Add merge folder feature (ala Windows)
We're evaluating whether we now have the time and resources to implement this feature.
From Neilio:
This is a very difficult feature to add - I won't say it's impossible, but at the very least it's a huge amount of work. The problem is that Path Finder doesn't actually handle any file operations on its own: at it's core it simply asks the OS to do something and then displays the results.
Merging is not part of the current OS file system, so we'd have to subvert the OS's file operations to add this feature, which is a huge amount of work. I know you can do this via the command line using cp but again, simply writing a GUI for a command line feature isn't that straightforward.
I've marked this as declined mostly so it's understood that we don't foresee this being added to Path Finder in the nearish future, but it's definitely something on our "someday" list to at least investigate.
strider
I just received the notice of "Under Review" consideration. I can't tell you how excited I am by this step forward. I had abandoned consideration of Pathfinder due to the lack of this feature. Even now, most of my file activities are done on the command line for fear of the terrible damage that Finder (or Pathfinder) can do with its default behavior. I am still stunned that people don't scream from the highest mountain tops when they either a) lose tons of data (in my case my *entire* CD co... more
I just received the notice of "Under Review" consideration. I can't tell you how excited I am by this step forward. I had abandoned consideration of Pathfinder due to the lack of this feature. Even now, most of my file activities are done on the command line for fear of the terrible damage that Finder (or Pathfinder) can do with its default behavior. I am still stunned that people don't scream from the highest mountain tops when they either a) lose tons of data (in my case my *entire* CD collection, thank goodness for backups), or b) realize they have to hand merge a giant directory tree folder by folder to avoid destroying all of their files, or c) lose data because they missed one or two folders when doing (b). The compromises and effort required to resort to manual or commandline processes to do the most basic of directory maintenance still confounds me. I can't even remember the last time I used Finder to copy more than 1 or 2 files due to its terrible handling. Thanks goodness for shell commands. I will say that 99%, no 100% of my file copying is going to be non-destructive Merge (with optional replace prompt for all or singly), so making this option as easy to get to as possible or even default through a configuration option would be wonderful. You can have all of my remaining votes to encourage this issue as its the Achilles heel of not just Pathfinder, but all of the Mac default behavior file managers.
jurrr
Does the plugin also work in Snow Leopard? I have to agree with Brunom that it is a must-have and I won't consider paying for PF until I am sure it is added and works.
Joe Carroll
I'd like to recommend the plugin by forum-member Sydde that Michael links to. I've used it to combine two iTunes library and it worked like a charm! I'd really like to see it integrated into a (near) future version of Path Finder...
Michael
brunom: since this was declined a year ago, a folder merge and sync plugin has been created for Path Finder:
http://forum.cocoatech.com/showthread.php?t=5057&highlight=merge
We may try to integrate the plugin into Path Finder's core copy/move mechanism at some point in the future, but Neil's comments still stand - OS X's file copy API doesn't natively support merging, so it will be a lot of work to provide seamless integration of a merge tool.
brunom
Are you kidding? "Declinede?
It's a must-have in a modern file management workflow. You cannot assume an ambiguous behaviour, where the user can't know if files are being merged, deleted, replaced, etc.
Each and every file brower handles that perfectly (Nautilus/Thunar, Windows explorer).
That's the only reason I'm not going to pay for PF for now, sorry.
andwhy
Teracopy for windows has an excellent implementation of this feature. Click-n-drag can move a source folder's contents into a target folder with the same name without destroying the contents of that folder. Perhaps this model could help Path Finder in the future.
munkymorgy
Windows, Unix, Linux and the Mac terminal mv & ditto all have the wanted behaviour why be different in the Mac Graphical file browser, it does not make sense. Linux gave users the option to change anything they wanted and know one chose to make it work like the default finder action.
strider
Note: just to clarify for those that will nitpick... the /music/newmusicfiles.mp3 is assuming your copying a complex directory structure /music/{variousnewartistfolders}/{variousnewartistalbums}/{songs} by copy just the root /music folder and assuming the computer will do the hard work.
strider
The software should always err on the side of *not* destroying data when intention is not clear. In the modern work flow, merging is many times more likely to be the desired behavior, particularly with the volume of photos, music, movies, documents, spread across 500GB multi level drives. Copy /music/newmusicfiles.mp3 to /music and congrats, your entire collection is gone. Alternatives...unix.
christefano
Meanwhile, this is being discussed in the forum at http://www.cocoatech.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1705
chroder
A must! I can't believe I have to use the command line to do something so simple ;-)
This is one of the things I actually miss from using Windows Explorer.