Files re-downloaded after workspace loads
 

I had [url]http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/awstats/awstats-6.5.tar.gz?use_mirror=superb-west[/url] autosaved in one of my workspaces. Then I loaded that workspace. It had been a day or so, thus the browser reloaded all the pages. When doing so, OW also re-downloaded the file.

I just tested this in 5.1.3, and the file did not download.

I can see why one wouldn't want this to happen, but isn't this what it should do?

This leads me to wonder if there was something 'special' about the way OW 5.1.3 loaded saved tabs. In sp7, reloading saved tabs makes them reappear in the history; this didn't used to happen. While I'm not complaining about this (since it helps me recover lost tabs more easily, as they appear consecutively in the history), I'm curious as to what no-so-obvious features we've lost in 5.5.

It depends on what one thinks a workspace is. Technically we know it's a collection of windows and tabs. Auto-saving means that "upon launching again your entire workspace is restored just as you left it."

When I reload a workspace and it re-downloads a file, that's not restoring it just as I left it. It's restoring it to some time before I left it. I understand why this is technically happening, but according to how auto-saving is described, it should not be happening.

Imagine if you opened a file that you had saved. You would expect that file to be the same as when you saved it, correct? If it was a slightly older version of what you had saved, would you think that's the way it's supposed to work?

In that case, I suppose then we should ask for OW to cache all the page data.

Edit: I'd be in favor of this if the devs actually considered it. Disk space is cheap, and the internet is slow.

I just remembered (as I noticed happening) that OW remembers what you've typed into fields on saved pages. So, yes, you're right; it shouldn't redownload files.

Update: No, that's not always the case. After a crash, a long piece of text I'd pasted into a page appeared on restart. But, just now, after logging out and in, loading that same workspace does not show that pasted text. I had switched workspaces before logging out.

There is a (hidden?) preference for whether to load a workspace from the cache instead of reloading. Some people prefer one behavior, some another. We really think it should be a workspace preference (just like autosaving) but we are really trying to avoid scope creep in 5.5.

Does this load from cache after quitting OW?

It loads from the disk cache if the pages are there (NSURLRequestReturnCacheDataElseLoad).

Some items are not allowed in the disk cache (NSURLCacheStorageAllowedInMemoryOnly or NSURLCacheStorageNotAllowed) while others may have been flushed by browsing in other workspaces or submitting forms.

We have considered storing webarchives of the current page--but there are lots of issues to consider (https security for example).

I can see how this would be a difficult feature to implement, but it would certainly be very appreciated by me (understandably not in 5.5).

form data lost when workspaces reloaded
 

I have a similar related bug to report.

I have a workspace dedicated to Aperture. since Apple doesn't send us a copy of our feedbacks, I began:
1. duplicate the previous feedback by option-drag in the tab drawer.
2. fill in my new feedback text and submit.
3. go 'back' to the form with all my data intact.

this allows me to have one tab for each feedback I've sent.

in 5.1, this worked perfectly. in 5.5, it doesn't work at all. all data is lost whenever the workspace is reloaded; not 'restored', simply reloaded.

can this be fixed?


on the bright side, Auto-Fill can now set all of the checkbox values in the Aperture feedback form. this was not possible with 5.1.