Empty Trash

xelavanse

I am using 1Password beta 1.0.8.222. When I delete a few items, and empty the trash, the items seems to be deleted in 1Password. But the files are not deleted from the agilekeychain.



This behavior will cause the agilekeychain to grow with old item. Is this behavior a bug?

DBrown

xelavanse, welcome to the forum!



Which files are you expecting to see deleted?

xelavanse

Every item in 1Password is a file in the agilekeychaine on the hard disk. When you delete an item, and empty the trash, I expect that these files are also deleted from the hard disk. But this is not the case. See the screenshot for an example of the files in my agilekeyschaine.

DBrown

Thanks for the screen shot. <img src='http://forum.agilebits.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />



I was asking how you were determining that deleting a particular item from 1Password and emptying the Trash isn't removing the corresponding [i].1password[/i] file from the file system. I wasn't challenging the statement, just trying to understand how you've come to the conclusion.



In fact, I see that deleting an item and emptying the Trash doesn't reduce the number of [i].1password[/i] files, as I would've expected; but it works the same in 1Password for Mac, so I assume there's a logical explanation.



I'll ask the developers to help us understand, so thanks for your patience as we wait to hear from them.

DBrown

xelavanse, the word from the developers is..."Yup."



It's true that recent versions of 1Password for Mac and for Windows no longer delete the *.1password* files that correspond to deleted items and, to be really clear, **you shouldn't delete them, either**.



We're developing new technology for the browser extensions that requires these so-called "tombstones" (stub files that denote deleted items) be retained in your 1Password data file/folder. Without them, the browser extensions will cause deleted items to reappear in 1Password, which would be a lot worse than leaving a few tiny files around.



Frankly, we don't expect anyone to delete so many items that "wasted" disk space ever becomes an issue. If it does one day, drop us a line, and we'll see what can be done to help...but we'll do that on a one-on-one basis, if it ever arises.



Again, you must resist any temptation to identify and delete the *.1password* files that you think correspond to items you've deleted; otherwise, you run the risk of corrupting your 1Password data...or at least of confusing the heck out of 1Password, its browser extensions, and (ultimately) yourself.



I hope that's sufficient explanation, xelavanse, and that you can learn not to worry about those files. <img src='http://forum.agilebits.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> Any confidential information within them is still encrypted and quite safe from prying eyes.

xelavanse

Thanks for the explanation.



Personally it feels very strange that data still exist after you delete it. You can't see it, but it is there. The idea that your agilekeychain will only grow, and old data isn't deleted any more, feels to me like a bad design decision.



But I will not delete, or alter, the data in the agilekeychaine. Again, thanks for the explanation.

DBrown

I was wrong about one thing: your confidential information IS NOT retained, even encrypted, in the so-called "tombstone" files.



Each tombstone file is simply a placeholder to prevent inappropriate re-creation of a deleted item due to interaction with the browser extensions.



Your deleted information really is deleted, so the tombstone file is even smaller than I first understood. It's as small as your OS's file system will allow us to make it.