Labels and UNC

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Simon K
Posts: 9
Joined: 29 Nov 2012 10:15

Labels and UNC

Post by Simon K »

Hi,

I found a bug when using labels with certain UNC names. Example, on a server I have a share which looks like that in the file tag.dat :
\\Bfresqyfp01\echanges\COMMIGA\DPIA\Propositions 2015\15-0197 - NO - ELH - Déploiement Infras Projet STT - avenant|3|||||||

After modification, in the tag.dat file I have two lines, the same as above + this one :
\\Bfresqyfp01\Echanges\COMMIGA\DPIA\Propositions 2015\15-0197 - NO - ELH - Déploiement Infras Projet STT - avenant|1|||||||

So the first line is not replaced by the second, and you can see that "echanges" is replaced by "Echanges" so the modification does not work.
If I delete manualy the first line in tag.dat and replace "Echanges" with "echanges" in the second line, I can see the modification.

Thank you for your help.

Simon

admin
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Re: Labels and UNC

Post by admin »

One of the names is the correct one.

1) \\Bfresqyfp01\echanges
2) \\Bfresqyfp01\Echanges

Which one?
Any idea how the wrong one comes into play?

Simon K
Posts: 9
Joined: 29 Nov 2012 10:15

Re: Labels and UNC

Post by Simon K »

Hi,

The correct one is "echanges".
When I do a modification in a label (for example) for a file in this share, it does not work and I found why: when I look in the tag.dat file there is a new line with the new label but with "Echange" and the old line with the old label but with the correct share name "echange" is still there.

Thanks

admin
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Re: Labels and UNC

Post by admin »

The question is: How does the wrong "Echange" get into tag.dat?

How exactly do you tag your items?

Simon K
Posts: 9
Joined: 29 Nov 2012 10:15

Re: Labels and UNC

Post by Simon K »

I don't know, it is the soft that does it when I change the label.
To change the label I do a right-click on the file in the label column and then I choose the new label.

If I connect a drive letter (P:) to the share I don't have the problem wich I understand because I don't have the problem with the "e" in "echange" wich is replaced with "E" by xyplorer --> so instead of having "\\Bfresqyfp01\echanges\COMMIGA\DPIA\Propositions 2015\file..." I have "P:\COMMIGA\DPIA\Propositions 2015\file...". In this case I have no problem.

Do you want me to send to you the tag.dat file before and after modification?

TheQwerty
Posts: 4373
Joined: 03 Aug 2007 22:30

Re: Labels and UNC

Post by TheQwerty »

Steps to reproduce from fresh:
  1. Enable View > Mini Tree > Mini Tree
  2. Type UNC path into address bar: \\SERVER\ANY\FOLDER
  3. Tag an item - any item.
  4. Go to Computer.
  5. View > Mini Tree > Minimize Tree
  6. Type UNC path into address bar: \\server\any\folder
  7. Tag an item - any item.
  8. Open Tools > List Management > Tagged Items...
EDIT: I'm not sure that's how Simon K is running into this issue but that was the first (hopefully only) way I could reproduce. ;)

admin
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Re: Labels and UNC

Post by admin »

OK, great! :tup: Could reproduce, understand, and fix it.

Simon K
Posts: 9
Joined: 29 Nov 2012 10:15

Re: Labels and UNC

Post by Simon K »

:appl:
Thank you to both of you!

TheQwerty
Posts: 4373
Joined: 03 Aug 2007 22:30

Re: Labels and UNC

Post by TheQwerty »

Well the good news is that those steps are fixed in v15.00.0322.

The bad news is that it's still possible to run into this if the case of the path is changed outside of XY - which I believe is a well-known and unfortunate design decision, not an actual bug. :|

Technically, you can hit it entirely in XY with a little cheating:
  1. Share C:\Shares\
  2. Tag \\localhost\Shares\folder\file.txt
  3. Rename C:\Shares\ to C:\SHARES\.
XY doesn't see them as the same location during the rename so the tags don't get updated.

Fortunately, the Database Check does handle this scenario and corrects the capitalization.

However, it's still up to the user to realize the problem exists and then dig into the configuration to run the check - which I think is a stretch. Most users will probably never realize the database is case-sensitive or that the path's case changed and instead of correcting the database they'll just assume XY is unreliable and re-tag the item.

Granted, that leaves the question of how often is the case the only thing that changes in the path? :?


EDIT: Though really with remote paths the bigger problem is the mess of how many different ways they can be referenced.
\\localhost
\\127.0.0.1
\\computername
\\computername.domain
Z:\

How could XY consolidate and fix this mess so that the tags are always visible - or for that matter should XY even bother?

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Re: Labels and UNC

Post by admin »

Yes, that might be a little (since rare in real life) problem. I could easily handle it by making the DB case-insensitive. But that would slow down almost everything. I'd rather elevate the Database Check to somewhere better reachable, maybe to the main menu before "Reload Tags Database".

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