Question about pasting "Structured scrap clips"...

danielrod · Post by **danielrod** » 2004 Oct 13, 23:50

For some reason, my "Paste special" | "Structured scrap clips" does not create subfolders for the file I am pasting. Instead, I just get the standalone file.

The excerpt from the manual describes what I am trying to do:

"[PRO] When you copy items from scrap containers and they happen to reside in different folders, Paste special | Structured scrap clips will paste preserving the relative folder structure of the source items — creating subfolders as necessary. In contrast, a plain Paste would place all items in the same folder."

I am copying the file from my scrap container (file is located in a different path than where I am pasting to) and then pasting it as described in the manual. Am I missing something else? Any tips/suggestions?

Thanks!

Daniel

fgagnon · Post by **fgagnon** » 2004 Oct 14, 02:33

The structure that would be 'pasted special' is the RELATIVE structure between all the files selected for copying, running up the heirarchy only as far as the first folder branch common to all files being pasted, but not including that folder by name (only any of its contents that are in the selection).

So if you are only pasting one file, there is no heirarchy to paste with it.

It is hard to explain in words. For a good example you really have to try a couple of cases yourself and inspect the results. Start by selecting two or more items in the scrappane that are in different folders. Copy them to clipboard and then Paste special | Structured scrap clips into a new empty folder. This will result in the copied files having the same relative paths to each other as the originals have in the source folder heirarchy. It has nothing to do with the relative path to the destination folder.

narayan · Post by **narayan** » 2004 Oct 14, 08:41

It is hard to explain in words

True.. So the revised manual contains an appendix on this topic, with a few figures showing how this command affects the destination folder's directory structure.

If a paraphrase helps, here's an alternative description:

1. x2 will trace all items upwards till it finds a common "ancestor" folder.
2. It will copy all folders from this point downwards and paste them into the destination folder, with the following "rules":
** The common ancestor itself is not copied.
>> If your selection contains files from a single folder, then x2 treats this folder itself as the common ancestor; and so only the files are copied into the destination folder--no structure is copied.
** Any subfolder of this common ancestor is copied only if there is a file in that path.
** If your selected files are from different drives, then x2 can'tr find a common ancestor, and so the command will be aborted.

In this case, did you want to copy a certain part of the structure PLUS a single file (which you have mentioned)? Then first copy the structure alone (context menu> paste special>Copy structure) and then copy the single file (in two separate operations).

And if you don't want the empty structure, then you actually don't need structured scrap clip command to copy a single file: use other copying methods.

danielrod · Post by **danielrod** » 2004 Oct 15, 01:11

Thank you for the explanations. I ran some tests and achieved my aim.

In a nutshell I wanted to copy the following files:

\\server0\Projects\App\latest\CN\cn_setup.mdb
\\server0\Projects\App\latest\DE\de_setup.mdb
\\server0\Projects\App\latest\EN\en_setup.mdb
\\server0\Projects\App\latest\JA\ja_setup.mdb

and past them into:

\\server0\my_workspace\Projects\App\latest\CN\cn_setup.mdb
\\server0\my_workspace\Projects\App\latest\DE\de_setup.mdb
\\server0\my_workspace\Projects\App\latest\EN\en_setup.mdb
\\server0\my_workspace\Projects\App\latest\JA\ja_setup.mdb

But there are many other files in each of the language folders, so I only wanted to copy the specific files that I specified (*_setup.mdb), and have them all fall into place into their respective sub-folders.

My problem was that in my initial tests, I was only copying a single file (it was only a test after all).

But I see the beauty of it in action now. Incidently, there are many areas in the manual where use cases (usage scenarios) woud go much further in explaining the feature than actually explaining it.

Thanks a bunch!

Daniel

narayan · Post by **narayan** » 2004 Oct 15, 04:45

Incidently, there are many areas in the manual where use cases (usage scenarios) woud go much further in explaining the feature than actually explaining it.

You are right. The new manual (to be released with the next version) does that.

In the new manual, you will find
* step-by-step procedure for each feature; and
* comparisons with other features (where applicable) and
* cross-references (hyperlinks) to other sections