Preview of attachment downloads (v36 beta)

[chylex]

This is a beta release that includes the possibility to download attachments locally. There is currently no way to view the downloaded attachments unless you use a database viewer (such as DataGrip), but you can download attachments now and view them in a later version of the app that will come with an integration of downloaded attachments and the viewer.

With this update, I'm looking for feedback on:

1. How it feels to use the new "Attachments" tab
   • Whether it's intuitive and understandable
   • Whether it's responsive and not slowing down or freezing the app with your databases
2. Whether any attachments failed to download
3. Any features you are missing (besides being able to open/save a viewer with downloaded attachments)

I have several features in mind that I think would be useful, but for now I'll leave all feedback up to comments under this thread. If someone has already commented the same feedback you want to comment, please upvote the existing comment, and optionally reply with additional details or clarification.

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You can find the beta releases at https://github.com/chylex/Discord-History-Tracker/releases.

[chylex]

The most recent v36.2 beta includes several fixes.

[chylex]

Here is my plan for how viewing downloaded attachments will work:

• If you use "Open Viewer", the app's integrated server will serve downloaded attachments directly from the archive.
  • This means that viewers will not use any additional disk space for the attachments.
  • However, if you close the app before you close the viewer, then it will not be able to show you downloaded attachments anymore, so it will try to fetch them from the original URL and fail if the attachment was deleted.
  • Currently, it is possible to use "Open Viewer", and then save the viewer file from your web browser and use it as if you clicked "Save Viewer". You could technically still do that, but the viewer would keep trying to load attachments from the app first, which would be slower and could cause problems.
• If you use "Save Viewer", the app will ask you if you want to include downloaded attachments, and show you the total size.
  • If you say no, it will fetch all attachments from the original URL.
  • If you say yes, it will put downloaded attachments into a folder next to the saved viewer.
    • The folder with attachments will use more disk space, but you don't need to have the app to view them.
    • If you move the viewer (for ex. to a flash drive), you will have to move the folder with attachments too. If the attachment folder is missing, the downloaded attachments will not load at all (not even from the original URL).
    • Only attachments that are attached to exported messages will be included, so you can use filters to exclude messages and their attachments from the saved viewer.

Overall, the intention of "Save Viewer" is and always has been that the saved viewer is independent of the app, and can be viewed using only a modern web browser.

The intention of "Open Viewer" has slightly changed - in the last update, these viewers are already treated as temporary (i.e. they are deleted when you close the app, although you can continue viewing them as long as you don't close your web browser). With this change, they would also become dependent on the app for full functionality.

In the future, "Open Viewer" could become fully dependent on the app, even for viewing messages. Currently, "Open Viewer" creates a viewer file containing all exported messages, and then opens it in a browser. If the viewer did not contain any messages, but instead loaded them from the archive (via the app) on-demand, it would be possible to view massive servers without using any additional disk space and RAM, and without having to wait for your web browser to load the huge viewer file.

[chylex]

Update 37.1 includes support for viewing downloaded attachments via "Open Viewer", with one change from the original plan. There is currently no fallback to the original attachment URL, so if you close the app, all attachments will stop showing regardless of whether they are downloaded or not.

Since the plan is to eventually have "Open Viewer" load messages through the app too, it doesn't make sense to spend time on a fallback for attachments.