Import Folders > "Remove source file (COMING SOON)" Function

[John Bauché 2]

When will this feature actually start functioning? When will it launch?

I deal with a lot of PDFs and need the ability to remove these PDFs after successful import to Evernote.

Please advise, thank you.

John

[gazumped 12,057]

Hi.  Evernote have not activated this automatic removal yet,  but since files placed in this folder are automatically imported immediately,  it's pretty easy to simply delete the contents as a standard operation at start-up or shut-down of the device.  We're mostly users here,  by the way,  so no actual inside information.

[bmcl26 575]

I actually prefer the fact that PDF are left in the Import Folder.   I prefer the ability to decide when or even if they are deleted.   If required deletion only takes seconds. 

[Andreahp 3]

I've also been looking forward to this function but I see that in the latest update, the "coming soon" is no longer there, nor is there an option to remove the source file. Maybe they've decided not to implement the function after all?

[PinkElephant 8,785]

This is such a non-topic, and it draws endless posts here.

No harm is done when it’s not emptied.

It’s an operation to empty a folder that shouldn’t take no more than 30 seconds. And with a little ability to search this forum (or Google) a script is implemented really quick that does it automatically.

THIS is nothing where necessarily an EN dev needs to dedicate valuable hours on such a function.

[Andreahp 3]

Just asked a question, since it was listed as coming soon and now has disappeared. Sorry I caused you such frustration.

[gazumped 12,057]

My workflow is to collect all my scans in one (not-import) folder,  which is where I can edit / rename / re-scan if I need to.  After scanning is finished I'll then copy all the scans into my actual Import folder (just in case I need to change something again that I had thought was already finished),  wait until Evernote has finished wheezing and puffing and importing,  then delete the Import folder content,  and move the scanned documents folder content into an archive folder - just in case I find the document missing at some future time.  All that for 50 documents or so takes less than 10 minutes every few days...  your mileage may very.

[PinkElephant 8,785]

 Lots of movement - why not keeping files simply in the import folder ?

[John Bauché 2]

Lots of comments from the peanut gallery. I have been in contact with Evernote Support and this is a planned feature per the "Coming Soon" that used to be displayed there. I deal with hundreds to thousands of PDFs per month as part of my workflow. Dropping them into one folder on my Desktop, then having Evernote sync them into a Notebook so I can triage and file them accordingly while having them auto delete after upload to Evernote is not only an incredible time saver but how this feature should function as is already planned. Hopefully, Evernote delivers on this much-needed feature sooner rather than later. It's an optional feature so those that don't want it, don't have to enable it.

[John Bauché 2]

Wow, can you read? Hundreds "to" thousands IS NOT "hundreds of thousands". Why are you commenting in this thread for something that doesn't even concern you? Sounds like you should use X. It seems like the right forum for you.

[s2sailor 2,427]

I may not always agree with someone’s position but I’m usually able to see where they are coming from, but with this topic I’m struggling.  Instead of 30 seconds, I would say it is more like a 5 second manual operation.  I understand that folks dislike losing a function they had, but I see no urgency for this one.  There is a long list of other fixes and improvements they should focus on first, and then maybe, or maybe not, get around to this one.

[John Bauché 2]

If you're a casual Evernote user, then this feature would not apply to you. As stated above, it's an optional feature, already being worked on by Evernote which I recently confirmed with Support. You don't have to use it based on your workflow. It's as simple as turning it off and on based on your needs. Someone dealing with hundreds or thousands of PDFs per month would find use for something like this. Someone who works with less than 100 PDFs a month, probably not. If you have hundreds or thousands of PDFs in a folder that you're uploading, I don't want to have to double-check every PDF in the folder to make sure it got uploaded correctly into Evernote. Evernote has the capability to check to see if the PDF is uploaded, if it is, it deletes the corresponding PDF from the folder. Simple as that.

[gazumped 12,057]

I'm impressed that we're having a raging argument about a feature that doesn't currently exist.  If it comes back as an option - which it always was - then I'd use it.  As it doesn't (currently) exist I find ways around it.  I don't much care how much it would benefit society 'if' or 'when' it comes back - only Evernote can influence that. 

While everyone's opinions on the matter are allowed and welcome,  please let's tone down the repartee to polite disagreement...

[PinkElephant 8,785]

The time to delete files is not depending on the number of files in a folder. „Select all“ works for 2 files in the same time, as it does for thousands. And deleting them as well, at least when executing on a SSD. Even if forgotten, nothing happens. It’s not a log file that will keep growing without user action. The volume of data stored in the folder before removal is depending on the user action only.

The only point of discussion is whether EN announced it, unannounced it, needs to implement because it was announced, now it not trustworthy any more because it was not implemented, but now removed announcing it …

If there are no other problems, please continue.

🍿🥤

[Andreahp 3]

For what it's worth, for me personally the appeal of this function is not about how long it takes to empty the import folder, it's about the reassurance that Evernote has actually seen and imported a given file before it's deleted. I worry that if the sync got interrupted or that somehow a file has been missed, and I then go and empty my import folder I might not realize until weeks or months later that I've lost that file. That's probably just me being paranoid about the reliability of the import function, but it wouldn't be the first time I've expected to find something in Evernote, only to realize it's missing. So, Evernote deleting a file after it's been synced just gives me more peace of mind than if I delete the files myself, assuming they've been synced (and not wanting to cross-reference each one to make sure it's been imported).

[Razmataz 229]

On 10/13/2023 at 5:47 PM, PinkElephant said:

THIS is nothing where necessarily an EN dev needs to dedicate valuable hours on such a function.

You guys don’t need it and that’s fine. Saying that nobody needs it is not fine. Not with me, I’d need it exactly as it was implemented in legacy: with an option to delete. 
 

It is NOT the same as emptying the folder with a script. A proper implementation does check first if the file has been indeed imported, a kind of two phase commit. 
 

Hours to implement? I seriously doubt. They could just port the code from legacy. 
 

Please accept other views, too. 
Thank you. 

[gazumped 12,057]

1 hour ago, Razmataz said:

They could just port the code from legacy. 

No,  they couldn't.

1 hour ago, Razmataz said:

Saying that nobody needs it is not fine.

That's OK then,  because no-one is saying that.  The feature does not currently exist however,  so short-term fixes are useful.  If you decide not to use them,  that's also fine.  With Evernote concentrating on speed,  reliability and AI searches,  they don't seem likely to be spending any time tidying up small loose ends like this in the near future,  but that's up to them.

[Razmataz 229]

Gazumped,

I am really interested to know why they could not, why deleting a file is such a rocket science and so dependent on the development environment used. In the moment, when the file is imported, it's name (and path) are known and stored. Issuing a delete file command cannot be that hard. If it is, as you declare, I would like to know why. Just because I cannot imagine it. But I am willing and eager to learn. 

Edited October 16, 2023 by Razmataz

[agsteele 3,059]

20 minutes ago, Razmataz said:

am really interested to know why they could not

The Legacy program was written and coded in an entirely different environment to that used for v10. So exporting and importing isn't an option.  The routine would have to be written from scratch for v10. So it would take hours although I've no idea how many.

[Razmataz 229]

I still don’t get it. The routine is there in V10, it doesn’t have to be redeveloped from scratch. What is not there: deleting a file whose name is known. This needs hours? And these developers are to put in all that wonderful AI functionality? How many hours will that take?

But I rest my case. It seems if something is not there, it is either impossible to do, or not feasible or not important or it takes just a few minutes to do it with a workaround. 

But deleting a file??? Sorry, I wanted to rest my case...

[PinkElephant 8,785]

Basic rule: Don‘t mess with files owned by the user on his drive. Simple as that.

Before you have tested the function against all possible OS versions (this means older patch status of them as well), you are weeks after a coding would be done. And you have a high risk that heuristic security software treats your whole app as malicious - it starts to erase stuff on the drive, isn’t it ?

Not so simple as it seems. Probably that’s what EN found out themselves when trying to move from a declaration of intent to the implementation.

[gazumped 12,057]

1 hour ago, Razmataz said:

What is not there: deleting a file whose name is known.

There are OS issues too.  Each open file is 'locked' for it's current app - preventing another app from hijacking access and causing confusion.  All OS's take this 'locking' thing seriously - it's a part of basic security - but none more seriously than our friends at Microsoft,  who will lock files to an app for such a long time that there are online lists of ways to get the thing free again,  and a couple of little apps that will do that for you - sometimes requiring a restart of your system in the process. 

The thing is that Evernote doesn't know when Windows has unlocked a file,  so has no easy trigger to tell it that the item is now clear for deletion.  Obviously the team found one way - using an earlier version of Windows and completely different code - to get around this;  but the folks at Evernote are not stupid.  If there was an easy way to add the feature I'm sure they would have done it by now.

Meantime it's a stunningly simple act to delete files from a folder,  or even set up a one-key routine to do it for you.

So maybe they feel it isn't be a huge priority...

[agsteele 3,059]

2 hours ago, Razmataz said:

I still don’t get it.

I don't think we are disagreeing other than with your assertion that they could just port the code across. Of course it would take hours. Perhaps not many which is what you suggest. I observed I don't know how many. I am certain that there is more to the whole thing than a few quick key strokes.

My view is that it is very low priority.

[John Bauché 2]

I was able to create a workaround for this using Make (www.make.com). Here is the workflow for those interested. If you download the desktop version of Google Drive and use the local Google Drive folders, the following workflow does exactly the same thing until Evernote adds this feature back in. If anyone has any questions, let me know.

[agsteele 3,059]

Thanks for this alternate workaround. I think that my batch file which runs when I boot up my PC might still be better for me since I have that empty five or six directories. Most import folders but also the temporary storage created when you open an attachment from a note and the Windows screen clipping directory.

[mds386 7]

Still coming soon? 

This is so important to have. It was in the version 6 app.  It's been missing for years and being called for by users for years.

Please... we need for files that are confirmed to be imported from the import folders to be removed from the import folders.

[mds386 7]

On 10/16/2023 at 11:31 AM, gazumped said:

The thing is that Evernote doesn't know when Windows has unlocked a file,  so has no easy trigger to tell it that the item is now clear for deletion.  Obviously the team found one way - using an earlier version of Windows and completely different code - to get around this;  but the folks at Evernote are not stupid.  If there was an easy way to add the feature I'm sure they would have done it by now.

Meantime it's a stunningly simple act to delete files from a folder,  or even set up a one-key routine to do it for you.

So maybe they feel it isn't be a huge priority...

You're suggesting it's "a stunningly simple act to delete files from a folder" after asserting this this is an astoundingly hard thing for Evernote to be able to do. So... you just gazumped yourself.

You're asking users who drop 1, 5, 10, or 50 files into a folder to be imported by Evernote to confirm that Evernote has imported each of them and then once that process is complete, the user can manually delete the files. Sure...

But here is what Evernote can do. Once the file is imported, it can delete the file. In the event that the file is currently locked by Windows or some other app, it can add the file to a list called "to-be-deleted". Periodically, it can go through the list, and re-attempt the deletion. That list might even be a local database table persisted on the users machine, so that when the machine is restarted, it can re-attempt the deletion of that file. It's not that hard. Certainly the Evernote developers are smart enough to come up with a way to remember the names of files that have yet to be successfully deleted and retry periodically until the file is deleted and then remove the name of the file from the list.

 

[mds386 7]

On 10/16/2023 at 10:06 AM, PinkElephant said:

Basic rule: Don‘t mess with files owned by the user on his drive. Simple as that.

Before you have tested the function against all possible OS versions (this means older patch status of them as well), you are weeks after a coding would be done. And you have a high risk that heuristic security software treats your whole app as malicious - it starts to erase stuff on the drive, isn’t it ?

Not so simple as it seems. Probably that’s what EN found out themselves when trying to move from a declaration of intent to the implementation.

Are you not aware that applications are constantly reading and writing files to your storage and doing so does not automatically flag applications as malicious?

Are you also not aware that V6 of Evernote had this feature and you had an option of whether or not you, the user, wanted the file to be deleted once it was imported?

Of course, nobody wants Evernote traversing their entire drive deleting files, but we're talking about a feature that let's users specify specific folders that they want Evernote to monitor for new files, and to import those documents. Once those documents are securely in Evernote, users may very well want those files removed from that import folder because they do not need copies both in and out of Evernote.

Thank you for coming up with some elaborate contrived and inaccurate excuse for this not to be implemented, but I'll take the feature just like it used to exist if you don't mind.

[mds386 7]

On 9/18/2023 at 5:44 AM, bmcl26 said:

I actually prefer the fact that PDF are left in the Import Folder.   I prefer the ability to decide when or even if they are deleted.   If required deletion only takes seconds. 

V6 had the option, so that you could be happy, and the people who want the files deleted automatically once Evernote confirms that it's safely in the Evernote database could be happy too.

Right now, we have a version of Evernote that meets your needs. It doesn't meet other people's needs.

And to those saying you can delete them manually or write a script to automatically delete them periodically. how do we know that Evernote didn't run into a problem importing them, or hasn't gotten around to importing them yet? Sincerely curious. I want confirmation that a specific PDF is in Evernote, then I want the file deleted.

PinkElephant says, "no harm done leaving the files there". I disagree. Why don't want two copies of files stored, and we don't want to have to manually confirm that they were imported before deleting. I'd rephrase what you're saying to "No help is done leaving the files there."  It's definitely worth the developers time to make this happen so that all of the users can save far more time not having to deal with this inconvenience.

[PinkElephant 8,785]

It's a non issue for most users. They enjoy there is a natural backup in place.

It's a nuisance for a few die hards (or those who just can't imagine they might be wrong). Erasing the files manually is a no brainer, and doesn't need to be done with frequency. 

There are things that do not work at all or a plain buggy, since 4 years now. That's where devs hours should be allocated, not to create stuff that "nobody - a few" demand ferociously, but without real life arguments.

Just my 5ct ...