The notes system seems inconsistent

[Rod J]

Binary package hint: nautilus

Hi,

The file notes system isn't working for me. If I create a note for a file via the properties sheet the note won't appear in the side pane at all (in notes view mode). If I create a note for a file in the side pane it ends up being attached to the parent folder instead!? In any case it still will not appear in the side pane (I can only see it if I call up the file's property sheet). I'm baffled how this note system is supposed to work but it's pretty useless like this. The notes system shows promise, however I wish Nautilus would support the descript.ion note system as used in Total Commander in Windows with a note popup when you mouse over the filename or display the note as another column in the list view mode.

Thanks for any help,
Rod J.

Information about my system:

lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 9.04
Release: 9.04

apt-cache policy nautilus
nautilus:
  Installed: 1:2.26.2-0ubuntu2
  Candidate: 1:2.26.2-0ubuntu2
  Version table:
 *** 1:2.26.2-0ubuntu2 0
        500 http://nz.archive.ubuntu.com jaunty-updates/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     1:2.26.2-0ubuntu1 0
        500 http://nz.archive.ubuntu.com jaunty/main Packages

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.04
ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/nautilus
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: nautilus 1:2.26.2-0ubuntu2
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_NZ.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: nautilus
Uname: Linux 2.6.28-17-generic i686

[Yazen Ghannam (yghannam-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Hello Rod,

Thank you for taking the time to make this report. The notes system is very simple indeed, but it seems that's how it was designed (at least according to the help information). If you'd like to help improve the system, please forward this report upstream and add a link here. I've also added this report to the One Hundred Paper Cuts project; hopefully they'll be able to give more help. Thanks again.

[Martin Mai (mrkanister-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Instructions on how to send bugs upstream can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Upstream/GNOME.

[Rod J (rod-jamieson)]

It seems pointless forwarding this report upstream as I have done some research now and found this problem goes back at least as far as 2005. Obviously it has very low priority and not enough people want it fixed. I doubt anybody is seriously using the file/directory notes system as it stands now. IMHO I think it might be useful for attaching notes to directories but it is useless (or at least very cumbersome) to bother attaching notes to individual files using this system.

[SabreWolfy (sabrewolfy)]

Confirmed in Karmic with GNOME nautilus 2.28.1.

Notes added via "Properies" right-click result in a small note icon attached to the file icon, but nothing appears in the notes in the side pane. Adding a note to a file via the side pane results in no new icon appearing and the same note appears when selecting other files.

[John Baptist (jepst79)]

As I understand it, if you enter notes using the Nautilus side panel, the note is added to the current folder, not to the currently selected file. Does that agree with your experience? This is inconsistent UI design, but is probably not a bug. I agree that the notes and emblems feature, as they currently exist, are nearly useless, and should be removed unless (a) they are reimplemented in extended attributes and (b) are integrated with a desktop search system.

[Rod J (rod-jamieson)]

Yes, that's pretty much it. I'm now using Lucid Lynx 10.04 and the inconsistent design is still present here. I agree that the notes system as currently implemented might as well be removed.

[Vish (vish)]

Notes have been removed in the latest version of nautilus.
Comments from upstream:
"[nautilus developer]
Obsolete now that the notes sidebar has gone. Closing. "