The Finder can't copy a folder twice!



  • I was copying a folder to a (slow) USB stick and I wanted to copy the same folder to a network share. To save time I thought I'd do it at the same time.

    The Finder disagreed:

    Note: this only seems to happen when copying the contents of the folder first, then copying the folder itself afterwards.



  • As this looks like a Fisher-Price GUI I guess this is on a Mac. The fact that it takes 2 minutes to copy 500MB is also a good indicator that this is performed on a sub-par operating system. It's probably sending your file on iCloud or applying some kind of DRM so Apple can later charge you to access your own files.


  • Considered Harmful

    Funny, my first thought on seeing this screenshot was "oh, it shared the same dialog between two concurrent copy operations; I wish my operating system did that."



  • That's a terrible UI. You'd expect clicking OK to close it, because it's an error message, but it's also the copy dialog, so closing it would abort your copy.



  • @Speakerphone Dude said:

    The fact that it takes 2 minutes to copy 500MB is also a good indicator that this is performed on a sub-par operating system
     

    Yeah, or, saving to a USB stick that cost like $2 including branding so it has terrible write speed. Windows 7 performs the same with these stupid things.



  • @lolwtf said:

    You'd expect clicking OK to close it, because it's an error message, but it's also the copy dialog, so closing it would abort your copy.
     

    Clicking OK only closes that part of the dialog, leaving the copy continuing. It's actually quite good. The little X in a circle would abort copy.



  • @Speakerphone Dude said:

    As this looks like a Fisher-Price GUI I guess this is on a Mac. The fact that it takes 2 minutes to copy 500MB is also a good indicator that this is performed on a sub-par operating system. It's probably sending your file on iCloud or applying some kind of DRM so Apple can later charge you to access your own files.

    I use Windows and OSX on a daily basis, I'd say they're practically identical in most cases. OSX has it's rough edges that windows doesn't have (file moving is a sore point since you can't merge folders) but it also has its sweet spots like being far easier to use on a laptop (thanks to the gestures, responsiveness and shortcuts).



  • @Zemm said:

    @Speakerphone Dude said:

    The fact that it takes 2 minutes to copy 500MB is also a good indicator that this is performed on a sub-par operating system
     

    Yeah, or, saving to a USB stick that cost like $2 including branding so it has terrible write speed. Windows 7 performs the same with these stupid things.

    That's what you get for buying USB sticks from the bin on the checkout counter at RadioShack.



  • @Speakerphone Dude said:

    That's what you get for buying USB sticks from the bin on the checkout counter at RadioShack.
     

    Oh I wish these were that good! Talk to the guy who bought them. At least read speed is acceptable.



  • @Zemm said:

    @lolwtf said:

    You'd expect clicking OK to close it, because it's an error message, but it's also the copy dialog, so closing it would abort your copy.
     

    Clicking OK only closes that part of the dialog, leaving the copy continuing. It's actually quite good. The little X in a circle would abort copy.

     

    It's not. It violates the "don't make the user think" rule, I usually don't have problems with operating even bad UIs, but this would make me stop for a while and then decide not to click anything, just to be sure.

     

    Oh, and, hurray for multitasking, enabling you to do things the natural way since... when? About 1980?

     



  • @Speakerphone Dude said:

    As this looks like a Fisher-Price GUI I guess this is on a Mac. The fact that it takes 2 minutes to copy 500MB is also a good indicator that this is performed on a sub-par operating system. It's probably sending your file on iCloud or applying some kind of DRM so Apple can later charge you to access your own files.
     

     I remember when buying my first laptop with Vista. I tried to copy King's Quest I from a CD to my disk. It took 5 minutes (yes, it was the original version). Not saying the Finder's copy&paste isn't shitty, though..



  • @SEMI-HYBRID code said:

    @Zemm said:

    @lolwtf said:

    You'd expect clicking OK to close it, because it's an error message, but it's also the copy dialog, so closing it would abort your copy.
     

    Clicking OK only closes that part of the dialog, leaving the copy continuing. It's actually quite good. The little X in a circle would abort copy.

     

    It's not. It violates the "don't make the user think" rule, I usually don't have problems with operating even bad UIs, but this would make me stop for a while and then decide not to click anything, just to be sure.

    Oh, and, hurray for multitasking, enabling you to do things the natural way since... when? About 1980?

     

    After only seeing the picture i instantly knew that the ok button would only dismiss the message, and teh 'x' would cancel the copy. I'm sure it would be even more clear while using it, i.e. seenig the dialog change in response to the second copy attempt by adding the message. I didn't have to "think" about it all!

    Also a better rule is: Don't make the user Click

     



  • @Soviut said:

    @Speakerphone Dude said:
    As this looks like a Fisher-Price GUI I guess this is on a Mac. The fact that it takes 2 minutes to copy 500MB is also a good indicator that this is performed on a sub-par operating system. It's probably sending your file on iCloud or applying some kind of DRM so Apple can later charge you to access your own files.

    I use Windows and OSX on a daily basis, I'd say they're practically identical in most cases. OSX has it's rough edges that windows doesn't have (file moving is a sore point since you can't merge folders) but it also has its sweet spots like being far easier to use on a laptop (thanks to the gestures, responsiveness and shortcuts).

    I quite like the way this is managed in KDE (Linux or Windows). You can copy multiple directories of the same name into the same location and it will merge them as best it can, asking you if a) you want to write into a directory that already exists b) overwrite existing files. It asks per file/directory, but has a checkbox to make your choices apply to all. It would be nice if it offered some advanced decision based choice, e.g. overwrite only if source is newer, etc, but for the most part it works pretty well.



  • @esoterik said:

    After only seeing the picture i instantly knew that the ok button would only dismiss the message, and teh 'x' would cancel the copy. I'm sure it would be even more clear while using it, i.e. seenig the dialog change in response to the second copy attempt by adding the message. I didn't have to "think" about it all!
     

    Then it might be just my bias, because I've learned that the only thing I can be sure about when Macs are involved is that I can't be sure about anything.



  • @SEMI-HYBRID code said:

    I've learned that the only thing I can be sure about when Macs are involved is that I can't be sure about anything.
     

    I don't think that's right...


  • BINNED

    @esoterik said:

    After only seeing the picture i instantly knew that the ok button would only dismiss the message, and teh 'x' would cancel the copy. I'm sure it would be even more clear while using it, i.e. seenig the dialog change in response to the second copy attempt by adding the message. I didn't have to "think" about it all!

    Also a better rule is: Don't make the user Click

     

    "Don't make the user think" in this context appears to be code for "it should act like Windows."



  • A friend of mine once let me set up a user account on his mac. He got angry when he saw I had put the dock on the side of the screen.


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