[Okular-devel] [okular] [Bug 317346] New: Okular overwrites PDF form data without asking

[Michael Witten]

https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=317346

            Bug ID: 317346
           Summary: Okular overwrites PDF form data without asking
    Classification: Unclassified
           Product: okular
           Version: 0.16.1
          Platform: Archlinux Packages
                OS: Linux
            Status: UNCONFIRMED
          Severity: normal
          Priority: NOR
         Component: general
          Assignee: okular-devel at kde.org
          Reporter: mfwitten at gmail.com

>From what I recall, Okular seems to handle a PDF's form data implicitly,
transparently saving the data somewhere upon closing the PDF. When 2 instances
of Okular are viewing the same PDF, the form data from the last instance to be
closed is the data the gets saved, without warning.

I needed to fill out a long form while referencing instructions placed in the
same PDF after the form; rather than scroll between the instructions and the
form (or figure out the 'correct' way to view both at the same time), I simply
opened the whole PDF again (`okular path/to/the.pdf' &), so that I could flip
between the instructions and the form using my window manager. When I was
finished, I closed the form and then closed the instructions, and then realized
that all of my work must have been destroyed, which  it was indeed.

I find it odd that Okular doesn't treat such form data more traditionally,
asking the user if data should be saved, and checking whether the file to which
it would save has changed already, etc; perhaps Okular should allow the user to
specify an explicit form data file, too. As it is now, It feels like handling
form data was kind of tacked on using some hack within an existing feature
(such as the implicit saving of which page the user was last reading).

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. okular path/to/the.pdf &
2. okular path/to/the.pdf &
3. Edit a form in one instance, close that instance, then close the other
instance.
Actual Results:  
Form data is that of the instance which was closed last.

Expected Results:  
Form data is not necessarily that of the instance which was closed last.

Okular should check to see whether data should be saved, and indeed whether
data has already been saved by something else.

-- 
You are receiving this mail because:
You are the assignee for the bug.