I think this would be very useful to be able to undo an operation after the "Rename Files" button has been clicked. It will avoid taking new action with Bulk Rename to restore previous names modified by error but especially it would be the only recourse in some cases of error like, for example, when text/character has been:
removed according to character position
replaced by nothing
replaced by text/character that is present in other positions where it must not be changed
etc
Version: 1.6.11
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When character/text has been removed according to charters position - one that was not the same in all filenames modified (imagine six-digit different numbers at the end of every filename) - it is impossible to restore otherwise.
I dont like the "undo" feature much. IMO it is not the job of a file browser to recover lost information, regular backups should cover that.
Specially for the bulk renamer you already have a list of "new names", so you can check what it will look like before pushing "rename".
Last but not least I think undo is rather "heavy" to implement. You always would need to handle an array of filenames instead of a single one for each file.
No further discussion is needed I think: I do not consider a valid line of argument the liking or disliking as such; but Thunar or the renamer itself becoming too heavy or the effort required involving too many changes and/or effort seem to me valid reasons not to accept this request.
My intention was just to inquire on the possibility of it.
On the other hand, many file managers, just like text editors, have the undo option, and I find that a very useful tool indeed in all occasions. But that might be a subjective stand.
Thunar is basically the best I've found, but lacking undo leads me to some serious problems. Sometimes I'm dragging many items and if my mouse slips, files get distributed in crazy places, which can sometimes take a LONG time to undo manually.
The situation is even worse if it's a sync'd folder, because it starts propagating big changes across all my devices (ack!).
I realize here there is only the suggestion for rename undos, but I'll say that if Thunar had undos, it'd be the best.
Cheers,
Jack
PS- I currently use Caja for this reason, but that leads to silliness when I try to copy an item to or from the desktop, which is using Thunar underneath, plus duplicating efforts. Only a minor irritant, but enough to lose the overall elegance of the XFCE experience.
The request to add an Undo option to bulk renamer is not acceptable because it's beyond the plugin responsibility to keep track of the file names.
However, requesting Thunar itself to allow undo file operations (rename, copy, move...) make much more sense.