Copy refers to the process of making a duplicate of information, for instance, a photocopy. In Interrogator, the word has two common meanings.
Copy means to make a duplicate of a file in a new location, as with the cp command. It also means to take the information in the selection, and to duplicate it in the clipboard, in anticipation of a subsequent Paste command, as you might do in a word processor. These different meanings intertangle with Interrogator, because you can copy files by using Copy & Paste. In fact, there are many variations of both the Copy and the Paste commands, and combining them, and using them with other programs, can be quite powerful.
Interrogator deals with files and directories, rather than text as in a word processor. When you type characters into a window, the filename you spell will be selected. This is called Touch Targeting. Similarly, if you copy a name of a file out of, for instance, a terminal window, and then Paste it into Interrogator with ^V on X11 or cmdV on MacOS X, you will select the file, if there is a file with that name. Similarly, if you select one or more files in Interrogator, and Copy with ^C or cmdC, you can then Paste the text into another program. Multiple filenames are separated with spaces so you can use the text in a command line immediately.
(X11 Note: In the original standard, you do a Copy by simply selecting text, and you do a Paste by clicking the middle mouse button. Different programs work differently of course; try the Edit menu, or the keystrokes ^C and ^V, or the INSert and DELete keystrokes. In Emacs, use ^W and ^Y. In older Netscape versions, try altC and altV. On a Unix-style keyboard, try the Cut, Copy and Paste buttons on the left keypad.)
In Interrogator, the standard ^C cmdC ^V cmdV
commands for Copy and Paste are merely special cases of more general Copy and Paste
commands. These commands use different modifiers, and they use prefix keystrokes
named PreFlags. For instance, if you want to copy and paste the entire contents
of a file, rather than just its name, you would use these commands:
X11: altC altF shift^altV
Mac: ^C ^F ^cmdV
(note: we use ^ to refer to the ctrl or control modifier; hold it down while typing a V to type ^V. If you have the modifier on both sides of the keyboard, you should be able to use either one.)
When you create a new file this way, it's given a generic name, but you are placed into Rename mode, so you just type in the name you want.
In this example, the keystroke altF or ^F is called a PreFlag. It's like one of those hyphen options on the command line, but it's quicker. Not all letters are preflags, for instance, altC or ^C is a different form of the Copy command. But all preflags have an Alt modifier on X11, or a ^ modifier on Mac.
Most of the commands that have preflags, also have the same modifier. This makes it easier to type, for instance, typing altF altC is easy because you never remove your finger from the Alt key. But, keystrokes that have filesystem side effects, that is, that change files or directories, are usually shift^alt, or on mac, ^cmd. This is intentionally made a bit more difficult, so you don't do them by accident.
You can also use Copy and Paste to copy, move or link files, just like dragging icons. Use the original ^C or cmdC Copy command to get the name of the source file. Then use shift^altV or ^cmdV to paste the file.
The default is to Move the file. By adding PreFlag altD or ^D, for Duplicate, before the Paste command, you can modify it to copy (duplicate) the file instead. If there's already a file by that name, for instance if you make another duplicate, a dialog will ask you if you want to rename the existing file out of the way, or just replace (delete) it. You can avoid this by including the altB or ^B preflag, which means "make a backup of any existing file".
Similarly, the R preflag means to Replace, and the L preflag means to make a symlink in the new location that points to the original file, instead of creating a copy of the file.
You can use the keystroke quick reference to learn about other preflags you can
use this way. Use the keystrokes to get the quick reference:
X11: altU altI
Mac: ^U ^I
Sometimes preflags are mutually exclusive, as with L and D on the Paste command. Other times, they are independent, as with R and B.
Documentation > Copy Etc |
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