Annoying Search Tab behavior

[Saturn]

This is something new in the 3.5 client and I just got around to investigating it further and reporting it.

The search tab listview loses its selections whenever the Vault client GAINs focus. This results in the following annoying behavior:

1. Select a bunch of files in the search tab. Jump to another app to check on something (like a diff already open). Go back to vault. Selection disappears (after a delay.)

And probably the MOST annoying:

2. Give another app focus. Now give Vault focus by right-clicking on a file in the search tab. The file is briefly selected, the menu pops up, and then the selection goes away! The menu is still popped up, but selecting any item from it does nothing since you no longer have any files selected.

[Beth]

Are you on Vault 3.5.1 or 3.5.0?

I had seen this before, but I'm not able to reproduce it. I believe for me it occurred when I had my computer fully committed to other operations to where it was being overtaxed, and I might have had a very large Vault database. It had been a long time though since I had seen that behavior, which makes me think it could be in 3.5.0 instead of 3.5.1.

Is that happening on all clients?

Some performance improvements are coming in Vault 3.5.2, so that may help with what you are seeing.

[Saturn]

It is 3.5.0 I'll give 3.5.1 a try, but hadn't before because the change log for 3.5.1 indicates the only thing that changed was this

Fixed problem where Date / Time are sent in incorrect format across time zones when using a different version...

[Saturn]

3.5.1 still has the issue (both of them)

My search tab is locked to a folder with recursive checked. It doesn't matter whether background updates are checked.

Similarly, whenever background updates occur the selection is lost (issue 3). "Background" apparently is on a timer since it will certainly refresh when you're trying to use that box.

There's 84 files and 40 subfolders in the folder I've got locked.

There must be some sort of race condition. If I select a folder with fewer files, giving Vault focus with right click selects the item (very briefly) but the menu only includes "Select All".

The first issue is always duplicatable no matter the size of the folder. It always loses your selections when gaining focus.

I checked with another couple developers and they can easily duplicate all 3 issues.

[GregM]

Same here. Whenever Vault performs a new search, it apparently clears out the list and repopulates it, with no regard for what was selected before the list was cleared.

We never saw this in past releases because the list was disabled during searches. It wasn't until the search was completed that you could interact with the list.

[Beth]

I have seen it, but now that I want to see it, it won't lose the list for me. I will go ahead and log a bug for this to continue to be looked into.

[ohbillie]

Hi,

I have to agree that this behavior is annoying and most definitely a productivity killer. I am using client 4.1.3 and the behavior still exists.

Here is my setup:
- Recursive, Lock onto this folder, and Background updates are checked.
- Search by: Any Status

After the search completes, I have 4 files displayed in the list view.

Steps to replicate:
1. Right-click on a file. Notice that the entire line is highlighted.
2. Wait for 10-15 seconds for the listview to update. The selection disappears but the context menu remains
3. Click on “diff” or something and watch as nothing happens.
4. You have to right-click on the file again for it to become selected and then click on “diff”.

Note: If you have many files displayed and you scroll the listview down, the listview resets to the top after the refresh. This means you lose you place.

I use the search pane to automatically find all files that are different from my local version. I like to diff each file to see all of the changes. And then I “get latest” when I am complete.

The current behavior adds significant time to this process, especially when there are 20+ files that are different. I am constantly fighting the client to “beat the refresh”.

Is there any chance that this behavior can be modified? Continue to keep the selected file(s) selected during a refresh? And make sure that the selected file is visible? (i.e. prevent the listview from scrolling up to the top.)

I haven’t experimented with the listview to test this theory, but couldn’t you just remove or add items to the listview without clearing out the entire list, thus removing all selected items?

Thanks

[Beth]

I've added your Vote and your comments. Thanks for the feedback.

F: 11337

[heath]

I too am finding this behavior very annoying...several times a day. Using version 5.0.2 (18753).

My setup is same as ohbillie:
- Recursive, Lock onto this folder, and Background updates are checked.
- Search by: Any Status

I frequently have Vault Client on my second monitor. After making changes in Visual Studio (other monitor) I will right-click a file in the Search Tab to Check In or Show Differences, and unless I am *very* quick in making my menu selection, the selected item is unselected.

Same thing happens if I click in client to give it focus first.

Just noticed that whenever Vault Client gets focus the "Searching for new files that match the selected criteria on the Status Search pane..." status bar message appears. It's when that message changes to "Ready" that the list item selection is cleared.

[Beth]

We just made some changes to the search tab in the Vault 5.0.3 release that should help. You can get the latest release here: http://www.sourcegear.com/vault/downloads.html

[kfinke@creditinfonet.com]

Yes, please fix the search tab behavior.

The constant scrolling to the top of the list and losing my selections is a big annoyance. I've even tried turning off background updates, but that seems to make no difference.

I am using Vault Standard, 5.1.1 (19215).

[Beth]

Since the previous bug was fixed, I need to know the exact details of what you are seeing now.

Is it a case of where you are seeing the search pane list return to the top when there is a refresh? If that's not what you are seeing, can you describe the issue further so I can reproduce it?

[BSayatovic]

Since the previous bug was fixed, I need to know the exact details of what you are seeing now.

Is it a case of where you are seeing the search pane list return to the top when there is a refresh? If that's not what you are seeing, can you describe the issue further so I can reproduce it?

I, too, am using 5.1.1 (19215) with background refreshes OFF, and my scroll position is frequently lost, too. I have lived with this for so long, it's hard for me to clearly describe what it is I'm doing, but I'll try to be more diligent in monitoring what I'm going when this happens so I can report back.

[kfinke@creditinfonet.com]

I think what is happening is that when the Vault client window gets focus again, it tries to refresh the list. The problem is that I'm trying to work out of the list, resolving "needs Merges" and so forth. (Which, btw, is another missing context menu. ) So, I scroll down the list, find some files that need merge. I click on "View Merge", which takes me to another app. When I return, vault takes me back to the top of the list. So, I have to keep scrolling back down the list to find the next file to work on.

Also, while I'm at it, I'm going to request again a feature I asked for years ago. I pretty much live in the two views at the bottom, either the pending change set or the search view. I use the search view to get the latest. I think that in addition to the search statuses that you have, you should have another titled "out of date" or something like that, where it's the union of Old, Missing, and Needs Merge.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Beth]

I checked this out and can see what you mean. I ran a check on the next client we're working on though and it doesn't appear to be exhibiting the same behavior. We have information on that one that is coming posted in our development blog: http://vaultblog.sourcegear.com/.