Remember column sorting in list view

[Peter Ka]

I like to sort my Download folder by modification date to find the latest files.
But files seems to restore the sorting of the last folder that was open.

1. Open Files
2. Switch to Download folder
3. Sort by modification time
4. Switch to another folder. The sorting isn't on modification time anymore (makes sense)
5. Close Files
6. Open Files
7. Switch to Download folder -> Sorting on modification time must be done again.

IMHO it would make sense to save the sorting settings permanently.

[Jeremy Wootten (jeremywootten)]

It is intended that the sort order is remembered (it is stored as metadata in the directory file itself). I find that sometimes it is restored and sometimes not, so it need looking into.

[roberto (robbbbye)]

It had been fixed, but since some days I've got again the same problem! (I have everything updated)

[Jeremy Wootten (jeremywootten)]

Hello Roberto.

The fix was commited to revision 1983 so if you have the stable version of Freya you will not have it. Which revision are you on?

I have just repeated the tests used to verify the fix, using revision 1996 and it passed. The tests are:

(A)
1) Open several tabs showing different directories with different sort columns and orders
2) Navigate away from and back to the directories - the sort characteristics are preserved.
3) Close and reopen Files - the sort characteristics of each tab is restored.

(B)
1) Open a single tab and navigate to a bookmark. Set a non-default sort.
2) Navigate to another bookmark in the same tab. Set a different non-default sort.
3) Navigate to another bookmark with the default sort.
4) Close and reopen Files.
5) Navigate to the above three bookmarks in turn - the sort or each is restored. (Trunk fails this test).

NOTE. If several tabs of the same directory are open with different sort characteristics when Files is closed, on reopening the will have the sort column and order of the last changed tab - this is inevitable.

If you can find a use case that fails the tests please let me know. Note that this only works on filesystems with gvfs backends that allow storage of metadata in the file itself - that is how the column and order is remembered. It also won't work on recent://

[roberto (robbbbye)]

My revision is 1980, what's strange is that now it works again! With the Test A and also rebooting. But with the Test B it fails, remembering the sort characteristic only of the last bookmark visited

[Jeremy Wootten (jeremywootten)]

OK, I'll leave it until you have a chance to check out a revision later than 1983.

[roberto (robbbbye)]

I still have the same revision (1980) now that it's passed three months, so I keep having the problem every time that I boot the PC

[Jeremy Wootten (jeremywootten)]

Freya stable is still on Files r1980 (v 0.2.4) I am afraid. You will either have to wait for another stable release which includes a version later than r1983 or, alternatively, down load the source code of a later release from launchpad, compile and install it yourself. Note however that the very latest versions could contain temporary instabilities as they will not have been so widely tested.