Outliner: Unexpected behavior when duplicating object hierarchies #104866

New Issue

Steve Gaskell · 2023-02-17T12:13:59+01:00

Steve Gaskell commented

2023-02-17 12:13:59 +01:00

System Information
Operating system: Windows-10-10.0.22000-SP0 64 Bits
Graphics card: NVIDIA RTX A4500/PCIe/SSE2 NVIDIA Corporation 4.5.0 NVIDIA 512.15

Blender Version
Broken: version: 3.4.1, branch: blender-v3.4-release, commit date: 2022-12-20 08:50, hash: rBef9ca44dee7f
Worked: (newest version of Blender that worked as expected)

Short description of error
may not be a bug - duplicate a parent object (i.e. an object that has child objects). The duplication automatically selects the new object in the 3D viewport but this selection differs from that shown in the outliner. This means dragging to, say, a new collection does not work as expected (only the parent object is moved leaving the child behind).

Exact steps for others to reproduce the error
The set up (this is the attached blend file):-

Create two cubes (or any meshes) and parent one to the other to form a hierarchy.
Add the object(s) to a collection.
Create another top level collection which is empty.

The aim:-
To duplicate the object(s) (not the collection) and copy the duplicate to the second (currently empty) collection.

The steps:-

Right click the parent object in the outliner and choose "Select Hierarchy". Note that the outliner shows the selected objects with a blue background bar (as expected).
In the 3D viewport, use Shift or Alt D (doesn't matter which) to create new duplicate objects. Note that the 3D viewport shows the duplicate parent and child selected. The outliner shows a new object selected (with blue bar) but the tree is collapsed so we can't see the child.
In the outliner, click and drag the selected parent object to the empty collection. Note that only the parent moves, the child is left behind. This child has then to be dragged separately.

After step 2, every visual cue leads the user to believe that the duplicate hierarchy is selected. And this is the intuitive behaviour expected. But expanding the outliner tree shows the child object is not, in fact, selected (no blue bar). So an additional step of having to reselect the hierarchy is required before step 3.

The main issue is that with lots of objects and detailed hierarchies, just forgetting that additional "select hierarchy" step before dragging means that child objects can be scattered all over the place away from their parent and the user is left picking through the large list trying to sort it out.

This may not be a bug, it may be working as designed. But I cannot think of a use case where the current functionality would be useful so I'm assuming it's a small selection bug.

**System Information** Operating system: Windows-10-10.0.22000-SP0 64 Bits Graphics card: NVIDIA RTX A4500/PCIe/SSE2 NVIDIA Corporation 4.5.0 NVIDIA 512.15 **Blender Version** Broken: version: 3.4.1, branch: blender-v3.4-release, commit date: 2022-12-20 08:50, hash: `rBef9ca44dee7f` Worked: (newest version of Blender that worked as expected) **Short description of error** **may not be a bug** - duplicate a parent object (i.e. an object that has child objects). The duplication automatically selects the new object in the 3D viewport but this selection differs from that shown in the outliner. This means dragging to, say, a new collection does not work as expected (only the parent object is moved leaving the child behind). **Exact steps for others to reproduce the error** The set up (this is the attached blend file):- 1. Create two cubes (or any meshes) and parent one to the other to form a hierarchy. 2. Add the object(s) to a collection. 3. Create another top level collection which is empty. The aim:- To duplicate the object(s) (not the collection) and copy the duplicate to the second (currently empty) collection. The steps:- 1. Right click the parent object in the outliner and choose "Select Hierarchy". Note that the outliner shows the selected objects with a blue background bar (as expected). 2. In the 3D viewport, use Shift or Alt D (doesn't matter which) to create new duplicate objects. Note that the 3D viewport shows the duplicate parent and child selected. The outliner shows a new object selected (with blue bar) but the tree is collapsed so we can't see the child. 3. In the outliner, click and drag the selected parent object to the empty collection. Note that only the parent moves, the child is left behind. This child has then to be dragged separately. After step 2, every visual cue leads the user to believe that the duplicate hierarchy is selected. And this is the intuitive behaviour expected. But expanding the outliner tree shows the child object is not, in fact, selected (no blue bar). So an additional step of having to reselect the hierarchy is required before step 3. The main issue is that with lots of objects and detailed hierarchies, just forgetting that additional "select hierarchy" step before dragging means that child objects can be scattered all over the place away from their parent and the user is left picking through the large list trying to sort it out. This may not be a bug, it may be working as designed. But I cannot think of a use case where the current functionality would be useful so I'm assuming it's a small selection bug.

bugreport-230217.blend

1.2 MiB

Steve Gaskell added the

labels 2023-02-17 12:14:00 +01:00

Iliya Katushenock commented

2023-02-17 12:41:32 +01:00

Please make the steps more complete, with names, without breaks with explanations. Just a set of steps and the expected result at the end.

Iliya Katushenock added

Status

Needs Information from User

and removed

Status

Needs Triage

labels 2023-02-17 12:41:38 +01:00

Steve Gaskell commented

2023-02-17 13:32:09 +01:00

Please make steps more complete
The steps are complete. I don't know what else I can add

... with names
Names?

Without explanations
The explanations are I think crucial to the understanding of what is happening vs. what should be happening. A simple set of steps would lack context.

I've never come across a situation where a bug report contains too much information such that there is a request to remove some of it!

>>Please make steps more complete The steps are complete. I don't know what else I can add >> ... with names Names? >>Without explanations The explanations are I think crucial to the understanding of what is happening vs. what should be happening. A simple set of steps would lack context. I've never come across a situation where a bug report contains too much information such that there is a request to remove some of it!

Iliya Katushenock commented

2023-02-17 13:44:27 +01:00

Rather, it is easy to get confused.
Split: object, child

Copy of object, Copy of child
Selected, Active
In 3d, In outliner
Copying, linking, moving

Rather, it is easy to get confused. Split: object, child - Copy of object, Copy of child - Selected, Active - In 3d, In outliner - Copying, linking, moving

Pratik Borhade commented

2023-08-10 11:15:16 +02:00

Thanks for the report. I can confirm.
Child should be selected in outliner after duplicating them.
Child object (Cube.004) behaves as reference when parent (Cube.003 is moved to Coll2
I'll check.

Thanks for the report. I can confirm. Child should be selected in outliner after duplicating them. Child object (`Cube.004`) behaves as reference when parent (`Cube.003` is moved to `Coll2` I'll check.

👍 1

Pratik Borhade changed title from ~~Unexpected behaviour when duplicating object hierarchies~~ to Outliner: Unexpected behavior when duplicating object hierarchies

2023-08-10 11:16:12 +02:00

Pratik Borhade added

and removed

Needs Information from User

labels 2023-08-10 11:16:42 +02:00

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