Copy/paste issues Dreamweaver CC property panel

[mmbeker]

I'm on a Mac and I experience some copy/paste issues in Dreamweaver CC. When I want to use an link, from Safari for example and I want to paste it in Dreamweaver, most of the times it pastes an old link. The strange thing is, I can paste it in my code preview, but not by using the property panel. And I can also paste it in other programs. The only thing to solve it is to restart Dreamweaver, but this happens very frequently. So it's very frustrating.

Do other people experience any problems with copy/paste?

[Kratika Agarwal]

Hi,

Thanks for reporting, could you please try clearing DW preferences and see if it resolves the issue.

Unusual behavior in Dreamweaver? Try restoring preferences.

Please let us know if it issue still occurs.

Thanks

[mmbeker]

Recently, I did a reset for my preferences in DW, but that didn't solve the problem either. Any other tips?

[jiml3989405]

How do you Reset Preferences in CC 2018? Couldn't find that, but it appears that it hasn't worked for anyone here anyway. My solution was to reinstall and use Dreamweaver CC 2017. All the standard shortcuts are working there.

<sarcasm>Thanks Adobe for a great update. </sarcasm>

[barbrab]

I've found that completely shutting down and relaunching my system works. However it is the most inconvenient fix ever devised.
Unfortunately I am back at fans wirring away like crazy, node activity through the roof, and then all the usual bugs with the program.
I just renewed my subscription, too, which means I either stick with this trash, or I pay a $250 cancellation fee. I feel raped.

[Jon Fritz · Accepted solution]

You could try rolling back to an older version.

As a paid subscriber, you have access to every release back to CS6 Cloud. All major releases can be installed on the same machines at the same time, under a single subscription, they just won't run concurrently.

To install an older version...

1. Open the CC Desktop App
2. Click the Apps tab
3. Click the small carrot/triangle next to the DW button
4. Choose Other Versions
5. Click the version you want to install

It obviously isn't ideal, but will likely allow you to get some work done while something is figured out with the "latest and greatest".

[jiml3989405]

That's what I did. CC2017 is working for me now. Thanks!

[barbrab]

I did. I reinstalled 2015 last night. It looks ancient. I got an excited mesage telling me it now has Bootstrap support or somesuch. Yay.

I pay too much for all these hassles.

[B i r n o u]

just try some two steps back more... CS6... is really a nice IDE

[barbrab]

I owned CS6 and didn't have to pay a monthly fee for it, until I installed CC.

[B i r n o u]

is there is any difference, if you use the shortcut or if you use the right click menu to paste ?

[mmbeker]

There is no difference in the use of shortcuts or using right click to paste. Tried both ways. Haven't tried to reset all my preferences, as I have a lot of custom settings, so I don't want to reset this.

Pasting in other applications does work and in Dreamweaver it does work when I restart it.

[hen3ry]

There are several different methods of commanding "Copy" and "Paste".   I believe they are all functionally the same -- if one works in a particular situation, all of them should work, as these are functions provided by the Mac system.   Possible exception:  I guess it is possible for apps to substitute their own basic functionality for one or both, in which case all bets are off.

I have the same reluctance to reset my preferences as you, if that risks loss of my existing settings. Since the documentation here  doesn't give restore instructions, and --unless I'm missing something incredibly obvious-- seems to specify the wrong preference file name, namely

   /[user]/Library/Application Support/Preferences/Adobe Dreamweaver [version number].txt

I think it should be

      Adobe Dreamweaver CC YYYY Prefs

where YYYY is a complete year, e.g. 2018.

[hen3ry]

I have what seems to be a very similar issue on DW 18.1 (10155) on an iMac (where I use DW often and intensively) and on DW 2017.5 (9878) on a Macbook Pro (on which I use DW lightly).  Both on MacOS 10.13.4.

The symptoms:

• Items on the "system clipboard", typically a link copied from a browser address box, do not successfully paste into DW Properties-->Link.   Instead, some earlier item copied to the clipboard is pasted.  Yes, I confirm that the system clipboard contains the expected text by pasting it into other apps.  This always works as expected. 

• The reverse also occurs:  if I select the text, a link, in the DW Properties-->Link box and activate Edit-->Copy (or use the completely equivalent keyboard shortcut) then attempt to paste into some other application, that's unsuccessful and some earlier content of the clipboard is pasted instead. Yes, I confirm that the clipboard contains the contents of the Link box by pasting it into the body of a web page I'm editing.  This always works as expected. 

Functionally, this issue appears as if "system clipboard" and the "DW clipboard" somehow become, well, unlinked.   I've never observed this in any other application.  When this issue occurs, all other clipboard operations in other apps and in the System environment  work  completely as expected.

The issue arises fairly quickly after launching DW and getting to work, which is often substantial page editing in the Design and Code windows. I can't  identify any particular triggering action.   Once it occurs, the only solution is quit-and-relaunch. 

Update: I was exploring this issue on Friday on both my Macs.   Part way through writing this post, I quit working on this and put both Macs to sleep.  Now, on Sunday, I expected to pick up where I left off -- but now, on both my Macs, the issue has gone away.   So:  next time the issue occurs, I'll check to see if a brief period of sleep is a fix. 

HTH

[hen3ry]

I spoke too soon.   I've just discovered that the choice of target app makes a difference with respect to transfer of a link from DW to an external app.   It seems that this operation can fail when pasting into Stickies and TextEdit – and possibly some browsers – and succeed when pasting into, say, LibreOffice.  So I need to try additional target apps, and establish which is which.

What could account for the choice of target making a difference?

If I understand Clipboard operation correctly, the source (copied from) application is responsible for putting on the clipboard as many formats of the selected item as it deems necessary.   That might be plain text, HTML,  image, ... maybe 5 or even more different formats.    I think there's also  at least one informational tag like "Link", which indicates the copied text is known to be a syntactically correct  (?) Internet address.

The target (pasted to) application examines the multiple formats and chooses the "best" format for its use, reads the data in that single format, and places it in the paste context.  Some apps (e.g. LibreOffice) allow some user control of this choice through a Paste Special... dialog.

I'm also going to try  Apple's "Clipboard Viewer" (or some more modern variation) to confirm that the  content of the Clipboard is actually changing at "copy" time in DW – and to the correct values.   Hopefully I can get an idea of what alternative formats are being placed on the clipboard, and I can detect a difference corresponding to failure or success in a particular target app.