'don't replace' vs 'keep both files'

colemedina wrote:

talk about keeping mulitple copies of the same file, wait!, wasn't this exactly what Lion was not supposed to do???

There is a reason why you would want this:

Merge folders

When you try to combine two folders with the same name, the Finder now offers to merge them into a single folder.

tried it, didn't work. interesting though, it gave me a choice of "don't replace" for the entire folder.

is there a merge command or is this supposed to be automatically??

I really agree that this option was quite essential (for my workflow) and needs to be given priority when releasing an update. I hope this issue will be fixed with some sense of 'urgency', as it really makes copying files TO and FROM a folder on the server kind of a nightmare. Everytime I want to keep the original file, I end up looking for the duplicate and deleting it, at the same time increasing disk-activity and saturating the network (files can be up to 300MB), fragmenting the disk space, etc. I think the correct options could be:

skip / rename duplicate / stop / replace

skip being a version of 'don't replace' short enough to fit in the dialog box, '(auto)rename duplicate' is telling what they plan to do when you hit the 'keep both files'-button.

I do not object against 'keep both files', but I really need Apple to add the 'don't replace' functionality again, even if it would be just there hidden under the 'alt' key when copying.

I think Lion has some wonderful additions, but also several setbacks for work-related implementations. I sincerely hope some of the little tweaks they have removed can return in next upgrade. My colleague mentioned to me that I'm looking 'a bit down' since Lion was installed on my computer... and to be honest... I do feel that way, and that's is bizarre, as upgrades should be improvements?

I'm adding my voice to those who would like Apple to change this back to the way it was. It has now increased the time of my workflow as a photographer and I would appreciate being able to utilize the good things of Lion and not having to revert back to SL. I've submitted feedback to them and I'm hoping everyone else who feels this way does as well.

I am a pro photographer, I have had to downgrade to swow leopard again because this issue! Apple, give us back "do not replace " asap or you will loose the photographers market , we can not run our workflow efficiently without that option!

thanks

I'm adding my support for the point of the original poster:

- the change to Lion's Finder which makes it impossible to use "don't replace" to move large numbers of files around without replacing existing duplicate files

Many followup posters appear to have missed the point by mentioning syncing solutions.

Apple's advertized Merge Folder feature is not offering a practical alternative to the loss of functionality in the Finder.

I've been a longtime license holder of CocoaTech's PathFinder; its the only way that I've been able to do any of the file management tasks which go beyond simple file manipulation.

In an effort to make OS X more familiar to iOS users, Apple has removed longstanding and basic functionality without:

- providing an easy way to revert to the previous way of doing things for longtime users

- providing the old functionality in new features (Merge Folders)

Why do they turn their back on longtime users so easily? Who do longtime users have to change in order to make it easier for new users? Am I just an old crank? Possibly, but that doesn't make me wrong. I'm enjoying a lot of the new features in Lion; my MacBook Air

Peter Norman1 wrote:

Why do they turn their back on longtime users so easily? Who do longtime users have to change in order to make it easier for new users? Am I just an old crank? Possibly, but that doesn't make me wrong. I'm enjoying a lot of the new features in Lion; my MacBook Air

Did Apple really ignore you when you submitted your complaint to http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html ?

Sorry, that last post of mine was accidentally submitted - incomplete and unedited.

An email notification of Tony T1's reply (characteristically in vain, according to his unremitting post history) informed me that my post HAD been successfully submitted.

However, I quickly discovered that not only was it impossible to edit my own posts but I couldn't delete it in an effort to start over. Normally, there is an edit link at the bottom of recent posts; not so in this case - perhaps due to how it was posted?

Suffice it to say:

I'm adding my support for the point of the original poster: the change to Lion's Finder which makes it impossible to use "don't replace" to move large numbers of files around without replacing existing duplicate files.

-peter

Yes, Tony T1 - I did, in fact, submit a report to Apple via their official Feedback page prior to posting to this forum. Despite the subtext of your reply, I'm not an idiot. Whats behind your snarky posts?

These forums are usually very civilized but behaviour like yours toward people simply looking for/providing help, has no excuse.

-peter

I would like this back to please!

I agree - this was a totally backward step in Lion. Why take away functionality? Why Apple Why?

I was in the software business for over a decade. How do you sell "upgrades"? You CHANGE the software.

yes, I just retired after beingin the soup for 3 decades, and that's how you make money. in addition, you can help the entire economy by spawning a "tutorial" industry by making your software so complex and providing nothing in terms of help text, that folks have to shell out even more cash just to understand how the software operates. And if you are hi-fi, you spawn a consultancy industry where it takes actual strangers to come into your home/business to get things sorted. It's wonderful, no?

What exactly is the difference between don't replace and keep both? I just copied a folder with a lot of new files into a folder of the same name on an external drive with alot of the same files. i.e. I keep the folders in sync and I had added a bunch of new files to my internal folder. "keep both" seemed to copy the new files and left the duplicates alone just like don't replace?

@JMK999: "Keep both" creates a numbered duplicate ⚠ of the file in the destination folders on the servers.

Well, life is good again. I just rolled my MBP back to Snow Leopard 10.6.8 (thankfully, I never upgraded my other Macs).

I didn't really care for a slower GUI and many of the "advances" of Lion were really just glitter sprinkled on an already solid release of Snow Leopard. Besides, as a regular user of the "Don't Replace" button (like 50+ times a day), I'll gladly wait for Apple to offer me a better alternative to the clutter created by the "Keep Both" button.