I have just set up JFileSync in 3 situations. I have 2 questions / suggestions. I have created a separate post for each suggestion.
Scenerio 1.
Desktop Mac <=Sync=> USB drive <=sync=> Laptop PC
(USB key used to keep a directory on 2 otherwise unconnected computers in sync)
Scenerio 2.
Laptop PC <=sync=> USB drive
Scenerio 3.
Mac Desktop <=sync=> USB drive <=sync=> Mac laptop
My second suggestion is to find some way to deal with "appledouble" files AKA "finder spoor". (If you care see my rant about finder spoor below.) I had to write a wrapper script on both the Mac and the PC to delete all this finder spoor before invoking JFileSync. It is probably a bad idea to leave the appledouble files in place because the PC does not know they are related and they could end up conflicting. On the other hand there are file types where the appledouble files are crucial. Apple fonts are the only one I know of. The user would have to decide if including these files is necessary. It is not sufficient to set JFileSync to ignore these files because then the delete of deleted/renamed folders fails (because the folder still has files in it.)
The best solution I can see is to allow JfileSync to delete non-empty folders during the sync process. An nice touch would be to check that the only files left in the folder match the exclude masks in the profile.
All in all JFileSync seems very nice. The interface is a VAST improvement over what I was using (briefcase) (until the Mac arrived on the scene).
Finder spoor rant.
When a non-Mac formatted disk (i.e. a NTFS USB thumbdrive) is inserted in a Mac all sorts of bad things happen.
1) If you copy a file MyBook.doc (a MS Word doc) to the USB drive the Mac will create 2 files. (MyBook.doc and ._MyBook.doc) This second file is known as an appledouble file or as finder spoor. It contains meta-data about the original file that does not fit into the NTFS file system. Mostly it is nice-to-have stuff, creator id, spotlight comments, .... There is NO WAY to prevent the Mac from creating these files.
2) Finder creates .DS_Store files in any folder it opens including root. This file stores VITAL INFORMATION like the location of the finder window. Big whoop.
3) Finder creates a .Trashes folder and a ._.Trashes file in the root. This one is obvious.
4) There may be others. These are the files I have found.
The Mac OS hides these files so Mac users never see them. But plug that USB drive into a PC and it is a real mess. The USB drive in scenerio 1 above holds about 3,000 real files. After using a Mac for 2 months there are now an additional 1,500 of these finder spoor.
Each one takes up a couple of blocks of disk.
Since they sort before real files you have to scroll by them in Windows Explorer to get to the real files.
They can cause problems on MP3 players. If you transfer a mp3 on a Mac to a player being treated as a FAT disk you end up with ._mySong.mp3 that is not an MP3. I hope your player does not choke when it encounters this file.
They cause problems with batch processes. Say you have a directory of pictures (*.jpg) After a few visits to a Mac that directory ends up with a bunch of non JPG .JPG files. If you try and run a batch graphics program against the directory you are in trouble.
Files begining with . (dot) are not handled well in the PC file system. Try using windows explorer to rename a appledouble file on a PC. No go. That means if you rename the original you now are forced to either delete the appledouble or leave it as an orphan.
If you delete a file on the PC now you have to remember to look and see if there is a ._ file (scrolling all the way back to the top of the list) and delete the ._ version as well.
This sucks Apple.
Admittedly Windows will litter a disk with Thumbs.db files but you can turn this off with a single click (de-select cache thumbnails) and it is only once per folder.
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I have just set up JFileSync in 3 situations. I have 2 questions / suggestions. I have created a separate post for each suggestion.
Scenerio 1.
Desktop Mac <=Sync=> USB drive <=sync=> Laptop PC
(USB key used to keep a directory on 2 otherwise unconnected computers in sync)
Scenerio 2.
Laptop PC <=sync=> USB drive
Scenerio 3.
Mac Desktop <=sync=> USB drive <=sync=> Mac laptop
My second suggestion is to find some way to deal with "appledouble" files AKA "finder spoor". (If you care see my rant about finder spoor below.) I had to write a wrapper script on both the Mac and the PC to delete all this finder spoor before invoking JFileSync. It is probably a bad idea to leave the appledouble files in place because the PC does not know they are related and they could end up conflicting. On the other hand there are file types where the appledouble files are crucial. Apple fonts are the only one I know of. The user would have to decide if including these files is necessary. It is not sufficient to set JFileSync to ignore these files because then the delete of deleted/renamed folders fails (because the folder still has files in it.)
The best solution I can see is to allow JfileSync to delete non-empty folders during the sync process. An nice touch would be to check that the only files left in the folder match the exclude masks in the profile.
All in all JFileSync seems very nice. The interface is a VAST improvement over what I was using (briefcase) (until the Mac arrived on the scene).
Finder spoor rant.
When a non-Mac formatted disk (i.e. a NTFS USB thumbdrive) is inserted in a Mac all sorts of bad things happen.
1) If you copy a file MyBook.doc (a MS Word doc) to the USB drive the Mac will create 2 files. (MyBook.doc and ._MyBook.doc) This second file is known as an appledouble file or as finder spoor. It contains meta-data about the original file that does not fit into the NTFS file system. Mostly it is nice-to-have stuff, creator id, spotlight comments, .... There is NO WAY to prevent the Mac from creating these files.
2) Finder creates .DS_Store files in any folder it opens including root. This file stores VITAL INFORMATION like the location of the finder window. Big whoop.
3) Finder creates a .Trashes folder and a ._.Trashes file in the root. This one is obvious.
4) There may be others. These are the files I have found.
The Mac OS hides these files so Mac users never see them. But plug that USB drive into a PC and it is a real mess. The USB drive in scenerio 1 above holds about 3,000 real files. After using a Mac for 2 months there are now an additional 1,500 of these finder spoor.
Each one takes up a couple of blocks of disk.
Since they sort before real files you have to scroll by them in Windows Explorer to get to the real files.
They can cause problems on MP3 players. If you transfer a mp3 on a Mac to a player being treated as a FAT disk you end up with ._mySong.mp3 that is not an MP3. I hope your player does not choke when it encounters this file.
They cause problems with batch processes. Say you have a directory of pictures (*.jpg) After a few visits to a Mac that directory ends up with a bunch of non JPG .JPG files. If you try and run a batch graphics program against the directory you are in trouble.
Files begining with . (dot) are not handled well in the PC file system. Try using windows explorer to rename a appledouble file on a PC. No go. That means if you rename the original you now are forced to either delete the appledouble or leave it as an orphan.
If you delete a file on the PC now you have to remember to look and see if there is a ._ file (scrolling all the way back to the top of the list) and delete the ._ version as well.
This sucks Apple.
Admittedly Windows will litter a disk with Thumbs.db files but you can turn this off with a single click (de-select cache thumbnails) and it is only once per folder.