Include data sources and relationships when copying tables between models

[m-kovalsky]

Describe the bug
When I copy a table from one instance of tabular editor to another instance of tabular editor, the table copies fine but the data source doesn't copy over.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Click on Table
2. Ctrl-C
3. Go to another instance of tabular editor
4. Ctrl-V while clicking on 'Tables' folder

Application specifics

• Tabular Editor version: 2.12.0
• Model Compatibility Level: 1500

Additional context
Add any other context about the problem here.

[otykier]

This is actually by design. There are many scenarios in which you would copy tables from one model to another without including the data source. If the target model already contains a data source with the same name as the origin model, that data source will automatically be used on tables/partitions that are copied over from origin to target.

So in other words - if you want to include the data source from your origin model, make sure you explicitly copy the data source over before copying the tables.

If you want to copy everything in one go, you can use this trick. Specify the following filter string in the origin model and output the result as a flat list: :ObjectType="DataSource" or ObjectType="Table":

This allows you to multi-select across both data sources and tables, such that you can copy-paste everything into another model at once:

And the partitions on the target model will retain their reference to the data source:

[m-kovalsky]

If the data source already existed it definitely makes sense not to duplicate it. Just thinking if the data source doesn't exist then intuitively I would think it would then take the table and include the data source. So preventing duplication, but if no duplication would occur then make the full transfer w/ data source.

Actually, now thinking about relationships in the same manner. May get too complicated but it could trigger a pop up window asking if you want to copy the relationships etc over too - where you could select from a list. Naturally, this would only be if you were transferring more than 1 table and those tables had at least 1 relationship.

[otykier]

Okay, you can certainly copy relationships over as well as a 3rd step, but I see where you're coming from. I'll mark this as a potential enhancement instead of a bug :-)

[m-kovalsky]

Great! Thanks Daniel!

[m-kovalsky]

It would be great if this enhancement also tied into the Clone() function so that one could specify if they want the relationships to be copied in a cloned table.