[Users] Attachments - can the window manger be changed ?

[Dustin Miller]

On Tue, 4 Feb 2025 14:49:23 +1000
Peter Richards <peter777 at users.sourceforge.net> wrote:

> On Tue, 4 Feb 2025 10:37:31 +0600
> Dustin Miller <dustbiz at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > On Tue, 4 Feb 2025 11:37:12 +1000
> > Peter Richards <peter777 at users.sourceforge.net> wrote:
> >   
>  > > Seems it can't be done WITHOUT resizing the 2 windows, one is  
> > > > Claws, the other is whatever File Manager is used.      
> > > 
> > > Although some more testing and Claws doesn't have to be resized.
> > > Just need some sort of file manager where the window size is
> > > smaller than Claws , then a drag/drop works. Window focus is
> > > important to drive it.   
> > 
> > DM: Hi, Peter. 🙂️ I think for your use case, a simple copy-paste
> > into the message body area will be the easiest way to do what you
> > want. This tested OK for me based on the following system
> > variables, and subsequent results:
> > 
> > * OS: Sparky Linux 7.x (based on Debian 12)
> > * File manager (FM): Pcmanfm
> > * Claws Mail (CM) version: 4.3.0git44
> > * Step 1: Went to FM and used Ctrl + C to copy a file.
> > * Step 2: Went to CM, opened a 'compose' window, selected the
> > message body, and used Ctrl + V to do a paste. This resulted in a
> > dialogue window reporting that the file had been attached to the
> > message, which I also confirmed by going to the 'Attachment' tab.
> > (The dialogue window also has a box to check if you don't want it to
> >   display every time.)
> > * (I'm assuming this would also work for attaching multiple files at
> >   the same time, but I didn't test that.)
> > * (Possible downsides for other use cases, which appear to be
> >   different from other users' reports on how drag-n-drop works: You
> >   don't get an option to 'insert' the file. This doesn't work in the
> >   'Attachment' tab area.)
> > * Advantage for your use case: No need to resize windows, and you
> > can use your preferred file manager to locate the file(s) you want
> > to attach.
> > 
> > DM: Hope that helps. Cheers, ---Dustin  
> 
> ... I tried that with using Dolphin, plus also Gnome Commander and all
> it did was paste the filename/location path, whereas the drag/drop did
> add a file as an attachment.
> 
DM: Interesting. For me, the dialogue window does show the filename /
location path, but the file also does get attached, and it looks the
same in the attachment tab as when I attach it through the normal Claws
Mail means.

DM: One possible explanation is that the feature I'm referring to was
added after the Claws Mail version you are using (you could check
change logs if you wanted to confirm without doing a trial-and-error
upgrade). Another possible explanation is that there's something about
the way your file manager(s) and/or system handle copies and/or pastes
of files from one app to another that keeps the 'expected' result from
happening (eg. some setups might just create a link at the target
location rather than actually 'pasting' the file itself). If that's the
case, then perhaps there are one or more settings that could be changed
in order to make it work, as long as that wouldn't mess up anything else
in your workflow. If it were me and I wanted to pursue this angle, I
would look into the first possibility first. If that's the likely
cause, then you'll need to decide if you're willing and able to upgrade
your Claws version on that system. Cheers, ---Dustin