feature: allow to paste files from the clipboard

[SimonSiefke]

fixes #130036

For testing:

1. Copy a file or folder
2. Paste the file or folder into the VSCode files explorer using ctrl+v (or cmd+V on macOS)
3. Verify the file or folder has been added to the VSCode files explorer

[bpasero]

Pretty cool, does this run on all platforms?

[SimonSiefke]

Pretty cool, does this run on all platforms?

Thanks! I have only tested on Linux so far, but I can test on Windows tomorrow. I don't have any MacOs for testing.

Edit: On Windows it seems to work great as well!

[bpasero]

I am also curious how this (if at all) interferes with VS Code internal copy/paste. For example, today you can copy a folder in one VS Code window and paste it into the explorer of another window and it works.

[SimonSiefke]

In both cases the pasteFileHandler is called twice. Here are some examples:

Copying a folder in one VS Code window and pasting it into the vscode file explorer of another window

1. keydown event fires
2. KeyBinding is resolved: "^explorer.pasteFiles"
3. Command "explorer.pasteFiles" is executed - the files are pasted here (using clipBoardService.readResources, reading "code/file-list" items from the clipboard)
4. Due to the caret "^", event.preventDefault is not called
5. Window paste event fires
6. Command "explorer.pasteFiles" is executed again, this time with a FileList as argument - nothing happens since FileList is empty

Copying a folder from the native file explorer and pasting into the vscode file explorer

1. keydown event fires
2. KeyBinding is resolved: "^explorer.pasteFiles"
3. Command is executed "explorer.pasteFiles" - nothing happens since there are no "code/file-list" items pasted
4. Due to the caret "^", event.preventDefault is not called
5. window paste event fires
6. Command "explorer.pasteFiles" is executed again, this time with a FileList as argument - the files from the FileList are pasted here

Depending on the data, either "code/file-list" clipboard items or the paths from the FileList will be inserted.

So far in my testing, there have never been any conflicts/interferences between the two.

[bpasero]

The change LGTM, though I did not test it on Windows or Linux.

I wonder if we should show a dialog before pasting native files, simply because users might not be aware yet and its quite easy to accidentally paste and thus create a very large folder structure in the workspace if you happen to have one in the clipboard. The dialog could be tied to a new setting and have a checkbox to never ask again, similar to how we have that for preventing accidental drag and drop operations:

[SimonSiefke]

While I totally get the potential pitfalls of accidental large pastes, adding a dialog might introduce an extra step that could disrupt the user flow. It seems to me much more rare to accidentally paste files with ctrl+v, that perhaps a dialog might not be necessary.

On the other hand, if multiple people report it as an issue, of course I would not be opposed to adding a dialog.

Perhaps we could merge this and gather some feedback from vscode-insiders users if there are any issues. What do you think?

[lramos15]

While I totally get the potential pitfalls of accidental large pastes, adding a dialog might introduce an extra step that could disrupt the user flow. It seems to me much more rare to accidentally paste files with ctrl+v, that perhaps a dialog might not be necessary.

I do wonder how much rarer that is though. I accidentally paste text all the time that I didn't mean to because I don't know what the contents of my clipboard are. It's also probably beneficial to align the experiences so moving and creating sets of files is all the same.

[bpasero]

Just to clarify: the dialog has a checkbox to never ask again (updating a setting). So its really up to the user. And its a nice gesture for users that are not aware of this change in the future.

[SimonSiefke]

Okay, you have convinced me. I also wanted to avoid the extra work... :)

[SimonSiefke]

Here is the paste file handler with the confirmation dialog:

paste.mp4

[lramos15]

Nit: These are folders not files

[lramos15]

Thanks so much for the contribution @SimonSiefke! This will be in Monday's insiders release for everyone to try :)

[baldbull69]

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