196925 - Option to disable the URL bar history (since setting history days to zero still records entries in the address bar)

Status: NEW

(SeaMonkey :: Location Bar, enhancement)

Description

[Kai Engert (:KaiE:)]

When a user has configured the pref at "Edit/Prefs/Navigator/History/Remember
visited pages for the last [x] days" to zero, the user obviously doesn't want
any history to be recorded.

However, even when history is set to zero, we still record URLs entered in the
URL bar history.


Suggested behaviour: Do not add entries to URL bar history when number of
history days has been set to zero.

Comment 1

[Kai Engert (:KaiE:)]

-> me

Comment 2

[Kai Engert (:KaiE:)]

Attachment: Patch v1

Comment 3

[Kai Engert (:KaiE:)]

Comment on attachment 116875 [details] [diff] [review]
Patch v1 

Do you agree?
Can you please review?

Comment 4

[timeless]

I disagree :)

Comment 5

[Kai Engert (:KaiE:)]

Does anybody agree.
If you don't agree, the interesting question would be: Why? :-)

Comment 6

[timeless]

because i expect the urlbar to be fully functional even if history isn't.

Comment 7

[Kai Engert (:KaiE:)]

In a discussion on IRC it was argued that linking the zero days value to the
behaviour of not storing entries to the URL bar could be unexpected. It was
suggested having a separate checkbox is clearer.

I'm therefore attaching a new patch that introduces a new separate pref and a
checkbox. The checkbox makes it clear the url bar history must be disabled
separately and independently of the history setting.

This is my attempt to find a solution that requires only little work, but
supports those users who are *really* concerned about their privacy.

Comment 8

[Kai Engert (:KaiE:)]

Attachment: Patch v2

Comment 9

[Kai Engert (:KaiE:)]

Updating summary to reflect new implementation approach.

Comment 10

[Kai Engert (:KaiE:)]

Attachment: history prefs screen shot showing added new checkbox

Comment 11

[Kai Engert (:KaiE:)]

Comment on attachment 117441 [details] [diff] [review]
Patch v2

Jag, I think you said you agree to the idea of having the separate checkbox.
Can you please review?

Comment 12

[Alec Flett]

I think this is good, but there's another issue here: we eventually want to
ditch the current URL bar history alltogether and make them both based on the
global history datasource.

Initially I would have actually argued against timeless and with kai that they
should be tied together. However, since they are not right now, I am fine with
the seperate checkbox. Though now that I think about it I also see value in
disabling the autocomplete UI based on this checkbox as well... (since
eventually the autocomplete UI and the URL Bar history should will be merged,
and I see value in disabling the whole urls-dropped-down-from-the-urlbar UI
entirely)

Comment 13

[Alec Flett]

Comment on attachment 117441 [details] [diff] [review]
Patch v2

that said, sr=alecf

Comment 14

[Frank Wein [:mcsmurf]]

FYI: Sometimes your patch doesn't seem to work for me 100% (also i think that's 
somewhere else in the code). Sometimes it adds entries to the URL bar history, 
also i don't why. After surfing around around and around :) it has stored 3 
URLs in the url bar history, also i checked the checkbox "Do not ...".

Comment 15

[jag (Peter Annema)]

Why not do this the other way around?

+-Location Bar History---------------------------------------------------+
| [X] Add sites to location bar history                                  |
|                                                                        |
|    Clear the list of sites stored in the location [Clear Location Bar] |
|    bar menu.                                                           |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Where the button becomes disabled when the checkbox (defaults to checked) is
unchecked.

Comment 16

[Kai]

For what it's worth, stability enhanced Linux, 
Mac OSX and Windows builds based on Mozilla 1.3.1, 
that also contain the patch
from this bug, are available at http://wamcom.org

The patch contained is patch v1, that simply disables the URL bar history when
history days is set to zero.

Comment 17

[Christian :Biesinger (don't email me, ping me on IRC)]

*** Bug 223606 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 18

[Jason Bassford]

Any further thought on this implementation? I'm sure that the patch has
bitrotted by now? <grin>

Comment 19

[Serge Gautherie (:sgautherie)]

Comment on attachment 117441 [details] [diff] [review]
Patch v2

Just trying to "revive" this stalled bug/patch.

Comment 20

[[e-mail]]

Comment on attachment 117441 [details] [diff] [review]
Patch v2

Well, it's a start. Obviously it's severely bitrotted. It also needs to disable the update of the general.open_location.last_url preference.

>+<!ENTITY  urlBarHistoryDisabled.label "Do not add sites to the location bar menu.">
The current history pref panel uses checkboxes to Enable history, rather than to Disable it, so we should follow that style here.

>+  var prefs = Components.classes["@mozilla.org/preferences-service;1"]
>+                        .getService(Components.interfaces.nsIPrefBranch);
This needs to use Services.prefs these days.