Nautilus no longer copies file path when a file is marked then copied

[Trond Hindenes]

In previous versions of Ubuntu, copying in nautilus behaved so that it was possible to select a file, Ctrl+C (or just right-click + copy) and the resulting data on the clipboard was a "pasteable" file path that could be used directly in a terminal or by Ctrl+V in an open file dialog box. This was incredibly powerful.

Ubuntu 19 behaves differently. If I for example select my .zshrc file in nautilus and past into terminal, the resulting output is:

x-special/nautilus-clipboard
copy
file:///home/trond/.zshrc

performing the same on Ubuntu 18 or lower would copy the literal path of the file:

/home/trond/.zshrc

imho this is a bug as it deteriorates the overall file management experience in Ubuntu.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 19.04
Package: nautilus 1:3.32.0-0ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.0.0-13.14-generic 5.0.6
Uname: Linux 5.0.0-13-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.10-0ubuntu27
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Wed Apr 24 22:00:17 2019
GsettingsChanges: b'org.gnome.nautilus.preferences' b'default-folder-viewer' b"'list-view'"
InstallationDate: Installed on 2019-04-20 (4 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 19.04 "Disco Dingo" - Release amd64 (20190416)
SourcePackage: nautilus
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
usr_lib_nautilus:

[Trond Hindenes (trond-1)]

I believe this is the same bug:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nautilus/+bug/1824157

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Thanks, could you reprort it upstream on https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/nautilus/issues/?

[vanadium (ftack)]

For you rinformation, this issue is filed with Gnome as https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/nautilus/issues/634

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Thanks

[florin (florin-arjocu)]

I am also one of those who want this. It was very useful to upload files in emails/browser, to open certain files in any program without browsing for the file. Hope it comes back, soon.

[Bartha Dénes (denesb)]

I can confirm that I have the same issue. It was terribly useful in the previous versions of Ubuntu for copying/uploading files.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

The new comments seem slightly different from the original, the report was about copy of file path and now comments are talking about interactions with the gtk fileselector which seems a different problem?

[Bartha Dénes (denesb)]

We are talking about the same issue. In the previous versions when you pressed Ctrl+C in nautilus after selecting a file the resulting data on the clipboard was the file path of this selected file.

[Vadym Stupakov (red-eyed)]

Same here.
Actually, it was a killer feature for decades as for me and many my colleagues.

Please, return it back.

Thanks.

[b8e5n (b8e5n)]

Same thing here, it is really useful feature lost! It is really frustrating.

[brandon lockley (brandon3055)]

I agree. This was one of the first changes i notices upon switching to ubuntu 19. Its been annoying the hell out of me ever since. I would really like to see this restored to the original behavior where Ctrl+C on a file or folder just copies the absolute path to your clipboard.
Or at the very least i would like a config option to restore the old behavior.

[ruru (ruru)]

This change has significantly reduced useability when working with large numbers of files in different programs. It lowers the useability to that of Apple's OS X (where copying only copies the filename and not the path).
Also related to the lost functionality where copying or drag/dropping the path directory buttons in Nautilus no longer copies the folder path as text.

Why, when this worked brilliantly before, have these regressions crept in?

[Leandro Heck (leoheck)]

The Copy was the most important feature of the nautilus, now it does not work like it use to be. It was like that since 19.04. The same issue persists on 19.10. Please, what should we do to fix it? How can we accelerate that? Do you know any workaround for that?

[Gregory Kramida (algomorph)]

Currently, you can track the status of the MR for Nautilus for the fix of this regression: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/nautilus/-/merge_requests/573

The change in the gnome shell that was causing all this has already been reverted / altered here:
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/nautilus/-/issues/634

[Gregory Kramida (algomorph)]

Just as a status update,
we are waiting on https://gitlab.gnome.org/World/ShellExtensions/desktop-icons/-/merge_requests/186 to be merged right now. Perhaps people wouldn't mind doing a thumbs up to bump that PR?