[4.2.x] Multilanguage Associations - Copy BUGs

[joomleb]

Hi guys,
last 3.8.5 Joomla on PHP 7.1.14 - Multilingual Associations:

1 - selecting article and language the Multilingual Associations with "Reference" Article is opened

2 - selecting the Target language the new empty article layout is shown correctly on the right;

3 - clicking on "Copy Reference to Target" button the content is copied on the Target article

4 - But the article is yet created! If I click "close" the language association isn't made, but the new language article is yet created! No need to click on "Save Target" - BUG - While the article creation should wait my "Save Target" click.

• Exist a "Save Target" button and also a "Close" button.
• This part of Multilagiage Associations is like an article creation for languages. When I create an article, it doesn't exist till I Save it for the first time.
• This situation do not permit me to simply "Close" and regress to the Multilanguage Associations dashboard.
• The "Copy Reference to Target" button shoud be only a "copy" contents button, no more.

5 - If I repeat steps from 1 to 4 another new copy new language has created, creating more than one same new language article copy! - BUG While, in my opinion, a check should be on the existence of the new language, also if not yet associated to the original article.

• This is the Multilanguage Associations, it has to permit me only the "Copy Reference to Target" creation article only for one per language and only for the languages that are not yet associated tothe article! Because I cannot have duplicated in the Language Associations!
• More if all the times I entry I can accidentally copy and directly create new articles (see previous point).
• If I need to create a copy of an article as base of point for another article, I don't have to use the "Copy Reference to Target" button into the Multianguage Associations! There is the Copy article in the Joomla content creation.
• Doesn't mind if the article is not yet associated when "copied". That for me is another missing (BUG), because I'm here in the Multilanguage Associations to make the article associations! The "Copy Reference to Target" button is been created to simplify me the articles Association when the article is still missing. But in this way, at the end, the article is still not associated...

Thanks for support!

[infograf768]

Creating the new copy as NOT published and NOT associated was volunteer.
We use save2copy for Copy Reference to target, i.e. the same code used when we save as copy an article when we edit an article.

Discussion: #15206

As far as I remember, I had proposed to throw an alert on Close (Which is in fact a Cancel operation) to let the user know before closing that he should Save Target, AFTER modifying it, to fit the language concerned.

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_{This comment was created with the J!Tracker Application at issues.joomla.org/tracker/joomla-cms/19807.}

[infograf768]

Look also here
https://issues.joomla.org/tracker/joomla-cms/14834

[infograf768]

Basically, if one was able to just use Copy Reference to target and get an associated item, the result could be really wrong as there is always some stuff to change in the Target (not only the Language which is done automatically) before associating it. For example the category of the article, the menu type of a menu item, etc.

Therefore it is NOT a bug, but could be improved.

[joomleb]

Hi infograf768,
in first of all many thanks for your interest and the work you done to glue all the discussions.
Then, sorry for the "BUG" term, I used it because the chance to create "duplicated" article languages can be really awful (also if articles are created as unpublished) and generate an impressive confusion on big portals with a lot of content and managers. Don't forgiving that right know joomla does not have a way to check for duplicated, so the first rule is not create them...

Now,

Discussion: #14834 - Here you wrote: "The association should ONLY be created when the Target is saved", but also here: "I had proposed to throw an alert on Close (Which is in fact a Cancel operation)". I'm agree, in my opinion, in first of all, Close that is in fact a Cancel operation should permit a regress without save nothing. So the "Copy Reference to Target" should only input contents without an article creation till a "Save Target" is not performed.
Only a "Save Target" with the directly creating of the language association, should be permitted here:
"...if one was able to just use Copy Reference to target and get an associated item, the result could be really wrong as there is always some stuff to change in the Target (not only the Language which is done automatically) before associating it..." = No, because, as you confirmed, the Target article should always created and directly associated as "unpublished".

Discussion: #15206 - I'm totally agree.

[joomleb]

Hi guys,
I think that a fix here would be a good thing before to develop https://github.com/joomla-projects/gsoc18_automatic_multilingual_association
Please, How to advice the guys there to be careful about this issue ?

[brianteeman]

Thank you for raising this issue.

Joomla 3 is now in security only mode with no further bug fixes or new features.

This is still an issue in Joomla 4

I am going to leave it open however and ask that the tag is updated for Joomla 4. Who know, maybe it will scratch someones itch and they will work on a usable solution.