236133 - cookie manager: add date created, date last modified, count # modifications

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 201936

(Core :: Networking: Cookies, enhancement)

Description

[Kim]

User-Agent:       
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; rv:1.6) Gecko/20040113

cookie manager currently lists minimal info:
   site name
   cookie name

Should also list:
   date cookie was originally created
   date cookie was last updated
   count of number updates

part 2
"Export" function so that I can sort / search with my tools.


Reproducible: Always
Steps to Reproduce:
1.
2.
3.

Comment 1

[Kim]

related to # 162914  (keep cookie modification date)
and to # 161000  (remember when cookie was last used)

for folks interested in # 142179,
an Export feature would allow them to roll their own display reports

Comment 2

[Jo Hermans]

see bug 201936 and bug 220810

Comment 3

[Mike Connor [:mconnor]]

-> YACMB, me

I don't suppose there's a "why" argument for this?

Adding the expires column is trivial, we already maintain that info, so
displaying it doesn't hurt anything outside of cookieviewer.  But what purpose
do these fields have for the normal user, and can you justify expanding the
information persisted in memory in order to achieve this?

Comment 4

[Kim]

> ... "why" ...?

a) When info is placed on my (repeat _my_) computer,
I'm ultimately responsible, so I'd like to know
about it.  Including when was it placed?


b) If a cookie hasn't been used in a while, it may
be a candidate to disable or delete.  This avoids
retaining unneeded info, and keeps the cookie list
smaller --> less storage, faster usage.


c) Many people delete old and/or advertising cookies.
(saves memory / space).  If in doubt whether to delete,
knowing a cookie hasn't been used in a year is helpful.


d) Some companies operate via multiple domains.
Buying from foo.com generates cookies from bar.com etc,
and / or other third party organizations.
Or a master company sets up umpteen domains as "fronts",
feeding the same backend domain.  (this is legit, many
different keywords can describe the same product).

The cookies might be stored under many different site
names, however they can be brought together because
they will have the same "creation date", or "last
access date".


e) Many companies can not process transactions unless
cookies are enabled.  They mostly use permanent cookies
in case a session is interrupted, or the user continues
the order the next day, etc.  When that transaction is
finally done, the user should be able to find those
cookies and delete them.  They may be stored under
different site names, not just the initial website
under which the transaction started.  But they will
all have the same creation date.


f) The "Number of updates" field helps indicates whether
the cookie is being used just to identify a user, or
also to track usage, which might show a high update count.

("might" because it depends whether they store the usage
info on their backend or on the user's pc)

---------------------

For current searches by site name,
it would help if "sort by site" did so right-to-left,
to bring together www242.verizon.com, www.verizon.com,
verizon.com and sales.verizon.com. (see bug # 142179)

Comment 5

[Mike Connor [:mconnor]]

you seem to have missed the point about "for a normal user" in your response.  I
realize how this could be used, but how much use could it get?

Comment 6

[era+mozilla]

Occasionally I find that I cannot access a site. I turn on cookies and generally
open up all the security holes. After the transaction is completed, or I give up
on the site, I'd like to be able to review what the site did to me, and/or
easily remove cookies it set while I was looking the other way. Being able to
view (and ideally sort by) date would make this very easy -- currently it's next
to impossible.

Comment 7

[Kim]

Era Eriksson, thank you for your comments.
That's happens all too often.

Having "Session only" cookies helps for many sites,
but it isn't enough.  For sites with a semi-permanent
relationship, would like to know what cookies they
added or changed.

Even if sort by date is not implemented because
it needs extra info saved, Mozilla could easily
implement sort by domain name, right-to-left.

This would make it much easier to find new
cookies from a particular domain.

Comment 8

[Mike Connor [:mconnor]]

Not going to be working on any Seamonkey UI bugs for the foreseeable future. 
You can filter on "danlikesgoats" to delete this spam.

Comment 9

[[e-mail]]

we'll get creation time when bug 230933 lands; i don't see as convincing a case for "last modified" and "# modifications", no plans to implement those. so, i'll mark this fixed pending bug 230933.

Comment 10

[[e-mail]]

actually i'm going to dupe this to bug 201936 (seamonkey ui). the corresponding firefox ui bug is bug 384739.