Move music to trash

[ghost]

This issue was automatically migrated from Google Code.
Original author: adrian.sampson (April 10, 2010 20:49:19)
Original issue: google-code-export/beets#35

[RollingStar]

Problem

Run beet import on an album that's already in the library. Say Remove old. The old files are instantly deleted, not sent to the recycle bin. Recycle-binning deleted files is typical behavior; I can't think of any Windows program that doesn't do this for user-facing files.

Alternatively, a user-designated "Trash" folder in the library could be specified, but that's complicated.
(See: duplicates plugin)

Could a user-specified trash folder actually be easier than using a third-party dependency to manage trash on individual OSs? A config option could specify "delete instantly" or "send to custom trash folder: /library/trash" or something.

[jackwilsdon]

Send2Trash looks like it might be good for this, although I'm not sure if it's worth adding another dependency for. Might be worth implementing as a plugin though.

[RollingStar]

Where do the main developers stand on this now? Would either of these be accepted if a pull request was made?

• Using send2trash to send trashed files to OS-level trash directory
• Moving trashed files to a /trash/ folder within the beets library (or perhaps any user-specified path) for the user to manually examine and delete later

[sampsyo]

I'm still in favor but not thrilled about a new core dependency to support it. I like the idea of a plugin, though!

[nathdwek]

As a mainly linux guy, I didn't and still don't really feel the need for recycle-binning.
I am not that excited about a new dependency to the beets core either, and going around this by moving trashed files to a beets-specific path defeats the purpose of a recycle-bin to me (I understand it as a place you take a look at where you are in need of disk space, so that files are really deleted only when they need to be?).

I don't see anything against using send2trash in a plugin though!!

[justinmayer]

I submitted PR #3796 to address this issue, adding safer file removal operations for users who have a trash executable on their systems. This provides the option for a safer user experience without adding yet another Python dependency.

[austinarchibald]

I'm having this issue as well, on macOS. It is constantly deleting my files even though I never ask it to. Fortunately I have iTunes Match / Apple Music so everything is backed up in the cloud. But this is a nasty bug.

[jackwilsdon]

This issue isn't about beets randomly deleting your files - it definitely shouldn't be doing that. Could you please open a new issue @austinarchibald?