privacy and unattended sync question from a newbie.

[hcd]

Hi, I'm considering to buy bc3 pro.
Is an active Internet connection required for successful registration?
Are there or will there be any phone home "features" in bc3?
I highly value my privacy.
I'm interested in your ethos in that regard.

There are a few features I'd love to use.

Unattended syncs seem not possible, I always need to enumerate the folder structure before i can start copying files. In case of mirroring a huge ftp which takes hours to just list all its contents this is impractical.
Recursive listing is not supported by the ftp in question.
Will unattended synchronization be easily possible in the final version, or is it already?

A current speed indicator for file transfers, also an estimated time remaining one, seems like a good idea to me.

Bypassing the startup screen and skip directly to an empty main screen(ie folder compare) or some saved session.

Thank you for creating such a wonderful tool. Unicode support, portable install and being able to work during a file transfer makes it really worthwhile.


I encountered a bug during my short testphase.
BC3 consistently crashed on startup when i tried the "load desktop" option.

Thank you for your time.

[Tim]

No, an Internet connection is not necessary to install or run BC. The only time BC3 will contact our website is for the "Check for Updates" feature. You can turn off the automatic check for updates -- I believe it's on by default and will check every 7 days, but only when you run the program interactively.

[Aaron]

We have an Automatic Refresh option (disabled by default) in the Folder Sync session type. We are considering having this option also perform the sync command.

BC also has script, which you can setup to run as a Windows Scheduled Task. Script is a light, code-like text file that can perform actions you can normally do in the program interactively. There is a section on Scripting in the Help file under Using BC -> Command Line and Scripting.

The basics would be:
command line call = bcompare.exe @c:\script.txt

then the script.txt would contain command lines (sample scripts also available in the help file).
Let us know if you have any specific scripting questions. You can email them to [email protected] or post here.

[Zoë]

Unattended syncs seem not possible, I always need to enumerate the folder structure before i can start copying files.

Currently the "Start Sync" button stays disabled until the preview is finished, so it's not possible now, but we should definitely fix that before the final version.

A current speed indicator for file transfers, also an estimated time remaining one, seems like a good idea to me.

There should be a estimated time remaining on the progress bar. Adding a speed indicator is on our wishlist but probably won't make it into 3.0.

Bypassing the startup screen and skip directly to an empty main screen(ie folder compare) or some saved session.

You can turn on "Load desktop on startup" in the "Startup" panel of the Options dialog. Either save a desktop explicitly using the menu item or also check the "Save desktop on exit" option to always go back to what you were doing previously.

BC3 consistently crashed on startup when i tried the "load desktop" option.

Did you use "Save Desktop" at least once before using "Load desktop"? If so, can you send a Help->Support->Export settings dump to [email protected]?

[hcd]

Thank you for your advice everyone.
I'm very relieved to read you value privacy.

After my latest testrun i've gathered a few more impressions of your software and hope my feedback is of use to you.

Folder Compare mode is my main focus.
I'd value the ability to use a "fully read folder structure and then copy" button inside of Folder Compare, as that enables me to verify local orphans and move or delete them accordingly.
Be able to do that while reading or copying operations are underway saves me a bit of time.

I'd use scripts, if there were an option to run them from inside of BC.
Bound to a button or menu. I do prefer to keep control over what is happening and abort if necessary.

I miss an option to ignore case in Folder Compare, ignore unimportant differences did not work.
Ideally an option to then match the case used on one side with the other.

Sync options are a bit hidden, also seems like custom syncs are not possible within Folder Compare. Sync mode is useful for straight backups, but simultaneously managing data during transfer is much easier in Folder Compare mode.

Thanks, i did not notice the time remaining indicator at the right, heh.
That makes copying time manageable.

I did not save a desktop nor used the save on exit option.
I wasn't aware it was needed. Though when i think about it, it is obvious i should have done so. However, it was a problem to start the program afterwards, needed to reinstall.

Once again thanks for your hard work!