9222 Compare <clipboard> session in new view

[chrisjj]

9222 Compare <clipboard> session in new view
If on a Text Compare of two clipboards I do Compare in New View using > Data Compare, the child session gets the current content of the clipboard (sometimes on both sides!) rather than the content of the parent session.

[Erik]

Thanks, we'll consider this for a future version.

[chrisjj]

I suggest it would be more appropriate for you to log it as a bug.

[Zoë]

I don't see anything in Erik's response that indicates how the issue is classified, and I'm not sure why you think arguing with us about it would increase the likelihood of it getting fixed. It's not a crash, it doesn't cause data loss, it doesn't keep you from using the program, it's relatively easy to work around, your the first person to mention it, and fixing it will require changing the code in any viewer that supports "Open Clipboard". All of those have a much greater effect on its relative priority than whether it's flagged as "bug" or "enhancement".

[chrisjj]

> I don't see anything in Erik's response that indicates how the issue is classified

Agreed. Hence my suggestion.

> I'm not sure why you think arguing with us about it would increase the likelihood of it getting fixed

I see no argument.

> it doesn't cause data loss,

Untrue - the child window has lost data. And where the user closes the parent window before spotting that, this may cause complete loss of data.

[Michael Bulgrien]

Since clipboard data is not necessarily easily re-creatable and cannot simply be reloaded from a saved session (because it does not yet exist in a saved session) I would have to agree with Chris that this could be construed as data loss...

I also don't see Chris' response as argumentive...though Craig's response certainly has that tone. Chris did not demand an immediate fix. He suggested that the current functionality be added to the bug tracker. Why would such a suggestion cause such a strong response from a Scooter team member?

[Zoë]

Sorry, Chris has jury duty and Aaron's out sick. Handling all the tech support occassionally makes me grumpy.

That said, I stand by my response that we're capable of deciding whether something is a bug or enhancement ourselves, and generally it's a moot point anyway. If it's a trivial fix it will generally be changed whether it's a bug or an enhancment, and if it's a complicated change then, as I said, other factors weigh more heavily than that flag. In this case Erik and I discussed it and decided that the implementation effort outweighs the arguments in favor of fixing it. There are other enhancements that we may make that would make this much easier to fix, and if/when we do those we'll reconsider.

[chrisjj]

> because it does not yet exist in a saved session

Actually <clipboard> never exists in saved sessions. I'm not saying it should - just it's important to be aware that it is not!

[chrisjj]

Sorry

Absolutely no apology required! I appreciate how taxing Support can be.

That said, I stand by my response that we're capable of deciding whether something is a bug or enhancement ourselves, and generally it's a moot point anyway.

I have to say that it is generally (and in this case) much more than a moot point to this user. Because BC is such a great tool, I rely on it and need to trust it and for that I need to know whether I've understood correctly whether a given behaviour is a working as designed or not. To hear that the above is a bug would reassure me - to hear it is WAD would undermine my faith that my commonsense is enough to keep me and BC in sync.

And for me WAD v. Bug has nothing to do with priority/urgency of remedy.

In this case Erik and I discussed it and decided that the implementation effort outweighs the arguments in favor of fixing it.

Fair enough. However this leaves the UI offering commands that fail. Would you consider fixing this, e.g. by disabling the commands appropriately?

[Erik]

Actually, you can have a saved session with <clipboard> as a path. It just means use the contents of the clipboard at the time of loading.

[Erik]

Our current design is to grab the contents at the time of loading. Currently, BC3 treats the clipboard the same way as it treats files. If you were to use "Compare in New View" on files that are different on disk, the new view would show what's on disk instead of what is in the original view.

[chrisjj]

> Actually, you can have a saved session with <clipboard> as a path.

Agreed, but (sorry to be unclear) we we talking about "clipboard data" rather than the pathspec.

[chrisjj]

Our current design is to grab the contents at the time of loading.

Hmmm... how does this design expect to fill two sides from one clipboard?

, BC3 treats the clipboard the same way as it treats files. If you were to use "Compare in New View" on files that are different on disk

... well fine, but with clipboard v. clipboard, I have no choice. That's one reason I think BC can't usefully treat the clipboard case as if it was as simple as files'.