No one is proposing a wholesale adoption of Window behavior. You are arguing a non sequitur, which seriously undermines the validity of your argument.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
OS X: how to merge folder contents, not replace
- Thread starter Oats
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
- Status
No one is proposing a wholesale adoption of Window behavior. You are arguing a non sequitur, which seriously undermines the validity of your argument.
The hardest OS X thing for me to do is hold my button down the right amount of time when I want to hit a button in another application or cut and paste from one application to the other. With Windows, I don't need to get focus first, hitting the button or selecting the text gets the focus automatically. Maybe when I no longer have to use Windows at work, I'll get comfortable with it.
Whether wholesale, retail, or discount outlet--that is exactly what you are proposing. If you want to use Windows, then buy a Windows computer. There are also several options available for installing and running Windows on your Mac. So go ahead as use Windows 'til your heart's content. I won't mind. Really. I won't.
-v is the wrong flag: that means give verbose output, everything will still be moved regardless of whether a file exists in the destination.
You need to use -i flag to prompt whether you want to overwrite a duplicate file individually, or -n to make mv assume that you don't want to overwrite if a file already exists at the destination. If you want to go as far as determining if the file at the destination is newer then I'd think about writing an AppleScript droplet.
I agree that this merging contents is a more rational approach than the current one. I'd never really thought about it.
It's perfectly logical. It was like this since I started using a mac (1990) and most likely before that since 1984. Why would Apple change this?
Possibly something in the OS should be provided, but if you are managing web development of any significance, you'd be able to use rsync.
mt
True, rsync and other shell options exist. The point is that I'd like to see an option in Finder to do it. I love the command line in OS X, but this is (for me) such a common need that it's frustrating that Finder doesn't support the option of a simple merge.
(Sigh) The mv command won't work. Witness:
In either case (-i or not) the mv command does nothing.
However the traditional UNIX use of the tar command does work:
Note that this does a copy instead of a move (which is safer in case of error!). You have to delete the source files afterwards.
Code:
server:~ admin$ ls -R temp1 temp2
temp1:
foo
temp1/foo:
file1
temp2:
foo
temp2/foo:
file2
server:~ admin$ mv temp1/foo temp2
mv: rename temp1/foo to temp2/foo: Directory not empty
server:~ admin$ mv -i temp1/foo temp2
overwrite temp2/foo? (y/n [n]) y
mv: rename temp1/foo to temp2/foo: Directory not empty
server:~ admin$In either case (-i or not) the mv command does nothing.
However the traditional UNIX use of the tar command does work:
Code:
server:~ admin$ cd temp1 ; tar -cf - * | (cd ../temp2 ; tar -xf -)
server:temp1 admin$ cd ..
server:~ admin$ ls -R temp1 temp2
temp1:
foo
temp1/foo:
file1
temp2:
foo
temp2/foo:
file1 file2Note that this does a copy instead of a move (which is safer in case of error!). You have to delete the source files afterwards.
Why add any feature to anything? Safari worked fine for years without tabs, why add them now?
Tabs? I'm not using tabs. They weren't needed 1998 so why the heck would I use them now?
Anyway, you're right that just because it was done like this 1984 is not a valid argument to leave it like this forever. However I don't say don't add anything. Just leave the current system in place and add a real merge fuctionality with command-click or in a contextual menue. This way you don't alienate the old fashioned user base and add the merge for the windows/unix switchers and whoever needs that feature.
I really never use tabs........ It just slows down the multi finder....
Tabs? I'm not using tabs. They weren't needed 1998 so why the heck would I use them now?
Anyway, you're right that just because it was done like this 1984 is not a valid argument to leave it like this forever. However I don't say don't add anything. Just leave the current system in place and add a real merge fuctionality with command-click or in a contextual menue. This way you don't alienate the old fashioned user base and add the merge for the windows/unix switchers and whoever needs that feature.
I really never use tabs........ It just slows down the multi finder....
Absolutely. An extra menu option and right click drag option doesn't even have to be noticed by those not interested in a new functionality. Everything works as before, no changing needed - unless we have a need to do something different.
Do a search here for "moveAddict" which sort of provides this and its a reasonable US$ 5.
It puts cut and paste into the Finder Tool-Bar (& the regular key combos) and then offers a merge option when it finds a pre-existing folder of the same name.
Yes $5 is a bit much for something that ought to be in the OS but then my SL upgrade was a lot less than my Win7 upgrade.... ;-)
It puts cut and paste into the Finder Tool-Bar (& the regular key combos) and then offers a merge option when it finds a pre-existing folder of the same name.
Yes $5 is a bit much for something that ought to be in the OS but then my SL upgrade was a lot less than my Win7 upgrade.... ;-)
Holy cow!! I've been looking for a utility that does exactly this for YEARS. Literally years. All the time I've asked if anyone had anything like this, all I'd get was "why do you want that? Finder is great, blah blah"... Well yeah Finder is great, but it doesn't have cut and merge, two really REALLY useful tools on Windows Explorer. I have a folder with tens of thousands of files in it with loads of duplication, so I need to do a lot of merging to tidy it up. I was planning on copying it all across to a Windows machine JUST to do all the merging.
So is it worth the $5? Hell yeah!
Thanks!
oh dear... Surely the advertising on here wasn't enough traffic to push him over his allowance? Glad I grabbed it when I did!
I have the DMG file, PM me your email address and I will send it
Except that MS-DOS, C-64, Amiga, Windows all MERGE (someone earlier had a long list of OSs that acted realistically) whereas MacOS REPLACES IN A HARMFUL WAY. Yes, this is entirely insane for a computer. Apple should fix this pronto!
As another poster mentioned, Directory Opus is the best frigging file manager out there ever. It started on the Amiga (so it has no staying power after 25 goddamn years) and was ported to Windows after the demise of Commodore Inc. Directory Opus makes Finder look like a patch-cord computer of the 1940s. It make Explorer look like a punch-card computer of the 1960s. It makes PathFinder (which is not bad) look like a 5-1/4" floppy computer of the 1970s. I've been using DirOpus since my Amiga days. Try it and weep some time. ;P
Either way could be harmful if it's not what we want. Copy a directory with last year's Office over the directory with this year's Office, and the merge could get things wrong.
It would be convenient to have a choice - but I don't see that the default choice for Windows is necessarily better than the default choice for OSX. Especially when we consider that OSX apps are really directories.
Drag and Pray
WRONG!
The reason you don't hear much about it is because the PC method is pretty common sense.. you move folders and the things already in there should remain.
PC users expect Apple to do common sense things.
I'd actually bet what happens is that PC converts don't even realize what happens when they drag and drop a folder. I'll bet they just wonder what happened to those durned files they thought were there.
This is a GLARING oversight and basically inexcusable behavior.
To delete an entire folder without explicit warning would seem stupid to anyone if you explained the situation and left off whether it was OSX or Windoze you were talking about.
Furthermore, there is NO reason for this to be the case! There is no inherent file system limitation preventing an 'append' and 'ask if duplicate file exists'.
Sorry fanbois.... and goyrls...
WRONG!
The reason you don't hear much about it is because the PC method is pretty common sense.. you move folders and the things already in there should remain.
PC users expect Apple to do common sense things.
I'd actually bet what happens is that PC converts don't even realize what happens when they drag and drop a folder. I'll bet they just wonder what happened to those durned files they thought were there.
This is a GLARING oversight and basically inexcusable behavior.
To delete an entire folder without explicit warning would seem stupid to anyone if you explained the situation and left off whether it was OSX or Windoze you were talking about.
Furthermore, there is NO reason for this to be the case! There is no inherent file system limitation preventing an 'append' and 'ask if duplicate file exists'.
Sorry fanbois.... and goyrls...
What chu talkin' 'bout, Willis?
"A newer item named "Not Observant" already exists in this location. Do you want to replace it with the older one you are moving?"
Ok, I added the bold text. But it tells me exactly what it is going to do. It's my choice.
Well I disagree with you disagreeing with him and I agree with him.
Does that change the situation? It's less then functional, and it should be corrected by Apple 
rather then asking all of us with $3,000 + Mac's buying or installing 3rd party software to correct.I wouldn't mind if it was just a case of buying/installing third party software... I still have yet to find a piece of software that mimics the folder merge on Windows. There is a utility called MoveAddict, but in my experience it doesn't work very wellWell I disagree with you disagreeing with him and I agree with him.
I wouldn't mind if it was just a case of buying/installing third party software... I still have yet to find a piece of software that mimics the folder merge on Windows. There is a utility called MoveAddict, but in my experience it doesn't work very well
Point well taken... I can't find a way around it EXCEPT opening every GD folder and coping or moving contents. I can tell you that this is not they way I enjoy spending my time. I've tried installing Parallels and accessing the directories with it... and this helps to a certain degree.
Look at my post earlier in this thread. The tar command (from UNIX) will do a merge. But you have to use the command line -- no GUI.
Yes sir, I did note that, would seem that it's easily something that could be fixed by Apple then, given that a command line can do it. Now if I could get Win7 or XP to get past the 2TB limit
Been a while since I did the vax/vms or Unix stuff LOL. Used to be the only way I accessed the internet at 2400 baud.
- Status