'Change Attributes' dialog not properly initialized

[MarcinW]

Steps to reproduce (TC 9.12 RC4):

1) Proper behavior: Select any file and choose "Files" -> "Change Attributes". Result - in the dialog window: attributes, date and time of the file are properly set.

2) Improper behavior 1: Select any file and choose "Files" -> "Change Attributes". Change file's date to 2018-01-01 and time to 1:00:00. Now select any directory and choose "Files" -> "Change Attributes". Result - in the dialog window: attributes are NOT set (checkboxes are grayed, but should be initialized to reflect attributes of the directory), date and time of the directory are NOT properly set (previously displayed strings "2018-01-01" and "1:00:00" are visible - it shows, that editboxes haven't been updated).

3) Improper behavior 2: Launch a fresh TC instance, select any directory and choose "Files" -> "Change Attributes". Result - in the dialog window: attributes are NOT set (checkboxes are grayed, but should be initialized to reflect attributes of the directory), date and time of the directory are NOT properly set (default strings "yyyy-MM-dd" and "hh:mm:ss" are visible - it shows, that editboxes haven't been initialized).


Expected behavior:
- When launching "Change Attributes" for one file or directory: attributes, date and time of the file/directory should be set properly.
- When launching "Change Attributes" for more than one selected files and/or directories: checkboxes for attributes should be grayed, date should be set to default string "yyyy-MM-dd" (or to empty string), and time should be set to default string "hh:mm:ss" (or to empty string).


Regards

[ghisler(Author)]

This is actually intentional!

When multiple files or one or more directories are selected, TC switches to the 3 state checkbox interface, so you can either set, reset, or keep a certain attribute. Also the date/time from the last use of the function is shown.

[MarcinW]

Well, so this is a bit confusing behavior - as we can see, I recognized it as a bug, not a feature

I agree that for multiple selected files or directories, a 3-state interface should be used. But using 3-state interface when a one directory is selected makes thing more inconvenient than needed - if I display "Change Attributes" dialog for a directory, this means that I want to change just this directory's attributes, so it would be more convenient to have them initialized, rather than 3-stated.

And leaving previous strings in date and time editboxes, when the 3-state interface is used, is highly confusing - in the example above, 2018-01-01 1:00:00 is used, which has absolutely no connection with the currently selected files and/or directories. Maybe you could find some better solution for this case, like clearing editboxes for example?

Regards

[ghisler(Author)]

Well, when you select a folder, it may also contain multiple files. Combined with the option "Recurse subdirectories", you may want to e.g. just apply the 'read only' attribute, but leave the others unchanged.

[MarcinW]

You are right, there are two possible behaviors, and each one is proper.

However, leaving date and time editboxes with previously used strings does not help in any way...

[sqa_wizard]

If date/time from the last use of the function is shown, you have the possibility to use it on other items too.

If you really need the exact date/time of the currently selected file/folder, just press the according button: [ Load from file under cursor ]

[MarcinW]

If date/time from the last use of the function is shown, you have the possibility to use it on other items too.

Yes, but only for directories, not for files. I could also say same thing for files: if date/time from the last use of the function would be shown, I could use it on other file too.

The bahavior for files and for directories should rather be consistent.

Regards