MySQL Bugs: #72879: MyModel.wb51.wb51.mwb is a backup file but that is counter-intuitive

Bug #72879	MyModel.wb51.wb51.mwb is a backup file but that is counter-intuitive
Submitted:	4 Jun 2014 15:53	Modified:	2 Aug 2018 7:28
Reporter:	Brian Lim	Email Updates:
Status:	Won't fix	Impact on me:	None
Category:	MySQL Workbench: Modeling	Severity:	S2 (Serious)
Version:	Workbench 5.1 and later	OS:	Windows (Windows 8.1)
Assigned to:		CPU Architecture:	Any
Tags:	workbench

Description:
According to the answer to Bug 50579, if an old format model such as "MyModel.mwb" is opened with the workbench, a backup called MyModel.wb51.mwb will be created. If the user opens the backup then a new backup will be called MyModel.wb51.wb51.mwb. Since there is the MySQL precedent that a backup file will be named MyModel.mwb.bak, to name a backup file MyModel.wb51.mwb is completely unexpected because it does not conform to the precedent of using "bak" to indicate a backup. Furthermore, if no edits are made and the model is only used to "forward engineer" then the MyModel.wb51.mwb file will have a newer timestamp compared to the original so it is counter-intuitive. Often people expect that backups have older timestamps because they may not remember that no edits were made to the original. There will be the tendency to open the newer file so unfortunately that results in MyModel.wb51.wb51.mwb.

This is confusing. A fix is being suggested.

How to repeat:
Take an old model file and open it with workbench 5.1 or later. This behaviour is repeatable.

Suggested fix:
The file naming and backup process is confusing.

The backup should indicate in the file name that it is a backup. The .wb51 modification to the file name does not suggest that it is from versions prior to workbench 5.1. It suggests the opposite: that it is produced by workbench 5.1 and that is why it has a newer timestamp. Perhaps a different file name modification should be performed. An older model file can be named MyModel.Pre51.mwb.bak to follow the precedent of using .bak. This precedent seems sub-optimal. Even better would be MyModel.Pre51Bak.mwb since it really is an model file the extension indicate that.

edit: "since it really is an model file the extension SHOULD indicate that."

Thank you for the bug report.

Posted by developer:
 
Models create before Workbench 6.3 are no longer supported by the current and future Workbench versions. We recommend to convert them to the 6.3 format with a 6.3 Workbench and use that new model exclusively.