What this page is for#
A copy is a new namespace that is an existing namespace at a chosen moment: the same state, the same record up to that point, and the same grants. After that point the two are independent. Use a copy to keep a moment you may want to return to, to try a change without touching the original, or to start from the state before something went wrong. The page heading is Copy at… and its address is /copy; the older address /fork redirects there.
The same form opens as a flyout on History, which is where you find the moment, so most copies are started from there. This page is the form on its own, plus the list of copies already made from a namespace.
Who can see it#
Administrators only. A limited user who opens the page gets a 404.
The copy is also made as the key you choose, and the service makes it only when that key holds all at the root of the source namespace. Choose a key granted grant(all) directly under its key id in the source's grants.
What is on the page#
The page opens with the sentence "A copy owns every byte it needs. The source can be changed or removed afterwards and the copy is unaffected; "copied from" is a label."
The form#
| Field | What it takes |
|---|---|
| Namespace | The source namespace. |
| Key | The key to make the copy as (see the namespace and key pickers). |
| CSN | The point to copy at. |
| or a time | A local date and time instead of a CSN. The copy is the namespace at the newest step committed at or before it. |
| Name | The new namespace's display name, up to 200 characters. It defaults to "Copy of" and the source's name. Its Namespace Id is assigned. |
| Security settings | Which grants the copy takes: Current (default) or As they were at that point in time. |
Copy submits the form.
Copies made from a namespace#
When you open the page from a namespace card's Copies (n) link, a section headed "Copies made from" the namespace lists each copy with its Namespace Id, its name, the CSN it was copied at and its status. It says "None yet." when there are none.
Actions#
Make a copy#
Choose the source namespace and a key, type a CSN or a time, adjust the name, choose the security settings and press Copy. The page confirms, for example, "Copying 1234567 at csn 12 into 7ABCDEF (Copy of Orders); it is read-only until its admin lifts it.", and says which security settings it took.
A time before the namespace's first step is refused because there is nothing to copy. At the plan's namespace limit the copy is refused before anything is copied.
Choose the grants#
Current (default) gives the copy the source's grants as they stand now. As they were at that point in time gives it the grants that governed the source at the chosen moment, and carries the warning "A key that lost its grants after that point regains them on the copy." Where the grants at that moment cannot be determined, the copy falls back to the current grants and records why.
The copy also takes the source's description and the other # Meta content, with its own name.
Follow the progress#
Under the confirmation, a progress line updates until the copy settles: "Copying at csn 12: queued…", then the step and a count of what has been copied, then either "Active: copied at csn 12." with links to History and Open in Explorer, or "Copy failed" with the reason. While the copy is in progress, its namespace card shows the Forking status and serves no requests.
A failed copy is left Disabled. It cannot be enabled; delete it from the Namespaces page.
Lift read-only on the copy#
Every copy is born read-only: it serves reads and refuses writes with a 409. To start changing it, open the copy on the Grants page, delete (readOnly) from its # Meta line and save.
What a copy owns#
Changing, disabling or deleting the source afterwards does not affect the copy. The copy's card shows "Copied from 1234567 at csn 12", with "(removed)" when the source has been deleted; that line is a label and nothing depends on it. The copy's history includes the source's steps up to the copy point, and its own steps follow from there.
Related#
- The record: history, moments, copies explains what a copy is and how its record continues from the source's.
- Keys, grants and visibility explains
grant(all)and the read-only flag. - History is where you find the moment and start most copies.
- Namespaces shows the copy's status and lineage, and the Copies (n) link.
- Plans, rates and limits describes the namespace limit a copy counts toward.