Unexpected behavior "Save to disk function"

[DrChiper]

On using the "Save to disk"-> "Save to disk in a single directory", the destination directory always seems to be empty even when several other *.epub files are present there.

The problem lays in the fact that when trying to save an epub file which is already in that directory (but can not be noticed), the save function appears to work, but in reality:

• no indication is given that the same file is already present,
• no question is asked whether it is permitted to overwrite the existing file,
• the new file does not overwrite the existing file

The result is that the old file remains unaltered (which in itself is not wrong) but the user gets the impression that he/she did saved the latest epub version in the intended directory which may cause unexpected behavior.

[theducks]

1) was the folder already open when you started STD? You might just need to refresh (F5) in that window?

2) What was your STD Save Template (just in case it still comes into play), found in Preferences:Save to Disk ( Kovid,shouldn't this be on the STD pulldown to be consistent with Save To Device?)

[DrChiper]

Originally Posted by theducks

1) was the folder already open when you started STD? You might just need to refresh (F5) in that window?

No. Calibre opens a popup window for selection. This remembers a previous selected dir but never ever shows the files it might contain.

2) What was your STD Save Template (just in case it still comes into play), found in Preferences:Save to Disk ( Kovid,shouldn't this be on the STD pulldown to be consistent with Save To Device?)

This is IMHO not relevant as the resulting file name is the same for both old and the new file.

Additinal: using win7 and last calibre version, but this issue exists already a long time.

[kovidgoyal]

I cannot replicate this, steps I tried:

1) Select a book with only EPUB format
2) Right click Save to disk and choose save to disk in single dir,
3) Choose some directory
4) Make a change inside the epub using the calibre editor
5) Repeat 2 and 3
6) Open the saved file witht he calibre viewer. The change made in step 4 is present

[DrChiper]

After the 2nd time step 3 did you actually see the previous first file in the popup selection screen?

[DrChiper]

Further I was triggered because after the 2nd save the date/time of the file still reflected that of the first save which was in my case the previous day.

[kovidgoyal]

The selection dialog is to select folders not files, you will never see files in it.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

I cannot replicate this, steps I tried:

1) Select a book with only EPUB format
2) Right click Save to disk and choose save to disk in single dir,
3) Choose some directory
4) Make a change inside the epub using the calibre editor
5) Repeat 2 and 3
6) Open the saved file witht he calibre viewer. The change made in step 4 is present

@DrChiper - on Windows I noticed that the starting location in step 5.3 is within the folder I created and selected in step 3.

So if in step 3, I created and selected "C:\_Scratch\Savebook" as the save to folder, then in step 5.3 the select folder dialogue opens in "C:\_Scratch\Savebook".

One could argue it should open in "C:\_Scratch". I can imagine some might create a new 'Savebook' folder within the existing "C:\_Scratch\Savebook", so the second save would go to to "C:\_Scratch\Savebook\Savebook". I'm not sure if this is peculiar to STD, Calibre, Windows 10... or This PC.

I have always kept a very close watch on save locations in all software. Some default to locations such as windows\system32, or their install locations, or some place you didn't even know existed! So the above didn't bother me, I just backspaced to "C:\_Scratch", almost without even thinking about it.

BR

[kovidgoyal]

@BR That's just the way save dialogs work. calibre simply passes in the last used folder, it is up to the dialog to decide if it wants to show the parent folder with the last used folder preselected or show the last used folder. So you'd have to complain to Microsoft or Qt (if you dont use the native dialogs) if you dont like this behavior.

[BetterRed]

@Kovid - if I were to complain to M$ or Qt I doubt I'd live long enough to see an outcome

My post was intended for DrChiper, I've rectified that.

I would ask Microsoft to provide a setting in Folder Options that would have the effect of saying "In the select folder dialogue ignore the starting folder that comes from the application, instead always use <wherever> as the starting folder. My <wherever> would be "This PC".

BR

[DrChiper]

@kovid and @BR:
Kovid explained that the target dir never shows any files present there, so that's a fact and I can live with that. Besides I can and do normally use Windows Explorer to keep an eye on those existing files, if any, in the target dir.

But sometimes a previous stored file still lingers there because I'm lazy and do not check whether a same file already is available in that target dir. And so when I save the (altered) file again into that target dir, I encounter the *real* problem:
Calibre tells me the file is saved, issues no warning that a file with the same name is already there (which one would expect), and when I use the Windows Explorer (fresh invocation) I see that the date/time of the file is still reflecting the old date/time (say from the day before) of the previous save.
In the past I also did check whether the latest updates where present in that stored file and they were not. I confess I did not checked that last fact recently, but was triggered again by the unaltered date/time.

And as I have seen this behavior a long time (at least several years and versions back) I decided that it was now time to mention it in order to initiate perhaps a solution.

But as Kovid does not seem to to be able to reproduce this behavior it might well be some local personal PC quirk (ok, my trusty PC is old ).

[MerlinMama]

Originally Posted by DrChiper

[...]But sometimes a previous stored file still lingers there because I'm lazy and do not check whether a same file already is available in that target dir. And so when I save the (altered) file again into that target dir, I encounter the *real* problem:
Calibre tells me the file is saved, issues no warning that a file with the same name is already there (which one would expect), and when I use the Windows Explorer (fresh invocation) I see that the date/time of the file is still reflecting the old date/time (say from the day before) of the previous save.[...]

I tried this out of curiosity, and while I got no warning that a file with the same name already existed, I did find the new version when I checked.

However, the first time I wanted to 'overwrite', I forgot to use Save to disk in a single directory, accidentally clicked on plain Save to disk, and that did NOT overwrite, I still had the original.

[DrChiper]

Originally Posted by MerlinMama

... I did find the new version when I checked ...

And did the replaced file had a newer date/time?

[MerlinMama]

Originally Posted by DrChiper

And did the replaced file had a newer date/time?

Same date of course, because I used one from today, but the modified time was the new time

[MerlinMama]

Wanted to mention that created and accessed stayed at the old one, but I think that's expected? Never really noticed before. I don't generally use 'Save to disk in a single directory'