mc external editor does not write changes on remote file systems

[Friedrich Strohmaier]

Editing text files on remote file systems using the system editor (vim), not the built in one, does not work as expected.

The buffer with a temporary file is opened and changed, but not written to target leaving with ":wq" . This is tested on my box for ftp and fish.

to get the effect do the following steps:

if not already done prepare mc not to use built in editor.
On an sshd running system establish a conection with:

1. cd #sh:localhost:
2. browse to an known file and open editor by pressing <F4>
3. do some edit
4. save an leave (use ":wq" on vim)

Editor is quitting without error - now the file should be changed

5. refresh window (ctrl+r)

use <F3> to prove ==> file is _not_ changed an no error was given.

This Bug was confirmed on german user Mailinglist
http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.ubuntu.user.german/3618

"can reproduce on breezy"

GNU Midnight Commander 4.6.1
Version: 1:4.6.1-1ubuntu2~breezy1

VIM - Vi IMproved 6.3 (2004 June 7, compiled Aug 22 2005 17:27:07)
Version: 1:6.3-078+1ubuntu3

Friedrich

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
07/09/10 - 10:52
Bug reproduced on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.
External editor: "gedit"
Connection: SSH
Editor only edits and saves tmp file, that MC downloads from remote server. No changes are made to actual remote file.

[Friedrich Strohmaier (bitsfritz)]

sorry the correct link is
http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.ubuntu.user.german/3618

"can reproduce on breezy"

[x (xk2c-deactivatedaccount)]

also have a look at:
bug #15809 : external editor does not write changes on remote file systems
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?func=detailitem&item_id=15809

[Marcus Asshauer (mcas)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. You reported this bug a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering is this still an issue for you? Can you try with latest Ubuntu release? Thanks in advance.

[Friedrich Strohmaier (bitsfritz)]

Hi mcas,

trying mail reply..

zur Mail vom Samstag, 29. März 2008:

>Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make
>Ubuntu better. You reported this bug a while ago and there hasn't been
>any activity in it recently. We were wondering is this still an issue
>for you? Can you try with latest Ubuntu release? Thanks in advance.

No changes. Behavior is the same.

$ aptitude show mc
Package: mc
State: installed
Automatically installed: yes
Version: 1:4.6.1-7ubuntu2
Priority: optional
Section: universe/utils
Maintainer: Ubuntu MOTU Developers <email address hidden>

$ cat /etc/*release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=7.10
DISTRIB_CODENAME=gutsy
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 7.10"

all updates.

Friedrich

[Daniel T Chen (crimsun)]

Is this symptom reproducible in 8.10 alpha?

[Friedrich Strohmaier (bitsfritz)]

Same effect on 8.10 alpha (which does not start installation in Virtualbox VM gna!!)

Note: The quick prove requires
step 5: refresh window (ctrl+r)

to make effect visible instantly

[Dimitrios Symeonidis (azimout)]

setting status back to new

[Dimitrios Symeonidis (azimout)]

note: the savannah.gnu.org link is dead

[Friedrich Strohmaier (bitsfritz)]

mc bugtracking has moved

The bug is now found here:
http://www.midnight-commander.org/ticket/37

[Samuel (samuel-sh79)]

Bug reproduced on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.
External editor: "gedit"
Connection: SSH

Editor only edits and saves tmp file, that MC downloads from remote server. No changes are made to actual remote file.

[Samuel (samuel-sh79)]

16/09/10 - can be rperoduced in MC version:

GNU Midnight Commander 4.7.0.9
Virtual File System: tarfs, extfs, cpiofs, ftpfs, fish, undelfs
With builtin Editor
Using system-installed S-Lang library with terminfo database
With subshell support as default
With support for background operations
With mouse support on xterm and Linux console
With support for X11 events
With internationalization support
With multiple codepages support
Data types: char 8 int 32 long 32 void * 32 off_t 64 ecs_char 8

[Yury V. Zaytsev (zyv)]

You don't have to bump this every new bugfix release. Subscribe to this bug and you will be notified when it's fixed.

[Vladimir Zhylkovski (wimpog97)]

I confirm this bug is present in GNU Midnight Commander 4.7.0.3
When will it be fixed?

[Yury V. Zaytsev (zyv)]

I have no idea.

It seems that to fix it properly one needs to register fsnotifier callbacks on the files in the temporary folder and update them on remote system if there were changes. This all is highly nontrivial and there are much more urgent and pressing issues, so I would say not in the next half year unless someone provides a patch.

[damaru (gef-ponnuki)]

confirming that it's still going 4.8.3 and wondering if it planned to be fixed ?

[Yury V. Zaytsev (zyv)]

This bug has a correct association with upstream bug database. When it's fixed this tracker will also receive a notification. If you have patches, go talk to upstream about it. It's not a packaging bug, but a genuine bug in mc.