MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

bedgar · 06-24-2011, 04:49 PM

Hello everyone,

My name is Bobby, I am whisperia's husband. I am also the person that fixed her problem so I will leave this information here for others that run into this fundamental flaw in this otherwise brilliant software. I say that with all due respect to the author. I have seen how he replies to any type of criticism and will try to stay off his bad side.

So let me first explain the fix since that is the most important thing. I used Undelete Plus (www.undeleteplus.com). Works great and it is my weapon of choice on Windows. I believe we were able to recover all of the lost files. Downside, if you don't have it, it costs $40. Well worth it in many cases though.

Now, let me adderess what I see as being the problem here. You guys can ramble on all day long about warning messages etc. They are alot like car alarms, devs have over used them so much, that the typical end-user tries, to their own demise in many cases, to get rid of them ASAP many times without properly reading them. I agree, that is a problem but I would argue that it is not caused solely by the end-users. In the case of deleting, you should always take extra precaution to read the dialog, but in this case, reading it still makes you think it is going to delete it from your program, it says NOTHING about deleting files from your HARD DRIVE. Because of that, I disagree that this dialog in its current state is useful.

Second, let us assume as you implied in another thread that this is a "feature" and not a bug. You claim it will delete EVERYTHING in that folder right? Well guess what? It doesn't, therefore one way or another there is a bug here. It left several files and folders and seemingly deleted random files and folders. Therefore, even if this is a "feature" it is clearly broken because it should have deleted everything if it worked as you expected.

Now, when you deal with data, it is YOUR responsibility as a developer to take that serious. You must also understand, when people lose a bunch of their files they are not usually in the best mood. You should really take it in stride and be a bit more understanding at their frustration. I am sure we have all been there so I would think it is one thing we can all relate to, the furstration of losing data unexpectedly.

I find it funny that there are plenty of other applications in this world that are cross-platform and can make use of the different recycle bin's in the various OS's. Why is it not possible in Calibre? That aside, iTunes and Windows Media Players libraries have a feature that when you try to delete, a dialog prompts you to remove it from the library or the library and HD. I think this would solve a lot of if not all of these problems. Personally, if I want to delete files from my actual drive, I am not doing it through a program such as Calibre. I use Windows Explorer, or some other utility that is made for that type of usage. I don't want all applications removing my personal files that are of no association to the program or its library. I think if someone wants to delete the library you should prompt them with do you want to:

a.) Delete just this libraryand all files from Calibre or
b.) Delete this library and all files from Calibre AND the Hard Drive.

Furthermore, the program should under NO circumstances delete ANY files from the HD that are not a part of the library. No one should expect that behaviour. Remember that when people first start using Calibre, they don't always have an understanding of how it works. That is why it is not odd to me that someone would choose some sort of root folder or directory for the base of their library. Usually they want to make sure all of the relevant files are included. We also tend to expect programs to leave files alone if we did not tell them to do anything with them in the first place.

I would at least start by mentioning you are removing files from the hard drive in your warning dialog box. That would be a good start. Might be good to mention it will delete everything in that folder even if it isn't currently doing that.

I look forward to your response and hope we can find a way to better prevent this unfortunate problem. No matter what the root is. Thanks for your time.

Bobby

06-24-2011, 04:49 PM	#6
bedgar Member Posts: 12 Karma: 100 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: iPhone, iPad	Hello everyone, My name is Bobby, I am whisperia's husband. I am also the person that fixed her problem so I will leave this information here for others that run into this fundamental flaw in this otherwise brilliant software. I say that with all due respect to the author. I have seen how he replies to any type of criticism and will try to stay off his bad side. So let me first explain the fix since that is the most important thing. I used Undelete Plus (www.undeleteplus.com). Works great and it is my weapon of choice on Windows. I believe we were able to recover all of the lost files. Downside, if you don't have it, it costs $40. Well worth it in many cases though. Now, let me adderess what I see as being the problem here. You guys can ramble on all day long about warning messages etc. They are alot like car alarms, devs have over used them so much, that the typical end-user tries, to their own demise in many cases, to get rid of them ASAP many times without properly reading them. I agree, that is a problem but I would argue that it is not caused solely by the end-users. In the case of deleting, you should always take extra precaution to read the dialog, but in this case, reading it still makes you think it is going to delete it from your program, it says NOTHING about deleting files from your HARD DRIVE. Because of that, I disagree that this dialog in its current state is useful. Second, let us assume as you implied in another thread that this is a "feature" and not a bug. You claim it will delete EVERYTHING in that folder right? Well guess what? It doesn't, therefore one way or another there is a bug here. It left several files and folders and seemingly deleted random files and folders. Therefore, even if this is a "feature" it is clearly broken because it should have deleted everything if it worked as you expected. Now, when you deal with data, it is YOUR responsibility as a developer to take that serious. You must also understand, when people lose a bunch of their files they are not usually in the best mood. You should really take it in stride and be a bit more understanding at their frustration. I am sure we have all been there so I would think it is one thing we can all relate to, the furstration of losing data unexpectedly. I find it funny that there are plenty of other applications in this world that are cross-platform and can make use of the different recycle bin's in the various OS's. Why is it not possible in Calibre? That aside, iTunes and Windows Media Players libraries have a feature that when you try to delete, a dialog prompts you to remove it from the library or the library and HD. I think this would solve a lot of if not all of these problems. Personally, if I want to delete files from my actual drive, I am not doing it through a program such as Calibre. I use Windows Explorer, or some other utility that is made for that type of usage. I don't want all applications removing my personal files that are of no association to the program or its library. I think if someone wants to delete the library you should prompt them with do you want to: a.) Delete just this libraryand all files from Calibre or b.) Delete this library and all files from Calibre AND the Hard Drive. Furthermore, the program should under NO circumstances delete ANY files from the HD that are not a part of the library. No one should expect that behaviour. Remember that when people first start using Calibre, they don't always have an understanding of how it works. That is why it is not odd to me that someone would choose some sort of root folder or directory for the base of their library. Usually they want to make sure all of the relevant files are included. We also tend to expect programs to leave files alone if we did not tell them to do anything with them in the first place. I would at least start by mentioning you are removing files from the hard drive in your warning dialog box. That would be a good start. Might be good to mention it will delete everything in that folder even if it isn't currently doing that. I look forward to your response and hope we can find a way to better prevent this unfortunate problem. No matter what the root is. Thanks for your time. Bobby