synchronize dirs: mark for deletion

[mscharnow]

very often during the synchronization of directories I have to decide more or less one by one which files are to be overwritten, which have to be kept out of sync and which have to be deleted (left or right).

I would like to be able to go down the list line by line and decide what to do, then as a last step I say "synchronize" and am happy

This works for all decisions except for deletion of files. I can only say "delete left" or "delete right". When I do this, the files are deleted, the list is build again and all my previous decisions are forgotten.

It would be a lot easier to be able to mark a file for deletion (switch the "<=>" box to "x") instead of having to first work through "all other files" and then go again through the complete list to now delete the selected files.

CU
Mike

[ghisler(Author)]

You can do this in "asymmetric" mode, but only for files on the right side. By default, files on the right are marked for deletion if there is no counterpart with the same name on the left.

[mscharnow]

yes, and marking for deletion is only available for those files which are already marked for deletion by default.

During directory synch I regard the list which is created by the "Compare" button as a suggestion which should be adjustable after its creation.
By adding a "mark for deletion" (for single files on left or right) the choice of manual manipulation of the list of operations to be done would be complete.

[StatusQuo]

2mscharnow
I already missed this, too, but there's an easy alternative using context menu:
use right mouse button, menu-key or Shift+F10 and choose "Delete left" / "Delete right" to delete the file immediately.

P.S.: When deleting from archives like solid RARs, this can be pretty time-consuming.

[mscharnow]

2statusQuo
The problem with this alternative is that after the deletion, the complete list is build again from scratch and all my previous decisions (left, right, keep) are forgotten. Which is why I requested the mark for deletion feature.

Hmm, am I the only one who uses TC for manual directory synchronization?

[Valentino]

The problem with this alternative is that after the deletion, the complete list is build again from scratch and all my previous decisions (left, right, keep) are forgotten.

The list is rebuilt and decisions are lost only when synchronizing folder with archive. When synchronizing two folders, your decisions are preserved.

[ghisler(Author)]

Yes, that's because TC has to reload the entire archive to get the new file offsets when files were deleted in the middle. For files, it can just verify that the deleted files are gone, and remove them from the list.

[Samuel]

I also vote for being always able to mark for deletion.

[Valentino]

2ghisler(Author)
But preserving user's selections shouldn't be the problem in case of archive, is it?

[mscharnow]

2Valentino
thanks very much for the hint about the archives.
I never noticed the different behavior when working with files compared to working with archives, because I usually exchange directory structures via my USB Stick using ZIP (which is way faster at least with my current stick).

Now that I know this I can adopt my way of synchronizing by first unpacking the ZIP to my HD and then synchronize