Bug 309282

Summary:	Make it possible to copy only some parts a folder structure in Details View with expanded folders
Product:	[Applications] dolphin	Reporter:	Aleh <aleh>
Component:	view-engine: details mode	Assignee:	Dolphin Bug Assignee <dolphin-bugs-null>
Status:	RESOLVED INTENTIONAL
Severity:	wishlist	CC:	h.klene, nate
Priority:	NOR
Version First Reported In:	2.1
Target Milestone:	---
Platform:	openSUSE
OS:	Linux
URL:	http://itmages.ru/image/view/739922/40699905
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description Aleh 2012-10-31 00:07:56 UTC

This is not bug, but only wish.

I think it will be rather useful in detailed view with turned on option "expandable folders" to have possibility to copy parent folder or folders when copying file.

Let's image that we have such files and folders:
/home/oleg/Study
/home/oleg/Study/Math
/home/oleg/Study/Math/Day 1.pdf
/home/oleg/Study/Math/Day 2.pdf
/home/oleg/Study/Math/Day 3.pdf

For example i need to copy "Day 2.pdf" to my usb flash drive with same folders structure. Now i have to create folder "Study", create folder "Math" and then copy. It would be very convenient if i could choose in expanded view folders "Study" and "Math" my files and them simply copy them.

I added url for screenshot for more clarity.

Reproducible: Always

Comment 1 Frank Reininghaus 2012-10-31 13:23:09 UTC

Thanks for the suggestion.

Even though I see that this might be useful in some cases, I see no good way to implement this. Right now the behaviour is the following: If you just copy 'Math', the entire folder, including all subfolders and files in them, is copied. People are used to this behaviour, so any change is likely to cause problems for a considerable part of our user base.

Now you might argue that we should copy the entire folder if only 'Math' is selected, and only parts of the folder structure if 'Math' and some subfolders and files are selected. But this would mean that selecting more items copies less items, which is counterintuitive.

Comment 2 Holger 2016-07-26 15:38:24 UTC

How about drag&drop? This already displays a little context menu on drop to:
- copy
- move
- link
(- copy structure)
- abort

Why not add a new "copy structure"-command?

The problem I see is, that on a drag only the absolute filenames are transmitted, not the working directory to which I'd like to recreate the structure. And say the homedirectory is only a lame fallback. Also this should not interfere with drag&drop from other sources.

Perhaps it could be done by adding a new drop-flavor-type other than the plain file-list.

A final side-note: Currently the menu can be skipped by using shift and or control on the drop. But I would deliberately not assign a new keyboard shortcut.

Comment 3 Nate Graham 2017-09-03 15:19:36 UTC

But where would the structure be rooted at? If you did a "copy structure" on, say, /home/<user>/Music/Artist/Album/song.ogg, would the full folder structure be created on the flash drive, including /home/<user>/? And if not, how would it know to omit that? What if you did want that in some cases?

I don't see a way to implement this feature; the system just isn't going to ever be smart enough to guess what the user wants with high enough accuracy to make it useful without cleanup. And for such a very specific file copy task, I think it's reasonable to expect the user to create the desired folder structure first.