UNDO is OVERDUE - Please implement an Undo feature!

tv98199

I did it again!  I "bulk deleted" segments from the wrong 'folder'.  AHHHHH!!!  And Caltopo STILL has NO "undo" capability.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE implement an UNDO feature

PRETTY PLEASE?

 

13

Comments

19 comments

  • Comment author
    CalTopo
    • Official comment

    Hi All -

    I totally get the frustration, I've been there myself, and I realize that in 2025 asking people to make frequent GeoJSON backups isn't a great solution.  A trash can / soft delete function is a reasonable expectation, as is the ability to undo at least the last action taken, if not a longer stack.

    I don't want to set any expectations around if/when this would get addressed, but I do want to say that this is something we're very aware of.

    - Matt

  • Comment author
    wes

    Just happened to me too. 

    0
  • Comment author
    CLMRG Cash

    A few months ago, i was cleaning up some tracks and having to merge lines. there were a lot of tracks and some not labeled well. I ended up repeatedly merging lines that should not have been. eventually I forgot to copy a line before making edits and deleted a line on accident. the frustration was enough to make me quit for a while. an Undo would have saved both the information and a lot of time. maybe hours between all the projects I do. 

    3
  • Comment author
    wes

    I quit this project for almost three weeks I felt so frustrated. Now I'm starting over and will hope not to mess up again.

    3
  • Comment author
    Boyan

    Yes, I delete things by mistake at least once a month.  Undo would be spectacular, but depending on the underlying architecture f the code may be difficult.  My sense is that the app, despite being relatively new, has a ton of legacy code into it that pushes the developer into a certain location.

    However, there are a number of things they could be doing which are long overdue.  At minimum in the delete confirmation dialog they could tell you what you are deleting - line, shape, marker, track?  One of the most common mistakes I make is click on a marker to delete it, but because the marker and a line overlap, I actually select a line for deletion.

    0
  • Comment author
    Tom Fredericks

    Agree on the need for undo.  When taken on for development, it should be implemented fully with a list of unlimited length of recorded undoable changes, as well as redo.  This is standard functionality in most applications.  It needs to be as many undos (<ctrl>+z in Windows) as you need, preferably unlimited.  Then if you undo too far, you need to be able to reapply an unlimited number of redo (<ctrl>+y in Windows) which in effect, backs out the most recent undo.  This protects the user from potentially losing a lot of work by mistakenly undoing a complex or non-repeatable operation.

    1
  • Comment author
    Jballard650

    Totally agree, maybe also a rollback or set of savepoints.

    2
  • Comment author
    evanderkloot

    I came to the forums to suggest this as well - looks like I'm not alone. Caltopo staff - looks like this is a very popular request! 

    2
  • Comment author
    tv98199

    CalTopo, please take a look at how Google Sheets implements "History" and Undo/Redo.  IMO, that should be the simple and basic revision history model to follow.

    1
  • Comment author
    Tobias Schmidt

    Undo is a must ... and some sort of logging/audit for teams.

    2
  • Comment author
    wes

    OH NO! I accidentally deleted the line I was working on. PLEASE GIVE US UNDO!

    🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

    1
  • Comment author
    Brian Stokes

    Matt,
    Any update on this? Your post was from 5 months ago but I think this feature should jump up on the priority scale

    Thanks

    1
  • Comment author
    tv98199
    • Edited

    Until CalTopo implements an Undo feature, I recommend something I've done to help mitigate errors of deletion.  I create a  folder, checked as non-visible, called TRASH.  I never delete and object any more.  I now change the directory of that object to TRASH.  That way, if I make a mistake, I can just change the folder attribute from TRASH back to where it belongs.  Caltopo, It would help a bit, if you could make objects that are moved to a folder that is checked as non-visible to be non-visible.  Right now, it defaults to visible, even if the folder is tagged as non-visible.  

    This helps a bit.

    1
  • Comment author
    Prescott McCarthy

    Seriously CalTopo what the actual F.  this is so simple.  Just deleted the longest segment of trial...   ):

    1
  • Comment author
    wes

    I just split a line in the wrong spot. 😭

    Good think I have a backup line, but to get back to where I was will require work.

    0
  • Comment author
    Tobias Schmidt

    Hi Team,

    I've commented on this before.

    The Caltopo Team suggests: https://help.caltopo.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/32345860002075/comments/35882738641051

    "Make a geojson backup".

    Ok, so that's what I just did. I made a backup (in my case: I copied to a new map, not geojson), then went ahead and deleted the content off my old map.

    Only to see on the new map that most of the features did _not_ get copied across.

    You've already implemented a degree of audit logging for team accounts.

    What, please, is the technical reason that's holding you back to log the old state in addition to who changed what?

     

    😭😭😭😭😭 

    0
  • Comment author
    Dennis Weyel

    Hello everyone,

    my org was struggling with things being accidentally deleted from our maps, especially during heated times while on deployment.

    As CalTopo does not support a native history/versioning/rollback feature I spend some time and tokens on creating something on my own. It runs in a docker container and makes use of the CalTopo API for it. It makes automatic backups of maps that have been selected for monitoring and allows rollback of deleted or changed items.

    I was wondering if anyone would find this helpful before I make the effort of cleaning it up and packaging it in a more neutral form for the general public to use. 

    Is this something anyone would find useful?

    2
  • Comment author
    CLMRG Cash
    • Edited

    Dennis, there is a group in BC Canada that might have interest. they have been making a whole system for tracking resources for SAR incidents called SAR Command Assist. Ill let them know about your app.

    0
  • Comment author
    Dennis Weyel

    I put it on Github. Its also in the docker repo. https://github.com/DWeyel/caltopo-history 

    Feel free to use it. Would love some feedback. Hope its useful for someone else. 

    0

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