241713 - Unexpected behaviour while starting Mozilla when user profiles are courrupt

Status: RESOLVED EXPIRED

(SeaMonkey :: Startup & Profiles, defect)

Description

[Rupendra Dhillon]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7b) Gecko/20040421
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7b) Gecko/20040421

if the user profile files are courrupt and after the splash screen we get the
"Switch Profile Box" We delete all the files there and then we add one or more
profiles. After that mozilla again allows us to delete the added profiles again
to return to a blank list. This kind of behavior is not allowed in a normal
operation. The last profile should not be deleted.

If we exit without creating any profile and restart mozilla then the user is not
asked to create a profile. Mozilla automatically creates a default profile and
opens the navigator window. Why is the user not asked this time ? If it is not
necessary this time then why was the user asked the previous time ?

Reproducible: Always
Steps to Reproduce:
Precondetion: the profile files are corrupt
1. Start mozilla.
2. On the switch profiles box delete all the profiles to get a completely empty
list (bug 241711)
3. Add some profiles or goto step 5
4. Delete all those profiles
>> Mozilla does not stop the user from deleting the last remaining profile
5. Exit the Dialog box
>> This exits mozilla
6. Restart mozilla
Actual Results:  
Mozilla automatically makes a default profile and launches into it.

Expected Results:  
Mozilla should have asked the users like the previous time to add a profile. If
this is not required then the user should not have been asked the previous time
also.

Comment 1

[Rupendra Dhillon]

related bugs
1. bug 241711

Comment 2

[Stefan Borggraefe]

(In reply to comment #0)
> Actual Results:  
> Mozilla automatically makes a default profile and launches into it.

I think this is the correct behaviour. When you deleted all profiles this is the
same situation is if you freshly installed Mozilla on a system. It would be
cumbersome if the user is asked to created a new profile by hand on first
startup. Because of this it is done automatically for him.
 
> Expected Results:  
> Mozilla should have asked the users like the previous time to add a profile. If
> this is not required then the user should not have been asked the previous time
> also.

I think Mozilla never ever asks you to add a profile. It only asks you to
*select* an existing profile.

Comment 3

[Rupendra Dhillon]

but if suppose the files and directories for different under the C:\Documents 
and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles directory are deleted 
then the profile manager still shows the pervious profile names. If the user 
selects any of those profiles (whose actual directories have been deleted) then 
the following message is displayed.
"Mozilla cannot use teh profile '%profilename%' because the directory 
containing the profile cannot be found. Please choose another profile to create 
a new one."
In that case we have no other option other than to remove those listed (now 
invalid) profiles and to add new profiles.

Comment 4

[Stefan Borggraefe]

(In reply to comment #3)
> but if suppose the files and directories for different under the C:\Documents 
> and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles directory are deleted 
> then the profile manager still shows the pervious profile names. If the user 
> selects any of those profiles (whose actual directories have been deleted) then 
> the following message is displayed.

You should not delete the Profiles in the file system directly. Use the "Delete
Profile..." button for this.
If you delete a profile in the file system Mozilla has no chance to update its
meta-data about the existing profiles. That's the reason the Profile Names are
still shown and the following alert appears.

> "Mozilla cannot use teh profile '%profilename%' because the directory 
> containing the profile cannot be found. Please choose another profile to create 
> a new one."
> In that case we have no other option other than to remove those listed (now 
> invalid) profiles and to add new profiles.

You want to start Mozilla to start without the Profile Manager appearing and
automatically create a fresh profile in this situation, right?

I don't think this would be a good idea because the user should be warned about
this situation. In your case you did expect Mozilla to just start with a fresh
profile because you deleted all profiles previously. But this could also happen
due to an unwanted administration error or network error (if you have your
profile located on a network drive which is currently not available).

I'm marking this bug WONTFIX because of this. Reopen in case I completely
misunderstood you. ;-)

Comment 5

[Rupendra Dhillon]

Actually, I deleted the files just in order to simulate an event like a virus 
corrupting or deleting the files or accidental deletion not that they got 
deleted while I was using mozilla. You are very right when you say that one (or 
the sys admin) should not delete those files but I was testing "What if just in 
case it happenned?". And if it happens then the user will get the same dialog 
box with the invalid user profiles which would not work so either he deletes 
the old profiles and then creates a new profile or otherwise the software will 
create a default profile itself the next time.This is good because they ought 
to know that something went wrong and if they want to then they can create a 
unique profile for themselves. But what if they don't ? What if they (or just 
one user on teh single user system) hits exit then? Then obviously the next 
time the software creates a default profile and launches itself into it. The 
solution looks good but the point that if the default (working/failsafe) 
profile can be created then why not create it when the user is asked the first 
time so that even if the user does not create a unique profile we have a 
default profile to work under (because on the second try it will anyways be 
created without asking the user).

I just don't understand the use of a waiting till the second time even when we 
don't want to ask the user again or conversly deferring the decision to create 
the defult profile till the next time and still not asking the user again.

I am sorry if I wasn't clear initially. I might be wrong on this since you are 
much more experienced but its just that I don't get the logic of this.

Comment 6

[Stefan Borggraefe]

Sorry, I thought I understood you when I wrote comment 4, but now you completely
lost me. :-(

Comment 7

[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
are asking for your help in focussing our efforts. If you can still reproduce
this problem in the latest version of the product (see below for how to obtain a
copy) or, for feature requests, if it's not present in the latest version and
you still believe we should implement it, please visit the URL of this bug
(given at the top of this mail) and add a comment to that effect, giving more
reproduction information if you have it.

If it is not a problem any longer, you need take no action. If this bug is not
changed in any way in the next two weeks, it will be automatically resolved.
Thank you for your help in this matter.

The latest beta releases can be obtained from:
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Comment 8

[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.