This is interesting, as I do something similar, but mainly rely on a heavily customized parts.lst. Essentially, I move the parts into the order I want them to display in. For example, in the bricks, I've moved them into the following order: Standard, Modified (roughly as bricklink defines it, although also including round and wedge), patterned, and old/discontinued/alias parts. This allows me to have the frequently used parts (e.g. a 1x2 brick) near the top of the list and easily accessible while the less frequently used parts (1x1 brick with "A" pattern) are at the bottom, accessible when needed, but out of the way the rest of the time.
I do with I'd thought of/realized I could use a search pattern like you have, as I ended up doing something involving the parts.lst file as well. Like you, I wanted to put my Windscreens, Windows, Glass, and Doors together. So, to accomplish this, I appended "WWGD" to the front of every Windscreen, Window, Glass, and Door in my parts list, then searched for "<WWGD". The result ends up being the same, but required far more work than it should have.
The main problem with my current system, though, is that every time there is a new parts update, I have to add each new part in manually. Basically, I create a seperate file with all the new parts, run the Makelist function in it to create a list of parts, and then go through it, manually adding each line in as I cut and past the part from the "new parts" folder into my regular parts folder. It's always a time consuming process. This is why I sometimes with Chris would put the parts that have been updated (the ones that aren't new) into a seperate folder so I could simply copy them and focus exclusively on the new parts. As it stands, not only do I have to add each part in, but I also have to be on the lookout for part updates so that I don't add the same part in twice.
I really wish there was an easier way sometimes...
I do with I'd thought of/realized I could use a search pattern like you have, as I ended up doing something involving the parts.lst file as well. Like you, I wanted to put my Windscreens, Windows, Glass, and Doors together. So, to accomplish this, I appended "WWGD" to the front of every Windscreen, Window, Glass, and Door in my parts list, then searched for "<WWGD". The result ends up being the same, but required far more work than it should have.
The main problem with my current system, though, is that every time there is a new parts update, I have to add each new part in manually. Basically, I create a seperate file with all the new parts, run the Makelist function in it to create a list of parts, and then go through it, manually adding each line in as I cut and past the part from the "new parts" folder into my regular parts folder. It's always a time consuming process. This is why I sometimes with Chris would put the parts that have been updated (the ones that aren't new) into a seperate folder so I could simply copy them and focus exclusively on the new parts. As it stands, not only do I have to add each part in, but I also have to be on the lookout for part updates so that I don't add the same part in twice.
I really wish there was an easier way sometimes...
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I'm theJude! So that's what you call me. You know, that or, uh, his Judeness, or uh, Juder, or el Juderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.
I'm theJude! So that's what you call me. You know, that or, uh, his Judeness, or uh, Juder, or el Juderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.