Factorio Forums

TL;DR / What?

Right now shift + right click copies an entity's settings and shift + left click pastes it. It would be nice if shift + left click + drag (to highlight a box) pasted to all of the same entity in that box.

Why ?

Copying settings to many entities at once is tedious as a lot of work is spent double checking that everything actually got the settings, in addition to all the actual clicking. Doing it via a box highlight give peace of mind that everything in the box got it and it didn't accidentally miss one.

Click and drag now works you know (0.15) for more than just copying settings

JohnyDL wrote:Click and drag now works you know (0.15) for more than just copying settings

Agreed, moving this to implemented.

You can set any assembler by just Shift-clicking and running along the way, you can also do the same with items while holding CTRL+click and dragging the mouse above the assemblers (or right-click if you only want to insert half the amount).

You can be sure that every assembler/entity correctly switched to the recipe or inserted the correct items, since there is no range restriction on the source entity. The only restriction is on the target entity, but if you're running next to it then you already got that covered.

You can copy from any entity no matter how far away it is, the only limit is the distance to the entity you want to apply the recipe/items/conditions on.

You can paste on trains and stations at any distance though which is super useful

I'm not sure this quite qualifies as "implemented" as the OP described it. The click and drag feature is super nice, for sure, but it doesn't quite guarantee that you haven't missed one entity like OP's box suggestion would. I have on occasion tried to copy to a line of assemblers using the click and drag method and later found out that one got missed.

JohnyDL wrote:Click and drag now works you know (0.15) for more than just copying settings

I want to draw a box, not spaz wildly and hope I didn't miss one.

I think the point is shift-click-drag already has a function, and it's not drawing a box and it already makes the need to click every entity a none issue

You don't have to shake randomly when dragging smooth lines work just as well, I tend not to move the mouse at all and instead run along. Sure there are times you get shifted by belts especially if you're doing something like inserters or chests but really it's hardly a problem if you're diligent, if it is the maybe the solution for you is not to use shift clicking but to blueprint and use bots instead for copying settings.

It does not work for the filters inside train wagons...

That sounds like a worthwhile suggestion. Since this thread is in Implemented suggestions, I would suggest making a new thread.