I just discovered that on Windows, when Dorico discards old backup and auto save files, they wind up in the Recycle Bin. I understand why this might be desirable for some, to keep around as many backups as possible, but over time it clutters up both the Recycle Bin (making it harder to locate other files I might want to restore) and the hard drive (unless I empty the Recycle Bin, which I don’t like to do too often). In just a few weeks of working with Dorico, I have accumulated 2GB of files in the Recycle Bin.
I think it would be useful to have an option to fully delete these files when they are discarded by Dorico, rather than sending them to the Recycle Bin.
I, for one, have had my bacon saved by pulling a version out of the Bin when something went a bit wrong, which otherwise would have meant re-doing a load of work. It’s a useful short-term safety net for anything done recently, but in the long-term, you shouldn’t be relying on it: it’s no substitute for a decent backup regimen.
What’s the problem with deleting the Bin often? As said, a decent backup should have you covered for anything that’s been on your disk for a day or more.
As it stands, you want Dorico to delete the files that it moves to the Bin, but also saying that you don’t like to delete files that have been moved to the Bin.
Isn’t there a setting on Windows to automatically delete the contents of the Bin after some time interval, like 30 days?
I’m a little perplexed about why my reasonable suggestion for a simple option is producing so much discussion. If you don’t like the option, don’t use it!
The Recycle Bin is generally considered to be a mechanism to protect the user from their own mistakes, temporarily preserving files that the user deletes by accident. (Here’s Wikipedia, just for starters.) From a coding perspective, sending a file to the Recycle Bin actually requires an extra parameter to the delete call, implying that it’s not meant to be the usual course of action for applications. And in fact the other applications that I use that create intermediate or work-product files delete them permanently without comment. Looking at the current contents of the Bin on my 3 computers, all of the files in there are ones that I deleted myself – except for the Dorico backups.
We are already able to tell Dorico to only keep X backups per project; I assume that part of the reason for this setting is to limit disk space consumption. In that case, it seems reasonable to be able to tell Dorico not to keep these files around further in the Recycle Bin after it removes them from the backups folder.
Time spent on one feature is time that’s not spent on something else. And endless configuration options add to complexity and befuddlement.
So “I’d like the team NOT to do this” is as valid a request as “I’d like the team TO do this”.
Daniel will be the ultimate arbiter, of course, but I don’t think it’s really a problem that needs solving by Dorico, when you can just click “Empty”, or set the Bin to automatically delete files.
Sorry – I don’t mean to be needlessly quarrelsome!
(Interestingly, I seem to remember a time when Finale would fill the Bin with temp files under certain circumstances…)
Hmm, interesting. I empty the Bin (Mac) often, sometimes several times a day. When one is recording a lot of audio, discarded and deleted audio gets put there automatically (Studio One) just like with Dorico. And I would end up with many GB if I didn’t empty it often. I have never regarded the Bin as a “user error fail-safe backup” - though I’ll admit on occasion I’ve retrieved something useful from it. I think at the end of any working day if I haven’t emptied it I do so as a matter of routine, and my working practice is to ensure that the project I’m working on is properly stored.
For me frequent backups are habit - I have all working projects backed up on 2 other drives, one kept in the car (in case my house is burgled/burned/earthquaked/attacked by aliens) and one kept in a completely different part of the house.
I’m perfectly happy to have any app throw stuff in the Bin, so I guess it’s a personal choice how one manages ones data - and my default save location for Dorico is iCloud, so I can get to it from anywhere, and back up / copy from anywhere - hope the team ignores (respectfully!) your request.
