Closed Bug 338991 Opened 18 years ago Closed 17 years ago

Dangerous Download Clean Up button

Categories

(Toolkit :: Downloads API, enhancement)

enhancement
Not set
normal

Tracking

()

VERIFIED FIXED
mozilla1.9alpha8

People

(Reporter: peter.ashford, Assigned: sdwilsh)

References

Details

Attachments

(3 obsolete files)

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.8.0.3) Gecko/20060426 Firefox/1.5.0.3
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.8.0.3) Gecko/20060426 Firefox/1.5.0.3

Not a bug but a case of avoidable bad design which needs to be corrected.

1  I find the Downloads Window an very useful and desireable feature of Firefox and I refer to it from time to time.  

2  For various reasons over time I have had duplicated downloads of the same file showing entries (eg.)  filename(2).exe.  I commenced to Remove some duplicates without problem.

3  To assist me in this (as I wrongly assumed) I then distrously clicked on the 'Clean Up'button. 





Reproducible: Always

Actual Results:  
All the recorded entries were erased!!  THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN!  It is too late to discover the real unrecoverable effect of this Clean Up button after the event.  Also an UNINTENDED accidental click on the button would have the same effect.

Expected Results:  
What is required is that the Clean Up button should open a cautionary window with an explanatory message and the option to either Continue or Cancel as happens in every other instance of erasure/deletion operation I have ever experienced.
In that case maybe you could make a regular copy of the file downloads.rdf in your profile with the extension Bookmark Backup.
http://www.pikey.me.uk/mozilla/
Maybe this should be marked as an enhancement rather than a bug because the clean up button has always acted that way.

Its an interesting idea to add a confirm box but most people don't find the download lists that useful and would probably get irritated by it. 
Severity: normal → enhancement
(In reply to comment #2)
Comment #2 misses the point.  The fact that something contentious has always acted in a particular way is no justification for anything.  For those who do find the download list useful then instant unexpected and unintended deletion is a major nuisance.   How could anyone possibly find a one-step delete confirmation an irritation when they would suffer it about once a month at best?
 
> Maybe this should be marked as an enhancement rather than a bug because the
> clean up button has always acted that way.
> 
> Its an interesting idea to add a confirm box but most people don't find the
> download lists that useful and would probably get irritated by it. 
> 

(In reply to comment #2)
> Maybe this should be marked as an enhancement rather than a bug because the
> clean up button has always acted that way.
> 
> Its an interesting idea to add a confirm box but most people don't find the
> download lists that useful and would probably get irritated by it. 
> 

(In reply to comment #0)
> User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.8.0.3)
> Gecko/20060426 Firefox/1.5.0.3
> Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.8.0.3)
> Gecko/20060426 Firefox/1.5.0.3
> 
> Not a bug but a case of avoidable bad design which needs to be corrected.
> 
> 1  I find the Downloads Window an very useful and desireable feature of Firefox
> and I refer to it from time to time.  
> 
> 2  For various reasons over time I have had duplicated downloads of the same
> file showing entries (eg.)  filename(2).exe.  I commenced to Remove some
> duplicates without problem.
> 
> 3  To assist me in this (as I wrongly assumed) I then distrously clicked on the
> 'Clean Up'button. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Reproducible: Always
> 
> Actual Results:  
> All the recorded entries were erased!!  THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN!  It is too late
> to discover the real unrecoverable effect of this Clean Up button after the
> event.  Also an UNINTENDED accidental click on the button would have the same
> effect.
> 
> Expected Results:  
> What is required is that the Clean Up button should open a cautionary window
> with an explanatory message and the option to either Continue or Cancel as
> happens in every other instance of erasure/deletion operation I have ever
> experienced.
> 

(In reply to comment #0)
> User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.8.0.3)
> Gecko/20060426 Firefox/1.5.0.3
> Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.8.0.3)
> Gecko/20060426 Firefox/1.5.0.3
> 
> Not a bug but a case of avoidable bad design which needs to be corrected.
> 
> 1  I find the Downloads Window an very useful and desireable feature of Firefox
> and I refer to it from time to time.  
> 
> 2  For various reasons over time I have had duplicated downloads of the same
> file showing entries (eg.)  filename(2).exe.  I commenced to Remove some
> duplicates without problem.
> 
> 3  To assist me in this (as I wrongly assumed) I then distrously clicked on the
> 'Clean Up'button. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Reproducible: Always
> 
> Actual Results:  
> All the recorded entries were erased!!  THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN!  It is too late
> to discover the real unrecoverable effect of this Clean Up button after the
> event.  Also an UNINTENDED accidental click on the button would have the same
> effect.
> 
> Expected Results:  
> What is required is that the Clean Up button should open a cautionary window
> with an explanatory message and the option to either Continue or Cancel as
> happens in every other instance of erasure/deletion operation I have ever
> experienced.
> 

(In reply to comment #0)
> User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.8.0.3)
> Gecko/20060426 Firefox/1.5.0.3
> Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.8.0.3)
> Gecko/20060426 Firefox/1.5.0.3
> 
> Not a bug but a case of avoidable bad design which needs to be corrected.
> 
> 1  I find the Downloads Window an very useful and desireable feature of Firefox
> and I refer to it from time to time.  
> 
> 2  For various reasons over time I have had duplicated downloads of the same
> file showing entries (eg.)  filename(2).exe.  I commenced to Remove some
> duplicates without problem.
> 
> 3  To assist me in this (as I wrongly assumed) I then distrously clicked on the
> 'Clean Up'button. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Reproducible: Always
> 
> Actual Results:  
> All the recorded entries were erased!!  THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN!  It is too late
> to discover the real unrecoverable effect of this Clean Up button after the
> event.  Also an UNINTENDED accidental click on the button would have the same
> effect.
> 
> Expected Results:  
> What is required is that the Clean Up button should open a cautionary window
> with an explanatory message and the option to either Continue or Cancel as
> happens in every other instance of erasure/deletion operation I have ever
> experienced.
> 

(In reply to comment #0)
> User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.8.0.3)
> Gecko/20060426 Firefox/1.5.0.3
> Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.8.0.3)
> Gecko/20060426 Firefox/1.5.0.3
> 
> Not a bug but a case of avoidable bad design which needs to be corrected.
> 
> 1  I find the Downloads Window an very useful and desireable feature of Firefox
> and I refer to it from time to time.  
> 
> 2  For various reasons over time I have had duplicated downloads of the same
> file showing entries (eg.)  filename(2).exe.  I commenced to Remove some
> duplicates without problem.
> 
> 3  To assist me in this (as I wrongly assumed) I then distrously clicked on the
> 'Clean Up'button. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Reproducible: Always
> 
> Actual Results:  
> All the recorded entries were erased!!  THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN!  It is too late
> to discover the real unrecoverable effect of this Clean Up button after the
> event.  Also an UNINTENDED accidental click on the button would have the same
> effect.
> 
> Expected Results:  
> What is required is that the Clean Up button should open a cautionary window
> with an explanatory message and the option to either Continue or Cancel as
> happens in every other instance of erasure/deletion operation I have ever
> experienced.
> 

(In reply to comment #0)
> User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.8.0.3)
> Gecko/20060426 Firefox/1.5.0.3
> Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.8.0.3)
> Gecko/20060426 Firefox/1.5.0.3
> 
> Not a bug but a case of avoidable bad design which needs to be corrected.
> 
> 1  I find the Downloads Window an very useful and desireable feature of Firefox
> and I refer to it from time to time.  
> 
> 2  For various reasons over time I have had duplicated downloads of the same
> file showing entries (eg.)  filename(2).exe.  I commenced to Remove some
> duplicates without problem.
> 
> 3  To assist me in this (as I wrongly assumed) I then distrously clicked on the
> 'Clean Up'button. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Reproducible: Always
> 
> Actual Results:  
> All the recorded entries were erased!!  THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN!  It is too late
> to discover the real unrecoverable effect of this Clean Up button after the
> event.  Also an UNINTENDED accidental click on the button would have the same
> effect.
> 
> Expected Results:  
> What is required is that the Clean Up button should open a cautionary window
> with an explanatory message and the option to either Continue or Cancel as
> happens in every other instance of erasure/deletion operation I have ever
> experienced.
> 

(In reply to comment #0)
> User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.8.0.3)
> Gecko/20060426 Firefox/1.5.0.3
> Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.8.0.3)
> Gecko/20060426 Firefox/1.5.0.3
> 
> Not a bug but a case of avoidable bad design which needs to be corrected.
> 
> 1  I find the Downloads Window an very useful and desireable feature of Firefox
> and I refer to it from time to time.  
> 
> 2  For various reasons over time I have had duplicated downloads of the same
> file showing entries (eg.)  filename(2).exe.  I commenced to Remove some
> duplicates without problem.
> 
> 3  To assist me in this (as I wrongly assumed) I then distrously clicked on the
> 'Clean Up'button. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Reproducible: Always
> 
> Actual Results:  
> All the recorded entries were erased!!  THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN!  It is too late
> to discover the real unrecoverable effect of this Clean Up button after the
> event.  Also an UNINTENDED accidental click on the button would have the same
> effect.
> 
> Expected Results:  
> What is required is that the Clean Up button should open a cautionary window
> with an explanatory message and the option to either Continue or Cancel as
> happens in every other instance of erasure/deletion operation I have ever
> experienced.
> 

Status: UNCONFIRMED → RESOLVED
Closed: 18 years ago
Resolution: --- → FIXED
FIXED isn't the right resolution here (no change has been made to the code). There is a tooltip for the button which describes what does.
Status: RESOLVED → UNCONFIRMED
Resolution: FIXED → ---
I don't think it's a bad idea to do this - it might save some users a bit of grief, and other users will only see it once.

But then there's the question of whether to do a similar thing with the javascript console's clear button (maybe it should be renamed to 'clean up' too, for consistency).
Perhaps the button could read something like "Hide completed files"?
Attached patch Patch v1 (obsolete) — Splinter Review
Creates a confirmation dialog when "Clean Up" is clicked, complete with do not show again option. The current wording is "You are about to clear your download history of completed/cancelled items. This will not delete your downloaded files. Continue?" The wording should be kept as simple as possible to make it clear to everyone what Clean Up does.
Attachment #229445 - Flags: review?(mconnor)
Attachment #229445 - Flags: review?(mconnor) → review?
Attachment #229445 - Flags: review? → review?(gavin.sharp)
Attached image Screenshot of dialog (obsolete) —
And here it is! Somehow I feel the wording could be better though.
I hate confirm popups. But with the "don't show again"-feature the patch is okay if it helps new users. (If you don't want them to teach them the hard way)
Comment on attachment 229445 [details] [diff] [review]
Patch v1

I don't think this is a good idea - the download manager history isn't meant to replace a file manager. Losing your download history due to an accidental click on the button isn't a big enough problem that it warrants adding a nag dialog that would just annoy most people.

I don't think this qualifies as a problem, and therefore I think this bug is very likely to be WONTFIXed. Bugs about better labelling for the "Clean up" button are of course welcome.
Attachment #229445 - Flags: review?(gavin.sharp)
It was I who originated the request.
I find that some recent negative and slightly sarcastic comments suggesting that there is no problem must come from technical geniuses whose noses are far too immersed in the detail of software to have much clue as to the situation experienced by the vast majority of semi-technical users whose work can be massively interrupted by software unreliability and malfunctions and unnecessary minor defects such as this.
First: I find the Downloads window to be an extremely useful tool and one particular reason for preferring Firefox to IE.
Second: When I used the cleanup button I expected to find some options about what next. On finding irrecoverable deletion the death penalty came quickly to mind.  I have designed the most complex PLC-controlled industrial machines for half a lifetime and I would have sacked any designer so incompetent as to allow unconfirmed deletion of data at the single touch of a button that could even be accidental.
For an operation that at best would occur say once a week I say to those who would find it so tedious to have to make one more press of the mouse key - get away from the keyboard sometime and get a life.
Just fix it please.
Perhaps you could tick the checkbox by default? That should satisfy both groups.
(In reply to comment #12)
> Perhaps you could tick the checkbox by default? That should satisfy both
> groups.
> 

Thats really easy, just change dontShow from { value:false } to { value:true } in the patch. But, I doubt this bug will get FIXED since the fanbase of Firefox is the kind of bunch that want the least amount of interaction possible for a task. The best way to handle this is simply to change the label from "Clean up" to "Clear".
The words Clean and Clean Up don't mean a thing!

If it's going to DELETE all entries then SAY SO.

Old English saying: "There is none so blind as one who won't see".
How about something along the lines of "Clear History"?

(unfortunately "clear finished" doesn't cover cancelled etc downloads)

I still think a warning dialog is a good idea, it does kind of fall under the category of dataloss. Having it checked by default and ok selected by default should make everyone happy - power users just press enter once, and that's it, and the masses get a warning.
This bug will almost certainly be WONTFIXed, due to one of the aims for Firefox 2 listed on the Wiki:
http://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox2/Requirements#Visual_Refresh

"P3 	 B1 	 elimination of unnecessary dialogs & UI"

This is an unnecessary dialog, so the best approach is just to change the button from "Clean up" to "Clear".
Attached patch Change "Clean up" to "Clear" (obsolete) — Splinter Review
On second thought, the latest nightly has a tooltip on the Clean Up button telling you exactly what the button does. But this will be insufficient for new Firefox users so it should be changed to "Clear". While I know its not 100% accurate (doesn't remove running downloads) I feel it will clearly convey what it does to almost everyone. It is also consistent with the Error Console.
Attachment #229445 - Attachment is obsolete: true
Attachment #229459 - Attachment is obsolete: true
Attachment #229935 - Flags: review?(mconnor)
You guys who have developed Firefox are all geniuses but most of you seem so close to the action you have little understanding of how the wider public see and use things!  One developer's comment was on the lines that it is a quality high-tech application mainly limited to the use of a close group of highly knowledgeable specialist users!
Are you not yet aware that around the world companies and even government departments are specifying that Firefox should be used instead of Internet Explorer?  Just stop and think for a moment about the many thousands of such users who are not mind readers but sensible users who cannot afford to MAKE UNRECOVERABLE ERRORS.
What most or none of you seem don't seem to understand is that when you have made a blunder and permanently deleted something unintentionally it THEN becomes very clear what the situation is but, then, it is too damned late!
You must forget what YOU already KNOW things do and see it in the eyes of some one else.
So, with not the slightest intention of deleting everything in Download Manager when I hit 'Clean Up' (a)I certainly don't intend to delete it all, much of which I intend to retain (b)I expected to enter into some options before deleting SOME things such as duplicated downloads or different versions of the same downloaded items.
When you eventually wake up to realising that 'Clean up' does NOT clearly mean delete you are half way to understanding the present defect.
The word 'Clear' is marginally better but, if you mean DELETE ALL ENTRIES, then SAY SO! Exactly that:  'DELETE ALL ENTRIES'
I cannot begin to understand how clever and very capable software engineers can be so far from everyday reality and unable to understand simple concepts that are obvious to most people!
You guys who have developed Firefox are all geniuses but most of you seem so close to the action you have little understanding of how the wider public see and use things!  One developer's comment was on the lines that it is a quality high-tech application mainly limited to the use of a close group of highly knowledgeable specialist users!
Are you not yet aware that around the world companies and even government departments are specifying that Firefox should be used instead of Internet Explorer?  Just stop and think for a moment about the many thousands of such users who are not mind readers but sensible users who cannot afford to MAKE UNRECOVERABLE ERRORS.
What most or none of you seem don't seem to understand is that when you have made a blunder and permanently deleted something unintentionally it THEN becomes very clear what the situation is but, then, it is too damned late!
You must forget what YOU already KNOW things do and see it in the eyes of some one else.
So, with not the slightest intention of deleting everything in Download Manager when I hit 'Clean Up' (a)I certainly don't intend to delete it all, much of which I intend to retain (b)I expected to enter into some options before deleting SOME things such as duplicated downloads or different versions of the same downloaded items.
When you eventually wake up to realising that 'Clean up' does NOT clearly mean delete you are half way to understanding the present defect.
The word 'Clear' is marginally better but, if you mean DELETE ALL ENTRIES, then SAY SO! Exactly that:  'DELETE ALL ENTRIES'
I cannot begin to understand how clever and very capable software engineers can be so far from everyday reality and unable to understand simple concepts that are obvious to most people!
(In reply to comment #19)
> Just stop and think for a moment about the many thousands of such users who
> are not mind readers but sensible users who cannot afford to MAKE
> UNRECOVERABLE ERRORS. What most or none of you seem don't seem to understand
> is that when you have made a blunder and permanently deleted something
> unintentionally it THEN becomes very clear what the situation is but, then, it
> is too damned late! You must forget what YOU already KNOW things do and see it
> in the eyes of some one else. So, with not the slightest intention of deleting
> everything in Download Manager when I hit 'Clean Up' (a)I certainly don't
> intend to delete it all, much of which I intend to retain (b)I expected to
> enter into some options before deleting SOME things such as duplicated
> downloads or different versions of the same downloaded items.
> When you eventually wake up to realising that 'Clean up' does NOT clearly mean
> delete you are half way to understanding the present defect.

Nothing is "deleted" when you hit the "Clean Up" button other than the entries in the list. The files are still on your disk. The fact that accidentally clicking the button means that you have to use a file manager instead of the download manager to get to the files may be a nuisance if you depend heavily on using the download manager history, but it's certainly not "dataloss".
Re comment 20.
True and helpful comment and understood.  However it remains that Download Manager  is very neat and very useful and, again, one real attraction of Firefox over IE. Because it is referred to frequently, unintentional unrecoverable deletion of the entries there is a substantial nuisance when it was never the intention to do that.
> Nothing is "deleted" when you hit the "Clean Up" button other than the entries
> in the list. The files are still on your disk. The fact that accidentally
> clicking the button means that you have to use a file manager instead of the
> download manager to get to the files may be a nuisance if you depend heavily on
> using the download manager history, but it's certainly not "dataloss".
> 
True for files on your disk, but not true for files that were cancelled or failed - people may not be able to find these again.
Today I've seen a novice user experience the Download Manager UI for the first time:

After opening a downloaded document in an external application and closing said application the user sat in front of the Download Manager and, after a few seconds of looking at it called for help: "I've got a window with only one button with a forbidden sign that says Clean Up!". She was at a total loss regarding the effects of clicking that button. Icon and text should definitely be changed. And it's one of those places where an additional close button could help people out of their mental blockade about what to do next.
This latest observation repeats exactly what I reported back in May 06!  I find Download Manager useful but the term Clean Up to me is stupid if it means 'delete all entries'.  It is crazy to be ABLE to delete an entire log in one move - doesn't anyone actually think?.
When I first used it by accident I expected it to lead to some options enabling me to sort or delete some things such as duplications and old items.  
Why not just fix it? Firefox is so good why spoil it for careless bugs? 
Assignee: nobody → sdwilsh
OS: Windows XP → All
Hardware: PC → All
Version: unspecified → Trunk
Status: UNCONFIRMED → NEW
Ever confirmed: true
Target Milestone: --- → Firefox 3 beta1
Depends on: 388517
Target Milestone: Firefox 3 M7 → Firefox 3 M8
If I understand correctly that that the intention is now merely to change the text from CLEAN UP to CLEAR then I find it beyond belief that you geniuses who compiled Firefox do not read or understand the very plain comments previously made.  

To produce a deletion in one step is idiotic. An unrecoverable action as deleting ALWAYS requires a cautionary message: .. will all be deleted - are you sure .. Yes/NO.

I am not the only one to have been caught out.  

Comment # 10 misses the point completely.  I find Download History USEFUL - one of my attractions to Firefox and I refer to it and I make use of it.

While you are spending time creating wonderful complex developments to Firefox why not simply stop whingeing and make a simple correction of this this nuisance.  Just do it!
Comment on attachment 229935 [details] [diff] [review]
Change "Clean up" to "Clear"

(In reply to comment #25)
> If I understand correctly that that the intention is now merely to change the
> text from CLEAN UP to CLEAR then I find it beyond belief that you geniuses who
> compiled Firefox do not read or understand the very plain comments previously
> made.
No, that is incorrect.  The button is being removed in the Download Manager rewrite.  You will still be able to clear your history with clear private data.
Attachment #229935 - Attachment is obsolete: true
Attachment #229935 - Flags: review?(mconnor)
Fixed by Bug 388517.
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 18 years ago17 years ago
Flags: in-testsuite-
Flags: in-litmus-
Resolution: --- → FIXED
Verified gone in trunk Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9a8pre) Gecko/2007082618 Minefield/3.0a8pre.

(I note that it might be coming back via bug 391863, but please don't spam that bug with "me too" comments.)
Status: RESOLVED → VERIFIED
Product: Firefox → Toolkit
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