Confusion over Archive Attribute

[StevieW]

Hi

Could someone please clarify about the Archive Attribute?

I want to copy files from my local hard disk to a remote FTP site. I select the files to be copied using the Archive Attribute which works well. However, BC3 does not remove the Archive Attribute locally as I would have expected it to once it has done the synch i.e. if I run the synch again, it re-copies the same files again.

I would have thought that once the sync had been done BC3 should remove the Archive Attribute.

There is some talk about this elsewhere in the forum, but it is not exactly clear to me how it should work.

I am using BC3 v3.0.13 b9559

Thanks

[Zoë]

BC will set the archive attribute when it modifies a file. It never clears it; if you want that you'll need to uncheck it manually using the "Attributes" action. Expanding the "Folder Sync" session to follow and clear the archive attribute and use it as the basis for the sync is on the wishlist.

[StevieW]

Hi Craig - thanks for your reply.

At the moment I change the Attributes manually via Directory Opus (a file manager replacement for WIndows Explorer).

Can you actually change the attributes manually from within BC3? You mention the "Attributes Action" but not sure where that appears.

Thanks.

[Zoë]

Yes, there's an "Attributes" command in the folder compare's "Actions" and right click menus, between "Rename" and "Touch". It isn't available in the "Folder Sync" view though; we're trying to keep that simpler, so if we do add support there it will be more automated. If that's what you're using you can use the "Compare Base Folders in New View" command in the "Session" menu to get to the full-powered folder comparison.

[Zoë]

It really depends on your workflow. Our intention with the folder sync is that it's easy to setup and doesn't require any user interaction once you click "Go". If that's what you want, let us know what you're doing that it doesn't support right now and we can work on improving it. The folder compare, on the other hand, is intended for cases where you want to be more manual and have more control over the comparisons/updates.

[StevieW]

Hi, folder compare does not really do what I want it to do i.e. mirror my folders to an FTP site, but I did find the bit where you can change the Attributes. It works well, and a similar automatic or even manual version in folder sync would be extremely useful.

Thanks for your time.

[StevieW]

Just further to my last entry, my requirements are quite simply. I like the way folder sync is easy to use. All I need is once the sync is complete, BC3 removes the Archive Attribute from all the files it has just sync'd. This could be a simply tick box asking the user if they want the Attribute changed or not after the sync, thereby still keeping things simple.

Because my FTP server changes the date of all the files to the date they were sync'd, using the Archive Attribute seems to be the best way of making sure folders are mirrored.

[Chris]

StevieW,

If your FTP server doesn't support preserving timestamps, you can copy the timestamps from the FTP server back to your local files after upload to keep them in sync.

To have BC do this automatically, select Session > Session Settings. Go to the Handling tab and check "Touch local files when copying to an FTP site".

[StevieW]

I do use that on some of my folders, but others, like photos, I need to keep the date when the photo was taken.

On another subject, but sort of related, when using folder sync and checking on the Archive Attribute, it is not easy to tell when BC3 has actually finished doing its compare, or when the mirroring is finished as the screen remains the same i.e. the Sync Now button still says something like "Copy 2 file(s) to the right" after the mirroring has been completed. The only way you can tell is by looking at the scrolling log at the bottom and reading the last line or two.

With most other compares, once the copying is finished you get a message saying nothing to compare.

Just a thought....

I have been really pleased with BC3, the support is good, and it always comes across that the product is undergoing serious and continuous development which is great news for us users!

I have already added a request for a date to show you when a sync was last run which got a bit of support within this forum from other users. Keeping my fingers crossed that this gets done as I feel it is a serious omission. Before I bought BC3, I think all the other software I looked at which did a similar job had this date.

Sorry....I digress. Thanks again for your time :-)

[Zoë]

Sounds like you haven't updated recently. We added your request a few versions again; the folder sync now has a label that shows the results and time of the last sync. There may have been some issues with the post-sync display that were cleaned up too.

We have a couple of ideas for the sync that should help with this, but it'll be a bit before we get to them.

[StevieW]

I'm running BC3 v3.0.13 b9559 which is the latest version, and I have not noticed the date anywhere. Obviously I am looking in the wrong place. I presumed it would show on the Home page where all the different jobs are listed. I can't see it there, so, any clues as to where it appears for this thick, blind user?

[Zoë]

It's currently shown on the folder sync interface, on the left side of the panel with the "Sync Now" button. Not sure why it isn't on the Home page too, but it probably should be.

[StevieW]

OK I see it, sorry for being so blind......however...

It means I have to actually open a session (which then starts to run automatically) before I can read when the sync was last done. With over 20 sessions it makes it long winded.

I really feel the date should be on the Home page so that you can quickly scan down the list of sessions to see which ones needs to be run soon or have been run recently. Or even appearing on the home page when you click a session i.e. you don't have to open it.

Any chance?

[Chris]

StevieW,

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll add displaying the last sync date in the home view to our wish list.