x2: "Auto refresh" could be better

flexigon · Post by **flexigon** » 2003 Nov 02, 19:06

When x2 automatically refreshes the shown directory in either panel because files were added/updated outside of x2 then the current scroll position is not retained and instead the currently selected file pops back into view.

This behaviour makes it very hard to scroll through a directory in which files are often updated (e.g. a general "downloads" directory).

narayan · Post by **narayan** » 2003 Nov 03, 03:37

This (I suppose) is related to my observation that after merging some split files that were towards the bottom of a long file list, x2 jumps to somewhere near top. But there it does retain its focus on the split files! Only the files are out of sight; and we have to scroll down to see them again, all the time taking care not to click anywhere (otherwise the focus will be lost)

JRz · Post by **JRz** » 2003 Nov 03, 09:01

flexigon wrote:When x2 automatically refreshes the shown directory in either panel because files were added/updated outside of x2 then the current scroll position is not retained and instead the currently selected file pops back into view.

This behaviour makes it very hard to scroll through a directory in which files are often updated (e.g. a general "downloads" directory).

This behaviour of retaining the selected file(s) in the view, even when you change the sort order (!) is normally very conveniant, but I agree that this is a nuisance.
If you have a folder with some files which get updated very frequently (log files for instance) it is virtually impossible to scroll away from selected files, because the position gets reset almost instantly. You must select some file to get X2 to keep the view from returning to the previously selected file(s). This migth not be what you wanted to do.

Another observation: the auto-refresh gets in the way too much when you have the above situation (files being updated almost all the time) in combination with a relatively slow (network)connection. The WaitCursor is making overtime in such cases and X2 is not very responsive. Does anyone see that behaviour too?

narayan · Post by **narayan** » 2003 Nov 03, 09:07

Another (related? ) observation: if the user is editing a filename, and a pane is updated, x2 leaves edit mode by itself, and discards the partially entered name (it reinstates the name before the edit mode started).

Thus when a pane is being updated often (because of a downloader or something), editing can't be done at all.

fgagnon · Post by **fgagnon** » 2003 Nov 03, 12:27

Yes, I've seen some of those behaviours -- but only infrequently, because my x2 usage is only occasionally in folders with active other-user activity & I have not had need to merge split files.
While I recognized that the spasms were related to real time file activity in the active pane, I had not previously given any thought on this issue as to how I would prefer x2 to behave & under what conditions (it hasn't happened enough to be a real bother for me -- but I can see the nuisance for network & real time work-group admin situations).
Perhaps one case could be dealt with by having x2 prioritise filename edit above background activity so auto-refresh is put on hold until edit is complete.
And for the times when the user knows he/she is working in a boiling cauldron of file activity -- how about a gui control to turn off auto-update, nikos?

Post by **nikos** » 2003 Nov 03, 12:41

there is nothing left to chance or random jumps.
x2 like 2x before it assumes that users work around the "focused" item. So it tries to keep it in view. If you want to scroll around in a folder with frequent changes, its best to do it with the keyboard (PgDown/Up) so that the focus moves along. If you just use the scrollbar, then you'll experience these "jumps". It is an exact science all along!

flexigon · Post by **flexigon** » 2003 Nov 03, 14:33

Give us a break Nikos... that is basically just a summary of what everyone in this thread already noticed, with an impractical solution to top it off.

You must be able to implement some sort of "fix" for this in a future version, I know you can

Post by **nikos** » 2003 Nov 03, 15:13

with the exception of JRz, all other posters seemed to believe that some sort of paranormal activity was involved, maliciously scrolling the active pane just for laughs. I just wanted to set the record straight

now wrt disabling autorefresh, wouldn't a new GUI feature (eg menu item) controlling whether autorefresh is on/off, be overkill?

fgagnon · Post by **fgagnon** » 2003 Nov 03, 15:28

Just because it would be unused >90% of the time, doesn't mean it's not a real gem of a feature when working in a folder with boiling file activity; but I should not be the one to make that call -- not finding myself often in that situation.

flexigon · Post by **flexigon** » 2003 Nov 03, 15:34

How about a smart autorefresh then? I mean when existing files are updated then there really is no point in updating anything other than the size and mod. date right?

New/deleted/Renamed files is a whole different story, but I wouldn't mind it too much if the whole list was refreshed in that case.

flexigon · Post by **flexigon** » 2003 Nov 03, 15:40

Ow, and what about what narayan mentioned? I've noticed that too, when renaming a file and an auto refresh occurs the editor is cancelled. Maybe you can disable auto-refresh temporarily during renames?

JRz · Post by **JRz** » 2003 Nov 03, 16:25

A menu item wouldn't be overkill I think. Similar like the mirror browsing and mirror scrolling it could be controlled by a menu item and optional shortcut key (Ctrl-Alt-R ??)

Thinking about this, it would be nice to have some sort of indication that auto-refresh is disabled (I agree with most members that it should be on by default). Maybe it is sensible to have an indicator in the titlebar of the pane to show that the pane contents is out of sync with reality when auto-refresh is off and the contents of the pane should have been refreshed if auto-refresh were on, just like many editors have when the file being edited is 'dirty' (changed and not saved yet).

It should be possible to disable the feature in each pane separately. Only the active pane should be affected by using the shortcut or menu item to disable refreshing.

Maybe it is even sensible to re-enable it automatically when a change of folders is executed. That way the shortcut Ctrl-Alt-R works like a kind of 'un-refresh pane' switch only for the time the current folder is active.

Food for thought?

Post by **nikos** » 2003 Nov 03, 16:33

that's what i was thinking, exactly!

now regarding a visual indicator for "dirty" contents, it would be confusing the GUI. Most users won't even know it is possible to switch autorefresh off, and would scratch their heads nonstop for any indicators for it!

i'll add a menu item that says "Don't refresh this folder" with a checkmark. When you move to another folder, it will be reset automatically. I suppose narayan's claim for renames is right too

finally, i deactivated the focus-after-refresh, for your convenience

JRz · Post by **JRz** » 2003 Nov 03, 16:53

now regarding a visual indicator for "dirty" contents, it would be confusing the GUI

Granted! On second thought I don't like it either. Keeping the interface as clean as possible is a worthy cause

I suppose narayan's claim for renames is right too

Yep. Would like that to be fixed too.

Looking forward to .49

flexigon · Post by **flexigon** » 2003 Nov 03, 17:38

I'll be happy if you implement it that way Nikos

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x2: "Auto refresh" could be better

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