Author Topic: Issue editing files on network share  (Read 2760 times)

djmuoio

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Issue editing files on network share
« on: August 13, 2020, 04:43:31 PM »
I am currently trying out the 2020 Beta and have used Slickedit for many years.  My prior purchase was the 2015 version.  I was disappointed to see that the latest beta still has an annoying behavior when editing files from a network share.  Here is the scenario.

1. I am using the Mac variant of Slickedit
2. I often edit files on other computers using SMB or AFP protocol.  A common use case for me is editing Android AOSP source on a Linux build box.
3. My preferred configuration with Slickedit is to automatically load the files from the previous session as well as using different Projects and Workspaces.  It is a great way to continue where I left off the previous day.

As long as I establish the network share BEFORE launching Slickedit, then all is good.  However if I forget to connect to the remote computer and launch Slickedit, then it cannot open the files from the previous session.  Makes obvious sense, however there is no way that I know of to re-establish the network connection and make Slickedit retry to load the files.  At this point I have to manually locate and open the files I had open before.  When working with very large source trees, this is a hassle. 

My typical usage is editing files on other computers using network shares.  At one point I used to spend the time to create Projects and Workspaces since they are very useful and convenient.  Because Slickedit gets amnesia if the network share is not there (or drops out), I stopped using those features.

I would love if Slickedit would retain its list of previously open files even if it cannot locate them.  If it can't open the file, then prompt me and allow me to re-establish network connection or otherwise point it at the new location.  The list of files to open should only be trimmed if I explicitly close a file or choose to forget about it.

jc44

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Re: Issue editing files on network share
« Reply #1 on: August 13, 2020, 05:29:35 PM »
I too have been caught by this one a lot due to an unreliable remount from my win m/c to my samba server (which appears to have just got better with the latest Win10) and it annoyed me every time it happened too.  I'm not sure what I think the correct behaviour is - in particular I'm not sure what should happen when trying to display buffers attached to unavailable files - I guess a grey window with "File Unavailable" in the middle is as good as I could hope for with some method of retrying the open.

djmuoio

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Re: Issue editing files on network share
« Reply #2 on: September 24, 2020, 09:01:55 PM »
Bumping this issue.  I would love to see a response from someone at SlickEdit even if something can't be done for the 2020 release.


Clark

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Re: Issue editing files on network share
« Reply #3 on: September 24, 2020, 09:29:41 PM »
I would love if Slickedit would retain its list of previously open files even if it cannot locate them.  If it can't open the file, then prompt me and allow me to re-establish network connection or otherwise point it at the new location.  The list of files to open should only be trimmed if I explicitly close a file or choose to forget about it.

I don't think it would be that hard to prompt to re-establish your network connection and retry. At the moment, there's isn't a good way to keep (not close) a file that can't be accessed during auto-restore.

Graeme

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Re: Issue editing files on network share
« Reply #4 on: September 25, 2020, 09:39:14 AM »
Slickedit has some commands that let you save / restore stuff
save-named-files  - saves list of currently open files
save-named-state  -  save lots of stuff
save-named-layout  - saves toolwindow layout

plus load-named-files, load-named-state and load-named-layout.
It wouldn't be hard to set it up to automatically prompt to save the current list of open files when you close slickedit.



jc44

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Re: Issue editing files on network share
« Reply #5 on: September 25, 2020, 09:49:33 AM »
The list of files that we want is already saved (it is the auto-restore list).  What I think is wanted is if auto-restore fails then that list should not be lost - it should be stashed sideways so we can have another go at loading it when the n/w is back up.
(Ideally I think I'd prefer the buffers to continue to exist but be in a "not-available" state that could simply be retried or closed later but that is clearly harder.)

Graeme

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Re: Issue editing files on network share
« Reply #6 on: September 25, 2020, 10:26:39 AM »
ok, but there's more to it.  What does it do with the stash if you close slick then re-open it.  Would you want slick to add the failed files to a persistent long-running list of files that can be presented on demand from which you can open files or clear files from the list?

jc44

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Re: Issue editing files on network share
« Reply #7 on: September 25, 2020, 10:44:36 AM »
Fair point - I hadn't considered that - my thoughts:

If you are just keeping a list then I'd prompt on exit as to whether you want to keep the missing files in much the same way that you get prompted when files disappear under a running SE. (Obviously this could be yet still another option)

If you went with the "unavailable buffer" scheme then they can be managed via the usual buffer management tools & should be saved for auto-restore in the same way as any other buffer though it might be nice to add "purge all unavailable" & "retry all unavailable" command/buttons somewhere.

Clark

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Re: Issue editing files on network share
« Reply #8 on: September 25, 2020, 01:23:32 PM »
Here's a work around for the case where auto-restore doesn't reload your files due to a network connection.

* Right after SlickEdit completes auto-restore, type "fexit" on the SlickEdit command line. This will exit SlickEdit WITHOUT overwriting "vrestore.slk". Note that this will not prompt to save any unsaved files either.
* connect to your network
* Start SlickEdit again.
« Last Edit: September 25, 2020, 01:45:05 PM by Clark »

jc44

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Re: Issue editing files on network share
« Reply #9 on: September 25, 2020, 01:40:16 PM »
Ah! Thanks for that - that will save me time if it ever happens to me again.

djmuoio

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Re: Issue editing files on network share
« Reply #10 on: September 29, 2020, 05:45:54 PM »
Hi Clark,

Thank you for the workaround!  That does indeed work.

Would still be awesome if you can develop a more elegant solution for either the 2020 Beta or the next release.

Thanks again.