Delete and Rename in Folder Sync

[tbleier]

Hi all,

I've recently switched to BC3 and trying to adopt my habits to all the new stuff - still not sure if I'm happy or angry with all those changes...

I often compare large file trees, and since I used the feature to synchronize both sides in BC2, which is not available in the folder comparison in BC3, some posts in these forums directed me to switching to folder sync mode.

Here I'm missing all those nice commands from the context menu, especially deleting and renaming files and folders, and manually copying files and folders to the other side (opposite to the suggested direction). Could you please add that?!?!

Also this new Folder Sync mode uses much to space on the screen for essentially no information - I would prefer having this space available for the file lists...

best regards,
__
/homas

PS: One of my use cases is the following: I have large directory trees to synchronize. Changes can happen on both sides. After syncing I want basically both sides to have the same content. When I start a sync session, I browse through the changes and review them. It may happen that whole subtrees or large files were just renamed on one side, so I manually re-do those changes on the other side to save me from copying those large amounts of data while they are already there. It may also happen that I decide that an older version of some file or subtree should be kept, or that some file or subtree should be deleted at all on both sides. Obviously I want to do all that within Beyond Compare and not switching applications and searching for the files there.

[Aaron]

Here are a few features that may help with your workflow:

-Open a Folder Compare, then go to Tools->Customize Commands. You can add the Update and Mirror commands back to the toolbar (they are off by default). These commands will ONLY work on the current SELECTION. This is different from BC2, there clicking the button prompted a preview window (which you would then click next and perform the Sync).

-You can launch a Folder Sync from a Folder Compare. This basically treats the Folder Sync like the preview window of BC2. This is done from the Folder Compare's Session menu->Sync base folders in new view. So you can ready your Sync in a Folder Compare if you need access to more advanced commands, and then move into a Folder Sync Session to perform the Sync itself (with an adjustable Preview, and savable Session based rules instead of global rules).

The Sync Session is designed to be used for Syncing one Folder into another without modifying the files in different ways. It does not need the Comparison tools since we offer those in the Folder Compare (and you can load between the two views easily from the Session menu). In BC2, we had an unmodifiable Preview window that showed the Sync actions. Now, we have a session that can store different settings (separate from Folder Compare or Global Options), update the preview without needing to back out and reload it, etc.

Do some of those tips help you out, or are you still running into any snags?

[tbleier]

Hi Aaron,

thanks for your reply...

Here are a few features that may help with your workflow:

-Open a Folder Compare, then go to Tools->Customize Commands. You can add the Update and Mirror commands back to the toolbar (they are off by default). These commands will ONLY work on the current SELECTION. This is different from BC2, there clicking the button prompted a preview window (which you would then click next and perform the Sync).

that's not really an option for me, as there is only update/mirror left or right available, but the nice thing about Beyond Compare was that it worked in both directions at once.

-You can launch a Folder Sync from a Folder Compare. This basically treats the Folder Sync like the preview window of BC2. This is done from the Folder Compare's Session menu->Sync base folders in new view. So you can ready your Sync in a Folder Compare if you need access to more advanced commands, and then move into a Folder Sync Session to perform the Sync itself (with an adjustable Preview, and savable Session based rules instead of global rules).

The Sync Session is designed to be used for Syncing one Folder into another without modifying the files in different ways. It does not need the Comparison tools since we offer those in the Folder Compare (and you can load between the two views easily from the Session menu). In BC2, we had an unmodifiable Preview window that showed the Sync actions. Now, we have a session that can store different settings (separate from Folder Compare or Global Options), update the preview without needing to back out and reload it, etc.

I'll try that, but again, it's kind of clumsy to switch back and forth between sessions.

Do some of those tips help you out, or are you still running into any snags?

After all, I'm not very happy with that situation - I've used a few tools for doing that synchronization jobs, and they all work, but some years ago I've found Beyond Compare and the nice thing about it was that it worked in a very nice way, I could do the whole job at one place, without switching back and forth between different applications/views/screens. I've updated to version 3 because I thought everything that worked before would work in the new version also, with some new features .

This split in folder compare and folder sync is a step back in my opinion . I would strongly opt for adding an "Update both" command to the folder compare mode or for adding the modification commands of the folder compare mode to the folder sync mode (after all, you can e.g. still open a file detail compare from the folder sync mode...)

best regards,
__
/homas

[Zoë]

We are looking into making the Folder Compare's Sync commands more powerful.

The "Folder Synchronize" view is really intended for non-interactive syncs, where you just set it up and let it do it's thing. The folder compare's more interactive commands (delete, rename, etc), don't fit in that design, so they're not likely to get added there.