Some files unavailable for backup

I just did a backup where I included the entire .gnome2/ephphany directory and it backed up ALL the files under it -- including bookmarks.rtf.

But you can't select any of the individual files for inclusion. And having to back up the entire directory seems excessive.

Folders starting with a . are excluded by default in 0.9.26.
This will be changed in the next release...

Cheers,
Bart

2009/11/30 Gary Merrill <email address hidden>

> Question #92276 on Back In Time changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/backintime/+question/92276
>
> Gary Merrill posted a new comment:
> I just did a backup where I included the entire .gnome2/ephphany
> directory and it backed up ALL the files under it -- including
> bookmarks.rtf.
>
> But you can't select any of the individual files for inclusion. And
> having to back up the entire directory seems excessive.
>
> You received this question notification because you are an answer
> contact for Back In Time.
>

I think you've missed the point here. Let me summarize the situation as
I see it.

(1) By default, .gnome2 is not included in a backup of /home/<myhome>.
(This is fine. Actually, I wouldn't change it.)
(2) I CAN include this explicitly adding it to the "Include" list.
(This is fine. It works.)
(3) If I DO include it, then ALL the files in it are backed up. (This
is fine. It's what I would expect.)
(4) But what I CANNOT do is to explicitly add ONE file under .gnome2 to
the "Include" list (because, since the default is to exclude the
DIRECTORY, the interface does not make ANY of the files under it
available for inclusion). More generally, this means that currently I
cannot add a file to the Include list if it is in a directory that is
not itself already included. (This is not fine.)

I think that you have a confusion in the "Include folder" window because
you think that what is displayed in the Name window is the files that
have been included. But this should not be the case. The Name window
should display all the files that CAN BE included -- and this means that
it should display ALL FILES, with none grayed out. It is the list in
the "Include folders" window of the Setting dialog that displays the
files/directories that will actually be included.

I SHOULD be able to do (4). That is, even if a DIRECTORY is excluded, I
should be able to include INDIVIDUAL FILES under that directory. Partly
this is because "Exclude" should not mean "excluded from the backup" but
rather should mean "not included in the backup". So even though .gnome2
is NOT INCLUDED IN THE BACKUP (as a directory), I should still be able
to select files (or subdirectories) in it TO BE INCLUDED IN THE BACKUP.
Basically, this means, that you should never gray out ANY files in the
selection dialog since the user should be able to include ANY file in
the backup by adding it to the "Include" list.

Now you may be adopting a conceptual model according to which you think
that a directory must first be included before any of its files can be
excluded. This is a very cumbersome and confusing approach, and it
should be avoided. I should never have to go through a two step process
(include directory, now exclude files I don't want backed up) in order
to add files in a directory to the backup. In including files and
directories in a backup I should simply be able to click those that I
want included. Similarly, in excluding files and directories, I should
be able to do the same.

I think what this shows is that what you're really missing in the
interface is a good display of what the entire backup is. From the main
Back In Time window it is difficult to see exactly what is included in a
backup and what is not. There is currently an obvious flaw in this.
Try the following test:

    -- Add a Backup folder X.
    -- For some file Y under X, go to your Settings, and explicitly
exclude Y. (So now X is included as a backed up folder, but X/Y is
excluded.)
    -- Go to the Back In Time main window and under "Backup folders",
click X.

In the Name pane, what should be displayed is the list of files under X
that will be in the backup. But you will see Y there even though it has
been excluded. If you look in Settings->Exclude you will see Y in the
Exclude list.

You have a couple of choices here:

(A) In the Name pane of the Back In Time main window, display ONLY those
files thar are REALLY backed up. In the example, this means that you
would NOT display Y since it is excluded. This approach has the
advantage that only backed up files are displayed. It has the
disadvantage that files that were not backed up are not displayed, and
users might want to see those files as well.
(B) In the Name pane of the Back In Time main window, display ALL files
that were in the given directory, but visually indicate (by some icon,
graying out, etc.) the ones that are/were excluded from the backup.
This is probably the better alternative since it provides the user with
more information.

Currently, the display is confusing and inaccurate since it displays in
the Name pane both files thare are backed up and those that are not
backed up (because they've been excluded), and no distinction is made.
So the user can't tell from the main window exactly what files are
included in a backup and what files are not. This requires flipping
back and forth between the main window and the Settings windows. Not
good.

If you implement either (A) or (B), then that will resolve the
confusions now pertaining to your graying out of items in the Include
and Exclude windows in the Settings -- since you should no longer be
graying out anything there.

On Tue, 2009-12-01 at 15:15 +0000, Bart de Koning wrote:

> Your question #92276 on Back In Time changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/backintime/+question/92276
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> Bart de Koning proposed the following answer:
> Folders starting with a . are excluded by default in 0.9.26.
> This will be changed in the next release...
>
> Cheers,
> Bart
>
> 2009/11/30 Gary Merrill <email address hidden>
>
> > Question #92276 on Back In Time changed:
> > https://answers.launchpad.net/backintime/+question/92276
> >
> > Gary Merrill posted a new comment:
> > I just did a backup where I included the entire .gnome2/ephphany
> > directory and it backed up ALL the files under it -- including
> > bookmarks.rtf.
> >
> > But you can't select any of the individual files for inclusion. And
> > having to back up the entire directory seems excessive.
> >
> > You received this question notification because you are an answer
> > contact for Back In Time.
> >
>

________________________________________________________________________

Gary H. Merrill
Ontolytics, LLC

+1 919.271.7259

To make shot: "included folders" means included folders and all files/folders it contains. From this files/folder you exclude some using exclude patterns. What you can't do is include a file. This can be in the wishlist.

In the MainWindow BIT show all the items in the current snapshot (or Now). 'Now' show all items not only items that can be included in the next snapshot. Highlight items from 'Now' that can be in the next snapshot can be added to the wishlist.

If you show the content of a snapshot you can see only the files/folders that really exists in that snapshot.