Confused about folder behavior

Michael,

I have seen a few different behaviors when deleting a folder recently imported in EF. I first imported my Documents folder. Subfolders that I did not want in EF (which contain nothing that can be read by EF - a hidden folder, for instance ) were also imported. When I deleted some of these in EF I could see them in the Finder window being moved from the original location to the finder Trash. When I deleted a couple other folders the originals did not move but it seems a duplicate was placed in the finder Trash. I am now seeing a 3rd different behavior. When I delete a folder in EF it moves to the EF trash folder (as it did the other times) and is removed from the original location, but it does not show up in the finder Trash.

This is what I want to happen. I want remove a sub folder of Documents from displaying in EF. Would you please clarify how I should remove them from EF and what the behavior of deleting imported folders (or files) is? When we delete something from within EF are we actually deleting the folder/file?

Thank you.

You should always delete from within EagleFiler (not the Finder). EagleFiler will move the folder to its trash. The folder will actually be deleted when you empty EagleFiler’s trash. I don’t think EagleFiler ever uses the Finder’s trash.

Then how can a folder be removed from EF without actually deleting it from the hard drive? There is a script listed a few postings below to hide files but can it be used for folders too? Is that the best way?

Oh, it wasn’t clear to me that you just wanted to hide folder, not delete it. Yes, I think you could use the “hide” selected records script](Script to "hide" selected records - EagleFiler - C-Command Software Forum). You would also need to use one of the methods here to prevent EagleFiler from picking up the folder on its next scan for new files.

Michael, I’ve re-tested the delete behavior in EF using the following steps and believe that the EF delete behavior is inconsistent and can be rather dangerous:

Step 1: Delete sub folder in imported Documents folder in the EF side bar
Step 2: Action in step one caused folder in EF to move to EF trash. However, original sub folder in finder is also moved to Finder Trash!
Step 3: Reverse action within EF using the Edit menu with UNDO. Sub folder is restored to the Documents folder in EF and to the original Finder location from the Trash.
Step 4: Click on Documents folder in side bar and repeat step one using upper right section of EF .
Step 5: Sub folder is moved to the EF trash but not to the Finder Trash. Actual folder is still in original position.
Step 6: UNDO move to EF trash; sub folder is restored in EF.
Step 7: Repeat step one. Sub folder is moved to EF trash; actual sub folder remains in original Finder position.
Step 8: Empty EF trash; sub folder is deleted from EF trash but not from Finder.

I don’t think EF should be allowed to delete an actual folder or file from the Finder, at least not without a warning or prompt.

Tested using Mac OS X 10.6.8.

Please post a screenshot showing what you mean by “Finder Trash.” I think that EagleFiler is actually moving the folder to the EagleFiler trash in the Finder.

It doesn’t. Unless there’s something weird going on on your Mac, EagleFiler never puts anything in the Finder trash and never actually deletes anything without prompting you.

Have to disagree with you. It saw happen 3 times yesterday to 3 different subfolders. During my test I kept two finder windows open, the Documents folder and the Trash folder (the trash bin to the right on everyone’s dock) along with EF. As I performed step one above in EF I saw the subfolder in the Documents window moved to the Trash window thereby deleting it from the file system. As I clicked UNDO in EF I saw the opposite action, the subfolder in the Trash window was moved back to Documents window. EF behaved likewise moving the position in its trash folder back under Documents in the side bar. The only prompt EF gave me was when I emptied the EF trash (Right click on trash in side bar) when it said it would only delete it from the EF library. These actions are repeatable but not consistent.

If something is going on with my mac it would seem to be isolated to EF. I would be glad to try something at your suggestion to fix it. I have used EF for a while now without any issues but I believe this is the first time I tried to import a folder to EF from my hard drive.

I don’t think there’s any code in EagleFiler to move files to the system trash, and the undo feature only moves files back and forth from folders that are managed in the library. It doesn’t look outside the library and move files back into the library. So the only way I can imagine what you describe happening is if you did something in the filesystem to link EagleFiler’s trash folder with your regular trash folder, e.g. created a symlink or a hard link. In other words, EagleFiler thinks it’s dealing with its own trash folder, but this is somehow affecting the real trash.

Right. Everything that EagleFiler does is restricted to its library folder (the folder containing your .eflibrary file).

It’s not clear to me what you mean by this. Are you saying that when you do the exact same thing twice you get different results? If so, what are the results in the different cases?

Please create a new library on your desktop. Are you able to reproduce the behavior using that library?

If so:

  1. What method are you using to “delete”? A keyboard shortcut? Dragging something somewhere?
  2. Please post some screenshots (or, better yet, a movie recorded in QuickTime Player) showing what you did and what happened.