[Closed] Massive file/folder access issues as of GC 11.6.1 build 5487

[porg]

Observed Problems in GC 11.6.1 build 5487 on macOS 11.6.5:
1) Drag-n-drop files or folders onto GraphicConverter → GC opens, but nothing happens.
2) Finder > Right click image file > Open with > GraphicConverter → GC opens, but nothing happens.
2) File > Browse Recent: A few entries opened. Most not.
3) File > Browse:
a) Navigating deeper within my home directory → Clicking "Select" → Dialog closes and, but nothing happens.
b) Selecting home directory → In the browser I can navigate down to any folder.
It lists any folder.
Double clicking a file opens it normally in its individual window.

Since I upgraded GC from build 5485 → 5487 to and I noticed the buggy file/folder access

…what changed (C)?
C1) Had activated FileVault full disk activation, and initial encryption completed successfully. Shutting down and starting worked normal. Other apps worked as usual.
C2) Had run TimeMachine (TM) while I first noticed the file/folder access issues. Thought "maybe TM locked access temporarily as it just accessed the folder/files" although that was never the case. But also after the TM backup was done and the volume disconnected, the strange behavior persisted.

… what remained unchanged (U)
U1) System Preferences > Security > Privacy > Full Disk Access: GC has it ever since.
U2) File/folder access permissions: Have not changed anything.
U3) Preview.app opened all folders/files which were problematic in GC without any issues.

…what fixes I attempted (F)?
F1) File > Browse Recent > Clear menu → Did not help. When using the new gained entries, they have the same issues.

I conclude: With a high probability the problem is related to GC. Have you changed anything regarding file/folder access recently?
- This is a blocker bug, because almost all file/folder opening functions are broken.
- The only way to currently open and access files/folders is to use File > Browse, then choose the home directory, and then use GC's browser to browse anywhere and open any file.

[Fotokunst]

I do not have any of this issues.
Is your download corrupted?
Restart the MacBook.
What happens if you check with the new GC Beta.

Joerg

[porg]

1) I used GC's internal update mechanism and have beta software updates activated. And hence have the newest available built which is 5487. I hope this mechanism does some integrity/checksum check.
2) I did not restart the Mac after the GC upgrade. Usually shouldn't be required! But will do to to see if it does anything.

[porg]

Testing this
• I'm a professional UX designer for 10 years now, and a software tester for ca 20 years.
• Software testing is still part of my UX design work.
• So I tested this very intensively and systematically, see screenshot below.

• System restart did not help.

It is really hard to determine, no common pattern observable:
• Some folders fail in all methods (red, orange, yellow)
• Some folders succeed in all methods (green, blue, purple)
• Some folders fail in one method but succeed in the other
• Preview.app opens all folders or files without any issues

Conclusions
• From all this: It is very hardly permission related
• It seems not depth related either

Suspicion
• Maybe it is time/caching related, from optimizations you recently did for flat browsing?

File and folder access very inconsistently failing in GraphicConverter 11.6 build 5487.png (671.05 KiB) Viewed 724 times

UPDATE 2022-04-25 20:05
- Screenshot
-- Few more test results integrated
-- Legend now horizontally like the tag colors near the file names which are also horizontal
-- Depicting "File > Open" recent and "File >Browse Recent"
- Added mention that in Preview.app it all works fine, permission issues pretty implausible.

[ADeweyan]

Greetings, Porg.

You likely already tried this, but just in case...

I was having a problem where GC was not able to see contents of a folder in the Convert and Modify dialogue. I had confirmed access privileges, etc. I was actually in process of writing something up for this board when I thought to delete preferences. That fixed the problem for me. It's the oldest trick in the book, but I thought I'd mention just in case.

[porg]

Tested again: In GC 5488 it got tentatively worse:
Drag-n-Drop not working for any folder or file from my selected test set!


See in comparison:
- Right click image 1 > Open in new Browser Tab
- Right click image 2 > Open in new Browser Tab
- Then switch between the images tabs, their content is aligned, helps you to see the differences quickly.

File Folder Opening GC 5487.png (65.48 KiB) Viewed 718 times

File Folder Opening GC 5488.png (65.12 KiB) Viewed 718 times

[porg]

Observation video (02:32, no sound, 1080 × 560, 2,1MB, Dropbox)

GraphicConverter - Files in GC browser flash shortly when their corresponding file fails to when drag-dropped from Finder.png (155.1 KiB) Viewed 717 times

[forum_adm]

Is there any error message after drag and drop in the console?
Normally the Finder resolves the alias.

Do you use any antivirus tools which may block the access?

[porg]

1) Alias resolving works perfectly. Is not related to the bug at all. I just used aliases to give you a compact visualization of my filesystem. Also when following the aliases to the original in Finder and dragging the original onto GC, it's the same bug.

2) No error message whatsoever. The only noticable thing which I managed to reproduce with hourse of troubleshooting efforts was to manually navigate to the location via GC browser, then attempt to load from Finder via drag-n-drop and you see that short flash on the icon of the corresponding file(s) in the GC browser you attempt to open from Finder.

3) I do not use any anti-virus tool or other tool that tempers with file/folder access/permissions.

4) The bug is solved for me in practice after a preference reset:
Still using the same GC 11.6.1 (5488) but with preferences reset via gc_first_aid.dmg :
a) Open via drag-n-drop or "Open With" from Finder or double clicking in Finder (when GC is the assigned handler application for the given file types) opens all folders in individual GC browser windows and all files in individual GC windows.
b) File > Browse Recent > All folders open in GC individual browser windows
c) File > Open Recent > All files open in individual GC windows

Nevertheless: You may want to try to reproduce with porg-Preferences-GC-5488-20220426-110502.xml that I sent you via email, because other users may run into this too sooner or later.