Why link icon during drag and drop to iTunes target?

Question

Level 2

159 points

Why link icon during drag and drop to iTunes target?

During drag and drop of an MP4 video file from Windows 7 PC to iTunes library, it shows a link icon, not the icon for the file. Likewise during drag and drop of a PDF file from my PC to an app within iTunes that supports that (like GoodReader), it also shows a link icon, not the icon for the file. The link icon says "link" with a symbolic arrow, indicating the actual file isn't being copied, rather a link back to the file.

However in both cases the actual file (not a link) IS copied to iTunes and if the device is sync'd, transferred to the device.

When using the CTRL or SHIFT key to modify the drag/drop operation from copy to move, the iTunes UI doesn't respond but maintains the link icon. ALT key during drag/drop causes the icon to become a copy icon with "copy" and plus sign, but it does the same thing as the link icon -- file is copied.

Is this expected behavior or a bug?

Config details: iTunes 11.0.5.5

Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium 64-bit

Motherboard: EVGA P55 FTW (A72 BIOS)

CPU: quad-core Intel i7-875K @ 4.01Ghz, hyperthreading on, RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3 12800

System disk: 1TB Velociraptor, 10k rpm SATA

Data disk: 2 x 2TB WD Caviar Black, 7200 rpm SATA, RAID 0, driver=Intel RST ver. 12.6.0.1033

Video: EVGA nVidia GeForce GTX-660 2GB, driver: 320.49

iPad (3rd gen) Wi-Fi, Windows 7

Posted on Sep 12, 2013 8:49 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

thespaceharrier

Level 1

4 points

Sep 21, 2017 6:15 AM in response to Rabsimcox

thanks, ticking the copy box worked.

what a pos this itunes is.

whatever happened to simple drag and drop of files?

too bad apple software is so complicated that i will

have to get rid of the great hardware (ipod mp3 player)

for a cheap mp3 player that can "drag and drop" files in windows without itunes!

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

272,831 points

Sep 12, 2013 9:45 AM in response to joema

I suspect this is a Windows behaviour rather than anything that iTunes is in control of. What behaviour do you see if you make as if to drag and drop onto another application?

tt2

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Answer 3

joema Author

Level 2

159 points

Sep 12, 2013 10:54 AM in response to turingtest2

BTW this is drag/drop to the iTunes sidebar. The icon behavior during drag/drop is clearly the responsibility of the app, in this case iTunes.

Dragging/dropping the same files on Windows Photoshop or Premiere Pro CS6 shows "copy" on the drag/drop icon, and a plus sign. The drag/drop modifiers CTRL, ALT and SHFT do nothing, which is appropriate for this case. The drag/drop icon behavior is different within Explorer (see below). The individual apps control this.

On Mac OS X 10.8.4, drag/drop from Finder to the iTunes sidebar shows the file icon. If you press Option, it changes to a green plus sign. In both cases the actual operation is a copy. You could argue this is inconsistent since the file is copied in both cases, but at least it's not outright wrong.

In some cases the documented Mac OS behavior for unmodified drag/drop is create an alias, and pressing Option is required to copy the actual file. http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11365

It appears whoever wrote the Windows iTunes UI event handling for drag drop implemented the above logic for icon display, but the actual operation was a copy, not create an alias or a link.

Windows iTunes shows the wrong icon during a drag/drop from Explorer to the iTunes sidebar. It says "link" but it's not creating a link, but copying the file. Unless there's some non-intuitive rationale for this, it appears to be a gross error. It's not an esoteric rare operation but in a common user path. This is the equivalent of misspelling a word in a newspaper headline.

Background: dragging and dropping from one Explorer window to another has the below behavior, which is by design and the responsibility of the app (Explorer):

Within same drive: move. Indicated by: "move" on the icon and a single straight arrow.

To different drive: copy. Indicated by: "copy" on the icon and a plus sign.

These operations are modified by these keys during drag/drop:

CNTRL: changes move to copy. Indicated by "copy" on drag/drop icon, and a plus sign.

ALT: changes move to create link. Indicated by "create link" on drag/drop icon, and a curved arrow.

In all cases the icon shown during drag/drop should accurately reflect the executed operation. That is not happening on Windows iTunes.

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Answer 4

Apr 24, 2015 12:41 PM in response to joema

Just in-case you're still in need of an answer. It is because the files are not being added to the "iTunes Media" folder when they are being transferred and it will just link the files. To fix this go in to the preferences - advance settings - then tick the box "copy files to iTunes media folder when adding to library" then files will be copied when dragged across form alternative file.

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Answer 5

Jun 5, 2015 7:41 AM in response to Rabsimcox

thanks so much, Rabsimcox 🙂 your solution was the answer to this 'can't-drag-and-drop-music-files-to-itunes-coz-they're-showing-as-links' prob i have...

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Answer 6

Oct 18, 2015 10:48 AM in response to Rabsimcox

I could kiss you! I have a new computer and I was so frustrated by that stupid "link" icon. Thank you SO much.

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Answer 7

Nov 4, 2016 4:31 AM in response to Rabsimcox

I could kiss you! thank you! 🙂

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