Why “File->Open Recent” Fails

[mizuhito]

After a while, the “Open Recent” menu shows no files, only “Clear Menu.”  I’ve heard that to fix this, one needs to quit the application and restart.  Why?  Is this a bug?  If it’s a bug, will it ever be fixed?  It’s quite inconvenient to quit and restart.  Are bugs such as these ever fixed?  Are versions of AF ever released to fix bugs?  Thanks in advance.

[v_kyr]

Hmm can't say for sure thus speculating here, but maybe the recent file list is actually only read in on startup or updated/written out on app closing.

[mizuhito]

If I work on file “A” and then close it and open file “B,” then the recent file list should show A while B is open.  I shouldn’t have to close the app to have it show A.  

[v_kyr]

Depends on how the "recent used file list" is implemented, meaning here, if it updates and triggers events on the flow and/or if doesn't contain unwanted bugs. Further it might also be slightly differently behaving on the supported OS'es due to reused system APIs and services etc. - IOW there could be many possible shoortcoming scenarios here causing a false behavior.

[stokerg]

Hi mizuhito,

Which OS are you running?  I've just tested this on both Mac and Windows with no issue.  As soon as i open a file, it's already added to the Open Recent list.

If you are running a Mac, can you just check what you have this setting set to: System Preferences -> General -> Recent Items

 

[mizuhito]

MacOS Sierra 10.13.4.  As I said, this recent file capability works for a while and then it stops.  As soon as I open a file, it’s already added to the list for me, too - just like you.  And the list grows, as I open more files, to the system-imposed limit of 10 (see 10Showing.png).  However, after a while, it shrinks, first to five (I didn’t create a screenshot of it), and then to zero, showing only “Clear menu” (see attached).  All I’m doing in the interim is using the app normally.  Check out https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/17974-file-open-recent/ , where Quality Assurance Expert “Chris” stated that the solution is to close and reopen the app.  I suspect it is a bug where stack memory available to AF decreases and it is not able to continuously save state.  I think that having to close and reopen is a preposterous solution.  No other Mac app that I use displays this problem.  Thanks.

 

[v_kyr]

2 hours ago, mizuhito said:

However, after a while, it shrinks, first to five (I didn’t create a screenshot of it), and then to zero, showing only “Clear menu” (see attached).

Hmm I can somehow reproduce that the menu entries do shrink to five over time, via opening/closing other files etc. But so far not to zero, how long does it usually take on your side to be cleared to zero entries and are there then many file open/close operations previously involved?

[Chris B]

16 hours ago, mizuhito said:

Check out https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/17974-file-open-recent/ , where Quality Assurance Expert “Chris” stated that the solution is to close and reopen the app.

Hi mizuhito,

I think you may have misunderstood what I said in the other post. At no point did I suggest that closing the app was a 'solution'. I was asking the other user to see if resetting the app resolved the issue of it not correctly remembering recently opened documents. We then deduced that because it didn't change anything, the fault was within the System Preferences > General > Recent items being set to None. I assume you have checked your settings and made sure yours isn't set to 5 or None? 

As far as I know, this issue has only ever been reported against the Mac and is controlled by the Recent items setting. We need to work out why sometimes your app remembers 10 items, sometimes 5 and sometimes None.

[mizuhito]

Hi v_kyr.  It’s a good question you ask (how long does it usually take) but I’m afraid I have no good answer because I’m usually just processing images and not paying attention to the list until I happen to need it. I can say two things.  First, I usually have a lot of stuff going on simultaneously on the Mac: AF plus an HDR app plus another for RAW processing that I vastly prefer plus a few web browsers, etc., so memory pressure can be high.  Second, I very rarely reboot - the OS is very stable - and the Mac “sleeps” frequently.  Maybe it’s related to this way of doing things; I don’t know.  I guess I can try to study this further when I have nothing else to do.

[mizuhito]

Hi Chris B.  Thanks for your note.  Sorry I misinterpreted your previous suggestion.  However, you can see from the image above that the issue is not related to the OS setting to 5 or None because 10 recent files are shown and no OS setting changes take place between that screen shot and the one showing just “Clear Menu.”  

Let me investigate this further and get back to you.

[mizuhito]

I think I have worked out the cause of the problem.  Attached is a screenshot showing the recent file list from another app that I use (Graphic Converter).

It seems that GC maintains a list of the 10 most recent files even if those files do not exist any longer; those that don’t exist are grayed out.  

I guess AF doesn’t do this; instead, if the file doesn’t exist, it just doesn’t include it at all in the recent file list.  

With the photos I was processing recently, there were so many that the full set wouldn’t fit on my SSD. I had to pull a portion in from secondary storage, process, save the results, and delete before pulling in more.  I had originally thought that AF would keep the file name in the list and tell me it couldn’t find it if the file didn’t exist.   Thanks very much for your help and sorry for sending you on a wild goose chase.  

 

[v_kyr]

Ah Ok, then it actually looks more like that physical unavailable files are probably deleted from the APh listed recent used files menu entries and thus the list might be shown as empty then.

[R C-R]

6 hours ago, v_kyr said:

Ah Ok, then it actually looks more like that physical unavailable files are probably deleted from the APh listed recent used files menu entries and thus the list might be shown as empty then.

That is indeed how it works in the Mac Affinity apps. (Personally, I wish other apps worked the same way because then the list would not fill up with unavailable ones, pushing older still available ones off the list, but that is just me.)

However, on Macs if you have added an Affinity app icon to the Dock, right-clicking or long clicking on that does pop up a recents list (up to the limit set in System Preferences), including ones that are no longer available.

[tlaloc58]

Just wanted to add that I had the same issue. No recent files were available, and that issue was in all my programs of my Mac. The solution for me was actually in the System Preferences> General> Recent Items. Select the number you feel comfortable and it should work the next time you open affinity, after opening a file, because it has to build the list. 

 

[Chosen Idea]

On 10/26/2018 at 4:13 AM, Chris B said:

Hi mizuhito,

I think you may have misunderstood what I said in the other post. At no point did I suggest that closing the app was a 'solution'. I was asking the other user to see if resetting the app resolved the issue of it not correctly remembering recently opened documents. We then deduced that because it didn't change anything, the fault was within the System Preferences > General > Recent items being set to None. I assume you have checked your settings and made sure yours isn't set to 5 or None? 

As far as I know, this issue has only ever been reported against the Mac and is controlled by the Recent items setting. We need to work out why sometimes your app remembers 10 items, sometimes 5 and sometimes None.

I've been reporting it on every new release for years in Windows. Resetting whatever you want won't work. There are recents from the first time I opened Photo, and Designer (clearing recents does not work). Not sure why recent can work with any other application than one developed by Serif. The pop-up window with the ads is also completely unaffected by unchecking in as well, another five year old issue.

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, Chosen Idea said:

The pop-up window with the ads is also completely unaffected by unchecking in as well, another five year old issue.

What popup ads are you talking about? AFAIK, no Affinity app ever opens any ad windows, neither in the Mac or Windows versions.

[Andy05]

16 minutes ago, R C-R said:

What popup ads are you talking about? AFAIK, no Affinity app ever opens any ad windows, neither in the Mac or Windows versions.

 I guess he meant the welcome window, which Affinity apps start with after their first install (and which will be shown every start until deactivated).

As for @Chosen Idea, he seems to have some serious issues with the affinity apps' rights on his system. To me, it seems like some other (security?) software blocks the apps' attempts of storing this data in i. e. some kind of appdata/configs or registry entries.