WAD Copy /w does not use recycle bin

[RogerB]

TCC 16.03.55 x64 Windows 7 [Version 6.1.7601]
TCC Build 55 Windows 7 Build 7601 Service Pack 1

If files in the target directory are deleted by a Copy /w command they do not get placed in the recycle bin even though the option "Delete to Recycle Bin" is set to Yes.

The same problem exists in the v17 beta (build 40)

 

[rconn]

WAD - the synchronization commands (COPY /W and SYNC) were never intended to use the recycle bin. (Which would be extremely messy anyway, as they delete both the files and their directories.)

If you want to request a new feature, please submit it in the Feedback forum.

 

[RogerB]

WAD - the synchronization commands (COPY /W and SYNC) were never intended to use the recycle bin. (Which would be extremely messy anyway, as they delete both the files and their directories.)

OK, well that surprises me. Having set an TCC option called "Delete to Recycle Bin" it seems reasonable to me that all deletions carried out by TCC would honour that setting unless overridden (and subject of course to Windows limitations in what goes to the recycle bin). I'm also not sure why it would be messy, if I delete a directory from Windows Explorer then the directory just appears in the recycle bin and can be restored. Perhaps the Windows APIs that are available to TCC are more restrictive.

Can I please request a documentation update to the /W option of COPY and to SYNC to state clearly that deleted files will be permanently deleted and not appear in the recycle bin?

If you want to request a new feature, please submit it in the Feedback forum.

I'll do that.

 

[vefatica]

A command called "COPY" should never, ever, delete anything. If the /W is intended as some sort of synchronization feature, that feature belongs in SYNC.

 

[rconn]

The commands that support the recycle bin say that in the documentation. All commands that do not say that do not support the recycle bin. There are dozens of commands and variable functions that delete files and do not send them to the recycle bin.

The issue is far from as simple as you hope:

1) The recycle bin is limited in size, so when you sync anything other than small directories you're going to end up with most of the files being discarded from the recycle bin (by Windows, without notice). Is it worthwhile to have only your last 10% in the recycle bin?

2) Deleting to the recycle bin is (very) slow, so your directory syncs are going to be painful.

3) You're going to have to manually recreate your directory trees before you can recover any of the (few) files in the recycle bin.

 

[rconn]

A command called "COPY" should never, ever, delete anything. If the /W is intended as some sort of synchronization feature, that feature belongs in SYNC.

I have no idea what your point is here -- is is (very) clearly stated in the COPY help that /W is a one-way synchronization feature (and that SYNC is for 2-way synchronization).

COPY by its very nature frequently deletes files (every time you overwrite). Misuse of a command option is not proof that that option shouldn't exist.

 

[vefatica]

I have no idea what your point is here -- is is (very) clearly stated in the COPY help that /W is a one-way synchronization feature (and that SYNC is for 2-way synchronization).

COPY by its very nature frequently deletes files (every time you overwrite). Misuse of a command option is not proof that that option shouldn't exist.

I really doubt that copying a file, in the case of updating it, deletes the older version. If it did, the copied version would be a newly-created file, and have a newer creation time (and I don't think it does). In any event, it is simply my opinion that anything called "COPY" should never cause a file that once existed to no longer exist. I may be mistaken (and I don't care to research it), but I doubt you'll find such a "COPY" feature in any other UI, including MSDOS, CMD, any UNIX shell, and the Windows Explorer.

Yes, it is very clearly stated. Do you suppose that I, or any user, except perhaps yourself, have a total awareness of all the options of all the commands in TCC?

I screwed up and deleted some valuable stuff. And I did so out of a naive, ignorant belief that COPY would not delete anything. So I'm in a bad mood and lashing out at a cruel world. If it's a synchronization feature, it belongs in SYNC. Enough said!

 

[rconn]

I really doubt that copying a file, in the case of updating it, deletes the older version.

You would be mistaken.

Yes, it is very clearly stated. Do you suppose that I, or any user, except perhaps yourself, have a total awareness of all the options of all the commands in TCC?

Your arguments might be more compelling if they weren't 7 years late -- COPY /W was added (as a result of multiple user requests) in TCC v11. I am not inclined to remove a feature that a lot of people are using and depending on for the sake of one user's (who doesn't use it anyway) aesthetic beliefs. There are a lot of TCC users who get very upset when a new version isn't backwards compatible with previous versions. Like, for example, you.