File drag-and-drop deletes file from guest, does not copy to host

[Aren Cambre]

I have an Xubuntu 13.10 guest and Windows 8.1 x64 host. Guest additions are installed.

When I drag and drop a file from the guest to the host, this happens:

1. The file is deleted from the guest.
2. The file does not appear on the host where I dropped it.

I tried two files from the guest. I dropped one into a folder (on the host) that was open, and I dropped the other on the host's desktop. Neither appeared in either location, and it is not clear to me where the files ended up, assuming they were even copied.

[Aren Cambre]

Yes, Devices > Drag'n'Drop is set to Bidirectional.

[Frank Mehnert]

See section 3.3.2 of the user manual: Drag and drop is currently only supported for the host=>guest direction.

[Aren Cambre]

It isn't acceptable for a file to be deleted, contrary to the user's wishes, due to an incomplete feature.

[Frank Mehnert]

I'm not sure if this is really a VBox problem. Can you reproduce the file lost by 100% when you drag a file from guest to host and what happens if you uninstall the VirtualBox Guest Additions -- still loss of the guest-dragged file?

[Aren Cambre]

I just now dragged and dropped from host desktop to guest desktop. If the file has no spaces in the name, it works. If it does have spaces in the name, I get this: Error when getting information for file '/home/[username]/Documents/VirtualBox Dropped Files/2014-04-17T14:44:08.022107000Z/x"y.txt'. (My actual username repalced with [username].) The file is named x y.txt.

Not clear what information uninstalling Guest Additions would provide? Isn't Guest Additions required for this to work?

[Frank Mehnert]

If you uninstall the Guest Additions and the file would still vanish if you drag it from the guest and drop it to the host then it's definitely not VBox-related.

I still doubt that the file is lost if you drag/drop guest/host, my theory is that the file is still there in the guest, perhaps moved to another place.

The problem with the space in the filename sounds indeed like a VBox bug. Drag and drop is under development and some improvements are to be expected with the next major release.

[Aren Cambre]

I'm now on VirtualBox 4.3.12 and Guest Additions from VBoxGuestAdditions_4.3.13-93885.iso (see #12941). Guest OS is Ubuntu 14.04, and host remains Windows 8.1 x64. Drag'n'Drop is again set to Bidirectional.

When I drag a jpg file outside the VirtualBox guest window, nothing happens at all. When I release the mouse, what happens is equivalent to if I dropped the item at the very edge of the VirtualBox guest's window right where the mouse pointer left it.

[aeichner]

Please reopen if still relevant with a recent VirtualBox release.