Unwanted deletion of folders that contain files that are not selected for deletion

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Posts: 1
Joined: 18 Jul 2020

toliveira

I am using version 10.24. Let me set an example:

Left: folder A, with files A/1, A/2, A/3
Right: folder A, with files A/1, A/2, A/3, A/4
and let the files 1, 2 and 3 of one side be equal to files 1, 2, 3 on the other side.

When you compare Left and Right and select only "Show files that are equal", you see the same tree on both sides
A
A/1
A/2
A/3

If you select all the items that are visible on the right and delete them (right click > Delete), all items are delete, including folder A. This means that file A/4 is also deleted!

If one pays attention, FFS is deleting exactly the items it told the user it would. However, I believe that this behavior is not what the average user would expect. And when the comparison involves a very long list of files, folders and subfolders, one probably won't notice that the number and list of items to be deleted include folders that contain files that exist on one side only.

I myself have accidentally deleted files in this way, and just came to notice this behavior much later, when dealing with a small folder.

My suggestion, therefore, is that, following the above procedure, those folders that contain files that are not selected for deletion are not deleted.

Best regards,
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Site Admin
Posts: 7040
Joined: 9 Dec 2007

Zenju

An old (design) issue: "Does the status relate to the folder or its content?" viewtopic.php?t=6822
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Posts: 3551
Joined: 11 Jun 2019

xCSxXenon

Yeah, you have to be careful with the current setup, because if you select all, you are selecting the folder, thus all data in it. I wonder if it's a good idea to pop up a window that says there is data in a selected folder that is not also selected individually as well. Not sure