Issue 37201 - File > Recent Documents should be deletable
Summary: File > Recent Documents should be deletable
Status: CLOSED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: ui
Classification: Code
Component: ui (show other issues)
Version: 680m60
Hardware: All All
: P3 Trivial with 37 votes (vote)
Target Milestone: 4.0.0
Assignee: Ariel Constenla-Haile
QA Contact:
URL: http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/w...
Keywords: oooqa
: 75438 (view as issue list)
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2004-11-15 20:20 UTC by ed2
Modified: 2016-04-09 10:51 UTC (History)
12 users (show)

See Also:
Issue Type: ENHANCEMENT
Latest Confirmation in: ---
Developer Difficulty: ---


Attachments
Suggestion for Recent File List (4.00 KB, image/png)
2006-01-18 11:19 UTC, pesala
no flags Details

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Description ed2 2004-11-15 20:20:09 UTC
To protect the user's privacy if more than one user uses the same computer, or
for various other reasons, it may be necessary to delete the contents of the
File>Recent Documents menu, but I can find no way of doing this at present.

I would suggest putting an additional menu item at the bottom of this list,
separated from the list of recent files by a horizontal line, with a name along
the lines of "empty this list", which immediately removes the list of recently
used files (possible with a confirmation dialog), and also clears the contents
of the LoadURL drop down list (when reinstated).
Comment 1 ru 2004-11-18 14:04:13 UTC
RU: reassigning enhancement to bh
Comment 2 nusntusmu 2005-01-09 17:39:39 UTC
This feature is present in Office and is one of the most fundamental issues that
affects computing security. This is neccessary, or rather, mandatory in
environments where government or even military usages is expected of.
Comment 3 peschtra 2005-01-30 21:58:26 UTC
Still present in 1.9.72.
Comment 4 drichard 2005-05-20 15:35:29 UTC
Requesting that "Summary" be changed to "File > Recent Documents should allow
configuration of number of items to display".

We have a need that is the reverse of this item, and that's to display more than
the 10 documents in the list.  On higher resolution monitors (1600x1200) there
is a lot of room to display additional documents.

If the configuration allowed you to configure "0" (zero) items then it would
meet the needs of this original report.

Let me know if you want me to break this off into another feature request issue.
Comment 5 ed2 2005-05-25 12:53:56 UTC
drichard:

This should really be a separate issue. While allowing changes to the number of
displayed items may provide a work-around to the problem depending on how it is
implemented, it woul not be a real soultion. Indeed, if the configuration option
oinly changes the number of items displayed, and does not change the number
storred in memory, it would not provide a solution at all. What is needed is a
simple option to remove all storred file paths from memory.

As for changing this issue title - the issue described by  drichard is not the
same issue, so should be handled as a separate issue.
Comment 6 dankegel 2005-10-28 05:16:10 UTC
This isn't fundamental to computing security, really, is it?
If you want privacy, run each user in their own account.
Comment 7 sajer 2006-01-18 07:21:48 UTC
This is important to many users and questions about how to clear the list are
posted often on www.oooforum.org. 

Sometimes you want to protect your privacy, sometimes you just need to clear the
list because its full of temporary files you opened on your desktop etc. 

Adding a "Clear recent documents" menu item at the bottom of the list is a good
solution.
Comment 8 pesala 2006-01-18 10:40:57 UTC
I need this too. Not for security reasons, as I am the only one using my PC, but 
just for my convenience. The Recent File List is OK, but what is needed is to be 
able to add or remove any file from the list, making it more like a list of 
favourites. An option to clear the list or change the number of items would be a 
help, but is not that useful.

I use a free Wordpad replacement called Jarte that implements this perfectly. When 
you have a file open you can opt to open it at startup, include it on the File menu 
recent file list, or remove it from the list. You can also add favourite directories 
to the list, but that may be too much for most users.

Just a simple checkbox is all that is needed to add or remove an open file from the 
recent file list. I attach a screen shot from Jarte's open file menu. 
Comment 9 pesala 2006-01-18 10:43:46 UTC
I need this too. Not for security reasons, as I am the only one using my PC, but 
just for my convenience. The Recent File List is OK, but what is needed is to be 
able to add or remove any file from the list, making it more like a list of 
favourites. An option to clear the list or change the number of items would be a 
help, but is not that useful.

I use a free Wordpad replacement called Jarte that implements this perfectly. When 
you have a file open you can opt to open it at startup, include it on the File menu 
recent file list, or remove it from the list. You can also add favourite directories 
to the list, but that may be too much for most users.

Just a simple checkbox is all that is needed to add or remove an open file from the 
recent file list. I attach a screen shot from Jarte's open file menu. 
Comment 10 pesala 2006-01-18 11:17:03 UTC
I need this too. Not for security reasons, as I am the only one using my PC, but 
just for my convenience. The Recent File List is OK, but what is needed is to be 
able to add or remove any file from the list, making it more like a list of 
favourites. An option to clear the list or change the number of items would be a 
help, but is not that useful.

I use a free Wordpad replacement called Jarte that implements this perfectly. When 
you have a file open you can opt to open it at startup, include it on the File menu 
recent file list, or remove it from the list. You can also add favourite directories 
to the list, but that may be too much for most users.

Just a simple checkbox is all that is needed to add or remove an open file from the 
recent file list. I attach a screen shot from Jarte's open file menu. 
Comment 11 pesala 2006-01-18 11:17:18 UTC
I need this too. Not for security reasons, as I am the only one using my PC, but 
just for my convenience. The Recent File List is OK, but what is needed is to be 
able to add or remove any file from the list, making it more like a list of 
favourites. An option to clear the list or change the number of items would be a 
help, but is not that useful.

I use a free Wordpad replacement called Jarte that implements this perfectly. When 
you have a file open you can opt to open it at startup, include it on the File menu 
recent file list, or remove it from the list. You can also add favourite directories 
to the list, but that may be too much for most users.

Just a simple checkbox is all that is needed to add or remove an open file from the 
recent file list. I attach a screen shot from Jarte's open file menu. 
Comment 12 pesala 2006-01-18 11:19:08 UTC
Created attachment 33328 [details]
Suggestion for Recent File List
Comment 13 jipajapa 2006-04-16 11:40:49 UTC
So... I wandered the web for a while and was unable to find any resolution on
this. There are a couple places that suggest that Recent Documents can be
cleared via macros - but I found no concrete list of steps. There are lots of
macros and after 15 minutes or so I got sick of hunting through them.

Being very serious about putting off more productive pursuits - I continued to
look at this issue. I searched my profile information and found the file where
recent documents are stored. I'm running Fedora Linux 4 - other OS's may vary.
Looking at file dates, I determined that most OO config info is under the
.openoffice.org2.0 folder in my home directory. After running openoffice and
opening a new document I ran the following command, to determine where
information about that document might have been stored:

% find . -mtime -1 -ls

I ran this under the .openoffice.org2.0 folder. I got back a bunch of files and
with help from grep discovered that the new document location was stored in
./user/registry/data/org/openoffice/Office/Common.xcu relative to the
.openoffice.org2.0 folder. This looks like a custom xml format, file entries are
bounded by <node> </node> delimeters and appear to consist of 14 lines. I edited
out the files I didn't want appearing in my recent documents list and started up
openoffice again. This file appears to contain a more extensive history of
documents viewed than what shows up in Recent Documents. I backed it up before
editing it in case there were some unanticipated effects. Everything appears to
have gone as planned.  

I too would like to see a way to clear Recent Documents but until one shows up -
the above method, while admitedly cumbersome, seens to work.   
Comment 14 bobharvey 2006-08-04 12:49:41 UTC
I'd like to have this facility.

It does seem odd that something so simple, with implications for acceptability
of the product in sensitive environments, can have languished since 2004.
Comment 15 michael_maberly 2006-08-04 16:51:16 UTC
I’ve tried the following experiments with Common.xcu  (Go to <Documents and 
Settings – [username] – Application Data – OpenOffice.org2 – user – registry – 
data – org – openoffice – Office -  Common.xcu):  

1. deleting references to recently opened files that appear below <node  
   oor:name=PickList”>;

2. deleting files that appear below “History” and/or “List”;

3. deleting everything in Common.xcu;

4. actually deleting Common.xcu.  


For experiments 1, 2 and 3, Calc’s “Recent Documents” (after rebooting) 
showed “no documents” – which is a start!
However:  any subsequently opened file then appeared in Recent Documents – and 
in Common.xcu.  This occured even in experiment 3, where everything in 
Common.xcu was deleted.  This must mean that some other file or app within OO 
has either preserved Common.xcu’s scripts, or re-written them.

The strangest results occurred in experiment 4:  with no Common.xcu around, 
Calc not only listed subsequently opened documents as Recent Documents, but 
also re-created the Common.xcu file!   Again, this must mean that some other 
file or app either preserves or re-writes Common.xcu.

So, if you want to erase a previous Recent Documents list, you can try to 
duplicate my experiments (after creating a backup Common.xcu to use in case 
things don’t turn out the way they did for me!).   But if you want to disable 
Recent Documents, you’ll have to join me in waiting for a more computer-
literate volunteer to come forward.

Let's hope we don't have too long a wait ; - )

- Michael
Comment 16 sardisson 2007-02-02 22:53:27 UTC
Note that on Mac OS X, apps that have a Recent Documents menu have "Clear Menu"
below a separator at the bottom of the menu, so this RFE would help OOo fit in
better on Mac OS X, too.
Comment 17 jjmckenzie 2007-02-26 04:30:27 UTC
Common.xcu is built from OpenOffice.org when the program is run.  This file is
needed to carry settings from one session to another.  File History is one of
these features carried forward.

@sardisson:
Yes, this is a standard per Apple HIG.  Maybe this is something that the Mac
team can bring into the mainstream program?

James McKenzie
Comment 18 shaunmcdonald131 2007-03-16 10:05:05 UTC
*** Issue 75438 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
Comment 19 shaunmcdonald131 2007-03-16 10:06:48 UTC
Adding cc for users from duplicate issue.

Also under Mac OS X, there is a System Wide option to determine the number of
items in the recent documents list. I have taken a look through the GUI options
for ooo and cannot find them.
Comment 20 tominator1st 2008-05-15 13:35:04 UTC
I first complained about this issue a couple of years ago. I am an end user and
do not write code. Quite simply, there is a list of ten documents. I cannot
clear away any that are no longer relevant. An active "delete", with a right
click of the mouse, would make me happy. My two cent opinion. Thanks
Comment 21 pesala 2008-05-16 07:51:29 UTC
Please see how well this is implemented in PDF-XChange Viewer. 

1. The Recent Files list is configurable in preferences with up to 200 entries
2. Favourite files can be pinned to the recent files list so that they are not removed when 
the user-defined number of entries in the list is exceeded.
3. Clear recent files list will clear all unpinned files from the list or (optionally) all files.
Comment 22 pesala 2008-05-16 07:54:17 UTC
Please see how well this is implemented in PDF-XChange Viewer. 

1. The Recent Files list is configurable in preferences with up to 200 entries
2. Favourite files can be pinned to the recent files list so that they are not removed when 
the user-defined number of entries in the list is exceeded.
3. Clear recent files list will clear all unpinned files from the list or (optionally) all files.
Comment 23 pesala 2008-05-16 08:02:16 UTC
Please see how well this is implemented in PDF-XChange Viewer. 

1. The Recent Files list is configurable in preferences with up to 200 entries
2. Favourite files can be pinned to the recent files list so that they are not removed when 
the user-defined number of entries in the list is exceeded.
3. Clear recent files list will clear all unpinned files from the list or (optionally) all files.
Comment 24 cringer0 2008-06-19 14:41:13 UTC
Would like the ability to disable this menu completely or to clear the menu.
Comment 25 jjmckenzie 2008-06-21 05:30:05 UTC
What is the status of completing this feature?
James McKenzie
Comment 26 bettina.haberer 2010-05-21 15:13:40 UTC
To grep the issues easier via "requirements" I put the issues currently lying on
my owner to the owner "requirements". 
Comment 27 carsten.driesner 2010-08-18 09:14:15 UTC
cd->robertzhou: You want to make changes to the popup menu and toolbar
controller which control the recent file list. Please take over.
Comment 28 carsten.driesner 2011-01-28 16:28:23 UTC
cd: Add draft specification. Must be filled with more information and design
proposals for the UI,
Comment 29 nomnex 2011-05-25 08:33:19 UTC
Looks like the file to delete is Histories.xcu (OOo 3.2, on Fedora)

/home/user/.config/.openoffice.org/3/user/registry/data/org/openoffice/Office/Histories.xcu
Comment 30 V Stuart Foote 2013-02-10 18:13:32 UTC
This is not an Accessibility and AT related issue, changing component to UI from AccessBridge. 

Also clear that the requested enhancement of original post was resolved with commits to uielement -> recentfilesmenucontroller.cxx at the http://svn.apache.org/viewvc?view=revision&revision=1354497 build.

The Recent Documents -> Clear List feature is functional.  Although, unclear as to disposition of the additional enhancement to allow changes in number of recent files shown of comment 4 & 5--but that should be tracked in its own issue.

Closing bug 37201 as Fixed.
Comment 31 Ariel Constenla-Haile 2013-03-01 11:13:28 UTC
(In reply to comment #30)
> Also clear that the requested enhancement of original post was resolved with
> commits to uielement -> recentfilesmenucontroller.cxx at the
> http://svn.apache.org/viewvc?view=revision&revision=1354497 build.

Actually, it was done in Revision 1341725
Setting target
Comment 32 Marcus 2016-04-09 10:51:22 UTC
fixed in 4.0.0