Prevent changes to RealTimeSync Delay value?

[mfreedberg]

We are working on a company wide config for RealTimeSync to help with system
backups and restores, and are installing a pre-configured RealSync file to set
the delay value to our preferred number of seconds (3600). This delay value,
which I believe is stored in the following file:
C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application
Data\FreeFileSync\LastRun.ffs_real
seems to revert back to the default of "5" for some reason.

We are running RealTimeSync with a simple All Users\Start Menu\Startup
shortcut which calls RealTimeSync with our pre-configured set of folder pairs,
which is working very well, except for this issue with the delay value being
reset.

Is there some way to set the delay value so that it will remain set at our
preferred interval and if so, which configuration file can we use to do this?
We are working around the fact that the tool is clearly configured to be
installed by a user for that same user, but this issue is causing us some
problems, so any feedback or advice would be highly appreciated.

[Zenju]

> This delay value, which I believe is stored in the following file:
"LastRun.ffs_real"
This file contains last used RealTimeSync configuration for convenience and
will be used only if you start RealTimeSync without additional commandline
parameters.

> seems to revert back to the default of "5" for some reason.
You probably start RealtimeSync via a *.ffs_batch file. This file is
implicitly converted to a *.ffs_real file and defaults to a 5 seconds delay.
If you need a different delay, create a regular *.ffs_real file, this will
work as expected.

PS: 3600 seconds is quite a huge delay for RealTimeSync. If all you need is a
regular sync you could simply schedule the batch job via Windows' Task Planner
to execute once per hour.

Regards, Zenju

[mfreedberg]

Excellent, thank you for that! I assume I can simply copy over the folder pair
information to a new *.ffs_real file and use that as our master backup plan.
I appreciate the feedback on the sync time, we have it set for a pretty high
window so that the user does not see the sync happen all the time, we could
certainly ratchet that down to a smaller interval as we test it.
Scheduling the job via Task Planner is sort of out because we need to automate
the installation and are looking to avoid creating a scheduled task with
credentials - All Users startup will work just as well for us and use the
delay interval to balance currency of the backup with user impact.

So, can I create a _real file that just has the "shell" stuff, as in:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> 
<FreeFileSync XmlType="REAL"> 
<Commandline>C:\Program Files\FreeFileSync\FreeFileSync.exe "C:\Program
Files\FreeFileSync\backup.ffs_batch"</Commandline> 
<Delay>1200</Delay> 
</FreeFileSync>


and call that as part of the Startup Menu icon and that will then build the
right job because of the command line OR does the command line have to
reference a *_real file rather than a *_batch file?

[Zenju]

> I assume I can simply copy over the folder pair information to a new
*.ffs_real file
Yes, the best thing to do is probably to load a *.ffs_batch file within
RealtimeSync's menu, which is then imported and fills all fields with
reasonable default values. Adapt these values as you need it (e.g. if you do a
mirror sync you probably needn't include the target directory for monitoring)
and save it as a *.ffs_real file. In order to use this configuration, simply
pass the *.ffs_real file as RealtimeSync's command line argument.

> OR does the command line have to reference a *_real file rather than a
*_batch file?
Support for *.ffs_batch files within RealtimeSync is for pure convenience.
RealtimeSync always works on the data you see on GUI only (which is 1:1 saved
in a *.ffs_real file).
There are no prerequisites for the commandline, so except for RealtimeSync
accepting *.ffs_batch files as alternate input data, both applications
RealtimeSync and FreeFileSync are completely decoupled.

[mfreedberg]

ok, so if I create my correct _batch file (which we have done), I can simply
rename this or save this as a *_real file and then *add to that* the delay
value for the sync time and that will work?

[mfreedberg]

Sorry, I did not read that carefully enough, I did not catch the
recommendation to import our batch file into RealTimeSync rather than just
renaming the file, let me import my batch file into RealTimeSync and all will
be well.

[Zenju]

The XML configuration above is already correct.

[mfreedberg]

ok, that's going better now...created a configuration, exported as a batch
file, then imported the batch file into RealTimeSync, updated the command line
in the real file to run the batch file, set the delay to 1200, exported as a
real file, stored both files in the program file directory (just for the
moment), and updated the Start Menu icon to call RealTimeSync passing it the
_real file I created.

That is in fact working well, including the delay, so far so good!
I was thrown off a bit by the differences in the configuration in RealTimeSync
vs the GUI, but no worries, I think we are on our way here.

[mfreedberg]

RE: "xml configuration above is already correct". Do you mean this config:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> 
<FreeFileSync XmlType="REAL"> 
<Commandline>C:\Program Files\FreeFileSync\FreeFileSync.exe "C:\Program
Files\FreeFileSync\backup.ffs_batch"</Commandline> 
<Delay>1200</Delay> 
</FreeFileSync>


That actually threw an error about the fact that it could not find the folders
node in the XML - I would agree with you that that basic xml shell for the
_real file to call the right _batch file should work, but it did not.

Do the folder pairs in the _real file have to match the ones in the batch file
in the above scenario? would not think so, so what basic folder pair could I
add to my _real file to have it accept the XML as a valid configuration?

PS - do you want me to write up this configuration specification and you can
add it to the Web site as an example of how to do this? I would consider it a
small price to pay for all the help so far and this very nice tool you have
developed!

[Zenju]

> threw an error about the fact that it could not find the folders node
Right. With the missing folder pairs this XML is ill-formed. But you needn't
edit an XML manually in first place. After having set up all configuration as
needed, simply save the XML from within RealtimeSync's menu.

> Do the folder pairs in the _real file have to match the ones in the batch
file
No, both applications are (almost) completely decoupled. The folder pairs in
Realtime serve a different purpose than in FreeFileSync, namely to monitor for
changes. The only connection from RealtimeSync to FreeFileSync is the command
line.

I think the main confusion with *.ffs_batch came from the helpfile which uses
this file instead of a *.ffs_real in the example. I'll adapt this for the next
version to use a *.ffs_real file instead.

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