Can't drag'n drop from Firefox guest to Host Linux doc

[Jim722]

Host: Windows 10 Home Version 10.0.18362 Build 18362
Guest: Ubuntu 18.04.2L (64bit)
VirtualBox version: 6.0.10 r 132072 (Qt5.6.2)

Hi:
In VB I have set, Devices > drag & drop > bidirectional, also I have set under Settings > General > Advanced > shared clipboard & Drag’n drop > bidirectional. I selected/highlighted text of a web-page that is opened in Ubuntu guest Firefox. When I left clicked on the highlighted portion, and I tried to drag & drop to a LibreOffice document that had been created in Windows Host, the document went off the screen. It failed. Another time I tried the same and the doc didn’t go off the screen but it didn’t drag the highlighted text. Nothing happened except Firefox froze. None of the buttons (File, bookmarks, etc) on Firefox functioned. I clicked on the Firefox desktop icon to try to open another Firefox but that icon was dead. I couldn’t close Firefox either. All the other desktop buttons (show applications, Skype) worked. I resorted to clicking the VB File > close > Power off in order to close Firefox. I Started again and opened Firefox. Again I tried to drag & drop and it failed & FF froze again. I searched this forum for a similar problem and someone had disabled bidirectional under Settings and had success. I tried but didn’t work for me.

[socratis]

I think you may be stretching what DnD could do... I believe that DnD works for files between host and guest, not chunks of highlighted text. You could use Copy/Paste for that, and even that is limited to plain, non-formatted text.

[Jim722]

Thanks for letting me know, socratis. I am a bit disappointed about VB now.

[mpack]

VirtualBox can't work by magic. Think about the mechanisms that would have to underlie the ability you mention. The VM and the host PC are two separate machines as far as both operating systems are concerned. Think network protocols, Linux vs Windows standard feature sets, character sets etc. And I'm not sure that Linux even has a clipboard capability by default, or that all distros use the same one.

[Jim722]

Yes, I agree it would take a lot of doings to correlate everything to make it work. I think someone will put it all together someday. Am I correct in saying that D&D works only within the VM that is currently in use? I need to check the Oracle VB Manual and read all of how D&D is used. Have a nice day, mpack.

[socratis]

Am I correct in saying that D&D works only within the VM that is currently in use?

Not sure what that means... If you can DnD a file from one VM to another?

Just to let you know, personally I never enable DnD on any of my VMs, I prefer a shared folder for simple file transfers. Much safer...

[Jim722]

Thanks for the advise. I'll read up on how to do a shared folder transfer.