GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 698017
default column width calculation is unuseful
Last modified: 2014-10-18 13:01:11 UTC
Created attachment 241522 [details] Image showing automatically resized columns in Nautilus' list view. The column width as it is calculated by default gives "secondary" columns too much weight on the cost of the file name column. When browsing folders, the first I have to do is resize columns for being able to read the file names. This is especially noticeable in localized systems: As an example, a symlink shows in German as file type "Verknüpfung mit Ordner". This causes the file type column to resize to the full width of that file string. The width is taken from the file name column. To an end user, the relevance of file type is just as much as that the type is identifiable (by file extension, or beginning of the full file type), so truncation would be acceptable. The same goes for the file size, the column should be just wide enough to fit in most of the numbers. Suggestions: Use fixed (empiric) values for the column width, or use the median instead of the longest entry of a column, or set a minimum and maximum width for automatic resizing.
And another suggestion: Do some performance testing to evaluate the best resizing method. Often when focussing or unfocussing Nautilus, the column width is slowly recalculated and columns jump left/right. Thanks!
Bug 693459 is a particular case which applies to Trash, because of the "Original Location" column.
Bug 698017 is another particular case, which applies to use of MIME type column.
(In reply to comment #3) > Bug 698017 is another particular case, which applies to use of MIME type > column. Sorry, I meant bug 698673. By the way, I added the mentioned bug numbers to the dependencies of this one.
Thanks António for looking at it! As I said, as work-around I just changed the column width each time I opened a folder. In Nautilus 3.8.1 in Ubuntu 13.04, all columns except of the "name" column have now as minimum width the width of the longest string. This means I cannot anymore reduce the column width, only increase it by dragging in the column header. This is a serious usability obstacle.
(In reply to comment #5) There is a patch on bug 693459 which improves the situation. Instead of using the longest string as minimum, the shortest string is used minimum and others are ellipsized.
I too have this bug, but unlike some of the above commenters, Nautilus will not let me resize any column, so all I see is "..." for file names and I can never make the column wider to see filenames. There is one exception: Nautilus lets me resize the filename column (making it skinnier only, not wider) when (and only when) the calculated size of that column is bigger than the longest file name, otherwise no resizing is allowed at all for any columns. I've had stop using nautilus because of this bug. :( Sometimes, a workaround is to just go full screen (or maximized) to allow all column data to fit and have filenames still be visible. But sometimes, the MIME Type column data is so long, that even that doesn't help. I also noticed that once I've entered a folder, and if that folder has a really wide column that messes up the filename column (makes it skinny with just "..."), then there is no reversing the effect. If I navigate to any other folder, and if that folder no longer has really long data in any column, the file name column will remain skinny, and I cannot resize it. The only workaround in that case is to close the window and open a new one, and avoid navigating to the folder that contained items that forced some column to be really wide. As a side note, this problem is new to Gnome 3.8. I didn't have it before.
*** Bug 707718 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 710922 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
For me is very important to see both the name and path of the file, and sometime the names and the paths are very long. I use 3 PCs (one is a netbook that I use travelling) with Ubuntu-Unity 13.04 and Nautulus 3.4.2 and I cannot do the upgrade to Ubuntu 13.10 because this issue in Nautulus 3.8. Must I look around for another file manager or leave Ubuntu? Please can you do something to make Nautilus usable again? I agree with the suggestion to create a horizontal scroll bar when the sum of the sizes of the columns is greater than the space available and let the width of all the columns more narrow than the label and/or the content (as it was up to 3.4) I have sent the same comment to bug 693459, sorry for the duplication but I was not able to understand where was better to send it
*** Bug 711815 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 720682 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 721848 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
I commit to this bug. Status still "UNCONFIRMED"?? Hey maintainers! What the hell are you doing? 1) Badly connfigured "standard" column widths. 2) No possibility of resizing columns, if window-space is full-filled. (https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=693459) 3) and much more... Who tests the new bullshit you are programming? Do you no the meaning of "system-test"? No actions for simple bugs? No releases go out, it tests aren't passed!! Damned projects that wish to "re-write" an already working application, but can't comply to available features/functionality anymore. This making lives of users much worse than before. If your target is to have "mean to play the developer role", than please, at least prove that you are capable of that. We users, want to see working applications, which are worth to have. All efforts to create development opportunities for playful programmers are "no go" for the community. Whole Gnome 3 project prove that programmers has become unreliable, and future of IT-world is very dark...
(In reply to comment #14) > I commit to this bug. > > Status still "UNCONFIRMED"?? Hey maintainers! What the hell are you doing? careca: There is no difference between UNCONFIRMED and NEW in GNOME Bugzilla. For the rest of your forum post, see what I told you in bug 552093 comment 33. Such comments do not belong in Bugzilla. Either be ontopic and technical in a bugtracker, or have your account here disabled and post somewhere else (like your blog or some forum, if you want to play the "we users" vs. "you developers" card or rant in general about GNOME from the sideline). Thanks for your understanding.
I experience this bug and am waiting it to be corrected too. While waiting, since we can not resize column in list view, which renders ListView as totally unusable, FileManager PCManFM can be installed. I wish in Ubuntu 13.10, Nautilus can be controlled with horizontal menu in notification strip, to make user experience consistent with other application.
(In reply to comment #16) > I experience this bug and am waiting it to be corrected too. > > While waiting, since we can not resize column in list view, which renders > ListView as totally unusable, FileManager PCManFM can be installed. Thank you, i was worried because of the end of the 13.04 support at the end of January. With your suggestion I can upgrade my primary pc to 13.10 instead of changing distro.
(In reply to comment #17) > > Thank you, i was worried because of the end of the 13.04 support at the end of > January. With your suggestion I can upgrade my primary pc to 13.10 instead of > changing distro. I have been using mainly (solely) Ubuntu since 9.10. Currently I am using 13.10. Recently I have dualboot with Fedora 19 (since 17), said to have cutting edge (newer version) kernel, Office, etc etc. I still use Ubuntu, since it is easiest to install 'extended' software like Draftsight (for AutoCAD dwg files) compare to other distros, I feel. Installation in Fedora fails until today. I have not tried my luck with Fedora 20 and Draftsight V15 yet. To share with you, Nautilus File Manager in more cutting edge Fedora 19 is not much different in List View to Ubuntu's. In half screen window, you can there see one icon, 23 characters and 3 dots. Slightly better than one icon and 3 dots in Ubuntu Nautilus File Manager. In Fedora Nautilus File Manager (newer version I assume), you can not force the window to create horizontal slider too, hence stuck with whatever characters can be read in limited width of Name column. I understand File Manager and Document Viewer are maintained by Gnome. Hence the interface is sometimes not consistent with general Ubuntu convention. I heard, Ubuntu 14.04 will come with Nautilus 3.10. Hopefully things change to the better then.
I too hope that 14.04 will be usable without workaround. I understand that File Manager is sometimes not consistent with general Ubuntu but I think, also, that is not very much useful have a great distro with difficulties in using it. May I help in something
As UI designer I'm unable to understand why you can't simply let the user choose the width of each column and remember velues when Nautilus is launched again. When columns total width is greater than the available space an horizontal scroll bar should appear (as already happens when you click on the trash icon). Please let users do things their own way and drop this "Apple style" policy where you say users how to do things. File managing is an indeed complex task and every user have it's own needings. Sorry if it appers not be technical ;)
I see the argument that this is subtly different from Bug #693459, but in practice I think it will be easier to track this in one place. *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 693459 ***
(In reply to comment #19) > I too hope that 14.04 will be usable without workaround. I understand that File > Manager is sometimes not consistent with general Ubuntu but I think, also, that > is not very much useful have a great distro with difficulties in using it. > May I help in something Hi! I installed Ubuntu 14.04 since day one. We still can not extend Name column size while in unmaximized window, but at least it shows almost twenty characters, compared to earlier condition, where we can only read a few characters. I noticed, this is also 'improved' on Ubuntu 13.10. This is what we also see in cutting edge Nautilus File Folder in Fedora 20. Still they do not allow more space for Name Column. No scrollability too. At least in Ubuntu 14.04 the menu is changed to top lines, consistent with most other application.
This ticket is marked as a duplicate of bug 693459. See the very previous comment. If you follow the chain of duplicates, you will see in bug 732004 that the problem will be fixed in Nautilus 3.16.