Bug 116247 - Usability/Technical language: don't bother user with database sync issues
Summary: Usability/Technical language: don't bother user with database sync issues
Status: RESOLVED INTENTIONAL
Alias: None
Product: digikam
Classification: Applications
Component: Database-Scan (show other bugs)
Version: unspecified
Platform: Gentoo Packages Linux
: NOR wishlist
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Digikam Developers
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2005-11-13 17:03 UTC by Dik Takken
Modified: 2023-04-08 20:55 UTC (History)
1 user (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed In: 8.0.0
Sentry Crash Report:


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Description Dik Takken 2005-11-13 17:03:21 UTC
Version:           0.8.0-Beta2 (using KDE KDE 3.4.1)
Installed from:    Gentoo Packages
OS:                Linux

When files are removed from the filesystem outside of Digikam, Digikam complains on startup about the database not being in sync with the filesystem.

IMHO Digikam should not bother users with details regarding database synchronization issues.
Comment 1 Tom Albers 2005-11-13 22:22:05 UTC
So we can trash all data in the database of the images? That would result in massive amounts of bugreports. They are not details. Imagen what happens when someone simply forgets to mount his images partition.
Comment 2 Dik Takken 2005-11-13 22:55:15 UTC
How about this solution:

* Keep all information in the database, even when not all images are found on startup.
* Keep a date-stamp for each image, which tells you how many DigiKam Startups ago the image was last seen.
* When the amount of images that has not been seen for, say, 10 startups reaches a certain limit, display a dialog with a very short and simple question, like this:

"There are xx images that have not been spotted by DigiKam for a while. They are probably moved or deleted. In order to save space, do you want Digikam to forget about them?

I think this is something that any user can understand.
Comment 3 Tom Albers 2005-11-13 23:06:40 UTC
No, then the users misses the interaction, who can remember what happened 10 times ago? User deletes an image, starts digiKam, immediate notification, user can choose to fix it or delete the info. Pretty straight forward. 
Comment 4 Marcel Wiesweg 2005-11-14 19:44:32 UTC
> So we can trash all data in the database of the images?

No, and it would rightfully result in tons of bugreports.

> Imagine what happens when someone simply forgets to mount his images partition.

I imagine what should happen in a _future_ solution: Digikam notices the missing partition. It either displays the images as unavailable, while the metadata can be accessed, hides them completely, or asks the user how the missing files shall be interpreted. Any data loss would be a severe bug.
I know there are quite a few complexities involved.

For amarok, work is currently being done for removable media detection and support. Good system integration is currently uncommon for most apps, but with new technologies like DBUS/libhal etc. and KDE4, these things should become mandatory for a user friendly app.
Comment 5 Dik Takken 2005-11-14 19:56:14 UTC
> Digikam notices the missing partition. It either displays the images as unavailable

Hmmm, that's an interesting idea. When images are not available, nothing happens. The images that are unavailable can be given a special look ( maybe a red border around the thumb? ), and the user can simply delete the images from the database in exactly the same way as you can delete an existing image. The only difference is that the image itself was already gone.

This solution never needs to bother the user on startup, and cleaning up the database will be very intuitive: Just delete the images that are marked 'unavailable'. 

Digikam could also offer a special tab that contains the images that could not be found on startup.

How about this?
Comment 6 Vardhman 2005-11-18 21:32:46 UTC
On 14 Nov 2005 18:56:15 -0000, Dik Takken <d.h.j.takken@phys.uu.nl> wrote:
[bugs.kde.org quoted mail]


Looks like a good solution. Much better than the anonying dialog in the
beginning. A simple option somewhere to just clean the files not found in
the filesystem from the database(or from view) or just not showing them
would also be nice.

___________________
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> Digikam-devel@kde.org
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-devel
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--
Blogs: http://vardhman.blogspot.com
<br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 14 Nov 2005 18:56:15 -0000, <b class="gmail_sendername">Dik Takken</b> &lt;<a href="mailto:d.h.j.takken@phys.uu.nl">d.h.j.takken@phys.uu.nl</a>&gt; wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
------- You are receiving this mail because: -------<br>You are the assignee for the bug, or are watching the assignee.<br><br><a href="http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=116247">http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=116247
</a> <br><br><br><br><br>------- Additional Comments From d.h.j.takken phys uu nl&nbsp;&nbsp;2005-11-14 19:56 -------<br>&gt; Digikam notices the missing partition. It either displays the images as unavailable<br><br>Hmmm,
that's an interesting idea. When images are not available, nothing
happens. The images that are unavailable can be given a special look (
maybe a red border around the thumb? ), and the user can simply delete
the images from the database in exactly the same way as you can delete
an existing image. The only difference is that the image itself was
already gone.<br><br>This solution never needs to bother the user on
startup, and cleaning up the database will be very intuitive: Just
delete the images that are marked 'unavailable'.<br><br>Digikam could also offer a special tab that contains the images that could not be found on startup.<br><br>How about this?<br>____________________________</blockquote>
<div><br>
Looks like a good solution. Much better than the anonying dialog in the
beginning. A simple option somewhere to just clean the files not found
in the filesystem from the database(or from view) or just not showing
them would also be nice. <br>
</div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">___________________<br>Digikam-devel mailing list<br><a href="mailto:Digikam-devel@kde.org">
Digikam-devel@kde.org</a> <br><a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-devel">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-devel</a> <br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Blogs: <a href="http://vardhman.blogspot.com">
http://vardhman.blogspot.com</a><br>