Does drag/drop via mouse work between "details" panes?

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dsperber
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Does drag/drop via mouse work between "details" panes?

#1 Post by dsperber » 21.03.2020, 18:17

I operate with over/under "horizontal" split screen. So two panes (Explorer Tree and Details) on both top and bottom, four panes total on the screen.

Normally, I copy/move file(s) FROM source details pane TO target details pane, by selecting the one or more folder(s)/file(s) in the source details pane and then using F5 or F6. That's because I'm familiar with these keyboard shortcuts and it's clean and convenient. No need to use the mouse to drag/drop, either with left-click or right-click, implied copy/move by default depending on source/target drive letter, etc.

Nevertheless, if I actually DID want to use the mouse to drag/drop (from source details pane to target details pane), shouldn't that work? Why doesn't it work?

Now I can drag/drop via mouse from the details pane on the right to some folder in the the Explorer Tree pane on the left, either in the upper or lower halves of the screen. And the cursor changes properly, and behavior is correct depending on left-button or right-button, source/target drive letter, etc. That works just like Windows Explorer drag/drop should.

But trying to drag/drop between the two details panes (both on the right quadrant of the split screen)... doesn't work at all.

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Re: Does drag/drop via mouse work between "details" panes?

#2 Post by Marek » 21.03.2020, 19:42

No problem here, with both versions 32 und 64 bit.
Have you checked the options https://freecommander.com/fchelpxe/en/DragDrop.html
Drag&Drop may not work if you start the program "As admin".

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Re: Does drag/drop via mouse work between "details" panes?

#3 Post by BGM » 21.03.2020, 19:56

Hi, Marek! My settings match the ones in that screenshot.

Ah, I do have it to start "as admin", in fact. Let me undo that and see if it makes any difference.

Actually, no, it wasn't running as admin. So that shoots both possible fixes.
(Windows 10-1909 Professional 64bit)

dsperber
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Re: Does drag/drop via mouse work between "details" panes?

#4 Post by dsperber » 22.03.2020, 18:42

Nope, program/shortcut is NOT "run as administrator".

Win7 Pro x64.

I've double-checked my Tools -> Settings -> File/Folder operations -> Drag&Drop tab, and I had some other boxes checked. Note that they must have been checked by default because I've never been into this group. Anyway, I un-checked mine to match yours. Still no effect.

Let me be sure I'm doing this right, and that you are duplicating my actions. The following shows my setup.

Image

So, in my example story, I have selected the PERFMON_Z170.MSC in the upper details pane (which is showing the detailed contents of my U:\BBS\PERFMON folder, located on one of the network machines on my LAN). And I want to drag/drop (i.e. COPY) it to the bottom details pane (which is showing the detailed contents of my H:\BBS\PERFMON folder, located locally on the PC which is running FCXE).

(1) If I left-click-hold on that selected item in the upper details pane and drag it down to the bottom details pane and release the mouse button, NOTHING AT ALL HAPPENS. The mouse cursor does not change its appearance during the drag, and nothing at all happens when I release the left button with the cursor now physically located in the lower details pane.

(2) If I right-click-hold on that selected item in the upper details pane and drag it down to the bottom details pane and release the mouse button, a FCXE context menu pops up. But during the drag the mouse cursor again does not change its appearance in the usual way of Windows Explorer, and there is no offering me a choice of "move" or "copy" when I release the mouse button.

(3) In contrast, I can left-click-hold or right-click-hold that selected item in the upper details pane and drag it TO THE LEFT, onto the Explorer Tree pane. And now the cursor WILL change form during the drag exactly as I expect it would. And when I release the mouse button the expected action results, either default if left-click-drag or offering me "move" or "copy" if right-click-drag.

Would you like me to make a "screen capture" video, to show you (in motion) exactly what I'm doing? Or is it clear from my description?

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Re: Does drag/drop via mouse work between "details" panes?

#5 Post by Marek » 22.03.2020, 19:30

I mean, if you start FreeCommander "As admin" drag&drop may not work.
You must begin the drag operation on the file name or icon or you must deactivate the option "Start dragging on name or icon only".

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Re: Does drag/drop via mouse work between "details" panes?

#6 Post by dsperber » 22.03.2020, 22:19

(1) As I said, I have not started FCXE "as administrator".

Also, for the shortcut I actually use to launch it, right-click -> Properties -> Advanced reveals the "run as administrator" box is UN-CHECKED.

So no way is the program starting "as administrator.

(2) I mentioned that my own Tools -> Settings -> "Folder/File operations" -> Drag&Drop tab checkbox items were originally slightly different from yours. And in particular the "start dragging on name or icon only" item WAS ORIGINALLY CHECKED, whereas the HELP you pointed to showed that it was un-checked. So I unchecked mine as well, and in fact all of my checkboxes now match the HELP prototype exactly.

Here is what my original settings looked like (and they are program defaults, as I never have been in here before now).

Image

Note that the HELP for the items on this tab is a bit out of date. There is now an additional "Show drag image" box (which is checked by default) that is not shown or described in your HELP. Needs to have the HELP updated to explain what this new option means. Anyway, I left it on.

So my new current settings are as follows (note that "start dragging on name or icon only" IS NOT CHECKED, so I assume that means I can start dragging anywhere on the selected line and it should work):

Image

(3) I pushed APPLY and OK, and then just to be sure the new settings were applied I closed the program and re-opened it. And then I tried the test again, using left-click-hold while the mouse was on the selected item line but over to the right, i.e. not over either the file name or the icon for that item.

And NOTHING HAPPENED. The option was un-checked, so if the mouse was anywhere on that line the drag/drop should have worked but it didn't.

However, just on a flyer, I moved the cursor over the icon and tried it... and lo and behold IT WORKED! Also tried it moving the cursor over the file name and again IT WORKED! But with the cursor over further to the right it DID NOT WORK.

I then went back to settings, and CHECKED that item. Then APPLY/OK, close and re-open the program, and retry the whole sequence again. And I had the exact same results: no action from having the cursor over on the right side of the selected line, but success when having the cursor over either the file name or the icon.

Went back to settings again, and UN-CHECKED that item, APPLY/OK, close/re-open program, and retry one more time. STILL FAILS WITH CURSOR ON THE RIGHT SIDE. ONLY WORKS WHEN CURSOR IS OVER THE FILE NAME OR ICON.


So, unless there's another explanation, this seems like a bug. Seems like this checkbox option is not working, and it doesn't make any difference whether the option is checked or un-checked. It simply always functions for me as if it were CHECKED, no matter whether it's actually checked or not.

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Re: Does drag/drop via mouse work between "details" panes?

#7 Post by Marek » 23.03.2020, 20:38

What about FreeCommander default settings? It works correctly for me with default settings.
If it does not work with your settings - send me your ini files.

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Re: Does drag/drop via mouse work between "details" panes?

#8 Post by dsperber » 24.03.2020, 01:51

So I decided to take your suggestion, and revert FCXE back to initial starting default settings, in order to try this drag/drop then. But I couldn't seem to find any way to do that via built-in "reset to factory default settings" functionality. So instead I decided to just wipe out my entire installed FCXE (which I have been using seemingly for decades), and "start from scratch". That would certainly start me off with "factory default settings".

At the same time, I downloaded the very latest HELP (CHM) file, which is from Jan 2020. I was hoping to see information about the new "start drag image" item (in HELP for the "drag&drop" tab of the "file/folder operations"), but still missing. So although there actually is this new "start drag image" checkbox on that Settings tab (with a default of being CHECKED), it is not documented in HELP. So I still don't know what it actually is for, even now using the very latest HELP.

Anyway, my next observation is that the initial layout is a LEFT-RIGHT presentation. I want TOP-BOTTOM. But I cannot seem to find how I did that decades ago, and which I've been using for decades. My approach over time has simply been to copy old tried-and-true INI files from previous installs, whenever building a new machine. And that is how I've gotten to where I am today, thus saving much time any time I build a new machine and installing FCXE again.

So here I am now, trying to put myself back to the beginning of FCXE time, when I first installed it and began to customize. And I want to change the layout from left-right to top-bottom, and cannot find how to do it. So I went to HELP, and searched for LAYOUT. Sure enough in the very first item offered there is exactly the answer to my question, which says to "hover the mouse over "View -> Layout" to present the flyout sub-menu, which is supposed to look as follows (and offer the way to go instantly from left-right to top-bottom):

Image

Unfortunately, when I hover the mouse over "View -> layout" the flyout sub-menu looks as follows (and DOES NOT present the ALT-1/2/3 items shown in HELP, offering those keyboard shortcuts to change the layout):

Image

I thought this might be a mixup or oversight, and that if I actually did use ALT-2 (as shown in the HELP) it would probably accomplish what I wanted. But before trying that I decided to go deeper, and actually select "View -> layouts -> layouts edit", then expecting to see a more complete presentation offering me the choice of layout. What I should expect is shown in HELP as follows (which indcates that the various layout options are already offered in the selection pane):

Image

But instead what I actually see from "View -> Layouts -> Layouts edit" is AN EMPTY SELECTION PANE, with no layouts offered:

Image

Hmmm...

Furthermore, I don't know when to even try ALT-2, to accomplish the layout change that way (assuming it even actually works!). Just trying it right now accomplishes nothing but a DING sound (i.e. REJECTED!).

So, what am I missing? Is there something additional I need to add to my "brand new from-scratch" install or \Settings folder, in order to provide some pre-built layouts, if not other additional customizations which may also be missing at this very early moment in time right after a fresh install of FCXE 816?

Why aren't those left-right and top-bottom layout options already present in the mouse-hover sub-menu over "View -> Layouts"? And why is there nothing at all in "View -> Layouts -> Layouts edit"?

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Re: Does drag/drop via mouse work between "details" panes?

#9 Post by dsperber » 24.03.2020, 03:59

Ok. I've manually examined my old top/bottom INI file vs. the new default INI file from the brand new from-scratch install. My previous INI file had evolved over the decades, going back many years and having additional items and sections added as new functionality appeared. It's likely that the re-use of the evolving ever-adding INI file is what is responsible for the drag/drop on the selected line (not over filename or icon) to not work. I've now done a FRESH FROM-SCRATCH COMPLETELY COLD INSTALL OF FCXE and re-customized things using Tools -> Settings, thus customizing a brand newly delivered factory INI file. And sure enough, drag/drop NOW WORKS PROPERLY!

I located what I believe must have been the INI items pertaining to left-right vs. top-bottom in the [MainPanel] section, and manually changed things in the new INI to conform to the old INI. That seems to have done the trick... in the absence of View -> Layout no longer providing the ALT+1/2/3 built-in provided items, either on the displayed sub-menu from mouse hover nor on the actual View -> Layout -> Layouts edit (I will report this on BUGS). Anyway, now I have a top-bottom layout as I want.

Then I manually re-customized everything I did over the years, as reflected in my old INI (running on a separate machine, so I could examine Settings on a different FCXE working and appearing on that second machine as I wanted. So I now have a brand new FCXE 816, installed just today brand new from scratch, and also customized to look and feel as I want (just like it previously looked and felt), but starting from a 100% factory default INI file.

Again, I report that the previous drag/drop failure which I reported in this thread has now disappeared!! The functionality now DOES WORK PROPERLY, no matter whether that filename/icon option is checked or not. The drag/drop behavior now is working correctly as you'd expect depending on whether that option item is checked or not.

So, CASE CLOSED. Except for the "missing" left-right/top-bottom layout tools, and the missing HELP for the new "show drag image" checkbox.

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Re: Does drag/drop via mouse work between "details" panes?

#10 Post by BGM » 24.03.2020, 05:06

Ah, the case is actually mine, as I started this thread; I'm going to see what happens with a fresh installation. I'll answer tomorrow, Marek.
(Windows 10-1909 Professional 64bit)

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Re: Does drag/drop via mouse work between "details" panes?

#11 Post by dsperber » 24.03.2020, 05:35

As I worked through my manual compare->update of old-INI to new-INI (initially simply to find the left-right/top-bottom items) I initially was using an "automated compare" program (Beyond Compare). It revealed that over the years some newer sections of the INI file had been "added" which placed them at a different location in my "evolving INI" than they appeared now in a brand new "factory default" INI. And this is also true not only of whole sections, but also of individually added items in a section.

So in the end, although I didn't confirm 100% of the entire INI, I say that of what I examined ALL of the current ITEMS are present in my old INI that were also in the "factory" INI, but perhaps "scrambled" as far as their sequence and/or location. And of course they're certainly there now, exactly where they arrived "from the factory".

So my theory is that there actually IS a bug in FCXE, triggered by the "scrambled" location of a specific item in the INI file which is relevant to drag/drop behavior and that checkbox item involving (a) mouse over icon/filename-only or (b) mouse anywhere on the selected item's line. Again, my experience is that although I hadn't been aware of it before (since I never thought to place the mouse over the icon or filename, but ONLY had it sitting out there on the right side of a selected line), the drag/drop function WAS ALWAYS WORKING... but only if I had the mouse located over the icon/filename. It was behaving AS IF THAT CHECKBOX OPTION WAS CHECKED... even if the checkbox option was UN-CHECKED!

And yet, now, with my re-built INI, it now behave correctly IN EITHER OF THE TWO METHODS as controlled by the Settings checkbox option: either (a) ONLY when mouse is over icon/filename if the Settings option is checked, or (b) when the mouse is anywhere on the selected line if the Settings option is un-checked. This definitely is NOT how it worked with my "scrambled INI", but definitely IS how things work now with my "factory default sequenced INI". This suggests to me that FCXE program was somehow impacted by the "scrambled" location of whatever relevant items are in the INI pertaining to drag/drop behavior.

Hence why it fails for me (and you too? also a "scrambled INI"?) with my "evolved and scrambled INI" and yet "works" for Marek (who probably has a default INI). And now it works for me too, now that I've reinstalled and re-customized starting from a "factory" INI. There has to be some valid explanation.

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