Bug 385524

Summary:	Meaning of "Recreate existing file system" is unclear
Product:	[Applications] partitionmanager	Reporter:	Jonathan Wakely <zilla>
Component:	general	Assignee:	Andrius Štikonas <andrius>
Status:	RESOLVED FIXED
Severity:	minor
Priority:	NOR
Version First Reported In:	3.0
Target Milestone:	---
Platform:	Fedora RPMs
OS:	All
Latest Commit:	https://commits.kde.org/partitionmanager/f30a3c999f2254521eda1a570ae3bfbf17081916	Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description Jonathan Wakely 2017-10-09 17:14:47 UTC

I'm using kde-partitionmanager-3.1.2-1.fc26.x86_64 but I can't choose 3.1 in the  Version field of this Bugzilla.

The label isn't really clear about exactly what the checkbox does, and "recreate" doesn't necessarily mean "reformat". This has confused at least one person before (see Bug 249818 which comes up in a web search for the label text).

It is possible to interpret "recreate existing file system" to mean the existing data is somehow preserved, which is definitely wrong.

The '?' help button in the window decorations doesn't have any info on the checkbox. The handbook isn't very illuminating either (although does at least say it destroys all existing data).

Would it be possible to improve the handbook, and add a help button entry?

It should make it clear that it formats the filesystem (N.B. it's "filesystem" not "file system") i.e. creates a new filesystem of the same type, which destroys existing data. If this is just done using mkfs.* then it might even be useful to say something like "this is typically done using a mkfs command".

Comment 1 Andrius Štikonas 2017-10-09 17:24:50 UTC

Hmm, do you think the label itself should be changed too? Like "Reformat existing file system".

Any suggestions for help entries?

Typically it is indeed done using mkfs command.

Comment 2 Jonathan Wakely 2017-10-09 17:32:13 UTC

Yes, I think saying reformat is clearer, but it would be fine if the help entry just said "This will reformat the filesystem, losing all data, but keeping the same filesystem type and options".

I see that once you select the checkbox you get a helpful dialog that warns you it will destroy data, which is good (I'm not sure why I didn't see that last time).

Comment 3 Andrius Štikonas 2017-10-09 17:43:38 UTC

Git commit f30a3c999f2254521eda1a570ae3bfbf17081916 by Andrius Štikonas.
Committed on 09/10/2017 at 17:42.
Pushed by stikonas into branch 'master'.

Add what's it entry to Recreate Existing File System checkbox.

M  +6    -4    src/gui/partpropswidgetbase.ui

https://commits.kde.org/partitionmanager/f30a3c999f2254521eda1a570ae3bfbf17081916

Comment 4 Jonathan Wakely 2017-10-09 17:49:15 UTC

Thanks!