A small program can be a great help...
NEWS
2008-11-02
synXer v. 1.0 beta released and available for download. Some Leopard issues have been reported. Please consult the support page.
WHAT IS SYNXER
SynXer is a folder synchronization utility. In short, it compares the contents of two folder trees and performs some actions (like copying, removing etc.), depending on the differences between the folders. It may be used to merge different parts of the project into a single folder structure, to make incremental backups or just to move the data between different machines using a removable media. A few features which distinguish synXer from among other free synchronization tools:
- multiple synchronization projects (you can define as many projects as you wish and save them as ordinary files),
- multiple synchronization methods,
- synchronization schedules, available for viewing/editing before any changes to the file system are made,
- parallel synchronization - each schedule is executed in its own thread, therefore it is possible to run multiple synchronizations at the same time,
- easy mouse, as well as keyboard, control.
SYNCHRONIZATION PROJECTS
A synchronization project in synXer consists of the following items:
- the name of the project,
- the source folder location,
- the destination folder location,
- the synchronization method.
The synchronization method defines the behavior of synXer when dealing with folder differences. Currently, the following synchronization methods are available:
- overwrite (makes the destination folder an exact copy of the source folder),
- complement (adds all missing files from the source to the destination),
- synchronize (both source and destination will contain the most recent copies of files).
SCHEDULES
Before touching your data, synXer prepares a synchronization schedule. The schedule describes, step by step, the actions required to complete the project (according to the differences between the source and destination folders and the synchronization method of the current project).
The schedule can be viewed and individual actions can be disabled by the User. Why would anyone want to disable some actions? In some cases (e.g. when using a slow external storage) it may be inconvenient to copy large files, while one may still wish to synchronize the remaining files and folders.
The schedule is presented in a form of a simple list of actions. Each row describes an individual action, related to a single object (a file or a folder). The intended action is depicted with a symbol (an arrow for copying, scisors for removing, a cross for an action disabled by the User, etc.).
EXECUTION OF A SCHEDULE
The execution of a schedule causes all the actions listed in the schedule to be executed sequentially (one by one). The User is informed about the current progress of the execution, as well as about the action currently being performed.
Actions, which could not have been completed due to errors, are marked with red crosses and appropriate error messages are presented after the execution of the schedule.
EXECUTION RESULTS
When the execution of a schedule is completed, the User is presented with a list of errors detected during the execution. Hopefully, the list is empty (like on the screenshot to the right). If not, it is worth a while to read the error messages added to each object (file, folder), which caused the error.
PROJECT LIST
The synchronization projects are saved as ordinary files. Moreover, all projects saved to the standard project location (by default the subfolder synXer of your Documents folder) are available for quick access via the project list window.
The project list presents the names of the projects (not the names of the files, which the projects are stored in - those are irrelevant) together with a quick summary about the selected project.
The setup of the default buttons allows to open and execute a project without even touching the mouse. An example:
- when you start synXer, a project list appears with the first project selected,
- using the up/down cursor keys, you can select the project you wish to execute,
- by pressing Enter/Return you open the project,
- by pressing Enter/Return again, you make synXer prepare the schedule for the current project,
- by pressing Enter/Return again, you decide to execute the shcedule,
- finally, the last Enter/Return closes the project and takes you back to the project list.
OTHER FEATURES
synXer has an integrated user manual (the manual in PDF format is also available as a separate download) and the user interface is available in English and Polish (the language of the user interface is chosen automatically, basing on your system locale). The application is a universal binary, i.e. it works on both Intel and PowerPC Macs.
FREEWARE
SynXer is free of charge both for commercial and non-commercial use.