Overwrite All Older in FTP

[rwilliams]

One of my favorite features, when copying files, in Total Commander is the ability to skip over the files that don't need to be copied. This saves TONS of time when I have to make sure that tens-of-thousands of files are backed up every day, because I can just highlight a folder, hit F5, and when prompted, click on "Overwrite All Older".

Would this be a possible feature to have added to the FTP side of the program?

[fabiochelly]

Actually, you can use the 'synchronize folders' to do that with FTP.

[rwilliams]

Actually, you can use the 'synchronize folders' to do that with FTP.

Thank you Fabio, I was aware of the "Synchronize Folders" option, but for ease of use for most of my clients, it would be more convenient to have a button that clearly states "Overwrite all Older".

Not everybody would understand what it means to synchronize folders, and on top of that, what if the person got confused as to which way the files are supposed to go, this could be disastrous. There is a learning curve when it comes to synchronizing. I remember the first time I tried to synchronize, I had to take a close look at what I was doing before I actually did it. But with the Overwrite All Older button, there is no mistaking the direction of file transfer.

Thanks for your input.

[fabiochelly]

I remember the first time I tried to synchronize, I had to take a close look at what I was doing before I actually did it

Because you were not sure not because you were risking to erase data: the synchronize directory is IMHO, the most secure way to copy without mistakes.
And you can easully disable one direction by clicking on the left or green arrow button.

[rwilliams]

>>the synchronize directory is IMHO, the most secure way to copy without mistakes.

The synchronize directory is undoubtedly the secure way to copy file, and I find it easy to use. However, my clients are the people that I'm worried about. Not all of them are computer literate, and I find that if there was a button on the FTP version of F5 that clearly states "Overwrite All Older" it would make things not only easier to explain to them over the phone, but I would feel much better knowing that my clients aren't having to learn something that they really shouldn't have to. For a person that isn't computer literate, "F5 > Overwrite All Older" is much easier than "Command > Synchronize Dirs..." then having to deal with an entirely new window that would ultimately look confusing to them. Just my opinion. I suppose I could just put the directions on my website for them to read over.

Thanks for your input

[rwilliams]

Even after this whole discussion, I just now realized that even when you do use the Synchronize Dirs... feature, it STILL pops up a dialog that asks if you want to "Overwrite", "Overwrite All", "Skip", etc. it seems to me that the Synchronize Dirs... is nothing but an additional step. All that is needed it "Overwrite All Older". That way, there is no synchronization needed.

If I want to copy files from the "FROM" folder that already exist in the "TO" folder, but want to skip any files that are the same age, then I can.

It would really make life easier to not have to go through the whole Synchronize Dirs..., Compare Folders, remove the directional arrow for the direction in which I don't want to transfer to in the first place, then Synchronize. OVERKILL.

[ghisler(Author)]

All that is needed it "Overwrite All Older"

Overwrite All Older is simply not possible with FTP! Why? Imagine that you are in the USA and your server is in Europe or the other way round. Now when you upload files, they will get the current date/time of the server, because there is no ftp command to set the file date/time. This means that the uploaded file may be newer than your local file by several hours! Now when you change the local file and retry to upload it, it would simply be skipped because it's still older than the recently uploaded file!

Please read the help about the ftp synchronization to understand the whole problem.

[rwilliams]

Now when you upload files, they will get the current date/time of the server, because there is no ftp command to set the file date/time. This means that the uploaded file may be newer than your local file by several hours! Now when you change the local file and retry to upload it, it would simply be skipped because it's still older than the recently uploaded file!

Ok, I understand now. But with that in mind, wouldn't the "Synchronize Dirs..." feature have the same effects? In which case there would be no real way to tell which files on the FTP Site are older (or newer) than the files that you have on your system.

Thanks for taking time out of your schedule Christian, I'm sure you're a busy man.

[ghisler(Author)]

Synchronize dirs sets the date/time of the LOCAL file to the date/time of the just created file on the server. This way the two will also get the same timestamp. I'm not doing this with normal uploads because it may have a negative impact on backup programs etc.

[rwilliams]

I guess that would be kind of difficult seeing as the file, when it is moved to the FTP server, is given the system date & time of the client computer.

Too bad there's no way of transferring the file's time & date over to the FTP server as well.

Thanks Again Christian

[IRCer]

How about "Overwrite when size differs" button?

[MIDIcat]

This means that the uploaded file may be newer than your local file by several hours

Nevertheless I also opt for "Overwrite all older" option. It could be disabled by default, so only users who know what they are doing could see it.
I don't like synchronize dirs, because it changes the timestamp of local files and I'm synchronizing them with many servers.
I don't want to check "Ignore date" option, because that forces me to manually set the direction on some files.
I just want to use "Overwrite all older" option with all consequences.