Calibre just destroyed my hard drive data - Page 5

theducks · 05-04-2011, 08:42 PM

I have chmod'd one of my own folders so I could not even see (browse) them

Once I figured out what i had

done., I set it back the way I found it

twowheels · 05-04-2011, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

@mwheinz: If you mix running calibre on the same library on case insensitive and case sensitive file systems you will have problems. That particular use case is impossible to support robustly. When you get in trouble the library maintenance tools in calibre should help.

Uh oh... was just thinking about sharing my libraries with Dropbox, and one of the potential machines was a Windows machine -- darn Windows always messing stuff up. I guess I'll play it safe [understanding the other risks of using Dropbox] and stick to just Linux.

zespectre · 05-04-2011, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Any suggestions on how to make it even clearer are most welcome.

Okay please keep in mind that I'm a hardware and hammer kind of guy NOT a programmer so if my idea is stupid then just say so.

Can you -reasonably- design the delete function to only remove "calibre" related files? (may be by extension or tag or something) so that if a file isn't a .PDF or .MOBI or .EPUB or whatever then Calibre won't touch it?

I have almost no idea how difficult such a safeguard would be to create and "the juice may not be worth the squeeze", I'm just brainstorming here.

Alternately I suppose maybe you could program Calibre to only work inside a folder called Calibre (wherever you choose to locate it) and have it unable to do anything to any file outside of that "Calibre" folder.

kovidgoyal · 05-04-2011, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twowheels

Uh oh... was just thinking about sharing my libraries with Dropbox, and one of the potential machines was a Windows machine -- darn Windows always messing stuff up. I guess I'll play it safe [understanding the other risks of using Dropbox] and stick to just Linux.

IIRC you can create case insensitive partitions on linux.

kovidgoyal · 05-04-2011, 09:40 PM

@the people suggesting this function remove only calibre managed files: That can be done by just selecting all the books and pressing delete. The purpose of this function is to completely wipe the folder. This is useful when you build up junk files in the folder, perhaps because calibre lost track of some files, for example because of case sensitivity issues, or because you did not initially realize that you should not mess around with the files in this folder.

All in all, I guess I'm pretty happy with the improved warning dialog. One of my design goals in calibre is to make it as powerful as possible while keeping the basic features easy to use. Powerful tools can be dangerous if used carelessly. Using multiple libraries is not a feature a casual calibre user is likely to encounter, hidden as it is behind the calibre icon on the toolbar. I'm willing to live with the occasional user that does discover it and then fails to heed the delete warning.

stickybuns · 05-04-2011, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

So that this thread does not go to waste, I've improved the confirmation dialog, see attached screenshot.

Any suggestions on how to make it even clearer are most welcome.

Would it be possible to include the number of files that will be deleted?

So, if I think to myself, "Gosh, I sure do want to delete my library of 153 and 1/2 books and nothing more than those 153 and 1/2 books!" but the confirmation dialog says, "All eleventy billion files in this directory will be deleted PERMANENTLY!!", I can take that as a clue-by-four to not click the "ok" button?

travger · 05-04-2011, 10:20 PM

Several warnings will not help. My dvd-recorder always asks me twice about deletions and I still occasionally manage to delete before catching myself. I am just so very sure that I'm deleting the right thing.

ThR · 05-05-2011, 03:10 AM

The sequence should be: read - think about what you have read - understand what you have read - do it.

The part think and understand never can be replaced by (as many as you want) warning dialogs.

EowynCarter · 05-05-2011, 03:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

So that this thread does not go to waste, I've improved the confirmation dialog, see attached screenshot.

Any suggestions on how to make it even clearer are most welcome.

Yeah, sound clear enough

Maybe state clearly "including non calibre managed files".
But it gets long them.

rhmorrison · 05-05-2011, 04:22 AM

Typical ID107 error - the problem is between the chair and the keyboard!

orlok · 05-05-2011, 04:37 AM

Kovid - it's about time you implemented the "slap the user in the face for a dose of reality" add-on

mrmikel · 05-05-2011, 07:32 AM

Kovid,

How about trapping out attempts to create libraries in sensitive areas of the operating systems? I think maybe Vista and Windows7 might object for most of them, but not the desktop. For Linux and Mac I don't know where they would be.

ThR · 05-05-2011, 08:56 AM

Kovid can do what he wants. If he will be successfull in preventing the shutdown of the User-Brain-OS AND securing his application of layer-8-events he will get the Nobel-Price.

CRussel · 05-05-2011, 09:40 AM

In spite of the user's pain (self-inflicted), this thread has made me chuckle. In my early days as a UNIX admin, I was WAY too smart to ever do rm -rf. Nope. Instead, in a moment of frustration, as root of course, in /usr, I typed:

chmod -R 777 *

Sigh. This, of course, on a production system. It was not pretty.

@kovidgoyal: I like the proposed new warning dialog. Though I might phrase it as: "ALL files, including those not managed by Calibre, in [path], will be permanently deleted". The change only to make the action even clearer. But ultimately, nothing you do can prevent the user from being stupid and hurting himself.

kovidgoyal · 05-05-2011, 10:49 AM

@CRussel: I'm worried that the longer I make the message, the less likely people are to read it.

@mrmikel: calibre (as of several months ago) does not let you choose a non empty folder when creating a new library. I suspect the OP created his library before that feature was added.

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05-04-2011, 08:42 PM	#61
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,249 Karma: 61360164 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	I have chmod'd one of my own folders so I could not even see (browse) them Once I figured out what i had done., I set it back the way I found it

05-04-2011, 09:40 PM	#65
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,604 Karma: 28548974 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	@the people suggesting this function remove only calibre managed files: That can be done by just selecting all the books and pressing delete. The purpose of this function is to completely wipe the folder. This is useful when you build up junk files in the folder, perhaps because calibre lost track of some files, for example because of case sensitivity issues, or because you did not initially realize that you should not mess around with the files in this folder. All in all, I guess I'm pretty happy with the improved warning dialog. One of my design goals in calibre is to make it as powerful as possible while keeping the basic features easy to use. Powerful tools can be dangerous if used carelessly. Using multiple libraries is not a feature a casual calibre user is likely to encounter, hidden as it is behind the calibre icon on the toolbar. I'm willing to live with the occasional user that does discover it and then fails to heed the delete warning.

05-04-2011, 10:20 PM	#67
travger Evangelist Posts: 485 Karma: 270594 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: palm tx, Windows7, Galaxy A5	Several warnings will not help. My dvd-recorder always asks me twice about deletions and I still occasionally manage to delete before catching myself. I am just so very sure that I'm deleting the right thing.

05-05-2011, 03:10 AM	#68
ThR Tatütatuter Posts: 390 Karma: 3148 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Germany, Baden, Karlsruhe Device: Aura H2O, Glo HD, Paperwhite, PRS-950	The sequence should be: read - think about what you have read - understand what you have read - do it. The part think and understand never can be replaced by (as many as you want) warning dialogs.

05-05-2011, 04:22 AM	#70
rhmorrison Connoisseur Posts: 64 Karma: 1320 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Wörth am Rhein, Germany Device: Kindle 3 (WLAN) & hp Jornada 568	Typical ID107 error - the problem is between the chair and the keyboard!

05-05-2011, 04:37 AM	#71
orlok Close to the Edit! Posts: 9,797 Karma: 267994408 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis, Amazon Fire 8", Kindle 6"	Kovid - it's about time you implemented the "slap the user in the face for a dose of reality" add-on

05-05-2011, 07:32 AM	#72
mrmikel Color me gone Posts: 2,089 Karma: 1445295 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Central Oregon Coast Device: PRS-300	Kovid, How about trapping out attempts to create libraries in sensitive areas of the operating systems? I think maybe Vista and Windows7 might object for most of them, but not the desktop. For Linux and Mac I don't know where they would be.

05-05-2011, 08:56 AM	#73
ThR Tatütatuter Posts: 390 Karma: 3148 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Germany, Baden, Karlsruhe Device: Aura H2O, Glo HD, Paperwhite, PRS-950	Kovid can do what he wants. If he will be successfull in preventing the shutdown of the User-Brain-OS AND securing his application of layer-8-events he will get the Nobel-Price.

05-05-2011, 09:40 AM	#74
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,322 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3	In spite of the user's pain (self-inflicted), this thread has made me chuckle. In my early days as a UNIX admin, I was WAY too smart to ever do rm -rf. Nope. Instead, in a moment of frustration, as root of course, in /usr, I typed: chmod -R 777 * Sigh. This, of course, on a production system. It was not pretty. @kovidgoyal: I like the proposed new warning dialog. Though I might phrase it as: "ALL files, including those not managed by Calibre, in [path], will be permanently deleted". The change only to make the action even clearer. But ultimately, nothing you do can prevent the user from being stupid and hurting himself.

05-05-2011, 10:49 AM	#75
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,604 Karma: 28548974 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	@CRussel: I'm worried that the longer I make the message, the less likely people are to read it. @mrmikel: calibre (as of several months ago) does not let you choose a non empty folder when creating a new library. I suspect the OP created his library before that feature was added.