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 The
Backup if Newer routine
is a great way to quickly merge one folder or path into
another or to backup only files that have changed, it is
also ideal when restarting a copy that was interrupted
for some reason. But if you need more control check out the
Compare, Merge &
Prune routine for ultimate control or take a look
at the master copy routine,
Copy Files, that offers unprecedented control over the how files
are copied.
And if you would like to synchronize the target folder
rather than just backing up files to it (by deleting any
files and folders that are on the source but not the
target) see the
Backup & Sync routine.
Quick Start:
Backup Changed and Modified Files and Folders
 This
action is applied to selected files and folders. If no
folders or files have been selected the menu command
will be unavailable. When backing up folders all subfolders will
also be backed up.
- Select the files and / or folders you want to backup
to another location
- Select
Actions |
Backup if Newer... or (Ctrl+Shift+F7)
from the main menu to open the Backup dialog.
Enter the destination folder
- Enter
the folder to which you want to copy the files.
If you have used the dialog before you can
select a previous destination from the drop down
list box.
Optionally enter files to be copied (or files
not to be copied)
- To
copy all files leave the Patterns field
blank or enter and asterisk (*).
- Separate multiple patterns with semi-colons,
commas or bar characters ( ; , | ) and precede
patterns to be excluded with a minus sign (-).
If no patterns are entered all is assumed
(i.e. leaving the field blank is the same as entering a
* or the traditional
*.*).
- To
prevent certain files from being copied enter
their pattern(s) preceding each with a minus
sign, e.g. -*.bak : -*.tmp : -~*.
- You
can even combine files to copy and files to
exclude, e.g. *.htm : *.html : *.css : -~*
(note that order in which the file patterns are
listed is not significant.
- Click
the OK button and FileBoss will start the
copying and display a progress window.
More about Quick Backups
Only if Newer
Files will only be copied to the
destination drive if they don't already exist there or the source
file has been changed or modified more recently than the destination file.
Other Criteria for Comparison
The way in which FileBoss compares files to see which
is Newer can be modified using meta flags.
These flags are specified right in the Destination field
of the Backup if Newer... or Copy dialogs (but they are
only used in the copy dialog of the Only if Newer
overwrite option is checked). For example if you wanted
to have the source target overwrite existing target
files only if their created date is more recent than the
target file the destination field might look like this:
\\CorpNet01\v\NewFiles\ //BYCREATED
Since these are advanced options that are seldom used
they are left as meta-flags rather than options on the
dialogs themselves.
//ByModified
or //BM
Overwrites the target only if the source file's
modified date is more recent than that of the target
file. (Default)
//ByCreated
or //BC
Overwrites the target only if the source file's
created date is more recent than that of the target
file.
//ByAccessed
or //BA
Overwrites the target only if the source file's
accessed date is more recent than that of the target
file.
//BySmaller
or //BS
Overwrites the target only if the source file is
smaller
//ByLarger or
//BL
Overwrites the target only if the source file is
larger
Optionally Restrict the Copy to Specific Files or File Types
You can optionally specify multiple file
types and file patterns that should be copied. When the
specification is present only files matching one of the specified
patterns will be copied. For instance if *.htm : *.html ; *.css
were specified then only files with those extensions would be
copied.
Prevent Specific File Types & Groups from being Copied
You can optionally specify multiple file
types and file patterns that should not be copied. This can
reduce the copy time and, sometimes more importantly, prevent your
backup folder/drive becoming cluttered with intermediate and
temporary files. And it can be combined with the option to specify
which file should be copied, e.g. *.htm ; *.html ; *.css ; -~*
will copy all files with the extensions htm, html and
css unless the name begins with the tilde character (~) (a
common way programs specify temporary files).
Retry Option on File Errors
If FileBoss can not copy a file it will
give you the option of trying again (such as if you have to close a
file that is in use) or just skip the file. Of course FileBoss will
log any files that were skipped due to copy errors.
Complete logging of what was and was not copied
The Results window keeps a complete log of what was copied, what was
not and what errors occurred if any. These logs can even be
automatically written to disk as simple text files for future
reference
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