I'm syncing between a source and destination folder (My Docs to external HD). My source location has several folders that are hidden. I want the sync to only evaluate the visible folders, not the hidden ones because the hidden folders aren't worth syncing. How do I define a filter to do this?
I've tried setting: Attributes -- Match -- Hidden ON. but that didn't sync the visible folders.
You'd want the filter to match things with hidden off rather than on, but it may not work with the Sync Panel as the Sync Panel only considers files and not the folders they are in when filtering. (Unless all the files within the folders are also hidden.)
Using the Copy command with a filter should let you do it, though. (You can use a subfolder clause in that case, to tell it not to enter any folders with the hidden attribute set.) Combine that with the UPDATEALL argument and you've got something that is a lot like the Sync Panel, but without the ability to interactively turn individual things on and off before initiating the copy (which it sounds like you don't want anyway, so that may be an advantage).
You're right. Using the filter in the sync panel only evaluates the files and not the folders... which is a bummer because there are many different applications that stash a folder in /mydocuments so I hide them to keep them out of sight. I'd rather not have to navigate a large folder structure while in sync mode... it's hard to do because you can't collapse folders and once you de-select a parent folder from syncing, you can't remove it from the list so that you have a smaller number of folders to evaluate... so I just let is sync and then have to delete some of these large folders.
If I just wanted to exclude some locations such as...
C:\Users<userID>\Documents\Logitech Gaming Software
C:\Users<userID>\Documents\DisplayFusion Backups
C:\Users<userID>\Documents\Magic Briefcase
C:\Users<userID>\Documents\My Shapes
C:\Users<userID>\Documents\Outlook Files
... could I use a filter based on Location? I defined a filter as follows: Location -- NO MATCH -- . It seemed to work on a test folder I created.
Thanks for the help.
Yes, although you'll probably need to add (|*) on the end of each path, so it affects things both in and below the folders.
The 2nd example in How to filter items by location or sub-folder gives some more detail. (Note that the 3rd example, using subfolder clauses, won't work with Sync at the moment.)
The FAQ shows that b[/b] should be appended but you're saying b[/b] in your reply. Which one... and what's the difference?
interestingly... if a folder is empty (such as my AnyDVDHD folder), it wants to sync it. It's not excluded. But if I put a dummy .txt file in that folder, then it is correctly excluded. How to solve this? For some of these that get no traffic, I don't mind putting a dummy.txt file in there. But there is one folder that it wouldn't be reasonable to use this fix.
If you're using the full path then you can just put * on the end instead of (|*)
There is no difference between (|*) and (*|)
You may not be able to filter out empty dirs with Sync.
The Copy command can also filter things, with fewer limitations, and may be better for what you're doing. Sync is good for ad-hoc interactive synching.
[quote="leo"]You may not be able to filter out empty dirs with Sync.
The Copy command can also filter things, with fewer limitations, and may be better for what you're doing. Sync is good for ad-hoc interactive synching.[/quote]
Are there any plans to improve the Sync tool in the future?
