[Bibdesk-rfes] [ bibdesk-Feature Requests-2892518 ] Improve handling of files not found

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Feature Requests item #2892518, was opened at 2009-11-05 11:48
Message generated for change (Tracker Item Submitted) made by ssssssp
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Category: Interface Improvements
Group: None
Status: Open
Priority: 2
Private: No
Submitted By: ssp (ssssssp)
Assigned to: Michael McCracken (mmcc)
Summary: Improve handling of files not found

Initial Comment:
I happened to click on some sidebar items pointing to external files which don't exist anymore. And I thought this experience could be better. It's not a big deal or common situation but a few ideas came to my mind:

1. Mark missing files as missing right away rather than after clicking them
2. Use a less shouting icon (I'd think an exclamation mark in a grey circle similar to the item counts would fit in well) to indicate the missing file
3. Perhaps improve the wording of the error message displayed when trying to look at the missing file (A less technical explanation, just saying that the file could not be found, is as helpful and less scary than the current text, a closing full stop would be good as well).
4. Perhaps use a sheet instead of a modal dialogue or – even cooler but probably much more work – display the message in BibDesk's main window area.
5. Offer a button to select a new file in the error dialogue and perhaps one to delete it (similar to what the Finder does when you try to use broken Aliases)
6. Oddly the error message is not consistent (sometimes mentioning a missing file, sometimes mentioning that it points to a directory instead of a file) when clicking the same sidebar item.

Film illustrating this is available at https://dl.getdropbox.com/u/382997/BibDesk%20File%20Not%20Found.mov

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You can respond by visiting: 
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