Provide a visual indication for entries that contain unsaved changes [$5]

[magkopian]

It would be very useful if there was a way to easily tell which entries contain unsaved changes.

Expected Behavior

The program should have a way of informing the user about which entries contain unsaved changes. This way the user has the opportunity of inspecting the particular entries, and check for any accidental changes before saving the database.

Current Behavior

There is currently no way of telling which entries have been changed since the last time the database was saved.

Possible Solution

Change the font style of the column fields of the entry to italic, or the font color to something else (e.g. red), or append an asterisk to the title field of the entry, in order to indicate that the entry contains unsaved changes, until the database is saved. And possibly, also do the same for the names of any groups that contain such entries, in order to make their discovery easier. A toolbar button for listing all the entries that contain unsaved changes, could also be a possible solution to the quick discovery of such entries.

Another possible solution for this issue, would be to use the same diff mechanism as proposed on #1152, for showing the differences between two databases before a merge. This time for showing the differences between the current state of the database with all the modifications, and the state since the last save. This has the benefit of telling the user exactly what has been changed, including which entries have been added or removed, effectively eliminating the possibility of introducing any accidental changes to the database.

Context

In the past there were several occasions, where I noticed the familiar asterisk on the title bar indicating that something has been modified, but I had absolutely no idea what that was. The result was that I was unsure whether I should save the changes or not.

Debug Info

Libraries:
KeePassXC - Version 2.2.2
Revision: 6d46717

Libraries:

• Qt 5.7.1
• libgcrypt 1.7.6-beta

Operating system: Debian GNU/Linux 9 (stretch)
CPU architecture: x86_64
Kernel: linux 4.9.0-4-amd64

Enabled extensions:

• KeePassHTTP
• Auto-Type
• YubiKey

[harwoeck]

This feature would be nice to have 👏 But I don't agree with just highlighting changes. If you have a lot of folders and have to browse every folder before saving, it can get really annoying. I would suggest:

1. Highlight as mentioned by @magkopian
2. When "Save database" is called, open a pop-up window listing all changes. Simple put, it's like a git status where i can see additions, deletions, renaming, changes, and so on.

Also think about providing a checkbox "Don't show changes when saving" to all users who are not interested in this feature.

Let me know what you think 👍

[TheZ3ro]

We have autosave enabled by default now, so this seems a little useless IMHO

[droidmonkey]

Nice idea

[ColtonBeery]

@TheZ3ro It seems to me that autosave is the exact opposite of what this user is requesting. He wants the ability to review changes in order to determine if he changed something by accident, which would give him the ability to revert the change if required. If the user has autosave enabled, even accidental changes would be saved automatically without warning and would only be reversible if the user has a recent backup of their keepass database.

[harwoeck]

@gameguy95 Absolutely correct! 👍

[TheZ3ro]

@gameguy95 Exactly, since autosave it's the default now, every change made is automatically saved. A known change is reversible through the entry history.

Anyway, I think it's a good candidate for the wishlist

[ShapeShifter499]

KeePassX has a backup feature that saves a copy of recently changed entries to a 'backup' group. Can we get that here?

[droidmonkey]

@ShapeShifter499 There is no use for this, we have a history for each entry that is customizable in the database settings. You can store as many versions of an entry as you want.

[ShapeShifter499]

@droidmonkey Oh sorry, new user. Please disregard my previous comment.

[ShapeShifter499]

@droidmonkey That history is stored in the database file such that it transfers to new computers right?

[droidmonkey]

Yes and it's fully encrypted

[fredericschulz]

So is this issue now to be implemented only for when autosaving is deactivated or whats the idea?

[droidmonkey]

Correct, this type of indicator would not be necessary or desired when autosave is enabled.