#52 Keep menu in prefs enabled regardless of "action bar"

[GfE w3Hy]

The Problem

Obviously, beta testing is essential to eventually prove a version fit for release. As I'm not a coder, testing, reporting and UI improvements are what I can give back best. However, as the beta signature is different from release, GC has to be uninstalled and reinstalled on each switch between the two, and I went little short of crazy spending 40 minutes just to find out how to export/import settings. (They're customized to a degree that'd be a nightmare to restore by hand.)
In short:
1. searched settings incl. submenues up and down --> no avail
2. searched files, discovered a rather old /storage/emulated/0/.GhostCommander/gc_prefs.zip
3. tested if GC automatically writes changed settings there --> nope
4. searched more files, found /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.ghostsq.commander/, are there any settings? --> nope, not even if I changed some and exited GC
5. started to write an issue here asking whether export/import of settings had been abandoned
6. just to be sure before sending (not wanting to waste your time in addition to mine), looked up online help with little hope (as there wasn't any backup/restore anywhere, so what should help tell about it?) --> cookie banner, search for "export", uh wait, the term does occur once ...
7. found the paragraph on "backup/restore" close by (ah, that's what it's called), tried to follow it --> wait, that guide doesn't make sense with the actual settings page presented! is the guide outdated?
9. giving up! hope the dev is OK if I don't test the beta
10. but there's this old gc_prefs.zip on my disk ... hang on
11. read the "backup/restore" guide a second time: there is an item labeled "Enable Action Bar" in the settings, even with no way to tap "backup" or "restore" --> oookay, maybe I have to actually enable the "action bar" (what's that again? never really used nor missed it)
12. restarted GC, press 9 to open prefs again, in order to then look for an additional UI element? --> nope, no new bar anywhere
13. hm, what else could be meant? checking everything again ... oh, there are those unobtrusive three dots in the upper right corner, supposedly a menu, not sure if it there before, let's try and open it --> YAY, there you are!

Given the simplicity of the task, even if steps 2. to 5. were skipped, the path to understanding how to test a beta without losing release settings (or how to generally backup/restore them) turns out absurdly convoluted if you're not familiar with GC's terminology, especially regarding the "action bar", in the first place.

Suggested solution

1. UI: Keep the three dots menu in the prefs always on, regardless of the setting that's labeled "Enable Action Bar" and governs the actual bar at the top of GC's main screen. There's no merit whatsoever in hiding the three dots there, but lots of needless troubles.
2. Docs: Refer to the menu in the preferences as what it's presented to the user, a menu (no matter if it's internally related to the action bar), and use the term "action bar" solely for the actual bar that, if enabled, appears at the top of GC's main screen.

Additional remarks

Please forgive the ranty protocol above, the needless odyssee was frustrating. I vaguely remember (by now) I'd experienced the same frustration with a GhostCommander beta test before, and didn't want to make it again but became oblivious. Hope this issue helps to address it once and for all, so beta testers don't have to solve a riddle to get started.

[zc2]

Was there some particular reason the action bar was off on your device? It's an legacy option for old devices with a small screen and dedicated menu button. I think these days it should be always enabled, unconditionally.

[GfE w3Hy]

I see - thanks for your reply. If you're not aware of people disabling the "action bar" for efficiency reasons: That's been a deliberate choice of mine since the earliest days, because the additional bar would consume valuable screen estate for no additional benefit.(1)

I, for one, command the vast majority of actions in GC by toolbar or keyboard. GC's main menu is most easily opened by the dedicated menu key on my keyboard or the menu button in the toolbar (off-screen in the screenshots below). For the few remaining actions that are not accessible otherwise (like checksums), I also use the context menu.

In the first screenshot, you can see my regular view, whilst the second one shows the same thing as it would look with the "action bar" enabled. The latter makes no sense to me, neither in landscape nor in portrait mode.

Actually I might have replaced Ghost Commander with some other file manager long ago if that "moot" top bar couldn't be disabled. The option really makes a difference, please keep it.(2)

(1) Apparently, the exception to that rule is the three dots backup/restore menu that gets added to preferences only if the "action bar" is enabled (which I've had to learn the hard way again). Unless there's a strong reason to make the backup/restore menu hidable, I'd greatly appreciate if its obscure interdependence with the action bar was removed, making sure that backup/restore is availabe with and without "action bar" alike.

(2) The same holds for compact vs. "finger friendly".

[GfE w3Hy]

p. s.
- My OP is incorrect, the three dots menu is refered to in https://sites.google.com/site/ghostcommander1/info#h.p_ID_829 as "action menu" rather than "action bar". Regardless, I think it should be always visible.
- Alternatively, the actions Back up settings, Restore settings, Save log to file could also be provided as plain settings items, e. g. at the end of Miscellaneous or in a dedicated Backup/Restore section.