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Meghan_Rose1
June 22, 2023

Copy/Move variable groups into other collections

  • June 22, 2023
  • 176 replies
  • 32721 views

I have been playing around with creating variables but realized I would rather have groups in separate collections, but cannot move them.

I would like to be able to duplicate an entire collection so I don’t have to manually re-create values and can remove what I don’t need from that collection OR simply be able to move groups into other collections.

[The title of this post was edited from “LAUNCHED: Copy/Move variable groups into other collections” to “Copy/Move variable groups into other collections” by a moderator on 17-Jan-2026.]

176 replies

MediaChoice
New Member
November 14, 2024

Very welcome alpha version of a feature!

• This does not work across different files.
• It needs a color present to be able to paste.
• As other mentioned: groups.
• Oddly, the pasted list of colors does not allow me to rearrange / manually sort the items.

Sean_Leahy
New Participant
November 14, 2024

Bug reported @dvaliao, thanks. Hadn’t noticed you can’t reorder pasted variables too, so included that in the report @MediaChoice

Matthew_Ryan
Active Member
November 16, 2024

I am glad to see some work on this, and it (bugs aside) should satisfy the copy aspect of the request.

However, I want to note that being able to copy a variable from one spot and paste a duplicate of that variable into another collection is not the same thing as being able to move a variable from one collection to another, as references to the original variable do not follow the variable from its origin to its destination, and instead get lost when the original variable is deleted.

Those who wish to move variables from one collection to another still have a ton of work, as after copy/pasting they would need to track down and manually update all references to each variable. What would satisfy the second part of this request is a move function that automatically updates references when variables are moved between collections, just like occurs when variables are renamed or moved between groups within a collection.

Oliver_Schwaiger
New Participant
November 18, 2024

+1 on what @Matthew_Ryan is saying.

FilipaGo
New Participant
November 18, 2024

+1 on Moving variables.

Sean_Leahy
New Participant
November 22, 2024

Just heard back on the bug report, and the copy+paste and reorder bugs look to have been fixed. When pasting, you have to have no other variables selected, otherwise they’ll be pasted into that group flat.

Sanco_de_Voogd_van_der_Straate
November 25, 2024

+1 On moving variables. Copying doesn’t cover this.

Matthew_Ryan
Active Member
November 26, 2024

Any word back on the lack of support for moving variables? Is that something the team plans to address? In the meantime, can we remove “Launched” from the name of this idea, since the need described has only partially been addressed?

Sean_Leahy
New Participant
November 27, 2024

There wasn’t but I reiterated the point in my reply post-fix.

Matthew_Ryan
Active Member
December 2, 2024

@dvaliao I am wondering if we could remove the “LAUNCHED” tag from the title of this. I don’t think it’s accurate to say it has launched when half of the idea in this post (moving variables) is yet to be implemented.

Or would you prefer we create a new post for it?