[flash7777]

Problem

File managers (Nautilus, Dolphin) copy all user.* xattrs on copy and paste. A copied user.openvfs.data carries the fileid and state of the original, so the copy looks like the same file to the sync client.

Solution

Once a desktop client is registered (VERSION handshake), a setxattr of user.openvfs.data from any other process removes the entry instead of writing it and returns success. The client sets the data again for files inside the sync root. Without a registered client the behaviour is unchanged.

The earlier -x option for filtering single keys is gone, as suggested in the review.

Test

• unit tests pass
• functional test with a fake client over the socket API and cp --preserve=xattr inside the mount:
  • foreign setfattr of user.openvfs.data is dropped, the client's own write is kept
  • the copy no longer inherits the fileid
  • without a registered client, foreign writes and copies behave as before
• same test against current main: the copy inherits the fileid

[dragotin]

Thanks a lot for you PR, good catch.

What I do not get completely: When the external applications such as nautilus copies the xattrs, why should we not completely remove the user xattrs of openvfs? Why do you want to filter for certain members?

Can you elaborate? Thanks.

[dragotin]

Thanks for updating the PR, but I am still not convinced, I still think you should remove the entire openVFS metadata that are inconsistent. The syncing application should, if the resource is still within a sync dir, set the data new anyway next moment.

User Metadata should not be part of the openVFS Namespace anyway. That is why we put our metadata into a JSON document instead into single values.

[flash7777]

You're right — I re-checked our sync client, and it writes its placeholder data directly anyway, so there's no case where a partial copy of user.openvfs.data is useful. I reworked the PR: once a desktop client is registered, a setxattr of user.openvfs.data from any other process now removes the entry instead of writing it, and the -x option is gone. Rebased on current main.

Tested with a fake client over the socket API and cp --preserve=xattr: the copy no longer inherits the fileid, without a registered client the behaviour is unchanged.

[dragotin]

I like it now.