[digiKam-users] Hide empty folders in collections

[Guardian]

Hi,

 

Since you managed to get digikam start in about 1 – 2 minutes instead of 3 minutes with a 350000 pics mysql database, I gave it another try!

 

I added a collection which basically is a folder on a share where word, excel, pdf, pictures and movies are dumped into project related subfolders

In this collection there are many folders that don’t contain digikam related stuff, so the folders are “empty” for digikam

 

Is there an option to hide / ignore empty folders?

I think that would add an extra on performance and would help to reduce confusion on my users

 

 

Best regards

Timo

 

 

[Remco Viëtor]

On lundi 18 novembre 2019 11:35:20 CET Dumelle, Timo (E+K) wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Since you managed to get digikam start in about 1 - 2 minutes instead of 3
> minutes with a 350000 pics mysql database, I gave it another try!
>
> I added a collection which basically is a folder on a share where word,
> excel, pdf, pictures and movies are dumped into project related subfolders
> In this collection there are many folders that don't contain digikam
> related stuff, so the folders are "empty" for digikam
>
> Is there an option to hide / ignore empty folders?
> I think that would add an extra on performance and would help to reduce
> confusion on my users

The only way I see for Digikam to decide a folder is "empty", is to check the
folder contents, i.e. iterate over the files in the folder. That's what's
happening now as well to check for new files. So a "hide empties" option will
at best not add extra processing, and thus not help in start-up time.

It might still be worthwhile, in order to simplify the interface. Then again,
*not* seeing folders you know are there can also be confusing, it all depends
on the users. E.g. I know that the albums in Digikam represent directories on
the disk, so not seeing some only because there are no images would be more
confusing for me.

[Guardian]

Well, then how about adding the option to hide them?

[X] Hide folder without visible content

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Digikam-users <[hidden email]> Im Auftrag von Remco Viëtor
Gesendet: Montag, 18. November 2019 16:45
An: digiKam - Home Manage your photographs as a professional with the power of open source <[hidden email]>
Betreff: Re: [digiKam-users] Hide empty folders in collections

On lundi 18 novembre 2019 11:35:20 CET Dumelle, Timo (E+K) wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Since you managed to get digikam start in about 1 - 2 minutes instead
> of 3 minutes with a 350000 pics mysql database, I gave it another try!
>
> I added a collection which basically is a folder on a share where
> word, excel, pdf, pictures and movies are dumped into project related
> subfolders In this collection there are many folders that don't
> contain digikam related stuff, so the folders are "empty" for digikam
>
> Is there an option to hide / ignore empty folders?
> I think that would add an extra on performance and would help to
> reduce confusion on my users

The only way I see for Digikam to decide a folder is "empty", is to check the folder contents, i.e. iterate over the files in the folder. That's what's happening now as well to check for new files. So a "hide empties" option will at best not add extra processing, and thus not help in start-up time.

It might still be worthwhile, in order to simplify the interface. Then again,
*not* seeing folders you know are there can also be confusing, it all depends on the users. E.g. I know that the albums in Digikam represent directories on the disk, so not seeing some only because there are no images would be more confusing for me.

[Martin Burnicki-2]

Remco Viëtor wrote:

> On lundi 18 novembre 2019 11:35:20 CET Dumelle, Timo (E+K) wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> Since you managed to get digikam start in about 1 - 2 minutes instead of 3
>> minutes with a 350000 pics mysql database, I gave it another try!
>>
>> I added a collection which basically is a folder on a share where word,
>> excel, pdf, pictures and movies are dumped into project related subfolders
>> In this collection there are many folders that don't contain digikam
>> related stuff, so the folders are "empty" for digikam
>>
>> Is there an option to hide / ignore empty folders?
>> I think that would add an extra on performance and would help to reduce
>> confusion on my users
>
> The only way I see for Digikam to decide a folder is "empty", is to check the
> folder contents, i.e. iterate over the files in the folder. That's what's
> happening now as well to check for new files. So a "hide empties" option will
> at best not add extra processing, and thus not help in start-up time.
>
> It might still be worthwhile, in order to simplify the interface. Then again,
> *not* seeing folders you know are there can also be confusing, it all depends
> on the users. E.g. I know that the albums in Digikam represent directories on
> the disk, so not seeing some only because there are no images would be more
> confusing for me.

Agreed. Imagine you have a folder which is yet still empty, but you are
going to move some images there from within DK. How would you do that if
you don't see the empty folder?

I think this is more like a question how documents and images are being
managed. Probably it's easier to have a folder and subfolders with
images only, and a different folder with subfolders for other documents.

Martin

[Stuart T Rogers]

On 19/11/2019 10:29, Martin Burnicki wrote:

> Remco Viëtor wrote:
>> On lundi 18 novembre 2019 11:35:20 CET Dumelle, Timo (E+K) wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> Since you managed to get digikam start in about 1 - 2 minutes instead of 3
>>> minutes with a 350000 pics mysql database, I gave it another try!
>>>
>>> I added a collection which basically is a folder on a share where word,
>>> excel, pdf, pictures and movies are dumped into project related subfolders
>>> In this collection there are many folders that don't contain digikam
>>> related stuff, so the folders are "empty" for digikam
>>>
>>> Is there an option to hide / ignore empty folders?
>>> I think that would add an extra on performance and would help to reduce
>>> confusion on my users
>>
>> The only way I see for Digikam to decide a folder is "empty", is to check the
>> folder contents, i.e. iterate over the files in the folder. That's what's
>> happening now as well to check for new files. So a "hide empties" option will
>> at best not add extra processing, and thus not help in start-up time.
>>
>> It might still be worthwhile, in order to simplify the interface. Then again,
>> *not* seeing folders you know are there can also be confusing, it all depends
>> on the users. E.g. I know that the albums in Digikam represent directories on
>> the disk, so not seeing some only because there are no images would be more
>> confusing for me.
>
> Agreed. Imagine you have a folder which is yet still empty, but you are
> going to move some images there from within DK. How would you do that if
> you don't see the empty folder?
>
> I think this is more like a question how documents and images are being
> managed. Probably it's easier to have a folder and subfolders with
> images only, and a different folder with subfolders for other documents.
>
> Martin
>

Having read through this thread I firmly believe that as Albums in
digikam represent the directory structure this must ALWAYS display all
folders in that structure whether containing digikam related data or
not. Not displaying folders which are empty or have no image data will
lead to problems and much confusion.

Stuart
--
Website: https://www.stella-maris.org.uk
or:      https//www.broadstairs.org

[Maik Qualmann]

In the digiKam Setup under Database-> Ignored Folders it is possible to
specify a list of folders to ignore. Note, however, that all subfolders will
then also be ignored.

Maik

Am Dienstag, 19. November 2019, 11:51:48 CET schrieb Stuart T Rogers:

> On 19/11/2019 10:29, Martin Burnicki wrote:
> > Remco Viëtor wrote:
> >> On lundi 18 novembre 2019 11:35:20 CET Dumelle, Timo (E+K) wrote:
> >>> Hi,
> >>>
> >>> Since you managed to get digikam start in about 1 - 2 minutes instead of
> >>> 3
> >>> minutes with a 350000 pics mysql database, I gave it another try!
> >>>
> >>> I added a collection which basically is a folder on a share where word,
> >>> excel, pdf, pictures and movies are dumped into project related
> >>> subfolders
> >>> In this collection there are many folders that don't contain digikam
> >>> related stuff, so the folders are "empty" for digikam
> >>>
> >>> Is there an option to hide / ignore empty folders?
> >>> I think that would add an extra on performance and would help to reduce
> >>> confusion on my users
> >>
> >> The only way I see for Digikam to decide a folder is "empty", is to check
> >> the folder contents, i.e. iterate over the files in the folder. That's
> >> what's happening now as well to check for new files. So a "hide empties"
> >> option will at best not add extra processing, and thus not help in
> >> start-up time.
> >>
> >> It might still be worthwhile, in order to simplify the interface. Then
> >> again, *not* seeing folders you know are there can also be confusing, it
> >> all depends on the users. E.g. I know that the albums in Digikam
> >> represent directories on the disk, so not seeing some only because there
> >> are no images would be more confusing for me.
> >
> > Agreed. Imagine you have a folder which is yet still empty, but you are
> > going to move some images there from within DK. How would you do that if
> > you don't see the empty folder?
> >
> > I think this is more like a question how documents and images are being
> > managed. Probably it's easier to have a folder and subfolders with
> > images only, and a different folder with subfolders for other documents.
> >
> > Martin
>
> Having read through this thread I firmly believe that as Albums in
> digikam represent the directory structure this must ALWAYS display all
> folders in that structure whether containing digikam related data or
> not. Not displaying folders which are empty or have no image data will
> lead to problems and much confusion.
>
> Stuart