascending

`SaveToSettings(AppSettings)`

Writes the current folder list (excluding the All Windows folder) to settings.Folders, re-numbering SortOrder values starting from 1.

public void SaveToSettings(AppSettings settings)

settings

AppSettings

required

The settings object whose Folders list will be replaced. The All Windows folder (FolderType.All) is excluded from the saved list since it is always reconstructed on load.

SortOrder values are reassigned as 1, 2, 3, … in the current display order when saving — any previous SortOrder values are discarded.

Models

Services

FolderService — Window Folder Management API Reference

Constructor

`FolderService(WindowEnumerationService)`

Properties

`Folders`

Methods

`RefreshAllFolders()`

`RefreshFolder(WindowFolder, List<WindowInfo>?)`

`CreateSmartProcessFolder(string, string, string, string)`

`CreateManualFolder(string, string, string)`

`CreateSmartRulesFolder(string, FolderRuleGroup, string, string)`

`CreateClipboardFolder()`

`CreateRecycleBinFolder()`

`RemoveFolder(string)`

`LoadFromSettings(AppSettings)`

`SaveToSettings(AppSettings)`

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Models

Services

Documentation Index

​Constructor

​FolderService(WindowEnumerationService)

​Properties

​Folders

​Methods

​RefreshAllFolders()

​RefreshFolder(WindowFolder, List<WindowInfo>?)

​CreateSmartProcessFolder(string, string, string, string)

​CreateManualFolder(string, string, string)

​CreateSmartRulesFolder(string, FolderRuleGroup, string, string)

​CreateClipboardFolder()

​CreateRecycleBinFolder()

​RemoveFolder(string)

​LoadFromSettings(AppSettings)

​SaveToSettings(AppSettings)

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Constructor

`FolderService(WindowEnumerationService)`

Properties

`Folders`

Methods

`RefreshAllFolders()`

`RefreshFolder(WindowFolder, List<WindowInfo>?)`

`CreateSmartProcessFolder(string, string, string, string)`

`CreateManualFolder(string, string, string)`

`CreateSmartRulesFolder(string, FolderRuleGroup, string, string)`

`CreateClipboardFolder()`

`CreateRecycleBinFolder()`

`RemoveFolder(string)`

`LoadFromSettings(AppSettings)`

`SaveToSettings(AppSettings)`