27612 - Save file should warn or fail when directory doesn't exist

Status: VERIFIED FIXED

(SeaMonkey :: UI Design, defect, P3)

Description

[Richard Zach]

When saving a file to a directory that doesn't exist, the directory is created
automatically.  This is different than 4.7, where save file fails with a "No
such file or directory" alert.  It's also potentially confusing for the user,
since it's more likely that they've mistyped the directory name rather than
intentionally wanting to save the file to a directory that doesn't exist yet. 
In that case, they won't be able to find the file they saved.

To reprododuce:
1. File | Save Page As
2. Enter as path a nonexisting directory plus file name, say
/home/user/test/test.html, where /home/user/test doesn't exist
3. Click OK

Actual result: file saved, directory /home/user/test created.
Expected result: "No such directory" error

Linux build 2000.02.13.08

Comment 1

[verah (gone)]

Reassigning as per Don

Comment 2

[don]

Move to M20 target milestone.

Comment 3

[don]

Oops.  Should be M21.

Comment 4

[kenneth buttler]

this is a stale bug. it hasn't been touch in 30 days. i have tested it in the
new netscape 2000080108 build and it does not it is not reperducable anymore so
i sugges it be marked WFM.

Comment 5

[Richard Zach]

Well, the error message is less than optimal, but it does fail with a warning
now.

Comment 6

[sairuh (rarely reading bugmail)]

actually, this still happens for me. reopening. used linux comm opt
2000.08.28.11. here are my steps:

1. go to http://www.mozilla.org/
2. scroll down to nightly build section, click on Macintosh link
3. click Save To Disk radio button in the Downloading dialog
4. click OK
5. in resulting filepicker, i typed in a bogus directory, eg,
/u/sairuh/dkfsj/<filename_to_be_downloaded>
6. clicked OK

result: the directory dkfsj was created and the file put there.

there should be a dialog saying that there's no such directory, and asking if
the user wants to create it.

would this be a filepicker issue? cc'ing bryner and pavlov.

Comment 7

[Claudius Gayle]

nav traige team: nsbeta3-

Comment 8

[Peter "jag" Annema]

Yes, this is an issue with the XP filepicker. Currently is tries to save, then
popups up a (for the user) useless error.

I think we could fix this by checking if the parent of the file to save actually
exists and is a directory and if not, we could pop up a dialog with something
like "Directory you're trying to save in doesn't exist. [Create] [Cancel]"

Suggestions?

Comment 9

[Bill Law]

Nominating; should be fixed as part of general cleanup of this area.

Comment 10

[Marcia Knous [:marcia]]

Netscape Nav triage team: this is a Netscape beta stopper.

Comment 11

[sairuh (rarely reading bugmail)]

*** Bug 64697 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 12

[Viswanath Ramachandran]

bill thinks pavlov shd get this. bill will talk to him about it :-). 

Comment 13

[Peter "jag" Annema]

I've put something provisional in around line 279 in filepicker.js, but I
commented it out. I don't remember why, but if all you want is a simple warning,
then commenting that out (and doing the i18n thing) should fix this bug.

However, in bug 55026 it's been suggested we'd walk up the parents until we
found which of them caused the problem (not existing/being a file/something
else?) and report something more meaningful. Not too hard to do, imo.

Comment 14

[Paul Chen]

nav triage team:

Marking nsbeta1+

Comment 15

[Peter "jag" Annema]

Taking bug, I'm sure Pavlov won't mind.

Comment 16

[Peter "jag" Annema]

Attachment: [patch] Show alert when path doesn't exist or one of the parents is a file

Comment 17

[Peter "jag" Annema]

So for /tmp/foo/bar/baz/index.html,
if /tmp/foo doesn't exist it will show an alert
"Directory /tmp/foo doesn't exist, can't save /tmp/foo/bar/baz/index.html"
if /tmp/foo is a file it will show an alert
"/tmp/foo is a file, can't save /tmp/foo/bar/baz/index.html"

Comment 18

[Blake Ross]

We have FormatStringFromName to do similar string construction and 
replacement.  Not sure which is preferred.

Comment 19

[Brian Ryner (not reading)]

cool patch.  r=bryner.

Comment 20

[timeless]

what happens if there's both a file and a directory 'foo' in /tmp ?

i know this bug is filed for pc/linux, but the file picker is xpfe.

Comment 21

[Peter "jag" Annema]

Any filesystem which would allow that is broken by design.

Comment 22

[Blake Ross]

Per Ben, common (universal) dialogs are preferred over simple alert()s to give 
more useful titles for error messages.

Comment 23

[Alec Flett]

use formatstringfromname.
%parent% is hard on localizers, partially because "%parent%" is an english
string that does NOT get translated.

Comment 24

[Peter "jag" Annema]

That much harder than %S? That would require a l10n note, which can equally well
be provided for %parent%.

Per conversation with Ben:
<Ben_Goodger> I agree that %bar% and replace is better from js.

I could change it to %P% and %F% if you feel English words are too confusing.

Comment 25

[Alec Flett]

formatStringFromName is also cheaper to execute than string substituions in
JavaScript, allows us to share the positional string formatting that we ALREADY
USE from C++, and it uses the schema that translators have been using for years.

Please. We have already decided that PR_smprintf (and thus formatStringFromName)
is the i18n-blessed way of doing positional string formatting. please use it.

Comment 26

[Peter "jag" Annema]

Attachment: [patch] use common dialogs, use new stringbundle fu

Comment 27

[Peter "jag" Annema]

D'oh. Evil tabs. New fix coming up.

Comment 28

[Peter "jag" Annema]

Attachment: [patch] use common dialogs, use new <stringbundle/> fu, be tab-less

Comment 29

[Brian Ryner (not reading)]

r=bryner

Comment 30

[Alec Flett]

sr=alecf

Comment 31

[Peter "jag" Annema]

Checked in, marking fixed.

Comment 32

[sairuh (rarely reading bugmail)]

cool. vrfy fixed on linux comm 2001.05.02.08 and winnt moz 2001.05.02.12.

cannot vrfy on mac --filed bug 78581.