Closed Bug 1896084 Opened 1 year ago Closed 1 year ago

`Apply columns/current view to` > `folder and its children` fails in long folder lists. In TB 115: parent folder button becomes unresponsive when hitting the top of the screen. In TB 128: button is not unresponsive but must be pressed twice.

Categories

(Thunderbird :: Folder and Message Lists, defect)

Product:
Thunderbird
Component:
Folder and Message Lists
Version:
Thunderbird 115
Platform:
x86_64
Linux
Type:
defect

Tracking

(Not tracked)

Status:
RESOLVED WORKSFORME

People

(Reporter: knanirudh, Unassigned)

References

Details

(Keywords: useless-UI, ux-trust)

User Story

* TB 115 (from comment #0 to comment #8): Parent folder button becomes unresponsive when hitting the top of the screen.
* TB 128 (starting from comment #9): Button is not unresponsive but must be pressed twice (first time has no effect).

Attachments

(1 file)

Screenshot from 2024-05-10 16-33-47.png
269.44 KB, image/png
Details

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:125.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/125.0

Steps to reproduce:

In the 'select columns to display' menu, I tried the
'Apply Columns to' function to apply it to the Folder and its children.

Actual results:

No response. Unable to select the parent folder.

Expected results:

The option should've been applied to the parent folder and its subfolders, which was possible in an earlier version of Thunderbird.

One could create a sub-folder and move all the folders into it, but the multi-select feature is also not supported.

Update: It looks like the apply to folder and children option works for folders with few items in them. When the menu reaches the top, as shown in the screenshot, the top button is unresponsive.

(In reply to Anirudh Nandakumar from comment #0)

Created attachment 9401073 [details]
Screenshot from 2024-05-10 16-33-47.png

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:125.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/125.0

Steps to reproduce:

In the 'select columns to display' menu, I tried the
'Apply Columns to' function to apply it to the Folder and its children.

Actual results:

No response. Unable to select the parent folder.

Expected results:

The option should've been applied to the parent folder and its subfolders, which was possible in an earlier version of Thunderbird.

Thanks for your report.

Just to see if I understand you correctly:
Judging from your screenshot, you clicked on: apply current view to > folder and its children > feeds > feeds but the last click (i.e. the second time you click on "feeds") has no effect because the "button is unresponsive", correct ?

Note: Comment #0 says apply columns to but your screenshot shows apply current view to.

(In reply to chrizilla from comment #3)

Thanks for your report.

Just to see if I understand you correctly:

Note: Comment #0 says apply columns to but your screenshot shows apply current view to.

Sorry about that, this happens to both of them.

Judging from your screenshot, you clicked on: apply current view to > folder and its children > feeds > feeds but the last click (i.e. the second time you click on "feeds") has no effect because the "button is unresponsive", correct ?

Yes, the buttons go unresponsive once they hit the top of the screen. When I try to replicate the issue with a folder with fewer sub-folders that do not hit the top of the screen/no scrolling required, they seem to work fine.

I cannot reproduce on TB 129.0a1 (2024-06-21) (64-bit) @ Win10-64bit in a fly-out menu of more than 50 subfolders (for the purpose of this test).
How many subfolders do you have ?

OS: Unspecified → Linux
Hardware: Unspecified → x86_64
Summary: Apply columns to Folder and its children no longer supports selection of parent accounts folder → `Apply columns/current view to > folder and its children` fails in long folder lists: button for parent accounts folder is unresponsive when hitting the top of the screen
Summary: `Apply columns/current view to > folder and its children` fails in long folder lists: button for parent accounts folder is unresponsive when hitting the top of the screen → `Apply columns/current view to > folder and its children` fails in long folder lists: parent folder button becomes unresponsive when hitting the top of the screen

(In reply to chrizilla from comment #5)

I cannot reproduce on TB 129.0a1 (2024-06-21) (64-bit) @ Win10-64bit in a fly-out menu of more than 50 subfolders (for the purpose of this test).
How many subfolders do you have ?

I couldn't add this detail earlier, it is a flatpak installation (TB v. 115.12.2) running on Debian. I have about 100 sub-folders, and the button is unresponsive only for the top level folder, in my case - Feeds, it works for the rest of them.

I tried with 102 subfolders (and now my hand hurts from creating so many folders :) ... works fine in 129.0a1 (2024-07-05) (64-bit).
Did you try help >> troubleshoot mode ?

Summary: `Apply columns/current view to > folder and its children` fails in long folder lists: parent folder button becomes unresponsive when hitting the top of the screen → `Apply columns/current view to` > `folder and its children` fails in long folder lists: parent folder button becomes unresponsive when hitting the top of the screen

(In reply to chrizilla from comment #7)

I tried with 102 subfolders (and now my hand hurts from creating so many folders :) ... works fine in 129.0a1 (2024-07-05) (64-bit).
Did you try help >> troubleshoot mode ?

Sorry that you had to go through that. It works when I restart it in the troubleshoot mode as you suggested, is that because one of my addons are hindering it? When I run it in normal mode, with all my addons disabled (and even when they were uninstalled), it still doesn't let me select the Feeds button in the Apply columns to Folder and its children menu. I only have the default themes, not custom themes installed.

(In reply to Anirudh Nandakumar from comment #8)

(In reply to chrizilla from comment #7)

I tried with 102 subfolders (and now my hand hurts from creating so many folders :) ... works fine in 129.0a1 (2024-07-05) (64-bit).
Did you try help >> troubleshoot mode ?

Sorry that you had to go through that. It works when I restart it in the troubleshoot mode as you suggested, is that because one of my addons are hindering it? When I run it in normal mode, with all my addons disabled (and even when they were uninstalled), it still doesn't let me select the Feeds button in the Apply columns to Folder and its children menu. I only have the default themes, not custom themes installed.

Update to nebula seems to have solved the problem for me, although I have to do it twice for the columns to be set to folder and all its sub-folders!

(In reply to Anirudh Nandakumar from comment #8)

Sorry that you had to go through that.

No worries, it was only meant as a light-hearted comment ;)

It works when I restart it in the troubleshoot mode as you suggested, is that because one of my addons are hindering it?

Information about troubleshoot mode: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-mode-thunderbird
To my knowledge, it disables all add-ons and temporarily resets "some" preferences. The KB article says: "Troubleshoot Mode runs Thunderbird with some features and customizations disabled". I don't know the full scope. The goal is to simulate a clean user profile. It obviously is more probative to actually create a new/clean user profile for testing purposes, because troubleshoot mode apparently doesn't reset all prefs:

The problem still happens in Troubleshoot Mode
If the problem still happens in Troubleshoot Mode, then it is not being caused by an extension or theme installed in Thunderbird. Possible causes and solutions include:

  • […]
  • Changes made to Thunderbird preference settings not disabled in Troubleshoot Mode. You might try creating a new profile. (But do not delete your current profile.)

(In reply to Anirudh Nandakumar from comment #9)

I have to do it twice for the columns to be set to folder and all its sub-folders!

This also doesn't sound right. Could you please describe your steps precisely ?

Flags: needinfo?(knanirudh)

(In reply to chrizilla from comment #11)

(In reply to Anirudh Nandakumar from comment #9)

I have to do it twice for the columns to be set to folder and all its sub-folders!

This also doesn't sound right. Could you please describe your steps precisely ?

Thank you for the concern, I'll try my best to explain. As mentioned earlier, there are a bunch of RSS feeds under the Feeds folder, and when I add a new feed to it, the feed contents are displayed with the default columns, which I don't prefer. To change the columns in the new feed added, I go the existing feed where the columns have been set to my preference, and choose Select columns to display > Apply columns to > Folder and its children and then choose the Feeds folder. The changes don't reflect in the first try, and they work out only when I have repeated the routine twice.

Hope this isn't too confusing, I have a screen capture of this behaviour, if you the above explanation doesn't explain the situation.

Flags: needinfo?(knanirudh)

(In reply to Anirudh Nandakumar from comment #12)

(In reply to chrizilla from comment #11)

(In reply to Anirudh Nandakumar from comment #9)

I have to do it twice for the columns to be set to folder and all its sub-folders!

This also doesn't sound right. Could you please describe your steps precisely ?

Thank you for the concern, I'll try my best to explain. As mentioned earlier, there are a bunch of RSS feeds under the Feeds folder, and when I add a new feed to it, the feed contents are displayed with the default columns, which I don't prefer. To change the columns in the new feed added, I go the existing feed where the columns have been set to my preference, and choose Select columns to display > Apply columns to > Folder and its children and then choose the Feeds folder. The changes don't reflect in the first try, and they work out only when I have repeated the routine twice.

Hope this isn't too confusing, I have a screen capture of this behaviour, if you the above explanation doesn't explain the situation.

Behaves the same way in Troubleshoot mode as well.
Thunderbird: 128.0.1esr (64-bit)

(In reply to Anirudh Nandakumar from comment #12)

Hope this isn't too confusing, I have a screen capture of this behaviour, if you the above explanation doesn't explain the situation.

No, I think it's straightforward and you explained it well. Just to check if I understand correctly:

  • The first time you Apply columns to > Folder and its children it has no effect whatsoever.
  • So you repeat the exact same steps and the 2nd time it works.
  • Reproducible: always (for folders with many subfolders).

Correct ?
Can you please check if the new bug title as well as the user story accurately reflect your report ? Thank you.

A screen capture is probably not required, but since you say, you already have one, you might as well attach it. Sometimes they include hints as to what may cause the problem.

Questions for you (sorry in case you already answered some). Please back up your profile folder before attempting anything:

  1. Does the parent folder button also have to hit the top of the screen to reproduce the bug (like for TB 115) or does it occur regardless ?
  2. Does this only occur in RSS folders or in mail folders as well ?
  3. When does the problem start to occur (how many subfolders) ? Have you ever determined a specific threshold ?
  4. Can you select a misbehaving folder and then try to determine the threshold by moving folders one-by-one out of this misbehaving folder (into a temporary folder) until you reach a threshold where the bug doesn't occur any longer ?
  5. Once you found this threshold, can you go to your mail folders and create the same amount of subfolders there to see if the bug also affects mail folders (or only RSS folders) ?
  6. At the end it would be very helpful if you could create a new user profile in TB 128 and compare its behaviour to the behaviour of your existing user profile affected by the bug. You would have to manually create the (sub)folders in the new user profile (not copy them over from the misbehaving profile). This would help determine whether the problem is specific to your user profile or affects TB 128 in general.

Sorry, I know this quite a bit of work, but it would be helpful in tracking down what causes the problem.
Please ask if any of the steps above are unclear.

User Story: (updated)
Keywords: ux-trust
Summary: `Apply columns/current view to` > `folder and its children` fails in long folder lists: parent folder button becomes unresponsive when hitting the top of the screen → `Apply columns/current view to` > `folder and its children` fails in long folder lists. In TB 115: parent folder button becomes unresponsive when hitting the top of the screen. In TB 128: button is not unresponsive but must be pressed twice.
Keywords: useless-UI

(In reply to chrizilla from comment #14)

  • The first time you Apply columns to > Folder and its children it has no effect whatsoever.
  • So you repeat the exact same steps and the 2nd time it works.
  • Reproducible: always (for folders with many subfolders).

Correct ?

Yes.

Can you please check if the new bug title as well as the user story accurately reflect your report ? Thank you.
Yes, although I think the problem of having to click twice was also there in the earlier version(s). I'm sure of TB115, but I believe the problem existed in the earlier versions as well.

A screen capture is probably not required, but since you say, you already have one, you might as well attach it. Sometimes they include hints as to what may cause the problem.

I would be happy to, but I don't see an option to attach any files here. Should I upload it on a hosting service like imgur?

Questions for you (sorry in case you already answered some). Please back up your profile folder before attempting anything:

  1. Does the parent folder button also have to hit the top of the screen to reproduce the bug (like for TB 115) or does it occur regardless ?
    Looks like it. I tried it on two different mail folders, and a local folder as well, the Apply columns to Folder and its children option works on the first go. Note: one of the mail accounts has 34 sub-folders in it.
  2. Does this only occur in RSS folders or in mail folders as well ?
    So far, I've only encountered in the RSS folder, which by the way also has over 100 sub-folders.

I'll work on the three questions below and get back to you. Thank you!

  1. When does the problem start to occur (how many subfolders) ? Have you ever determined a specific threshold ?
  2. Can you select a misbehaving folder and then try to determine the threshold by moving folders one-by-one out of this misbehaving folder (into a temporary folder) until you reach a threshold where the bug doesn't occur any longer ?
  3. Once you found this threshold, can you go to your mail folders and create the same amount of subfolders there to see if the bug also affects mail folders (or only RSS folders) ?
  4. At the end it would be very helpful if you could create a new user profile in TB 128 and compare its behaviour to the behaviour of your existing user profile affected by the bug. You would have to manually create the (sub)folders in the new user profile (not copy them over from the misbehaving profile). This would help determine whether the problem is specific to your user profile or affects TB 128 in general.

Sorry, I know this quite a bit of work, but it would be helpful in tracking down what causes the problem.
Please ask if any of the steps above are unclear.

I confirm partially this bug in v128 (on TB for Windows)

I have a huge message folder tree "work" which is a brother folder of INBOX, DRAFT, SENT.....
This message folder tree contain approx 10000 folders and 50000 msgs files.

If I try to apply the customized first "master" folder view to the full folder tree then only approx the first 500 folder views are changed.
It could be 300 or 800. Its difficult to count.

But then suddenly all folders in message tree folder (on the right) below remain unchanged.

Re-applying a couple of time "Apply columns/current view to" folder and children does not help

This is clearly a number-of-folder-limit problem.
A fix should be easy.

(In reply to Thomas Stein from comment #16)

I confirm partially this bug in v128 (on TB for Windows)

I have a huge message folder tree "work" which is a brother folder of INBOX, DRAFT, SENT.....
This message folder tree contain approx 10000 folders and 50000 msgs files.

If I try to apply the customized first "master" folder view to the full folder tree then only approx the first 500 folder views are changed.
It could be 300 or 800. Its difficult to count.

But then suddenly all folders in message tree folder (on the right) below remain unchanged.

Re-applying a couple of time "Apply columns/current view to" folder and children does not help

This is clearly a number-of-folder-limit problem.
A fix should be easy.

This should be fixed in ESR 128 after the patch for bug 1872595. There may still be some folders that fail to apply the settings, but they are reported in the error console (Ctrl-Shift-J) and repairing those folders should help.

Anirudh, are you still experiencing this problem with the latest versions?

Flags: needinfo?(knanirudh)
See Also: → 1872595

(In reply to Hartmut Welpmann [:welpy-cw] from comment #18)

Anirudh, are you still experiencing this problem with the latest versions?

Hello!
I am not experiencing this issue any more on the TB v.128, as of today. Thank you so much for helping me with this issue.

Flags: needinfo?(knanirudh)

Thanks for your feedback!

Status: UNCONFIRMED → RESOLVED
Closed: 1 year ago
Resolution: --- → WORKSFORME
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