XYplorer Beta Club

How about add an option to save settings right away instead of on exit? This is convenient in case of a computer crash. So when XYplorer is started again after an unexpected exit, our tabs, etc. are still there for us to resume the session.

Is it really that hard to use the "File>Settings>Save All Settings" function?

In CKS, it shows as #182 so you can define a CKS or CTB for it...and besides, if your system crashes, how is XY supposed to know that ahead of time? It's great but it doesn't have magical powers of premonition..

If one is so inclined to be safe than sorry, one can create a continuous loop that contains a wait command and ID# of Save All Settings. "Not me, guv " just in case you have any issues.

j_c_hallgren wrote:Is it really that hard to use the "File>Settings>Save All Settings" function?

Come on now.. it's not that it's hard to do it's that XY never saves the settings on its own except when exiting. This means if you leave XY open for long periods* you have to take a very active role in saving your config or accept that it's incredibly likely you'll lose a setting every now and again.

The real question is why shouldn't (or can't) XY take a more proactive step towards saving the settings? On Exit is not enough, and really anything that requires being triggered by the user may not fall within their work habits.


Allow me to make a proposition...
1) XY gets a new option: Auto-Save Every x Minutes
2) When enabled XY will save the settings to a separate file/location.
3a) When a Save Settings is initiated via User or Exit, XY will write the auto-saved settings to the actual settings and mark that they are in sync.
3b) If XY is gracefully closed in a manner where settings should not be saved the auto-saved settings will be removed/marked 'don't use.'
4) On Open XY will check to see if the Auto-Save settings match the settings being loaded; if they do not and the auto-save are newer/marked for use, there should probably be a prompt asking the user which to load.

Pros:
At most the user will only lose x minutes of changes.
In the event of a crash the user's original settings can still be used, but they can also opt to use the auto-saved ones (and risk another crash).
It can serve as a poor-user's short-term backup.
It removes this wish that has been requested multiple times now.

Cons:
It increases XY's resource usage.
It requires a background thread to do the auto-saving (I'm not familiar enough to comment on how painful this may actually be.)


I was considering requesting a new tweak "SaveAllOnMinimize" the other day, but this would eliminate my need for that.


*At work I typically keep XY on the latest beta so it does get restarted rather often but when there aren't new betas XY only gets closed for my weekly reboot.

At home is another story as I don't keep it up to date but update when I realize I'm falling behind, thus it could be more than a month before an exit occurs.

I've always been against auto-save and I still am. Sorry guys, but you are hitting a hard wall here.

admin wrote:I've always been against auto-save and I still am. Sorry guys, but you are hitting a hard wall here.

Even in the proposal I had made? Care to elaborate?

So how about a SaveOnMinimize tweak?
Or rather CEA_Minimize:
0 = Current
1 = Save All Settings
2 = Create Unicorns

TheQwerty wrote:

admin wrote:I've always been against auto-save and I still am. Sorry guys, but you are hitting a hard wall here.

Even in the proposal I had made? Care to elaborate?

So how about a SaveOnMinimize tweak?
Or rather CEA_Minimize:
0 = Current
1 = Save All Settings
2 = Create Unicorns

No time to elaborate longer than this:
- by murphy's law auto-save will hit you in the wrong moment (when you just f***ed up your settings).
- manual save is soooo easy to do, there's just no need for improvements
- what I might do however, is to save a "last good" configuration on startup, so that you can later fall back on how you started last time.

admin wrote:No time to elaborate longer than this:
- by murphy's law auto-save will hit you in the wrong moment (when you just f***ed up your settings).
- manual save is soooo easy to do, there's just no need for improvements

It's possible to make auto-save work in a way that won't necessarily bite you when Murphy arrives, and I believe what I proposed accomplishes that fairly well.

No matter how easy manual save is it's an annoyance and it would be helpful if XY assisted me more/rather than trying to protect me.
Besides, pushing a button/menu item/shortcut key may be easy, but just working/sleeping/waiting for 15 minutes when XY will automatically save is easier AND less disruptive to my work flow.

TheQwerty wrote:

admin wrote:No time to elaborate longer than this:
- by murphy's law auto-save will hit you in the wrong moment (when you just f***ed up your settings).
- manual save is soooo easy to do, there's just no need for improvements

It's possible to make auto-save work in a way that won't necessarily bite you when Murphy arrives, and I believe what I proposed accomplishes that fairly well.

Ok, I read your proposal again and it looks like a workable idea. Maybe later...

I don't know where an ASS (auto save settings) would make sense.
I, if i make an modification on my settings that i wanna keep, i just do an "Alt+F nn" after that. Done.

how about at least save the tabs right away? this is the main thing that helps us resume a session after an unexpected exit.

btw: i use a web browser called maxthon 2. if it detected an unexpected exit, it asks if you want to open the tabs from the previous session. very convenient especially if you have a lot of tabs open that you can't remember.

I would like to reiterate the importance of this wish as last night I was bitten pretty badly by the lack of auto-save.

I was copying some files and XYcopy stopped responding. XYplorer was still functional, but when I pressed the "brown floppy" icon it froze too and I had to forcibly terminate XYplorer. Upon its restart, XYplorer came back with vanilla default configuration and was asking me to put my name and key as it was in trial mode. I checked the app data path and my INI was completely wiped

Partially saving my derrière was a backup of an INI from a couple of minor point revisions ago, but even then I had to spend a fair bit of time bringing it up to date. I wouldn't have had to do that if settings are auto-saved.

It's a cardinal sin if software causes data to be lost. Granted, XYplorer may not be the direct cause of the freeze, but it didn't take proactive measures to avoid triggering the freeze either

Hi,
Just adding my own strong vote of support for the optional ability to auto-save all or selected settings on some chosen periodic basis. I don't think this should be a philosophical issue dictated one way or the other by the application. It should be up to the user to decide how and when to use this feature. In my experience, I use it selectively depending on the application. In M$ Office, for example, I deliberately do NOT use it. But in XYplorer, I'm getting frustrated a lot when I lose the tab, history and other settings when there is occasional instability, as now with the Error 10 problem.

Jerry