When removing local data only remove data from the torrent

[Waldorf]

From the forum: ​http://forum.transmissionbt.com/viewtopic.php?t=4441
eg. when a downloaded folder contains unachieved data, don't don't delete it.

[charles]

​Downstream ticket for the GTK+ client

[WouterBolsterlee]

Urgh. This just bit me really hard. I had serious data loss because Transmission irrevokably removed files it had nothing to do with in the first place.

Transmission removed all .ogg files I created from a few .flac files I downloaded. Wasted time downloading, wasted time seeding, wasted time converting, wasted time tagging those files. This is not a minor issue, but a critical one since it causes data loss.

I like Transmission a lot, but this is really annoying. I can start over all again. I'm really pissed about this right now—sorry for the harsh comments.

[WouterBolsterlee]

Even if this is considered "not a bug", which I would strongly disagree with, there really should be a warning dialog to tell me that the directory contains extra files.

[livings124]

While this is a problem, if you're downloading a folder and then tell the app to remove the folder, it's going to remove the folder. Plus this is why it moves it to the trash instead of deleting right away.

That warning dialog is an interesting idea, though.

[WouterBolsterlee]

Sorry for the severity ping pong, but this is simply not ok.

> if you're downloading a folder and then tell the app to remove the folder

The whole point is that I do not tell the application to remove my folder. I tell it to remove the torrent and the files that belong to it. The relevant UI messages are:

msgid "_Delete Files and Remove"
msgid "Delete this torrent's downloaded files?"

(Note: I'm using Transmission in another locale.)

Nothing here seems to indicate Transmission is going to remove files it doesn't own. Hence this is just a data loss bug, which is always considered critical (at least in the Gnome world where I come from).

[wvholst]

This is unacceptable from the end user's perspective. It is not presented to the end user as removal of a folder, but removal of the torrent data. Especially with the amount of braindead RAR's put in torrents, it is perfectly normal to unpack those in the torrent's folder. Removal of the torrent does not imply removal of the unpacked data. Transmission should at least provide a warning about this. Truly elegant design, meaning design in line with what is normal on Mac would just delete the torrent files and would not touch data other than that.

[WouterBolsterlee]

An example to illustrate my point: If I download a Torrent which does not contain a directory and save it to my home directory, and remove the torrent from transmission, MY COMPLETE HOME DIRECTORY CONTENTS WILL BE REMOVED.

Seriously, if you still think this can not be considered a critical bug...

Example torrent without a directory: ​http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/lenny_di_rc1/i386/bt-cd/debian-testing-i386-netinst.iso.torrent

[WouterBolsterlee]

> Plus this is why it moves it to the trash instead of deleting right away.

I think this only works reliably for files inside $HOME, since trash support is not guaranteed for anything but $HOME afaik.

[livings124]

Replying to WouterBolsterlee:

An example to illustrate my point: If I download a Torrent which does not contain a directory and save it to my home directory, and remove the torrent from transmission, MY COMPLETE HOME DIRECTORY CONTENTS WILL BE REMOVED.

You are wrong. Only the file you downloaded would be removed.

[livings124]

I already said a warning is a good idea and this ticket is still open. You're getting us nowhere with your redundant and melodramatic posts.

[charles]

Replying to WouterBolsterlee:

An example to illustrate my point: If I download a Torrent which does not contain a directory and save it to my home directory, and remove the torrent from transmission, MY COMPLETE HOME DIRECTORY CONTENTS WILL BE REMOVED.

I think this is incorrect. Could you create a test user on your system and test this to confirm, please?

[livings124]

[7153] shows a warning dialog on the Mac version.

[michielbuddingh]

Ugly fix for the gtk client.

[charles]

Replying to WouterBolsterlee:

An example to illustrate my point: If I download a Torrent which does not contain a directory and save it to my home directory, and remove the torrent from transmission, MY COMPLETE HOME DIRECTORY CONTENTS WILL BE REMOVED.

Seriously, if you still think this can not be considered a critical bug...

Example torrent without a directory: ​http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/lenny_di_rc1/i386/bt-cd/debian-testing-i386-netinst.iso.torrent

Did you ever get around to testing whether or not this was true?

[WouterBolsterlee]

Replying to charles:

Did you ever get around to testing whether or not this was true?

Yes, and it seems it's not true, but I didn't have my Trac password at that time. Sorry for the late response.

Yet I think Transmission should never delete data it is not supposed to manage, not even with a big fat warning. The warning is just a work-around for the underlying problem, which is not 'minor' in my opinion.

— Wouter (not as annoyed as I was a while back ;))

[livings124]

For the Mac client at least, the current show-warning solution I think is the best, as there's no simple way to divide a folder's contents up and retain its layout. If you treat each transfer as sending the folder itself, as opposed to its contents, then this solution makes perfect sense.

[charles]

Added to trunk for libtransmission and gtk+ client in r7473

[livings124]

Added to trunk for mac client in r7484