Bugs for 2.1 and feature requests (caution, long post)

[zer0nix]

my recent experience with 2.1 was so frustrating (most buggy release ever) that i considered not even posting a list of bugs and suggestions ... but since i've read y'all are implementing a file database feature into 3.0 (YAHOO!), my faith in the digital volcano team has been restored!

here is a list of bugs and desired features that i hope will be useful:

BUG ... 'apply only to selected files' does not really work (and honestly has never really worked in any version of dc); it is deselected by default (which seems kind of strange because if the user went through the trouble of highlighting a large number of specific files, he probably wants the selection rule to only apply to those files), it takes a long time to become selectable/selected (the program hangs for about 40-50 seconds upon checking the rule for the first time) and tends to break (applies the selection rule to all files instead of selected files, despite the rule being checked), especially if lots of files have been checked or highlighted. unfortunately, this means that this broken feature tends to undo a LOT of work (so far, i have lost about 3 12 hour sessions of selecting due entirely to trying to use this broken feature).
possible fix: make 'apply only to selected files' the default choice, so the worst that can happen is that only the selected files are modified instead of potentially undoing hours of work (i personally have lost about 30 hours of work because i like to make changes while i'm at the pc and schedule a mass delete for when i move afk. unfortunately, saving the file list doesn't save the checkmarks so i seriously lost almost 3 entire 12 hour sessions of selecting through duplicates in three consecutive days! PLEASE fix this bug!).

BUG2 ...
double clicking on a selected group of files undoes extant checks or checks files randomly. unfortunately, this can be easily accidentally triggered by having an old mouse with worn out buttons.
basically, the entire highlighted group somehow becomes checked or unchecked OR random files in the highlighted group will become checked or unchecked (not in concordance to any previously applied selection assistant rule or the inverse thereof -and it is not at all consistent, so it really is totally random). thus, the user has to use the selection assistant again, which adds a minimum of an additional 30 seconds, depending on how many different rules were just applied to that group of files.
i don't even know what kind of feature the program is trying to implement here but if it's mousegestures, i think i would like them disabled. this is a brand new bug that has emerged with the latest free version of duplicate cleaner.

truth be told, i would prefer to use an older, simpler version of this program but unfortunately the selection assistant in older versions tends to default to applying selection rules across all files when i only want it to apply to the files i've highlighted).

ANNOYANCE ... in the latest free version of the program, folders open in explorer with the folders pane visible by default. unfortunately, this means that instead of opening folders -nearly- instantaneously, explorer has to load the entire filetree up to that folder ... which can take minutes if the filesystem is not optimized (which i would guess to be the case for users of your program, no offense). the ideal would be to have an option to restore the old way of opening folders, which is with no panes open by default.

FEATURE REQUESTs ... please bring back the 'check selected files' button (from v1.4 and prior) as it reduces user input. it used to take a single left click to mark an entire group of files, whereas now it takes a right click, searching through the menu, scrolling down, and then clicking left click on a menu entry to perform the same action ... that is 3 user inputs too many! ...

please add a text input feature so that users can input multiple folders into the search tree at once, ala windows explorer. for instance, in windows, users can tell explorer to search through X:\AAAA, X:\BBBB and X:\CCCC in one action by inputting X:\AAAA;X:\BBBB;X:\CCCC; ... this feature would reduce user input to a minimum of 5 clicks to input any number of folders into the program, so long as the list was compiled and saved elsewhere. i'm almost positive this used to be a feature of an older version of duplicate cleaner. please bring it back!

please consider adding the feature to save file selecting progress (hopefully with autosave kicking in every few moments, once a 'checked files' list has been saved) ... so that checking progress can be retained across sessions and applied at once instead of necessitating deletions to make progress.

finally, thank you all very much for continuing to develop this excellent program! it is absolutely THE FASTEST duplicate finding and removing program -and i've tried them all! thanks!

[DigitalVolcano]

Sorry you had issues with 2.1.

I'll review the 'apply on to selected files' feature. It worked upon testing, but I will try it with more and different cases. Version 2.1 and above should save the checkmarks in the csv file.

With bug 2, DC uses a Microsoft control called a ListView, and this has inherent issues. Version 2.1 should have addressed these , but it sounds like you are still having problems. Clicking a box when a set of files is highlighted will tick all the files.
I'm looking into getting a 3rd party listview for the next version which hopefully will be less idiosyncratic, and will have much faster performance when dealing with large numbers of files.

'Check Selected Files' - you can use the space bar to check/uncheck the selection.

Thanks for using DC and for the feedback!