How to use the Gramps Clipboard

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Gramps Clipboard48x48 win.png
Clipboard dialog

Although distantly related to the familar cut, copy & paste clipboards bundled in Operating Systems, the Gramps clipboard is a feature specificly tailored to the Gramps genealogy software, It allows users to temporarily store and manage data as structured objects within the application. The Gramps clipboard is designed to work within the context of a specific Gramps Tree database and is not accessible by other programs or applications. Except for plain text objects, the Gramps Clipboard cannot be used to move data between trees either.

In contrast, the operating system clipboard is a standard feature of most operating systems, such as Windows, macOS, and Linux. It allows users to temporarily transfer data between different applications and programs.

Key Differences

Some of the key differences between the Gramps clipboard and the operating system clipboard include:

  • Scope: The Gramps clipboard is specific to a database Tree opened in the Gramps application, whereas the operating system clipboard is available to all applications and programs on the operating system. OS clipboards are typically limited to a single object at a time. The Gramps Clipboard has lists of objects.
  • Extended interface: The Gramps clipboard includes extended selection, context pop-up menus of possible actions and drag'n'drop support.
  • Data types: The Gramps clipboard is designed to work with genealogical data types such as individuals, families, sources, and events, whereas the operating system clipboard can handle a wide variety of data types, including text, images, and files.
  • Management: The Gramps clipboard is managed within the Gramps application, and users can view, add, and remove items from the clipboard using the Gramps user interface. The operating system clipboard is managed at the operating system level, and users typically access it through keyboard shortcuts or menus.
  • Persistence: The Gramps clipboard is typically cleared when the user exits the Gramps application, whereas the data stored in the operating system clipboard can persist across different sessions and even across reboots. (The Collections Clipboard addon provides some persistence features.)
  • Keybindings: Gramps overrides the Ctrl+C "Copy" keybinding from the Operating System clipboard. When a Gramps view is active and an object is 'active' (aka 'selected'), then the standard Copy keybinding will copy that active object to the keyboard and open the clipboard dialog if it is not currently displayed. The standard Cut and Paste keybindings would have ambiguous meaning in Gramps and are remain tied to the OS clipboard. This difference is particularly startling when a Text boxes is active and text is selected.

Overall, the Gramps clipboard is a specialized feature designed to work with genealogical data within the Gramps application, while the operating system clipboard is a general-purpose feature that can be used to manage data between multiple applications and programs on the operating system.

See also

detached Collections Clipboard addon gramplet
The Group As name override
unify similar surmanes [sic] thread
threads with "Group As name"