Open Bug 431521 Opened 16 years ago Updated 2 years ago

Download manager should show information about download file

Categories

(Toolkit :: Downloads API, defect)

Product:
Toolkit
Component:
Downloads API
Platform:
x86
Linux
Type:
defect

Tracking

()

Status:
UNCONFIRMED

People

(Reporter: b56a2a82, Unassigned)

References

Details

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9b5) Gecko/2008032619 Firefox/3.0b5
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9b5) Gecko/2008032619 Firefox/3.0b5

Download manager should give a context menu, or some other way to inform where a particular file is downloaded, and other information which was presented in Firefox 2.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1.
2.
3.
(In reply to comment #0)
> User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9b5)
> Gecko/2008032619 Firefox/3.0b5
> Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9b5)
> Gecko/2008032619 Firefox/3.0b5
> 
> Download manager should give a context menu, or some other way to inform where
> a particular file is downloaded, and other information which was presented in
> Firefox 2.
> 
> Reproducible: Always
> 
> Steps to Reproduce:
> 1.
> 2.
> 3.

"Copy Download Link" and/or "Go to Download Page" isn't what you want?


We provide the information you specifically listed, and the rest of the bug report is vague.
Status: UNCONFIRMED → RESOLVED
Closed: 16 years ago
Resolution: --- → INCOMPLETE
No! Here are the "steps to reproduce":

1) Download something.
2) Where did you download it? (Assuming you have selected "ask me every time" in preferences)

I downloaded "webhp.htm". Now I don't remember where I downloaded it - there is no way to know it! The only way is to "open containing folder", which is just not what I want. I want a way to copy this information or something and mostly I am working on a lean machine where nautilus is not installed.

If there is a way to have this information without "opening the containing folder", please tell me. For now I am re-opening it.
Status: RESOLVED → UNCONFIRMED
Resolution: INCOMPLETE → ---
So wait, you want some way to copy the local location?
I am afraid the answer is yes... and it is a functionality which is available in every browser, if that counts.

It doesn't need to be copy-able (though I don't know how else you will implement it without breaking/drastically changing current UI), but a way to know where something was downloaded without "opening the folder", because then Firefox assumes an external program is present which is not its dependency.

On a passing note, in Unix like systems, it is "Directory" and not "Folder" :)
I have checked and it is not present in Lynx :D

I don't have access to IE to check, but in case of IE, explorer.exe is _always_ going to be there.
I would argue that for most of our users (a vast majority I'd even say), show containing folder will in fact work.
As far as I remember, this was present even in FF 2... and I would say that for most of _your_ users, they _will_ need this functionality at some point of time - not every time - but at some point of time. And after encountering it several times and then getting annoyed for it, they will open a bug report.
I'm sorry, but your argument is unconvincing.  Most of our users will have a program that handles 'Show containing folder' or whatever that string is, so they can get this information quite easily.

What was included in Firefox 2 was the properties dialog, which gave you a file uri of where it was, and the uri of where you got it from.
And what if the directory is deleted? The problem which would be solved is for older downloads.

See, I don't need it copy-able - just show that information somewhere - a tooltip which comes when I place the mouse of filename or something - anything.

My argument sounds unconvincing because it is based on yours. 2 years ago "your" users were using internet explorer - and that's how the argument of "our users" is flawed. *I* am also a user of Firefox, what about it? You are not suggesting that I am the only person ever in demand of this functionality, now are you? Because then how come it is present in every other browser? (Yeah, even IE).
(In reply to comment #10)
> And what if the directory is deleted? The problem which would be solved is for
> older downloads.
If the directory were deleted, why would be trying to get there?  Providing the file path is useless at this point.

> My argument sounds unconvincing because it is based on yours. 2 years ago
> "your" users were using internet explorer - and that's how the argument of "our
> users" is flawed. *I* am also a user of Firefox, what about it? You are not
> suggesting that I am the only person ever in demand of this functionality, now
> are you? Because then how come it is present in every other browser? (Yeah,
> even IE).
Your argument isn't valid.  Just because a feature exists, it doesn't mean people use it, or even demand it.  IE uses progress dialogs and doesn't store the history of downloads like we do.  Firefox is about having a minimalistic UI, and that means cutting things that most of our users don't use.

With that said, this is a great candidate for an add-on.
> > And what if the directory is deleted? The problem which would be solved is for
> > older downloads.
> If the directory were deleted, why would be trying to get there?  Providing the
> file path is useless at this point.
Because I need to know. This is exactly the problem that I have - other times I know where I downloaded -or- I can open the folder.

I am not opposing the "minimalist" design, I am a big fan of it. But I am not sure this is such a huge "feature". Showing a tooltip or adding a right-click menu for "copy target location" is not a bloat. It is a basic usability issue and I am asking for very basic information which is already present in Firefox, and I need the most basic way to have access to that information.

> Firefox is about having a minimalistic UI, and that means cutting things
> that most of our users don't use.

Come on! Because Firefox aims a "minimalistic UI", you are providing "Open containing folder" instead of a minimalist "copy the url and do whatever you want to" or something? I am sure there is a flaw in this definition of minimalist.
Since my bug 441718 was marked as a duplicate but the focus here seems to be on the local download folder rather than the source URL, I just want to make sure this doesn't slip through the cracks:

I *was* able to see the name of the web site where a file came from in Firefox
2 and earlier, but not any more.  There used to be a "Properties" context menu
item that showed the URL, but apparently now this information isn't available
until a file has finished downloading.  I have completed downloads set to be
cleared automatically, so that's no use to me.  Personally, it's more useful to
see the URL while the file is still downloading, e.g. if it's coming from a
mirror in another country so I can cancel and try a closer one.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7328

The exact functionality that was in FF2 but is missing in FF3 which should be in core instead of having to be relegated to an addon.
Does anybody know how to change "nautilus" to some other file manager? I don't have root access...
Hi!

With Firefox 3, either this bug or https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=266600 should be fixed... because otherwise I have no way to know the download location. This is a major functionality broken.
Product: Firefox → Toolkit
I strongly agree with the initial reporter.  As one of a large number of users who do not use nautilus (even 1% of the firefox user base is a very significant number) or *any* graphical file manager for that matter, this is an annoying regression from v2.  Additionally, the old properties dialog showed the *full* time at which the download started and finished, not just something vague like "Tuesday" - this functionality has also been removed :-(

Hope my feedback is useful.  I understand the motivation for keeping bloat out, but IMHO this is going too far - if I wanted a stripped down browser with limited functionality I'd buy a Mac and use Safari.  I don't want to have to install lots of tiny extensions just to get basic functionality.  Thanks for listening!
(In reply to comment #16)
> https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7328
> 
> The exact functionality that was in FF2 but is missing in FF3 which should be
> in core instead of having to be relegated to an addon.

Not the "exact" functionality.  That add-on uses a big chunk of the download window to show the missing information.  I prefer the context-menu route (not that they're every going to fix this, apparently).
Severity: normal → S3
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