[Geany-devel] [geany/geany] 7cc443: Don't append file truncation warning if file doesn't exist - incorrect for remote files

Lex Trotman elextr at xxxxx
Wed Feb 1 23:05:37 UTC 2012


On Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 3:51 AM, Nick Treleaven
<nick.treleaven at btinternet.com> wrote:
> On 31/01/2012 23:09, Lex Trotman wrote:
>>>
>>> Confusing the user is also harm. A (paranoid) user may worry some other
>>> file
>>> >  got truncated.
>>
>> Ok, better put the filename in the message then, but preventing the
>> message in the case where it is probable that actual harm has been
>> done is really bad.
>
>
> It would still confuse the user. Why tell the user something worrying that
> may well not be the case?

So why did you add a "may" message in the first place :)

I still contend that it is more bad to hide a possibly valid damage
warning than to cause consternation by a possibly invalid message.

>
> BTW do you agree/disagree with:
>

I'd agree that I (like you) would *expect* it, but sadly I don't think
thats the case in the real world.

I'm not sure we can assume all users are fully cogniscent of the fact
that things are remote, NFS and samba mounts do a good job of hiding
remoteness, but they still fail more often (in my experience) than out
of disk happens.  And to a user plugging in a NAS device is just the
same as plugging in a USB disk isn't it? After all it is attached to
the machine?  Look its my g: drive!

Come to think of it, USB disks can have the plug bumped etc.  There
are lots of ways for temporary failures to happen long before we get
to things as "exotic" as ssh or ftp connections beneath GVFS mounts
that Colomban wants to make easier! (see other thread).

For non-C/system programmers, the idea that a save error could
indicate truncation of the existing file can be, at best somewhat
hazy, and at worst totally foreign, and Geany has grown way beyond
just C/system programmers.

>
>>> >  When writing to a networked file I would expect users to take more
>>> > notice of
>>> >  error messages, i.e. they should expect a save error might cause
>>> > truncation.
>

Cheers
Lex



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