Locking workspace when edit/view entry is open
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Is it possible to add a option that locks workspace when in edit/view dialog?
Sometime i lookup a password and the edit/view dialog is open its stays open until i close it.
Would be nice if its also timed out after a period.
regards,
Jan
In a word, no.
See the FAQ. http://keepass.info/help/base/faq_tech.html#noautolock
There is no need to edit an entry to lookup a password. You can press Ctrl H, drag n drop, copy / paste, Auto-Type or load the KPEnhancedEntryView plug-in, which has a show password button at the end of the password.
cheers, Paul
Explanation in FAQ is not satisfying enough. This question pops up again and again. So people have a real trouble with current situation regardless of what is written in FAQ.
Paul, you can persuade everyone, that your view is the only correct one. Or you can accept, that different people have different needs.
For me, it is problem too. I often edit comments, so I have to open edit window for relatively long time /I copy short remarks belonging to edited account during surfing web/. And if something disturb me I will always forget to close the edit window.
Of course you can answer I should change my behaviour. It would be nice to have an option under configuration and user (not autor) will decide what to do.
Btw, I glanced to this forum after years just only to see whether this feature is by the chance done. And the first question I saw is the same as mine.
Keepass is excellent program. Except the one missing feature.
I have no say in the matter, I'm just pointing you to the developer's FAQ.
What you can try is the KPEnhancedEntryView plug-in. When you edit Notes in-line but don't exit the edit, KeePass still locks. Edits are retained.
cheers, Paul
As Dominik has tried to explain in the FAQ, when the need to lock occurs while edits are pending, KeePass is in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. Does KeePass save changes and have the user come back to a database that's different from how he left it (with no obvious indication that changes were made), or does KeePass forget about those unsaved changes (again, with no indication)? The fact that Windows is in the middle of initiating an inactivity timeout means that, by definition, there's no user out there to ask this question (and no way to ask the question even if there was a user out there).
Changing this behavior would likely cause just as many complaints from those on the other side of this argument as it would fix for people like you, so Dominik long ago made his decision about which load of complaints he'd prefer to listen to, and unfortunately, you came out on the short end.
There is no need to change current default behaviour. Everything what is needed is adding simple option somewhere under Options-Advanced.
1.don't close edit dialog and don't lock (default); 2. force close edit dialog and save changes; 3. force close edit dialog and discard changes
So everyone could be happy and satisfied.
Under Options is now so many less important settings that adding those changes wouldn't do any harm to anybody. For example, just next to this topic is a request to Remove "Check For Updates" from Help menu. If that is solvable why not the problem people ask always again and again?
The behaviour will not be changed. It's up to you to work with the limitations that imposes.
cheers, Paul
I'm sure this was all hashed out before I started hanging around here, but this proposal seems reasonable; what is it about it that's causing you to dismiss it so abruptly? Are you just sick of discussing it?
Data integrity is an important part of KeePass. There is no point in securing corrupt data.
If the Add/Edit dialog is to be closed automatically, KeePass must decide whether to keep or discard potentially inconsistent data e.g. user has changed password in KeePass but not completed password change in application, or worse vice versa. KeePass could make a big effort to save intermediate results and bring them to the user's attention later, but intervening events (e.g. synchronization, editing in a different database copy) could make this very complicated.
Instead KeePass imposes a reasonable burden on the user to timely complete edits and make the decision about the fate of those edits in real time. This user responsibility is not is not a large burden becasue KeePass is designed so that one does not need to open the Add/Edit dialog to use stored data.
Last edit: wellread1 2016-05-31
If a simple discard/keep option is added, a user that is the habit of leaving partial results in the Add/Edit dialog and elects one these options will almost certainly encounter a situation where the other option was the required behavior. A discard/keep option is setting up KeePass up to make an incorrect decision part of the time. It is better to make it a user responsibility to make a decision in real time.
If the user if finding that the Add/Edit dialog is regularly preventing KeePass from locking, they should learn how to use the Add/Edit dialog properly.
Last edit: wellread1 2016-05-31
Yes, I keep losing sight of this fact when so many other users keep presuming the opposite - and my evaluation from my previous post was flawed because of this.
So, this is actually a problem in failing to educate users in proper techniques - but what more can we do in this regard?
Correct. Sometimes there is nothing more to be done. If someone insists on leaving the door wide open when they leave the house, you don't ask: What can the door do?
Last edit: wellread1 2016-05-31
I am attempting to pre-empt what is always a circular discussion. I like ideas and comment, but this one has the T-shirt. :)
cheers, Paul
I hardly believe you don't see it as a security hole. What is worse? To have one record in database wrong (in reality it is not true because there are saved old versions of record) or to have compromised all records?
I agree that there is no need to open the Add/Edit dialog to use stored data, as was said above. But when you use it for editing then you need to have the Add/Edit dialog opened. Any family member/colleague/customer would abuse my momentary inattention.
So why don't help users if it is technically possible? Should'nt be it a top priority for password manager to protect passwords?
perfect software + imperfect user = bad result
I have a boss who didn't want to make the software that develops more user friendly. Every time when someone called and said "Please, I made a mistake and there is no way to track down where the problem is", his just shrug his shoulders and said "I'm sorry, you have to check ourself". It lasted more than 10 years, and every month or two someone pleaded to add one column to report. His answer was the same, the column is useless, users should pay attention during typing and that it is their fault. Then, by the chance, member of his family had to use this SW, made the same mistake and asked him for help. And gues what happened? The next day was the SW changed to be more user frienly and to prevent user to make stupid mistake and also the missing column was added.
So why don't help users if it is technically possible?
Maybe you are perfect. But we others aren't. We just humans. And humans make mistakes. If we were perfect as robots, we wouldn't need to use the password manager of course.
Have a nice day!
Beware of editing noted in KPEnhancedWntryView plugin and then failing to save the edit.
if you shut down Windows without saving the database the edit is lost (or at least this is what happened fo me). I now always save the edit in the Notes section acter having being bitten by this problem once.
No changes are saved until the database is saved, no matter where they are made.
While I appreciate the current behaviour, a distinction between "view" and "edit" would be useful.
An example use case:
HSBC request that you ender 3 random characters from your password... This cannot be auto-typed or cut-and-pasted... To do this I need to VIEW the password in clear text... and sometimes I forget to close the window.
So - in this case - would it not be good to auto-lock the database if the view/edit dialog has been opened, but no changes have actually been made?
Last edit: Alex Ainscow 2017-01-31
I am using v2.0.2 in Ubuntu 16.04.
An even better arrangement would be to have an option for PICKCHARS that shows you the chosen characters instead of typing them. Then it's automated and you don't need to edit.
I feel a feature request coming on!
cheers, Paul