234001 - Unable to remove folders permanently when delete mode is move to trash, so add ability to do "shift-delete" on folders as can be done for messages

Status: NEW

(Thunderbird :: Mail Window Front End, enhancement)

Description

[Christian Schmidt]

In account settings I have selected "When I delete a message: Move it to the
Trash folder". 

When I delete a message, it is moved to the Trash folder. If I want to delete it
totally without moving it to Trash, I can use Shift+Delete when a message is
highlighted. This is convenient for messages with large attachments.

However, when I delete a folder, it is always moved to Trash. Shift+Delete does
nothing when a folder is highlighted in the folder tree pane.

Deleting a folder immediately is particularly convenient when deleting an empty
folder. I sometimes have empty folders, either when I create one by mistake, or
when I have emptied an existing folder by deleting all messages or moved them
elsewhere. I don't want the empty folders to be visible in the folder tree pane.

So I would like Shift+Delete to immediately delete a folder. Perhaps empty
folders should never be moved to Trash at all.

Comment 1

[Gervase Markham [:gerv]]

This is an automated message, with ID "auto-resolve01".

This bug has had no comments for a long time. Statistically, we have found that
bug reports that have not been confirmed by a second user after three months are
highly unlikely to be the source of a fix to the code.

While your input is very important to us, our resources are limited and so we
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Comment 2

[Gervase Markham [:gerv]]

This bug has been automatically resolved after a period of inactivity (see above
comment). If anyone thinks this is incorrect, they should feel free to reopen it.

Comment 3

[Christian Schmidt]

Still present in current trunk builds.

Comment 4

[ovidiu]

still present (in win)
tb version 2.0.0.12 (20080213)
version 3.0a1pre (2008042303)

for messages you can shift+del (win common command)
for folders cannot

solution:
add shift del to folders too (others may apply to other os)

Comment 5

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

think this is a dupe.  probably discussed in some "undo" bug.

regardless - without an undo function available for folders, we should be dead against this because of potential for dataloss.

Comment 6

[Nikolay Shopik]

Wayne can you pinpoint  "undo" bug? I don't remember it. Also don't understand how undo will helps user if it shift+delete folder?
I've also run into this problems many times, because need delete many folders at once w/o moving to trash.

Comment 7

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

bug 308690 discusses related issues, which ovidiu just duped Bug 430796 to.

Comment 8

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

(In reply to comment #6)
> Wayne can you pinpoint  "undo" bug? I don't remember it. Also don't understand
> how undo will helps user if it shift+delete folder?

well yes, if implemented as _permanent_ delete then undo won't help. But it looks like past discussions have been in the direction of making undo work for shift-delete cases.


> need delete many folders at once w/o moving to trash.

confirming to get this on dev radar

Comment 10

[Bryan Clark (DevTools PM) [:clarkbw]]

in bug 132121 Comment #23 and further there has been some discussion about how to handle the shift-delete system for messages in thunderbird.  I think we've arrived at a pretty good system for handling this and that system should work well for folders also.

Comment 12

[gene smith]

Attachment: shift-delete-on-folders-support-added-v2.diff

This allows shift-delete to be done when deleting folders when in "move to trash" delete mode. There will always be a confirmation prompt before the folder and any subfolders and all messages are removed. It is the same prompt that occurs when you delete folders in "just mark as deleted" or "delete immediately" imap modes.
This works for imap folders, Local Folders and POP3 folders the same way. I still need to attach a formal moz-phab patch and do a try build.

Comment 13

[gene smith]

Bug 393523 related to this since it addresses delete and shift-delete (and "undelete") of messages instead of, like this bug, shift-delete of folders.

Comment 14

[gene smith]

Attachment: Bug 234001 - Allow permanent delete of folders using shift-delete. r=mkmelin

This allows shift-delete on folders at all the various places in the UI
where deletion of folders is possible by holding down shift key at

• File | Delete Folder
• Edit | Delete Folder
• Right-click folder, Delete
• Press delete key

This works for imap, pop3 and local folders and always produces a
confirmation dialog before deleting folders since deletions are
permanent with no undo capability just like imap delete modes "mark
as deleted" and "delete immediately" and shift-delete folder dialog
defaults to "cancel" so user must then select or click "delete folder".

Comment 15

[gene smith]

Updated summary and changed Type from "defect" to "enhancement".