ETS supports several built-in copy strategies, which operate according to the principles described below.
Copy Strategy
The order of the items copied at their destination depends on their order in the selection before copying!
The elements to be copied can be selected by mouse and the SHIFT/CTRL keys or the command CTRL+A (select all). Two copy strategies can be distinguished:
Explicit
The user wishes to copy an entire list but the order in which the elements are copied does not matter.
How?: Select All (CTRL+A)
Source:
List
- A
- B
- C
- D <-- current selection
- E
Copy key sequence:
- CTRL+A
- CTRL+C
- CTRL+V
Destination
List
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
Comment
By choosing Select All, the user may not select elements in a specific order. The copy order depends on the element addresses.
Why isn’t D the first element at the destination? At least one element must be selected (here D) to perform a CTRL+A. However, the Select All function overrules the selection.
Dedicated
The user wishes to copy an entire list and wants the elements to be copied in a specific order.
How?: Select multiple
Source:
List
- A <-- 4. Selection
- B <-- 5. Selection
- C <-- 2. Selection
- D <-- 1. Selection
- E <-- 3. Selection
Copy key sequence:
- CTRL+C
- CTRL+V
Destination
List
- D
- C
- E
- A
- B
Comment
The copy corresponds to the order of the previous selection.
Copy Results
When copying elements (e.g. a Group Address or an entire Building), no general copying rule is applied. The copying actions are similar to those in Windows, i.e.:
- If a copied item has a unique identifier, as is the case for devices (the Individual Address) or Group Addresses (the Group Address value), then the name of the item will not be changed.
- The possibility of an overflow is therefore taken into account (e.g. more than 250 devices in a line or more than 7 Middle Groups), so these elements will not be generated. For Individual Addresses, a special procedure is used.
- If a copied item has no unique identifier, as is the case for rooms, then "copy" is appended to the item name.
- If an item is inserted and the Name field is left blank, then "(2)" is appended to the name if the name already exists.
Example:
- Group Address Copy/Paste
Source Name = "My Address"; Destination Name = "My Address"
- Copy a Room
Source Name = "My Living Room"; Destination Name = "My Living Room - Copy"
- Paste a Room
Existing Name = "My Living Room"; Destination Name = "My Living Room (2)"
Copy constraints
Group Address
When copying Group Addresses from one project to another, the copy action can only be performed if the Group Address style is identical in both projects.
Devices
- When copying devices within the topology: The copied devices lose all Building and Trade information.
- When copying devices within the building structure: The copied devices keep all Building and Trade information.
Example:
- Copy a device from project A into project B; it is not certain that the same building/trade exists in the destination project.
- Copy a device within the topology; this only duplicates the device; if needed, it can be coped to the appropriate building part as well.
When copying devices, please take into account the handling of download flags.
Group Object description
When copying devices that have a Group Object description defined, then the following apply:
- Copying within the same project: If a Group Object description has been manually defined (i.e. not by the Automatic Object Description), the value is not taken over to the the copy.
- Copying across projects: If a Group Object description has been manually defined (i.e. not by the Automatic Object Description), the value is taken over to the copy.
Device certification status
Non-certified product entries can also be copied to other projects. The certification status is not modifiable by a user and therefore is persisted when a device is copied.
Copy & Move
Copy or move operations are similar to the standard Windows operations. You can copy or move an item directly by dragging it from the source to the destination.
- Copy operations are performed with the SHIFT/CTRL keys pressed.
- Move operations are performed with the SHIFT/CTRL keys released.
The current (copy or move) operation is also shown as a tool tip next to the mouse or item (only when the mouse is located in the window to which one wants to copy).