https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=528455
Bug ID: 528455
Summary: Tab bar: Automatically show parent directory name
(disambiguation) when multiple tabs have identical
folder names (similar to VS Code editor tabs).
Classification: Applications
Product: dolphin
Version First unspecified
Reported In:
Platform: Arch Linux
OS: Linux
Status: REPORTED
Severity: wishlist
Priority: NOR
Component: bars: location
Assignee: [email protected]
Reporter: [email protected]
CC: [email protected]
Target Milestone: ---
DESCRIPTION
When working with project structures that have identical folder names across
different branches/roots (e.g., `project-A/src/components` and
`project-B/src/components`), opening both in Dolphin tabs results in multiple
tabs labeled with the exact same name (e.g., "components").
It would be very helpful if Dolphin could automatically disambiguate tab titles
by prepending/appending parent folder names when collisions occur, similar to
how modern code editors (like VS Code) handle duplicate filenames in editor
tabs.
STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Create two directories with a similar structure, for example:
* ~/work/project1/src/components
* ~/work/project2/src/components
2. Open Dolphin and navigate to the first component folder.
3. Open a new tab (Ctrl+T) and navigate to the second docs folder.
OBSERVED RESULT
Both tabs are labeled simply as components.
Unless hovering over the tab or switching to check the location bar / window
title, it is difficult to distinguish which tab belongs to which project.
EXPECTED RESULT
1. Automatic Disambiguation by Nearest Distinct Ancestor:
Dolphin should automatically detect when multiple tabs share identical folder
names or trailing path suffixes, and disambiguate their tab titles by including
the nearest non-common ancestor directory.
For the example above:
- Common suffix: `src/components`
- Nearest distinct ancestor: `project1` vs `project2`
Tab labels should display something distinguishable, such as:
- `components (project1)` (or `project1/…/components`)
- `components (project2)` (or `project2/…/components`)
2. Persistence Across In-Tab Navigation (or Tab Coloring / Custom Alias):
When navigating between subfolders within these tabs (e.g., stepping into
`components/buttons`), it would be great if this contextual identity is
maintained rather than instantly reverting to ambiguous titles.
- Implementation ideas:
- This could either persist the disambiguation prefix as long as the tabs
remain in separate branches of the hierarchy;
- Or hook directly into Dolphin's existing "Rename Tab" / custom title
mechanism (assigning the ancestor name to these tabs);
SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Arch Linux
KDE Plasma Version: 6.7.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.31.0
Qt Version: 6.12.0
Kernel Version: 7.2.9-arch1-1.1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 32 × AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX with Radeon Graphics
Memory: 16 GiB of RAM (14.8 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor 1: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU/PCIe/SSE2
Graphics Processor 2: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU/PCIe/SSE2
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This feature would significantly improve workflow clarity when migrating,
comparing, or organizing files between mirrored/similar folder hierarchies
without having to open multiple independent Dolphin windows.
Modern IDEs like Visual Studio Code implement this pattern via label
disambiguation (workbench.editor.labelFormat), which feels very natural and
intuitive.
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