Bug 452641 - [UX] "Could not read" dialog for many files during copy operation
Summary: [UX] "Could not read" dialog for many files during copy operation
Status: REPORTED
Alias: None
Product: dolphin
Classification: Applications
Component: general (show other bugs)
Version: 21.12.3
Platform: Manjaro Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Dolphin Bug Assignee
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2022-04-15 06:25 UTC by Brennan Kinney
Modified: 2022-04-15 06:28 UTC (History)
1 user (show)

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Description Brennan Kinney 2022-04-15 06:25:58 UTC
SUMMARY

When copying a large project folder to another device, I was unaware of some nested content with root ownership that had read permission denied to my user.

Unlike being ignored by Ark without warning, Dolphin correctly pointed this problem out. However the number of affected files was unclear, yet at the same time I wanted to be aware to make note of them. This is not feasible to skip each entry in order to do so if there is over 100 items. Nor is Skip All valid as that information is lost.

Doing a copy operation via Dolphin, encountering a read access failure during the progress will create dialogs "Could not read" with Retry/Skip/Skip-All/Cancel options. That is a UX problem when the number of files that would raise this warning is large:

- "Retry" is useful if opting to correct permissions each time prompted during the transfer, though in some contexts that's not desirable, it'd be better if that context could prompt for auth (retaining the original ownership/permissions at the destination), applying to any other content that would trigger the same failure context instead of additional prompts or skip all.
- "Skip" is useful when the affected paths should be noted down to address afterwards.. but is not pleasant if there's over 100 dialogs like this for very similar paths (usually many having common parents), especially when it's spread out across a long-lived transfer requiring user attention to avoid blocking the transfer.
- "Skip All" becomes the preferred action when it's frustrating to respond to an unknown amount of dialogs like this, but at the expense that you lose what those affected file paths were as a result.


STEPS TO REPRODUCE

1.  Copy the contents of a directory with many files or folders lacking read access to your user.
2. Skip each item to get the affected files. Careful while clicking Skip as placement can jump.


OBSERVED RESULT

Frustrating experience to Skip each entry to be aware of each path affected.


EXPECTED RESULT

Notify with a list of paths, or some option to Skip All but log them for referencing afterwards.


SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Linux/KDE Plasma:  X11 with Kernel 5.15.28
KDE Plasma Version: 5.24.3
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.91.0
Qt Version: 5.15.3


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

I realize this is possibly quite niche to resolve.. After all there is "Skip All" as an escape hatch in this situation, but then it's not obvious what the affected files were.

A variant of Retry given the context of the failure might be viable by prompting for auth makes sense, otherwise a variant of Skip All that can collect a list/log of paths is better than manually skipping individual files (especially when the number of affected files is unknown, and they often share a common sibling, plus prompts spread out across a transfer as it occurs blocking the transfer progress).

Presently Dolphin will block when hitting the problem unless using Skip All. Having the option to defer individual/bulk actions would seem appropriate and would not impede the transfer for unaffected files. If dialog prompts during transfer is appropriate, deferring these decisions to a prompt at the end seems just as valid?
Comment 1 Brennan Kinney 2022-04-15 06:28:32 UTC
This bug report system doesn't appear to have an ability to edit what is submitted.

Ignore the first two paragraphs of SUMMARY section, they were revised with the remaining content in that section.