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Subject: Backup names
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miller.rob User is Offline
Posts:184
Veteran Member
03/24/2010 11:24 AM Alert 

Hi Jeff:

A neat feature my genealogy software has is: when tell it I want to create a back up, it automatically adds the date and time to the file name, so I don't have to stop in the middle to rename the last backup. When it was added, I was perhaps not wow'ed but must admit now I enjoy the saving of steps.

Rob





jjones User is Offline
Posts:3948
Veteran Member
03/24/2010 11:45 AM Alert 
Hi Rob,

I like the idea and have considered it before. My only concern is that for users that don't want to keep multiple copies and just prefer to overwrite the last one, now they have to modify the filename and remove the date that was auto-added.

Is it easier to click in the filename field and type "20100324" before the ".mdb" or for a user to click and delete the date/time I added automatically?

What do others think?

Jeff
Birder's Diary Technical Support
miller.rob User is Offline
Posts:184
Veteran Member
03/25/2010 8:55 AM Alert 

What about a checkable box "Include date/time"? So, users who only keep one backup copy could turn the feature off? LOL I love my checkable boxes!

Rob
jjones User is Offline
Posts:3948
Veteran Member
03/25/2010 9:36 AM Alert 
I can certainly do that Rob and I thought about that. What about cleanup then? These BD database file sizes can be quite large ( > 100MB) on average. What about the user that does this and then finds they are out of disk space after a few months? Not realizing what is happening as they backup the BD database a few times each week.

I would guess that your family tree database is quite nominal in size (~100k).

Just trying to cover all the bases before I go and implement something with more downside than up.

Keep at it...
Jeff
Birder's Diary Technical Support
aldeboro User is Offline
Posts:132
Veteran Member
03/25/2010 10:17 AM Alert 
Jeff,

I'm one of those who overwrite my backup database when I log out. Old versions of the database have no value to me and would just take up space. It could also lead to accidentally picking the wrong version when restoring.

Al Borodayko
jjones User is Offline
Posts:3948
Veteran Member
03/25/2010 2:47 PM Alert 

That is my concern also Al. I would rather, unless we come up with a new idea that works in both arenas, that users be aware of the fact that they are keeping multiple copies of the backup and conciously add the date/time to the end of their filenames if that is what they intend.

I understand what Rob is saying and it is a nice shortcut feature. But, I know that many, many folks will not understand that multiple files are getting created and will wonder where their disk space went one fine spring migration morning.

Thoughts?

Jeff
Birder's Diary Technical Support
miller.rob User is Offline
Posts:184
Veteran Member
03/25/2010 3:05 PM Alert 

Actually the family tree database is small, but the multimedia folder (which gets backup separately) is quite large (high quality scans of birth, marriage and death records, obits, photos, etc).

Yeah, I can see the downside (even if a warning popped up) if a user is not sure of what they are clicking.

Oh well, can't get every wish!

Thanks!!

Rob

 
cowboyinbrla User is Offline
Posts:210
Veteran Member
03/26/2010 2:07 AM Alert 
OK - How about this as an option?

Allow the user to choose how many previous backups to keep on file, with a notice that each backup file will consume at least X megabytes (based on the current file size). The most recent backup would be named without the date/time info; as the first step in creating a new backup, the program would get the "created" timestamp from the most recent backup, append that to the filename, then create the new one. That makes the most recent one obvious, and gives the user control over how much disk space to use for backups. Set the initial default number of backups to 1, and most users probably won't change it.

Kevin
miller.rob User is Offline
Posts:184
Veteran Member
03/26/2010 7:44 AM Alert 

YAY Kevin!
cowboyinbrla User is Offline
Posts:210
Veteran Member
03/28/2010 1:30 PM Alert 
Don't cheer yet - let's see how loudly Jeff groans when he gets another one of my suggestions to add to his workload

Kevin
jjones User is Offline
Posts:3948
Veteran Member
03/29/2010 9:48 AM Alert 

 I am trying really hard to get v3.7 out in a couple months and I have to start being very choosy about what goes in from here on out. Everything little thing keeps pushing v3.7 out further. So, this one, based on not sure what the right solution should be and the increasing complexity seems to have gotten pushed off the 3.7 list.

Ok Kevin - what you got next?

Birder's Diary Technical Support
miller.rob User is Offline
Posts:184
Veteran Member
03/29/2010 9:38 PM Alert 

Go Kevin! Go Kevin!

cowboyinbrla User is Offline
Posts:210
Veteran Member
03/30/2010 1:57 AM Alert 
Oh, nothing for now, Jeff, and honestly, if any of my suggestions (even good ones) are too complex to implement on 3.7.first release, just save them for the next round. It won't hurt my feelings any. This backup suggestion is a perfect example; it might be worthwhile to implement, but it's not an urgent issue (in my opinion) so just file it away for a future upgrade.

Kevin
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Forums > Birder's Diary > Wishlist > Backup names


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