[dolphin] [Bug 430082] Handle information of folders with (only) hidden files differently

[RedBearAK]

https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=430082

RedBearAK <redbear at redbearnet.com> changed:

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                 CC|                            |redbear at redbearnet.com

--- Comment #2 from RedBearAK <redbear at redbearnet.com> ---
I made a post on the KDE sub-reddit today and it really went off the rails in
the wrong direction in the comments, for very strange and unexpected reasons. 

But the basic idea was that I was using a USB thumb drive to copy a file to
another machine, and forgot that the file I was copying (the only file on the
drive) was a dotfile. So when I jumped on the target machine and opened the
drive in Dolphin, I was briefly confused by the "Folder is Empty" message that
Dolphin displays when no files are _visible_. I knew that was probably not
true, but for a moment I also thought maybe I had failed to place the file on
the drive, or pulled it out too soon. Then I toggled the "Show hidden files"
setting and there was my file. And Dolphin stopped saying "Folder is Empty",
because of course there was a file now displayed in the folder. 

Some of the folks in the Reddit comments got really wrapped around the post by
the idea that the file manager should display a message about their being some
hidden files, and offering a way to toggle the "Show hidden files" option.
Which was something I suggested. That's fine. That's not really a necessary
feature, or at least a lot of users will seemingly get pretty upset if that
were to become the default. Maybe as an opt-in option? 

The main thing that bothered me about the brief incident is simply that "Folder
is Empty" is a false statement when there are dotfiles still in the folder. I
don't want my file manager to be telling me things that are not true.
Especially things that might confuse me, when I'm not paying attention. 

What I would like to see is Dolphin either reserving the declaration of "Folder
is Empty" for when the folder is truly empty, or have that text no longer being
displayed in any circumstance. Because it's either A) not true, or B) not
necessary, since the user can see that the folder is empty. 

The only circumstance I can think of where the declaration rather than lack of
declaration would be useful, is knowing that the folder isn't simply failing to
update itself, or being slow to load content from a remote location. In that
case, I would suggest something like "Nothing to Display" would be a more
fitting announcement that the loading of the folder contents is finished, and
there is nothing more to wait for. 

This might work better, because if there were hidden dotfiles and the user has
"Show hidden files" disabled, it is still a true statement, but it does not
convey a false idea that nothing exists in the folder if there are hidden
dotfiles. And if there is literally nothing in the folder, it is still a true
statement. Because there is nothing in the folder to be displayed in that case,
regardless of the "Show hidden files" setting. 

It could be possible to use "Folder is Empty" if the folder is literally empty,
and "Nothing to Display" in other circumstances, but I believe that difference
might trigger the folks who seem to think of "hidden files" as some form of
"security through obscurity" (the reasons given were numerous and varied, and
quite imaginative). Better to just have a single message, but one that is never
going to be literally untrue, as "Folder is Empty" often is.

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