This is an ancient wiki page from 2013 which serves no purpose anymore. All information on this page is likely outdated and invalid.
GTK Filechooser Bug Month
Starting ??? will be a month dedicated this testing, fixing and closing as many GTK Filechooser bugs as possible.The filechooser alone currently has 319 bugs filed against it thats over 9% of the total GTK bugs lets fix this.
What follows are links to a categoried list of bugs that you can help with resolving. Helping out can be as simple as testing out old bugs are still an issue, or for those that are able there are lists of bugs that required some coding. Ranging from beginner/easish/harder. If you have not submitted a patch to gnome before please see: https://live.gnome.org/GnomeLove/SubmittingPatches
Patches that have been reviewed and are ready to commit.
filechooser-patch-review-needed
Patches that need review/testing.
These bugs need someone to retest and confirm if its still an issue or not. I'm guessing that most of these could be already fixed but its just a guess.
Bugs need to be retested and the root cause of the issue tracked down as the bug report lacks this information. Some of these could be quite difficult to track down.
These are easy bugs to work on that should be easy to fix great for someone getting start contributing to GTK. All information thats needed should supplied in the bug report. But feel free to ask questions on the GTK maining list.
These are relatively easy bugs to work on that shouldn't be to hard to fix for a willing contributor. Generally most information thats needed is supplied in the bug report.
As it would suggest these are harder/more time consuming bugs a contributor could work on with most information available in the bug report for someone wishing to start working on it.
Possibly one for the GTK maintainers these bugs I consider need some guidance from the GTK team on whether or not its even a good idea to implement them before someone wastes time coding.
These are mostly old bugs. Some are crashes that were reported many years ago with very little or zero activity since. Some are reports that can no longer be reproduced, some are issue that are probably not as noticeable due to improvements in how the filechooseer works since the bug was first report. Anyway there are bugs that the GTK maintainers might want to look at and possibly close as I dont feel comfortable closing them myself.
MS Windows bugs
filechooser-windows-testing-needed
filechooser-windows-fix-needed
filechooser-windows-design-needed
Mac OS bugs
filechooser-mac-testing-needed
Bugs that still need to be sorted
----------------------------- The following bugs list are obsolete please ignore -----------------------------
Important
This is not the page you are looking for. Go to GTK+/GtkFileChooserInternals instead.
Please don't insert your pet rants about the file chooser here unless you intend to contribute with code, usability tests on real users, or otherwise useful work.
Cleanup
The shortcuts code is more or less independent from the rest of gtkfilechooserdefault.c, but it is interleaved in places. Also, GtkFileChooserButton duplicates this code. Nautilus duplicates it too. We need a high-level GtkPlaces *widget*, not just a tree model, that we can share between the file chooser and Nautilus. Done, now the filechooser and nautilus are using the GtkPlacesSidebar widget. We probably want a lower-level GtkPlacesModel that GtkFileChooserButton could use for its own combo box.
- The automated tests (gtk+/tests/autotestfilechooser.c) don't contemplate the async patch at all.
We need to test each large chunk of code individually. Write a fake file system backend that you can plug under GtkFileSystemModel to test it, etc.
- Add *all* the subtle interactions to autotestfilechooser.c:
- Select a file in the file list, focus another widget, activate the Open button, etc.
- Focus the file list after activating a shortcut.
- Do not select the first row in the right cases.
Bugs
Last updated: 2007/01/25
Last bug number in the gtk+ "GtkFileChooser" component in bugzilla when this was updated: 348289
Last bug number in the libgnomeui "file-chooser" component in bugzilla when this was updated: 314280
Crashes/leaks/major stuff:
347883 - overwrite confirmation doesn't work
348113 - Leaks of async handles
347081 - Can't save to floppy
152324 - G_BROKEN_FILENAMES is obsolete (vfs)
333878 - Add a help button
Access to remote files:
334324 - Crash when opening two sftp shares
311314 - "sftp://blah" (ssh method) doesn't work; requires a trailing slash (vfs)
310062 - Two auth dialogs when using SMB (vfs)
150042 - Cannot enter password (modality issues?) (vfs)
311304 - Cannot remove bookmark for "sftp://localhost/"
311305 - "." shown as bookmark name for "sftp://localhost/" (bad name for root folders?)
306039 - Should not show password (vfs)
162989 - Deadlock when performing auth in threaded programs (vfs)
150585 - Cannot read FTP directory with unreadable parent (vfs)
Bad GUI behavior:
346058 - CREATE_FOLDER forgets name set with set_current_name()
342796 - Should allow removing remote locations (?)
341852 - FileChooserButton should not show an error when pre-set to a nonexistent folder
322298 - Save dialog can't be resized
314889 - Expand "browse for other folders" when typing just a folder name in the Save dialog
311530 - Add/remove a bookmark; GtkFileChooserButton gets fucked up
320690 - Should check writability of files before confirming overwrite
312054 - Hit "Create folder" while directory is not done loading, get critical warnings
138299 - Hebrew filenames get the last character cut off
171416 - Resume editing if "type name of new folder" hasn't changed
161671 - "/home/foo" and "/home/foo/" produce different results in the path bar
154709 - Don't use the tree's cursor position to update the preview
166553 - No cell with SPI_STATE_SELECTED initially
169213 - Path bar needs to update if a path component is renamed
137717 - Dragging to trash doesn't work
153482 - Path bar re-roots incorrectly with symlinked folders
Sizing issues:
330680 - Dialog resizes when unmapped/remapped
325477 - File chooser comes up too small (HAS PATCH)
151169 - File chooser comes up too big
143213 - Shortcuts pane uses too much horizontal space
167189 - Resizes incorrectly when scrolling quickly
153785 - File chooser expands horizontally with the "browse for other folders" expander
300334 - Dialog is resized when preview disappears
GUI fine-tuning:
345855 - Sort the list of volumes
344657 - Allow Ctrl-H to show hidden files
342952 - Don't allow selecting folders+files in multiple-selection mode
331319 - Show root icon as "/"
327152 - Ellipsize long names in GtkPathBar
340972 - Filter dropdown should use full width of file list
322926 - Alt-Shift-Down should work like Alt-Down to go down the pathbar
333736 - Use an "Other..." item in the SAVE folders dropdown; not an expander.
319233 - Remove the Add/Remove folder buttons
143011 - Disable Save/Open buttons if filename is invalid
334486 - Show remote bookmarks specially
324543 - Should show dates/times instead of just dates
324543 - Should show a column with file sizes
328090 - Smooth scrolling for GtkPathBar
328095 - Path bar shouldn't hide the "scroll to the left" arrow
312881 - Typeahead for the "save in folder" combo
310173 - Reroot on volumes for consistency with Nautilus
308326 - Opening the "Browse for other folders" expander should focus the file list
150951 - Folder drop-down needs to indicate file system as well as folder icon/name
151864 - File chooser dialog cannot be maximized
137515 - Grey out read-only locations in Save mode
137503 - Tooltips with location for bookmarks
161489 - Left/right arrows should switch between file list and bookmarks
149535 - In OPEN, multiple-selection, we allow selecting files *and* directories at the same time
153211 - Add "Copy Location" context menu item
157342 - Alternate positioning of preview widget
Niceties that we don't have:
325150 - Should allow Rename and Delete
140107 - CD Creator as default location (vfs)
148828 - Single click for bookmarks pane
153828 - Remember hpaned/expander state and other state
141154 - Support icon view like in Nautilus
Documentation:
340835 - Docs should say that set_filename() is asynchronous
Missing APIs:
320247 - Make GtkPathBar public
325544 - Allow custom items in GtkFileChooserButton
135901 - Save dialog should have a drop-down for file types. Discussion on this.
136294 - Need GTK_FILE_CHOOSER_ACTION_SELECT_FILES_AND_FOLDERS
144687 - API to get MIME icons
Desktop integration:
333878 - Add a Help button
314280 - Use .hidden files (vfs)
310051 - Unmounted drives should not appear (vfs)
344785 - Add Beagle file searching
306363 - Should have better pre-defined places
121113 - Double/single click option should be the same as Nautilus's
143599 - Share "show hidden" option with Nautilus
136196 - Backup files
141155 - Share column settings with Nautilus
145524 - Show emblems from Nautilus
155729 - Lock-down capability
144500 - When desktop_is_home_dir, we still show "Desktop" shortcut.
344785 - Integrate beagle searching in GtkfileChooser
141832 - Automatic bookmarks
147434 - Share bookmarks with outside world
157377 - Per-application bookmarks
Filename entry, interactive search ("typeahead"):
379414 - Completion doesn't work after switching folders
333319 - Location entry breaks if typing fast enough
333320 - Completion loses the selection; gets messed up
314873 - Should also Tab-complete when not at the end of the text
320295 - Should auto-complete on filtered filenames only
307802 - Hitting Tab more than once should scroll the completion list
141153 - Support typed wildcard filters
132500 - Location entry should do tilde expansion
139261 - set_local_only() should disable remote locations everywhere
164040 - Up/down arrow keys when doing typeahead
143251 - Icons for the entry's popup
Federico's list of annoyances: http://primates.ximian.com/~federico/news-2005-05.html#24
Morten's follow-up: http://blogs.gnome.org/view/mortenw/2005/05/25/1
Unfiled issues:
Flicker - completion list appears and disappears - 307802 mentions this.
- Do this:
- go to a folder with several files that start with the same prefix
- type part of the prefix
- the completion list will pop up (it doesn't have anything selected)
- type an extra character that doesn't belong to any of the files
- the list disappears
- hit backspace
- the list reappears, with the first item selected - that selected item is confusing
- Morten says that Emacs brings up the disambiguation list until the second time you hit Tab, because that's when a single Tab is not letting you make any progress. Does this also apply to the way the file chooser works?
Performance:
154394 - Slow when using multiple GtkFileChooserButtons
310642 - Lots of double stat()s
322314 - Files without extension always get MIME-sniffed
Miscellaneous:
332342 - Ctrl-A and select_all() give different results
348289 - Chooser is blocked by higher-priority idle
332245 - Handle unreadable directories better
327243 - GtkFileChooserButton emits two "selection-changed" signals
347541 - Multiple "selection-changed" signals
318676 - Bad handling of modality / window groups
154695 - URI escaping is different in gnome-vfs and glib
144958 - Bookmarks for mounts should appear when volume is mounted
162596 - Ellipsized names can be difficult to distinguish
143825 - Preview not updated when file is unselected
135877 - Canonicalization of // paths
149931 - If hicolor icon theme is missing, GTK+ displays a warning
Recent folders
Imagine that RecentFilesAndBookmarks were revised, finished, and implemented.
What if we eliminated the Add/Remove buttons for bookmarks, and had the left pane in the file chooser have two columns like this:
[bmk][Name ]
[X] Bookmarked folder 1
[X] Bookmarked folder 2
[ ] Recently-used folder 1
[ ] Recently-used folder 2
------------------------------
Home
Desktop
Blah blahThat is, there would be a "keep"/"don't keep" column which you can toggle. The things displayed in that pane come from the recent-folders list, which is automatically maintained. You can "lock" folders in place by toggling them on in the first column; with that, they won't be pushed off the list if more recently-used folders come in.
With this I think we could eliminate the Add/Remove buttons, and get a bookmarks system that is more obvious to use (and requires less maintenance, since your working set of folders is kept by the recent-stuff machinery automatically).
Update 2006/Oct/19: Shit, I should have patented that. Office 12 now does this with push pins, more or less.
Thumbnail spec
<jrb> I have a patch to add thumbnailing to evince <jrb> (it's file chooser) <jrb> and it's too much code <jrb> we should get that stuff into the filechooser <federico> generic thumbnailing for images/pdfs? <jrb> code to handle thumbnailing in general, and the thumbnail spec in particular <federico> hmm, the thumbnail spec <federico> yeah <federico> how should it work? <federico> gtk_file_chooser_install_thumbnailer (char *mime_type, ThumbnailFn callback)? <federico> and then gtk_file_chooser_just_use_the_thumbnail_spec(chooser); <jrb> something like that <jrb> or maybe just gtk_file_chooser_set_preview_widget (filechooser, gtk_file_chooser_thumbnailer_new (filechooser)); <jrb> to get stock behavior <jrb> and if you want a callback
There is code inside libegg (pixbufthumbnail), created by James Cape, that handles thumbnails using the freedesktop.org thumbnail spec. It could be easily integrated into the file chooser (and the recent chooser) widgets. -- EmmanueleBassi
API: drop-down with types for opening/saving
This is bug 135901
We need this:
- API to modify the list of formats
- FIXME: what does each format consist of? (name, icon, what else?)
- API to set the current/default format
- Signal to know when the user selects a different format. If this is the GIMP and the user selects "JPEG" for saving, then the GIMP will want to add widgets to the save dialog to let the user configure JPEG-specific saving options (compression, comment, etc.).
Do we want a "filename extension" field for each format? And then, an "[ ] Add filename extension automatically" checkbox? Or is it up to the app? See this mail by Sven and then Matthias's response. See this exchange between Sven and Jody on the topic.
How do we deal with API explosion? See Havoc's mail. We can probably have a GtkFileChooserFileFormat object onto which we can add more API later if needed.
How do we make the GUI scale to apps like Gnumeric or OOo, which support zillions of formats? See Jody's mail on this.
Remembering settings
This is 153828
Stuff we will remember:
Last folder for Open, last folder for Save. These will be set when the chooser is mapped unless the application has called set_current_folder() explicitly. This will be a nice migration path toward having full RecentFilesAndBookmarks in the file chooser.
- State of the "browse for other folders" expander.
- Sort state of the file list.
Size and position of the Open dialog, size and position of the Save dialog. Important: this should probably be the size *without* the extra and preview widget; otherwise it would change a lot on different apps.
- Position of the hpaned between the shortcuts and file lists.
- "use path bar" vs. "use location entry" when we get around to supporting toggling between them.
See also
Fixed bugs
Please put fixed bugs here, so that we can easily find them later.
317873 -
Shift-down to select files, then Enter, only returns one file 308332 -
Doing typeahead clears the filename entry, fucks up creating folders 311187 -
FolderVFS gets corrupted in Save As 147521 -
add_shortcut_folder should not add duplicates
Fixed but frequently reported (possibly from 2.4.x users):
Please use the patches in the SRPMS here; they fix many of these issues after the last 2.1.14 tarball was released: SRPMS for Novell Linux Desktop 9