Add preference setting to never ask to save changes when closing the document

[JOleg]

I only save manually, always, in all programs. I am using it deliberately, as a feature, i.e., by default, when I close an app, if it asks me to save I always hit No, because I know that I did some changes that were just some experiments that I don't want saved. Whenever I do "production" changes I am happy with, I hit Save at once.

The following workflow would work in Affinity if not for this:

Affinity asks me to save changes when no changes have been made. I open document -> go to export -> hit export -> close document -> and I get a "do you wan to save changes?". This is bugging me like there's no tomorrow. I did absolutely no changes. 

I do exports very very often, and I close documents very very often. 

Please, add a setting where I can disable this dialog. It ruins my creative workflow.

P.S. Even though oftentimes I don't even change anything in export window, I still view everything I do in export window as *no changes to the document*, thus, I do not expect the popup to appear. On top of everything, it is very misleading, especially when you don't close the document at once but after a while, and suddenly you get this Save Dialog, but at the back of your head you don't recall making any changes, and you start wondering "have I done anything I should save, or should not save?".

Edited July 28, 2022 by JOleg
added PS

[GarryP]

If you open a document, then open the History Panel, then do your export, you will see that an item has appeared in the History Panel, probably something like “Apply file export options preset”.
That tells you that the document in memory has been changed, even if you haven’t made any changes yourself.
You can also use the History Panel to check to see if you really have made any other changes.

Having said that, I can see why some people, like yourself, may want an option to close without saving – this isn’t the first request that I have seen regarding this.
However, I would suggest that such an option is accompanied by a (short?) on-screen advisory telling the user that using it could cause them problems if they use it without knowing what using it will really do.

[JOleg]

Its natural default behavior should of course be to display the Save dialog. But there must be a way to disable this deliberately in the settings, probably with an additional warning. But point is, it's not something "I wish there was", I just I need it badly. Sometimes, in the race to avoid the dialog, I keep accumulating documents, until there's many tabs. And guess what, when you close the app (not single document), it asks to save for every document, without a check to "apply this answer to all documents".

And yes you are right, it says exactly "Apply file export options preset" in the history panel. But I disagree that this is a change to the document, or at least, I want a way to disable the dialog and then it doesn't matter whether I disagree or not.

P.S. By the way, the history panel even agrees by stating apply preset, not change preset, and not change and apply. 😃

Edited July 28, 2022 by JOleg
added PS

[JOleg]

Just in case, I am attaching a demo video file.

[GarryP]

21 minutes ago, JOleg said:

And yes you are right, it says exactly "Apply file export options preset" in the history panel. But I disagree that this is a change to the document,

It means, as far as I can tell, that the export preset settings have been applied to the in-memory document, which implies a change to the document.

If I remember correctly, Blender used to have no warning on document close by default and it wasn’t until quite recently that an option was added to give users a warning if they wanted one.

Personally I always want to be warned when I’m closing a changed document but I’m probably not doing the same sort of work that you are doing – so I agree that it would be nice if the user had the choice.

Note: Photo has some kind of batch processing for exporting (I think) so that might be of more use to you than doing it manually in Designer (since Photo can also open Designer documents).

[Old Bruce]

4 hours ago, JOleg said:

I open document -> go to export -> hit export -> close document -> and I get a "do you wan to save changes?". This is bugging me like there's no tomorrow. I did absolutely no changes. 

You go to export and choose an export preset, that is a change. If you always use the same export then the change will be saved if you save the document. If you don't save the chosen export preset settings in the document then each time you go to export you will be asked if you would like to save them now.

If you use lots of export presets or you are constantly changing the various options then you will be asked all the time because you are changing a property of the document. If you are using lots of different export options and or formats then you may want to set up something in the Export Persona.

[JOleg]

Bruce, thanks for the input, but you are explaining what I already see. I'm saying, that's not the behavior I like, not the behavior I expect, not the behavior I need. In the attached video I am showing what does not make any sense for me, and ruins my flow.

It's also not the question of automation, my exports are randomized.

Besides, if I change an export format, then Affinity thinks this is a "change of a preset", but when I change the resolution only and don't touch the format, then Affinity does not register this as a change of a preset. In fact, that's what I always change! Resolutions! (And formats too, and switch back and forth). And that extra thing which I'd love to save as a preset to choose from (I mean so I don't have to type resolutions each time), Affinity does not allow me to. Also, when I change a format in the export dialog, do the export and then save the document with these changes to presets (because Affinity calls this a change to a document), then why does this "change" affect another document I open? (i.e. the "preset" remains the same from previously saved document). It's so weird from so many angles. 

I usually write on these forums after a very long period of suffering, I don't go write here as soon as I found something that is not convenient. I find myself doing stuff I post about over and over and the behavior of Affinity in those areas is not convenient and I have no solutions and workarounds. I have a list of such things in Affinity that I live with. Some of those I've already posted. For example, I keep duplicating objects with CTRL + click, that's just crazy.

So I am asking Affinity for an improvement in the area of exiting the document with regards to save dialog. I'm just voicing my experience, because if I don't, then nothing will change for sure, because if nobody gives feedback, then that is translated as "all is good" 😃

[Pšenda]

The time and date of the Export (as well as the Print) is stored in the metadata of the document. During Export/Print, the document changes, which needs to be saved.

P.S. what is the problem to save this document after exporting it and thus get rid of the dialog when closing the document?

[dcr]

On 7/28/2022 at 7:49 AM, GarryP said:

Having said that, I can see why some people, like yourself, may want an option to close without saving – this isn’t the first request that I have seen regarding this.
However, I would suggest that such an option is accompanied by a (short?) on-screen advisory telling the user that using it could cause them problems if they use it without knowing what using it will really do.

I would also suggest it not be a setting that could be easily changed by accidentally hitting the wrong button or keystroke.  Bury it in a menu somewhere so that changing it one way or the other requires a more deliberate action on the part of the user.

One reason for that is that I hate the trackpad on my MacBook Pro because Apple decided the make the whole thing a button, so it's easy for the corner of your hand to bump the cursor and click something you didn't want to click and I'd hate to do a lot of work in a file then accidentally hit a button to close the file and lose it all.

[melonbird]

I work the same way as the OP. Not only do I need to click "don't save" repeatedly on every file, but I also have to click it with the mouse, which is hard on me because I have RSI that's triggered by mouse clicks (I do everything possible with keyboard shortcuts). I understand the reason for the default behavior and agree that it should be the default. But I'd love to have a hidden option somewhere to turn it off and risk losing something I forgot to save. I've looked through preferences (Mac) and am not seeing any options like that.

[Old Bruce]

26 minutes ago, melonbird said:

I work the same way as the OP. Not only do I need to click "don't save" repeatedly on every file, but I also have to click it with the mouse, which is hard on me because I have RSI that's triggered by mouse clicks (I do everything possible with keyboard shortcuts). I understand the reason for the default behavior and agree that it should be the default. But I'd love to have a hidden option somewhere to turn it off and risk losing something I forgot to save. I've looked through preferences (Mac) and am not seeing any options like that.

If you are wanting to not save the trivial change made by the export setup then you have to click the Don't Save button. If you have changed only the Export setting then I don't see what the problem is with saving. After all it is only the export options which were changed and that is a very minor change.

[JOleg]

5 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

If you are wanting to not save the trivial change made by the export setup then you have to click the Don't Save button. 

We would not be talking in this thread right now if it was that trivial and minor. The whole point of this topic is to not click the "Don't Save" button. Moreover, the issue here is, the save dialog is not justified, nothing has been changed, neither in the document, nor in the export settings, I've attached the video above. And even if changes in export window did occur, I still want the save dialog to not appear. It's up to the dev team how it is implemented, with a secret option or somehow differently, but all we ask it just a way to disable this default behavior with an optional setting... because there are people who use different workflows. For example, some use Auto-Save feature (not necessarily in Affinity, but in other software, like DaVinci Resolve), because they forget to click Save. Obviously this Auto-Save feature appeared because of the way people work and problems people face. So, this topic is no different. It's just that we use the opposite strategy - nothing should be saved, until I say so. And again, I would not create this topic if the Save dialog did not pop up after using the Export window. But it does pop up.

5 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

If you have changed only the Export setting then I don't see what the problem is with saving. After all it is only the export options which were changed and that is a very minor change.

This:

On 7/28/2022 at 2:09 PM, JOleg said:

On top of everything, it is very misleading, especially when you don't close the document at once but after a while, and suddenly you get this Save Dialog, but at the back of your head you don't recall making any changes, and you start wondering "have I done anything I should save, or should not save?".

And that moment when you get this dialog, you no longer remember which changes have been made (minor or major), and whether they've been made at all, like in the case of Affinity software.

[Old Bruce]

Here on Mac I just use the default Command + D to trigger the Don't Save action.

3 minutes ago, JOleg said:

The whole point of this topic is to not click the "Don't Save" button.

 

[JOleg]

5 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

Here on Mac I just use the default Command + D to trigger the Don't Save action.

 

That's actually helpful, didn't know that. I'm on Windows, CTRL + D does not work for me, but I've worked out that pressing "N" does. So thank you, that will make my life easier 👍