Copying text from one doc in a project to a doc in another, separate project in the same instance editorially links child annotations in the docs

[MartinFoys]

If you copy text from one doc in a project to a doc in another, separate project in the same instance , when you edit the text in one project, it changes that text in the other project as well.

[MartinFoys]

Here, in this project (https://uw.digitalmappa.org/214), my PA had for their own research copied the OEPF edition of Juliana and then discovered if she changes any of the annotations, it also changes the annotation in the source project.

To test this, I went in and added "Test!" at the bottom of this note for a word in line 38 of the poem:

Sure enough, when I went to OEPF (https://uw.digitalmappa.org/58), there it was!

[blms]

Ah, that makes sense @MartinFoys! What is actually happening here is that there is only one copy of that annotation, and its parent is the original project.

The copied text's highlight links back to the annotation in the original project—because all links are preserved unchanged when you copy and paste a highlight. Opening and editing the annotation in this new project creates a unique situation, as this is the only case where one is able to open and edit a document that actually belongs to a different project.

You can think about it like this:

Annotation in Project A <-- link <--- copied highlight <-- Document A <-- Project A
                             ^
                             |
                      pasted highlight
                             ^
                             |
                         Document B
                             ^
                             |
                         Project B

This will actually be the case for any linked document, not just annotations.

We will need to think about how best to proceed here. Here are a few options, from most complex to simplest:

• A: If highlights are copied from one project to another, all linked documents are copied over to the new project. Main complexity here: If the linked documents are regular text or canvas documents, and not annotations, where should they live? (i.e. in terms of folder structure, as the new project may not match the original project's folder structure) They could be treated like annotations in the sense that they live in the project, but do not appear in its folder structure… but that may produce additional unexpected behavior.
• B: A simpler option—we implement the new feature request for direct linking to documents (within projects), and then clicking the pasted highlight opens the annotation in the other project in a new window. (Instead of opening in the current project and appearing to be a member of that project.)
• C: Simplest option—when pasting into a new project, highlights are preserved (i.e. the actual highlight mark) but links within that highlight are cleared out.

I'm partial to B but let's discuss in today's meeting (or asynchronously)!

[blms]

Discussed in meeting, two possibilities:

1. Slightly complex version, a variant of option A above. Create copies in the new project, but only of documents that are direct descendants (annotations) of the copied text. And warn users about this.
2. Simple version, option C above, plus warning text for users.