0009890: "Click to add a new location" for files doesn't actually work (+ too long path names awkwardly wrap) - MantisBT

ID	Project	Category	View Status	Date Submitted	Last Update

0009890	ardour	bugs	public	2025-02-08 20:13	2026-03-25 00:29

Reporter	GhostsonAcid	Assigned To
Priority	normal	Severity	minor	Reproducibility	always
Status	new	Resolution	open
Platform	Apple Macintosh	OS	MacOS	OS Version	10.12 or later
Product Version	8.11

Summary	0009890: "Click to add a new location" for files doesn't actually work (+ too long path names awkwardly wrap)
Description	I've been experimenting with File Location changes, and getting some weird results: 1. "Click to add a new location" under Session > Properties > Location does basically nothing. It will appear to save the new path, but upon saving the session, quitting Ardour and reopening, Ardour will still not automatically find any of the files that are in the new directory given. 2. In Session > Properties > Locations, if the path name to a file is sufficiently long, it 'wraps' the text to multiple lines, each with their own "Remove" button (-see picture), which is confusing (and perhaps worse).
Steps To Reproduce	For 1: Create Ardour session with linked (not copied) audio files; save and quit Ardour; move some or all linked files into another folder; open same session; click "Skip all missing files", then "Done"; go to Session > Properties > Locations > Click to add a new location, and add the path to your new folder where the files are; save and quit session; reopen Ardour; and it will still tell you "Ardour cannot find the audio file" such and such, even though the new folder you moved the files to is listed as a place where it supposedly checked. For 2: Create a directory for audio files that results in an 'absurdly long' path name, then import a file from there (without copying) into an Ardour project, and go to Session > Properties > Locations.
Additional Information	I'm using macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 on a 2013 Mac Pro (trashcan) and Ardour 8.11.0.
Tags	file location, file locations, long, path name

GhostsonAcid 2025-02-08 20:13 reporter	Screen Shot 2025-02-08 at 8.25.56 PM.png (236,304 bytes) Screen Shot 2025-02-08 at 8.25.56 PM.png (236,304 bytes) Screen Shot 2025-02-08 at 8.19.00 PM.png (274,147 bytes)

GhostsonAcid 2026-03-22 10:53 reporter ~0030152	For future reference: As @paul once stated on the IRC, 'forward slashes in directory names are poison'. : ) ~So that solved about half of the 'mystery' here (i.e. 'weird issue' "2"). -J

paul 2026-03-22 13:42 administrator ~0030153 Last edited: 2026-03-22 13:42	colons are an issue in any context that involves a set of directory names, since these are separated by colons. forward slashes are not allowed in file names on unix systems.

GhostsonAcid 2026-03-24 21:34 reporter ~0030158	Yes, you are correct. To be clear, in Mac's Finder they were intended to be slashes, e.g: "TGK Songs/Song-Group" as a folder name. --> But under the hood (so to speak), that directory looks like (and is): "/TGK\ Songs\:Song-Group/". -J

paul 2026-03-25 00:29 administrator ~0030159	\ is a backslash. they are legal in unix filenames, but typicall show up when a shell expands a filename and escapes embedded spaces as \<space> / is a forward slash. they are not legal on any unix filesystem as part of the filename.

Date Modified	Username	Field	Change
2025-02-08 20:13	GhostsonAcid	New Issue
2025-02-08 20:13	GhostsonAcid	Tag Attached: file location
2025-02-08 20:13	GhostsonAcid	Tag Attached: file locations
2025-02-08 20:13	GhostsonAcid	Tag Attached: long
2025-02-08 20:13	GhostsonAcid	Tag Attached: path name
2025-02-08 20:13	GhostsonAcid	File Added: Screen Shot 2025-02-08 at 8.25.56 PM.png
2025-02-08 20:13	GhostsonAcid	File Added: Screen Shot 2025-02-08 at 8.19.00 PM.png
2026-03-22 10:53	GhostsonAcid	Note Added: 0030152
2026-03-22 13:42	paul	Note Added: 0030153
2026-03-22 13:42	paul	Note Edited: 0030153
2026-03-24 21:34	GhostsonAcid	Note Added: 0030158
2026-03-25 00:29	paul	Note Added: 0030159