Bug 504543

Summary:	Ark inconsistent extraction behaviour with zip files
Product:	[Applications] ark	Reporter:	Olivia Laari <ojsl>
Component:	general	Assignee:	Elvis Angelaccio <elvis.angelaccio>
Status:	RESOLVED INTENTIONAL
Severity:	minor	CC:	john.kizer, rthomsen6
Priority:	NOR
Version First Reported In:	25.04.1
Target Milestone:	---
Platform:	Manjaro
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description Olivia Laari 2025-05-19 18:46:36 UTC

SUMMARY
Extracting a zip archive with just a single file doesn't create a directory for said file unlike with multi-file zip archives, leading to frequently losing the newly extracted single file(s) as the extraction doesn't update the Modified file attribute.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Download both Morse Runner archives from here:
https://www.dxatlas.com/Download.asp
2. Extract into ~/Downloads (either via Dolphin context menu or by opening Ark)
3. "MorseRunner.zip" extracts properly into ~/Downloads/MorseRunner/
4. "MorseRunner1.67.zip" extracts directly as ~/Downloads/setup.exe
----
5. (Dolphin) Sort by Modified & Newest trying to find the single file
6. The said extracted single-file doesn't get sorted as Newest.
7. Bash your head against the wall trying to find the file.
8. Find out Ark doesn't update the Modified file attribute during extraction.
9. Be glad only one file was extracted like this.

OBSERVED RESULT
- Extracting a zip archive with a single file doesn't put the file into a new directory, leading the single file not getting an updated Modified file attribute.
- Ark extraction doesn't update these Modified file attributes

EXPECTED RESULT
1. Extracting a zip archive with a single file puts the file into a new directory so it can be found with Sort Modified/Newest
Or
2. Ark updates the single-file Modified file attribute so the extracted file doesn't get lost.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Linux/KDE Plasma: Manjaro Linux 6.14.7-1-MANJARO (wayland)
KDE Plasma Version: 6.3.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.14.0
Qt Version: 6.9.0

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
$ stat setup.exe
Access: 2025-05-19 21:34:04.044688778 +0300
Modify: 2007-01-20 11:26:58.000000000 +0200
Change: 2025-05-19 21:34:04.046688807 +0300
Birth: 2025-05-19 21:34:04.044688778 +0300

Comment 1 John Kizer 2025-05-24 03:18:00 UTC

Hi - bug reports need to be focused on a specific issue in order to be actionable (https://community.kde.org/Get_Involved/Issue_Reporting#Multiple_issues_in_a_single_Bugzilla_ticket), but to give some context here:

Whether or not a directory will be created when unzipping an archive can be set in the Extract All Files dialog, by checking or unchecking the "Extraction into subfolder" box. The observed inconsistency is because by default, archives with multiple files or directories at the top level are extracted to a new subfolder, while archives with only a single file or directory are placed directly in the indicated folder. The first of those settings can can be configured in Configure Ark > Extraction > Extract to a subfolder if the archive has more than one top-level entry.

And for the other issue, if you're trying to find the most recently created item in a folder, the "Created" date would be the best thing to sort by. Retaining the file's Modified date, as it was archived, would have value in knowing when that file was last written to (for example). The Created date/time is set to current when an extracted file is placed in its destination.

Thanks!