Missing end-user tests

This document lists automated UI tests that would be useful from an end-user point of view and are not covered by the suite described in testing.md. It is a gap analysis, not a runner inventory.

Sources: user-manual topics under help/src/hh/salamand/, plug-in help, architecture.md (disk / archive / plug-in filesystem panel modes), README.md, tests/FileManager.UiTests/README.md, and the native command surface (src/menu_templates.cpp, src/toolbar_button_defs.cpp).

How to read this list

Each proposed test names:

User intent — what a person sitting at the two-panel UI is trying to do.
Why it is missing — what today’s cases stop short of proving.
Would confirm — the observable outcome that should be green.
Suggested chain — a sequence of commands, not a single isolated click, when that is how people actually work.
Harness notes — sandbox, English/resource IDs, and product limits already recorded in testing.md (ANSI dialogs, PATH_MAX_PATH, Recycle Bin never emptied).

Priority:

Rank	Meaning
P1	Daily two-panel file-manager work; a regression would be noticed immediately.
P2	Common next step after a P1 action (archives, Find results, clipboard, filter).
P3	Valuable but narrower (NTFS extras, split/combine, viewers, most plug-ins).

Items already characterized (copy/move/rename/delete variants, Find-once, View-open, Edit-open, ZIP-open, Help Search, FTP bookmark persist, one live FTPS download, loopback FTP greeting, reparse copy/delete, journal resume, toolbar icon size, configuration persist) are not repeated as gaps. Follow-on steps those cases never take are listed.

Do not treat a missing test as a product defect. Several P3 items are hard to automate safely (shell, Explorer, live network, user-installed associations).

Already covered (do not re-propose)

From the native UI catalog in testing.md:

Cold start, Configuration cancel/commit/persist/restart, FTP bookmark create/rename persist.
Create directory, copy/move/rename/delete (including overwrite/skip, mixed selection, locked-file skip, recycle-bin item count, large flat delete).
Same-volume vs cross-volume move, ADS copy/overwrite/retry, ADS-loss decline (quarantined), reparse non-traversal.
Find returning one nested name; internal viewer window class; Edit via harness-owned SandboxEditor.
ZIP navigation after the information dialog (when the Zip plug-in is enabled); Help Search with configured CHM terms.
Loopback FTP quick-connect past a fragmented greeting; live MojeRzeczy download of /skan.txt (explicit, not CI).
Startup under Application Verifier; toolbar Small/Medium/Large persist; leak soak (quarantined); configuration crash recovery.

Those cases almost always stop at one command and a filesystem assertion. End users typically navigate, select, operate, then use the result.

P1 — Dual-panel navigation and everyday command chains

Enter a subdirectory, operate, then go to parent

User intent: Browse a tree with Enter / Backspace (or Ctrl+Page Down / Ctrl+Page Up) rather than only launching with -l/-r already on the leaf.
Why it is missing: Every file-operation case starts the panels on the workspace roots. Change Directory (help/.../navigating_changedir.htm) is never driven.
Would confirm: After entering copy-tree, the directory line and listing show nested; after going to parent, the listing shows copy-tree again; a subsequent copy still uses the active panel’s current path.
Suggested chain: Start on source root → Enter copy-tree → copy payload.txt to the other panel → parent directory → listing still valid.
Harness notes: Directory line text and/or native path query; owner-drawn list after ReadDirectory.

Swap panels, then copy in the opposite direction

User intent: Commands → Swap Panels, then copy the former target tree back.
Why it is missing: Tests always treat left as source (-p 1) and never swap.
Would confirm: After swap, Copy still writes into the inactive panel’s current directory; content matches; original source is unchanged.
Suggested chain: Copy file left→right → Swap → copy a different file (now left was the old right) → both destinations exist.

Refresh after an external change

User intent: Another process (or the harness) creates a file in the current directory; the user presses Refresh and can select it.
Why it is missing: Workspaces are seeded before launch so the first enumeration already contains fixtures. CM_ACTIVEREFRESH exists in the harness but is not asserted as the user-visible recovery from a stale listing.
Would confirm: A file written to Workspace.SourceDirectory after startup is absent until Refresh, then selectable and copyable.
Suggested chain: Write file on disk → Refresh → quick-search → copy to other panel.

Select All / Unselect / mask select, then operate

User intent: Gray + / Files → Select; then copy or delete the selection (help/.../basicwork_select.htm). Mixed-selection delete exists, but it uses harness multi-select, not the product’s Select dialog or “select by mask”.
Would confirm: Select *.txt selects only text files; Copy transfers exactly those names; Unselect All leaves Copy acting on the focused item only (product rule: empty selection ⇒ focused item).
Suggested chain: Seed a.txt, b.txt, c.dat → Select *.txt → copy to other panel → only the two .txt files appear there.

Create → copy into it → rename → move → delete (happy path session)

User intent: A short real session in one process without restarting FileManager between commands.
Why it is missing: Each NUnit case gets a fresh process and workspace. Cross-command session state (panel path, leftover selection, operation queue idle, journal folder empty) is unproven.
Would confirm: Nested dir exists; file content survives copy; rename; same-volume move removes source; delete removes the moved tree; main window stays enabled; no recovery prompt on a later restart in the same case.
Suggested chain: Create created\session → copy copy-file.txt into it (after entering or by destination path) → rename file → move folder to other panel → delete it.
Harness notes: Answer the nested-create IDOK prompt; wait for handle release between steps as existing copy tests do.

Copy, then View the destination in the other panel

User intent: Copy a text file, Tab to the other panel, View, read that it is the new copy.
Why it is missing: View only opens a source fixture. Copy never checks that the inactive panel can focus the new name and open the viewer on that path.
Would confirm: Viewer caption contains the target name; closing the viewer returns a usable main window; source still exists.
Suggested chain: Copy view-file.txt → activate right panel → select the copy → View → close viewer.

Copy, then Edit the destination with the sandbox editor

User intent: Same as above for Files → Edit.
Why it is missing: Edit only covers the configured editor on a source file after a Configuration rewrite and restart.
Would confirm: SandboxEditor - <copied name> opens from the target panel after copy.
Suggested chain: Install sandbox editor (existing Edit case) → copy edit-file.txt → Edit from target panel → close only the stub window.

Open a document with a harness association (Enter), not Zip Open

User intent: Enter on a .txt (or a stub .exe association) launches the associated app (help/.../basicwork_open.htm).
Why it is missing: OpenFile is used only for ZIP characterization. Default Enter on a normal file is untested. Using the user’s Notepad is unsafe (same Windows 11 tabbed-window hazard as the old Edit case).
Would confirm: A sandbox-associated extension opens SandboxEditor (or a dedicated stub) with the selected name; FileManager remains running.
Suggested chain: Configuration associations (or a test-only file type in the isolated profile) → Enter on open-file.txt → owned window → close.
Harness notes: Must not fall back to a machine-wide association that can close the user’s documents.

Drive bar / change drive within the sandbox volume

User intent: Click the drive bar or Change Drive to another folder on the same volume that the sandbox owns.
Why it is missing: Panels are pinned by -l/-r only.
Would confirm: After changing the left panel to Workspace.TargetDirectory (same volume), listings match that folder; Copy then uses the new current directory as source.
Harness notes: Stay inside owned filemanager-testdata children. Do not automate arbitrary C:\ or the user’s profile.

P2 — Archives, Find, filter, clipboard, compare, attributes

Pack selected files, then Unpack to the other panel

User intent: Alt+F5 Pack, then Alt+F9 Unpack (help/.../basicwork_pack.htm, basicwork_unpack.htm). Files → Pack/Unpack are first-class Files menu commands (CM_PACK, CM_UNPACK).
Why it is missing: ZIP coverage only navigates into a pre-seeded archive after Open. Pack and Unpack dialogs are never submitted. 7-Zip compatibility is a native probe (test-7zip-compatibility.ps1), not the Pack UI.
Would confirm: A Zip (or 7-Zip, if enabled) archive appears with the selected members; Unpack into an empty target folder restores the same names and content.
Suggested chain: Select two files → Pack to session.zip in the target panel → Unpack that archive into a new folder → content equals sources.
Harness notes: Requires Zip and/or 7-Zip plug-in deployed (FILEMANAGER_UI_ZIP_PLUGIN pattern). Prefer Zip for the default lane.

Navigate into ZIP, copy a member out to disk

User intent: Open archive in the panel (ptZIPArchive), copy a file to the opposite disk panel.
Why it is missing: After ZIP Open, the case only quick-searches the payload name. It never copies out or deletes inside the archive.
Would confirm: Target disk file content is zip-characterization-content; archive still contains the member.
Suggested chain: Open zip → select payload → Copy to other panel → wait for release → read file.

Unpack (or copy-out), then delete the archive

User intent: Extract, then remove the .zip from disk.
Would confirm: Extracted tree intact; archive file gone; panel listing updates.
Suggested chain: Unpack → Delete archive with confirmation → extracted files remain.

Find results: focus in panel, then copy or delete

User intent: Find → jump to the hit in the panel (help/.../finddlg_main.htm) → operate on it.
Why it is missing: Find only asserts one row in the results list, then closes the dialog. No “Go to file”, no copy from Find, no delete of a found name.
Would confirm: After activating the result, the source panel focuses find-target.txt; Copy places it on the target; or Delete removes only that file.
Suggested chain: Find unique nested file → activate result → Copy → close Find → target has the file.

Find with content containing text

User intent: Search file contents, not only names.
Why it is missing: The existing case forces name mask + path + subdirectories and explicitly disables other options so prior Find state cannot leak. Content search is never turned on.
Would confirm: A unique string inside one nested file yields exactly one result; a non-matching string yields zero.
Harness notes: Keep the search root at Workspace.SourceDirectory. Do not search the whole user profile.

Find duplicates, then delete extras

User intent: Find Duplicate Files (help/.../finddlg_duplicate.htm) by name+size+content, then delete one copy.
Would confirm: Two identical files are grouped; deleting one leaves the other; a unique file is not listed as a duplicate.
Suggested chain: Seed two equal files and one different → Find duplicates → delete one duplicate from results or panel → one copy remains.

Panel filter, then copy what is visible

User intent: Filter dialog (help/.../dlgboxes_filtr.htm) so the panel shows *.txt only, then Select All and Copy.
Why it is missing: No filter test. Copy always operates on explicit quick-search names.
Would confirm: Filtered listing omits c.dat; copy does not create c.dat on the target; clearing the filter restores the full listing.
Suggested chain: Seed mixed names → Filter *.txt → Select All → Copy → clear filter.

Clipboard Copy/Paste between panels (and Cut/Paste as move)

User intent: Edit → Copy / Cut / Paste (help/.../advwork_clipboard.htm). Pack/unpack via clipboard is documented but secondary.
Why it is missing: The characterization suite forbids clipboard sequence observation in the harness (GetClipboardSequenceNumber must not appear). That is a CI constraint, not a reason the product clipboard path should stay untested on a dedicated interactive runner.
Would confirm: Copy+Paste duplicates the file on the target without removing the source; Cut+Paste removes the source after paste; ghosted icons after Cut revert if a second Copy happens without Paste.
Suggested chain: Select file → Copy → activate other panel → Paste → compare content; repeat with Cut.
Harness notes: Run only where the session owns the clipboard (same caution as the UI lane taking over the desktop). Do not paste into Explorer.

Compare Directories, then copy the selected differences

User intent: Commands → Compare Directories (help/.../dlgboxes_cmpdirs.htm): clears selection, selects files that exist only on one side or that differ by size/time/content, then the user copies the selection.
Why it is missing: CM_COMPAREDIRS is on the toolbar; no UI case.
Would confirm: With left a.txt only, right b.txt only, and a same-name file with different content, Compare-by-content selects the expected names; Copy of the left-only selection creates a.txt on the right.
Suggested chain: Seed asymmetric trees → Compare by content → Copy selected from left → listings more aligned.

Change attributes, then copy (attributes survive)

User intent: Files → Change Attributes (CM_CHANGEATTR), e.g. set Read-only, then copy.
Why it is missing: Copy asserts last-write time and ADS, not Archive/Read-only/Hidden after the Attributes dialog.
Would confirm: Source is read-only after OK; destination after copy is read-only (or matches the product’s documented preservation options).
Suggested chain: Change Attributes on copy-file.txt → Copy → assert attributes on both sides.

Change case of names (Files → Change Case)

User intent: Batch rename case (CM_CHANGECASE), distinct from the single-file case-only rename already tested.
Would confirm: Selected mixed.txt becomes MIXED.txt (or the chosen scheme) without rewriting content.
Suggested chain: Select several files → Change Case → listing shows new casing; content unchanged.

Convert text encoding / line endings

User intent: Files → Convert (CM_CONVERTFILES, help/.../advwork_convert.htm).
Would confirm: A UTF-8 file with LF becomes the selected encoding/EOL on disk; a binary file is skipped or left unchanged per dialog options.
Suggested chain: Seed convert-me.txt → Convert with a known table → read bytes.

Copy with file mask / include subdirectories options on the Copy dialog

User intent: The Copy dialog is not only a destination path; users restrict by mask and “including subdirectories”.
Why it is missing: Tests fill the path control and confirm overwrite/skip. Masks and “copy files of directories” options are unused.
Would confirm: Copy of a tree with mask *.txt copies text files only; directories still created as needed.
Suggested chain: Seed mixed tree → Copy with mask → assert names on target.

P2 — FTP and other virtual filesystems (beyond greeting / one download)

Loopback FTP: login, list, download, disconnect

User intent: Connect to FTP Server, see a listing, copy a file to the local panel, disconnect (help FTP using_connect / using_addbookmark).
Why it is missing: The nested ProductFtpControlConnectionTests only proves a USER command after a fragmented 220. The live MojeRzeczy test is explicit, needs secrets, and checks size only. Ordinary CI never lists or downloads from a scripted FTP data channel.
Would confirm: After login to a scripted fixture, the panel lists a known name; Copy to the sandbox writes the expected bytes; Disconnect returns both panels to disk paths.
Suggested chain: Scripted FTP (control + PASV data) → Connect → select file → Copy to right panel → Disconnect.
Harness notes: Keep this on 127.0.0.1. Do not persist certificate exceptions (live test already documents that rule).

FTP upload (local → remote) then re-download

User intent: Copy from disk panel into the FTP panel.
Why it is missing: Live test only downloads /skan.txt. Upload, overwrite on server, and resume are untested in UI.
Would confirm: Uploaded bytes match; a second download matches; source local file still exists.
Suggested chain: Connect (loopback or explicit live) → Copy local file to remote → Copy back to a different local name → compare.

Open Plugin FS (Files → Open Plugin File System)

User intent: Open a VFS (FTP, Registry, Network, Portables) from the command (help/.../basicwork_openfs.htm).
Why it is missing: FTP is reached via Connect dialog, not the generic Open FS command. Registry Editor / Network / Portables have no UI tests.
Would confirm: Choosing a deployed FS plug-in changes the panel mode (ptPluginFS) and shows a non-empty or documented empty listing without crashing.
Harness notes: Prefer Registry plug-in on HKCU under the test configuration key only, or a loopback FTP FS.

P3 — Viewer, compare files, split/combine, NTFS, shell, plug-ins

Internal viewer: Find, wrap, next/previous file, clipboard copy of selection

User intent: Viewer help topics (viewer_finding.htm, viewer_wrap.htm, viewer_clipboard.htm, viewer_otherfiles.htm).
Why it is missing: View only checks window class and caption, then closes.
Would confirm: Find in file highlights a seeded string; Next File opens the next panel item; Wrap toggles without losing the window; Copy places text on the clipboard when the lane is allowed to use it.

File Comparator plug-in on two selected files

User intent: Compare two text files from the panels (src/plugins/filecomp).
Would confirm: Differences window opens for unequal files; equal files report no differences; closing returns to the main window.
Suggested chain: Select left a.txt and right b.txt (or two in one panel per the plug-in’s documented selection rules) → Compare Files.

Split then Combine (Split & Combine plug-in)

User intent: Split a file into parts, then Combine with CRC (src/plugins/splitcbn help).
Would confirm: Parts exist; Combine restores original bytes and CRC; parts can be deleted afterwards.
Suggested chain: Split payload.bin to 3 parts in the target → Combine to a new name → hash equals original.
Harness notes: Source-contract tests already require staged split/combine implementation; this gap is the UI dialogs.

Checksum plug-in: compute and verify

User intent: Generate a checksum file and verify it.
Would confirm: A .sha256 (or the plug-in’s default) is created; Verify reports success; a mutated file reports failure.

7-Zip Pack / Test archive from the UI

User intent: Pack with 7-Zip packer, then Test archive (using_testingarc.htm).
Why it is missing: test-7zip-compatibility.ps1 is an oracle corpus against the wrapper, not Alt+F5 / Test from the panel.
Would confirm: Created .7z lists members; Test reports success; a truncated copy reports failure without hanging the UI.

NTFS Compress / Encrypt (Files → NTFS Commands)

User intent: help/.../advwork_ntfscmds.htm.
Would confirm: Compress sets the Compressed attribute; Uncompress clears it; Encrypt/Decrypt behave as documented and are not combined with compress.
Harness notes: NTFS-only; skip on FAT. Encryption may need a user certificate—skip with an explicit capability message if unavailable. Keep files inside the sandbox.

Recycle Bin: restore is still out of product-test policy — optional inspect-only chain

User intent: Delete to bin, then restore from the shell Recycle Bin UI.
Why it is missing: The existing test only checks item count and never restores or empties.
Recommendation: Prefer not automating Restore (touches the user’s bin). If added, restore only the harness-named item and re-assert the sandbox path. Never Empty Recycle Bin.

Command line: insert focused name and run a sandbox command

User intent: help/.../othertask_cmdline.htm — Ctrl+Enter inserts the name; Enter runs a shell command.
Would confirm: A command that writes a file under the workspace (e.g. cmd /c copy ...) completes; Refresh shows the result.
Harness notes: Redirect TEMP; do not launch interactive cmd windows that outlive the test. Close-shell-after-execution should be on in the isolated profile.

User Menu item that opens the sandbox editor

User intent: User Menu bar (advwork_usermenu.htm).
Would confirm: A disposable profile User Menu entry runs SandboxEditor with the focused file.

Hot paths: assign, Go To, persist after restart

User intent: Hot paths (navigating_hotpaths.htm, configuration hot paths). Toolbar contract tests mention a saved-location glyph, not the Go To behavior.
Would confirm: Assigning a hot path to Workspace.SourceDirectory\copy-tree and invoking it changes the active panel path; restart still has the assignment in the isolated profile.

PictView / IE Viewer / Markdown viewer on a seeded file

User intent: View an image or .md with the associated viewer plug-in, not only Salamander’s text viewer.
Would confirm: The correct viewer window class or caption opens; close does not kill FileManager.
Harness notes: PictView is WIC-backed (README.md); seed a tiny PNG. Markdown hardening is already a compiler probe, not UI.

Renamer plug-in: preview and rename a mask

User intent: Batch rename with preview, then apply.
Would confirm: file01.txt → file01.bak (or similar) as previewed; cancelled preview changes nothing.

DiskMap / Undelete / WinSCP / Portables / Automation scripts

User intent: Niche plug-ins.
Recommendation: Do not block the release UI lane on these. Add characterization only when a reported defect needs a reproducible desktop script. WinSCP is a large third-party UI; live servers belong in an Explicit lane like MojeRzeczy.

Shell context menu and Explorer copy-hook

User intent: Right-click in the panel; Explorer integration (salextx64.dll).
Recommendation: Low automation value and high flake/risk (other software’s context menus). Prefer a focused manual charter unless a specific shell-extension regression is filed.

Drag-and-drop between panels

User intent: Drag files from left list to right list (copy vs move depending on keys/volume).
Why it is missing: All operations use menu/command IDs. Drag/drop is a primary novice path.
Would confirm: Drag-copy keeps source; drag-move (same volume) removes source; overlay/cursor matches documented modifiers if observable.
Harness notes: FlaUI drag on owner-drawn lists is brittle; try native mouse messages on the list HWND after hit-testing an item rect.

Operations queue: start a second copy while the first is waiting

User intent: Queue another operation from the Copy dialog (“Add to queue” exists on FTP download; disk operations have COperationsQueue).
Would confirm: Two copies complete in order; both destinations are correct; cancelling one does not abort the other.
Suggested chain: Start a copy that hits a conflict prompt → queue a second non-conflicting copy → resolve the first → both results present.

Single-instance: second launch with a path focuses the existing window

User intent: Opening a folder with a second salamand.exe according to the configured single-instance policy (architecture.md bootstrap).
Would confirm: A second process does not leave two main windows (or does, if the isolated profile allows multiple instances—assert the configured policy); the existing panel path updates when the product is supposed to pass the path through.
Harness notes: Only launch processes the fixture will kill; never attach to a user-owned Salamander.

Update available indicator

User intent: Title suffix (update available) and Help → Download update (README.md).
Recommendation: Mock GitHub releases only if a local fixture can replace api.github.com; do not hit the real network in the default UI lane. Low priority versus file operations.

Product limits — do not write tests that demand the opposite

These are already recorded in testing.md as limits the lane respects. New tests should stay inside them or skip with an explicit message:

Paths longer than PATH_MAX_PATH (247 usable characters) produce Error Building Script.
Supplementary-plane characters typed into ANSI dialogs become ?.
Directory rename collisions are rejected (no merge).
Recycle Bin tests must not empty the bin.
ADS-unsupported and leak tests are quarantined until their documented races/budgets are fixed—un-quarantine is more valuable than adding a third overlapping case.

Suggested implementation order

Session happy path (create → copy → rename → move → delete) and Enter/parent navigation — reuse FileOperationUiTestBase with multiple ExecuteWithPath calls in one test.
Copy then View/Edit on the target panel — small extensions of FileAccessUiTests.
Pack + Unpack and copy a ZIP member to disk — highest-value archive gap; Zip plug-in flag already exists.
Find → focus → copy and panel filter → copy.
Loopback FTP list + download + disconnect — makes CI FTP coverage real without MojeRzeczy.
Compare Directories → copy differences; Change Attributes → copy.
Clipboard and drag-and-drop on a dedicated interactive job, not on a runner that must not touch the clipboard.
Plug-in characterization (comparator, split/combine, checksum, 7-Zip UI) as optional categories, analogous to RecycleBin / LiveFtp.

Each new case should stay inside the owned filemanager-testdata / 6.0-filemanager-testdata boundaries, use command and resource IDs rather than translated menus, wait for destination handle release, and purge journals between cases as the current lane does.

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