Copying and Moving Database/Workspace Items

You can copy or move database/workspace items or entire folders and their contents. If the target directory contains an object with the same name as the original, an extension _<i> (i.e. an integer number) is added to the name of the copied object.

When you copy items or folders, the original items/folders remain unchanged.

If items or folders are moved within the same database/workspace, item and/or folder names are usually retained in the target folder. The new item is automatically renamed only if the target folder already contains an item or a folder with the same name, thus avoiding naming conflicts.

Copy Rules

The following copy actions are possible:
- copy one or more items from one or more folders into a common target folder
- duplicate a top-level folder via copy/paste
- copy one lower-level folder into a target folder
The following copy actions are not possible:
- copy a lower-level folder and one or more items at the same time
- copy a top-level folder into a lower-level folder
- copy several lower-level folders at the same time
- copy a lower-level folder and paste it as top-level folder

Move Rules

The following move actions are possible:
- move one or more items from one or more folders to a common target folder
- move one or more lower-level folders to a common target folder
- move one or more lower-level folders and one or more items to a common target folder
The following move actions are not possible:
- move a top-level folder into a lower level folder
- cut a lower-level folder and paste it as top-level folder

When you copy a group of items that reference each other (e.g., a project and the modules and classes it includes), two ways exist to deal with the references when you paste the items to their new location.

The normal Paste command, i.e. the Paste function in the Edit menu or the copied items' context menu, the Paste button, or the <Ctrl> + <v> keyboard shortcut, does not touch the references. A copied project in the target folder references the original modules and classes in the source folder. A copied module references the references the original modules and classes in the source folder; the copied module is referenced by no project.
To avoid lengthy manual rework of copied items and their references, ASCETV6.4.10 offers a second paste mechanism, Paste with references. This mechanism is available via the Paste with references function in the Edit menu and the copied items' context menu, and via the <Ctrl> + <B> keyboard shortcut.
Paste with references pastes the copied items to their new folder and updates the references from the original components to the new components. Afterwards, the items in the new folder reference the other pasted new items if those were referenced in the original items, too.
References in complex elements of a pasted item are replaced if necessary, i.e. when a referenced complex variable is also copied/pasted.
For containers, the references to the referenced components are replaced if necessary, i.e. when a referenced component is also copied/pasted.
See also Example: Paste with References.