File extensions now mandatory because the GtkFileChooser cd's on save

ConnorBehan · 2010-12-31 21:48:41

EDIT: The bug is here now: https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=638528

I have had difficulties with the GtkFileChooser before but these turned out to be problems with my clipboard manager. I don't think my current problem is.

Basically this is a recent way that GTK+ tries to "outsmart the user." If I am saving something in /home called "foo" and I already have the directory /home/foo, this is not necessarily a mistake. If I am in openoffice there's a good chance ".odt" will be appended to the filename before any saving is actually done. Similarly GIMP could create "foo.png" and Xarchiver could create "foo.tar.gz". Performing these actions by just typing "foo" used to be possible and if I tried the same nonsense in a program that did not modify the filename I would simply get a "confirm overwrite" or "permission denied" dialog box.

Now the default behaviour of GTK+ which I do not see any way to change is that it will change the save location to /home/foo rather than /home and I will end up creating /home/foo/foo.png instead of /home/foo.png alongside /home/foo. Anticipating this makes sense for an open dialog, but when I press enter and ESPECIALLY when I click save, I do not want GTK+ to change directories for me I want to save.

Is this happening to other people and do you agree that the problem is related to GTK+? I believe this change is recent because I made an Xarchiver patch last year specifically to exploit what was then "nice behaviour" in the GtkFileChooser.

Last edited by ConnorBehan (2011-01-02 20:04:44)

ngoonee · 2011-01-01 02:09:00

If using filetypes where the extension matters, I think its nonsensical that a program would just add the appropriate extension unless its been told to do so (in openoffice and gimp, for example, there's a dropdown box for selecting that). So while automatically changing directory isn't proper behaviour, neither is the one you're apparently expecting.

And GTK goes in that direction anyway, I don't find it particularly surprising. It does make things easier, generally.

ConnorBehan · 2011-01-01 15:28:34

That's true... the programs have all been told to do so. So if GtkFileChooser automatically changes directory when the program calling it is not setup to perform any modifications on the name you type in, I really don't care. But at the very least there should be a property of the widget that can turn it off. So the developers of GIMP et al. can make sure it doesn't cause confusion.

Arch Linux

#1 2010-12-31 21:48:41

File extensions now mandatory because the GtkFileChooser cd's on save

#2 2011-01-01 02:09:00

Re: File extensions now mandatory because the GtkFileChooser cd's on save

#3 2011-01-01 15:28:34

Re: File extensions now mandatory because the GtkFileChooser cd's on save

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