Allow inserting an image from the same folder or from a subfolder without copying it to a .attachments folder

[raphj]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

When inserting an image in a note, the text app seems to unconditionally copy it to a .attachments folder. In some cases, this is undesirable because it duplicates the images, taking up spaces on the server. If the image is in the same folder or in a sub-folder of the folder in which the note is, there is probably no need to copy the image in the attachment folder.

Describe the solution you'd like

Either:

• don't copy f the image is in the same folder or in a sub-folder of the folder in which the note is,
• have the option not to copy the image

Describe alternatives you've considered

Additional context

This could be useful to use Nextcloud to write blog posts in markdown, where images are next to the posts.

[emberfiend]

Hi, thanks for sharing your idea :)

Unfortunately I think this would mean a lot of complexity added for minimal practical gain. We'd have to keep track of the path of each image the text file depends on, updating every dependent text file every time any image moves, or track when it is moved too far away or deleted so that we can then make a copy in .attachments. Even if you limit it to siblings and subfolders, we would need to deal with users deleting, moving, and renaming these image files, and additional path complexity.

The current approach provides an authoritative location for all necessary attachments in a predictable relative location, in a folder that's hidden by default so users are less likely to break text files by accident.

Leaving this open in case others have different perspectives.

[raphj]

Thanks for the nice and quick reply :-)

We'd have to keep track of the path of each image the text file depends on, updating every dependent text file every time any image moves, or track when it is moved too far away or deleted so that we can then make a copy in .attachments

Maybe not? Maybe we could have something like what Inkscape does with images in SVGs. It provides the option to either embed the image into the SVG, or to just link. If you choose the latter, then you are on your own and bare the consequences. I would not expect Nextcloud to automatically keep those links updated.

The idea could be implemented like this:

• keep the default of copying everything to the .attachments folder
• offer a checkbox "only link, but you are on your own wrt broken image references", possibly hidden in an advanced section

Inkscape offering this option could be evidence that this should be fine for software targeting the general public.

I'd prefer the checkbox checked automatically for images next to the markdown note, but I'd understand any decision not to do this

[mejo-]

I agree with @emberfiend's assessment. Sharing brings additional complexity. That's why we moved to the dedicated attachments folder for each document in the first place: when a document is shared, people expect its embedded contents (images, attachments) to be accessible in the share as well.

Adding an option to make this configurable this will clutter the user interface unnecessarily for a niche use case.

[raphj]

All right!

Thanks for your time answering this, closing.