═══ 1. General Help for Back In A Flash! ═══ The main screen for Back In A Flash! displays several important items. The items display are the active group name, the description of the active group, the current time and day, and the time remaining until the next scheduled back up. For more information on one of these items, please select that item from the following list : Active Group Description Time Next Backup The main application menu bar is also displayed. The menu bar provides an easy way to access Back In A Flash!'s powerful features. For more information about each menu option, select that option from the following list : File Settings Utilities Help For your convienience, shortcuts to certain menu items are provided in the form of accelerator keys. These key combinations, when pressed, jump directly to a specific menu item. For information about these keystrokes, select the following item : Keys help ═══ 2. Active Group Field ═══ The active group field screen shows you which backup group is currently active. This is the group which will be selected when you go to the File->Backup menu option, as well as the File->Restore menu options. ═══ 3. Group Description Field ═══ This field shows you the description of the group as entered under the Settings->Groups menu item. If the description is too long to fit in the space provided on the screen, Back In A Flash! displays as much as it can fit into that space. ═══ 4. Time and Day Field ═══ This field shows you the current time and the current day of the week, as set by the system clock. ═══ 5. Next Backup Field ═══ This field shows you when the next backup will occur. If the current group is set for a scheduled backup, the time and day of the next backup is displayed. If the current group is set for a timed interval backup, the number of hours and minutes remaining until the next backup is displayed. If the current group is set for manual backup, or if the automatic backup is not enabled, this field states that no backup is currently scheduled or that automatic backup is disabled. ═══ 6. Help for File Menu Item ═══ The "File" menu item for Back In A Flash! is used to start a backup, restore, or verify operation. It is also used to exit the program. For more information on a specific option, select that option from the list below : Backup Restore Verify Exit ═══ 7. Help for Settings Menu Item ═══ The settings menu item allows you to define new backup groups, alter backup performance tuning parameters and options, and to enable or disable automatic (scheduled or timed) backups. For more information about each menu option, select that option from the following : Groups... Options... Auto-backup Enabled ═══ 8. Help for Utilities Menu Item ═══ The utilities menu item allows you to format floppy diskettes, view or print an existing log file, or rebuild a log file from the backup medium. For more information about a specific option, select that option from the following : Format Diskette View Log Rebuild Group Log ═══ 9. Help for Help Menu Item ═══ The help menu item allows you to access on-line help about Back In A Flash! For additional information, go to the help menu item and select the 'Using Help' submenu item. ═══ 10. Help for Accelerator Keys ═══ Back In A Flash! provides accelerator keys for commonly used functions. They are listed below : Alt+F - Jump to File Menu Item Alt+S - Jump to Settings Menu Item Alt+U - Jump to Utilities Menu Item Alt+H - Jump to Help Menu Item Alt+B - Begin a backup operation Alt+R - Begin a restore operation Alt+V - Begin a verify operation F3,Alt+X - Exit Back In A Flash! Alt+G - Go to group definition section ═══ 11. Backup Item ═══ The Backup item on the file menu is used to start the backup process manually. When this option is selected, you will be presented with a window showing the parameters used for the backup such as backup device, all or changed files, compression, etc. as well as a list of files to be backed up. You may change any or all of these parameters. When you select Ok from the backup window, the backup process begins, using the parameters specified. ═══ 12. Restore Item ═══ The Restore item on the file menu is used to initiate the restoration procedure. When this option is selected, you are presented with a window listing the parameters to be used for the restore operation, such as device to restore from, overwrite existing files, etc. as well as a list of files that will be restored. When you select Ok from the restore window, the restoration process begins, using the specified parameters. ═══ 13. Verify Item ═══ The Verify item on the file menu is used to start a file verification procedure. When this option is selected, you will be presented with a window showing the parameters for the verify operation including the name of the group to verify, the device where the archive is loaded, verify mode, etc. When you select Ok from the verify window, the verfication process begins, using the specified parameters. ═══ 14. Exit Item ═══ The Exit item on the file menu is used to exit Back In A Flash!. When you choose this option, the program ends. ═══ 15. Format Diskette Item ═══ The Format Diskette item on the utilities menu is used to format a floppy diskette. When you select this option, the format program will appear. You may then specify the drive to be used and any additional parameters. ═══ 16. View Log Item ═══ The View Log item on the utilities menu is used to view and optionally print a log file generated from a previous back up. When you select this menu item, you will be presented with a window showing the log file for the current group, if one exists. You may also select a different log file, or print the log file that is displayed on an attached printer. ═══ 17. Rebuild Log Item ═══ The Rebuild Log item on the utilities menu is used to reconstruct a log file from an archive if the log file has been lost or destroyed. When you select this option, you will be presented with a window and asked to specify the archive group name as well as the device where the archive is loaded. ═══ 18. Groups... Item ═══ The Groups... item on the settings menu is used to add, update, or delete backup groups. When you select this item, you are presented with a window which lists all defined groups. You may also select a default group from this window. The default group is the group that is automatically loaded when Back In A Flash! is started. ═══ 19. Options... Item ═══ The Options... item on the settings menu is used to alter the operating parameters of Back In A Flash!. When you select this option, you are presented with a window showing the current settings for backup priority, I/O block size, locked file options, and other parameters which govern the performance of Back In A Flash! ═══ 20. Auto-backed Enabled Item ═══ The Auto-backup Enabled item allows you to toggle automatic backup on and off. When auto-backup is enabled, a check mark appears next to this menu item, and the next backup field shows the time of the next scheduled backup, or N/A if the active group is not set for scheduled or timed backup. If no check mark appears next to the menu item, then unattended backup operations are disabled, even if the current group is set for a scheduled operation. ═══ 21. Backup Files ═══ This window allows you to change the backup parameters before starting the backup operation. Note that since a separate thread is used to build the list of files, you are free to modify the other parameters while the file list is being built. If you opt to change any of the following parameters, the file list will be rebuild to reflect your new parameters : Group Name All Files Changed Files Hidden Files System Files You may press Cancel at any time to return to the main application window. Related Information Backup/Restore devices Eligibility ═══ 22. Backup Files - File List ═══ This window lists all of the files which are to be backed up in this operation. You may add files to this list, or remove files from this list. Additionally, the window may be scrolled both vertically and horizontally to view additional file names. To add a file or files to the list, press the Add button located directly below the file list window. You will be prompted for the name of the file, or you may opt to select the file from a list. Wildcard patterns are not allowed here. To remove a file from the list, highlight it with the mouse and then press the Remove button. You will be prompted for a confirmation; answering yes will remove the file from the list. To scroll the list vertically, use the scrollbar located at the left edge of the file list window. To scroll the list horizontally, use the scrollbar located at the bottom of the file list window. ═══ 23. File Restoration ═══ This window is used to select which files you wish to restore, which device to restore the files from, and whether or not to overwrite existing files. The list of files is loaded from the log file generated by the backup procedure. If the log file is missing or damaged, you can rebuild it from the archive before the restore process. Related Information Backup/Restore devices Replace File options ═══ 24. Archive Verification ═══ This window is used to verify the contents of an archive. Two different levels of verification are available: Integrity Check and Content Verification. The Integrity Check simply reads the archive to ensure that it does not contain any media errors or things of that nature. It does NOT compare the data in the archive with the data on the system. The Content Verification reads the files in the archive and compares them with the files on your system. This verification is slower, but is a more complete verification of the backup. Note that since attributes of a file change each time it is accessed (last accessed date), attribute information is not verified. Only the actual data in the file is compared with that on your system. Related Information Backup/Restore devices ═══ 25. Backup/Restore Devices ═══ Back In A Flash! supports many different devices. Essentially any device which can be attached to the OS/2 file system may be used with Back In A Flash!. This includes floppy diskette drives, hard drives, LAN attached drives, removeable devices such magneto-optical and floptical drives. The four different device specifications available are Drive A:, Drive B:, Removable, and Hard/LAN. Drive A: and Drive B: specify the A: and B: floppy diskette drives, respectively. Supported floppy drive formats include 5.25" (360K and 1.2MB) and 3.5" (720K, 1.44MB, and 2.88MB) devices. Removable drives must be specified with their drive letter and path. For example, if you have a magneto-optical drive mounted as drive F:, you would check the removable device and then key in 'F:\' into the drive & path specification. Removable drives always use root directory to store archive files. Additonally, since the format procedure varies from device to device, you must have formatted media available before you begin the backup process. Hard drives and LAN attached drives are specified by checking the Hard/LAN option and specifying the path for the archive file. ═══ 26. File Eligibility ═══ In addition to the name of the file, other parameters can be used to determine whether or not a file should be included in the backup set. These parameters are part of the file's attributes, and include the archive (changed) flag, hidden file flag, and the system file flag. The archive (changed) flag is maintained by the operating system. When a file is changed, the flag for that file is set. This flag can then be used to select only those files which have been changed. Optionally, you may choose to have this flag reset after the file has been backed up. The hidden file flag determines whether or not a file is visible in the directory. The system file flag determines whether the file is system-related or not. Files which have the system flag set are not visible, and are read only. An example of this kind of file is the OS2KRNL file. ═══ 27. Compression ═══ Back In A Flash! provides an optional compression feature. When used, this option can greatly reduce the amount of space required by the archive file, and in some cases can decrease the time required for the backup operation. If the compression option is enabled, files will be compressed during backup to be roughly 50% of their original size. Compression varies from file to file, however, and some files compress more that others. For example, text files may be compressed to be only 20% of their original size, yet executable files may be reduced to 80% of their original size. If you will be backing up files which have already been compressed, disable compression. ═══ 28. Group/Log File Selection ═══ This combo box control is used to select a different group or log file from a list of valid choices. The current selection is displayed; to select a different item click on the drop-down button and select from the list that appears. ═══ 29. Group Description ═══ This field shows the description for the selected backup group. This field may only be changed when creating or editing a group definition. ═══ 30. Replace Files Options ═══ When restoring files to your system, you have the option of choosing what to do if the file being restored already exists. You can select from the following actions : Replace Existing - Always replace any file that exists with the file that is being restored. Keep Existing - Always keep a file if it exists and discard the file from the backup. Replace if newer - Only replace a file that exists if the file being restore is newer (has a more recent date and time stamp) that the file that exists. Prompt - Ask you on a file-by-file basis if an existing file should be overwritten. ═══ 31. Restore File List ═══ This container shows the list of files that are to be stored. If you wish to restore only certain files, you may select the files with the mouse. Ranges of files can be marked. To mark a range of files, select the first file to be restored and then press the shift key while selecting the last file to be restored. All files on the list between the two you selected will be marked. Alternatively, you may 'drag' a range of files. Select the first file to be restored, and while continuing to hold the mouse button down, move the mouse to the last file. You may also select files by holding Ctrl while selecting with the mouse. The Ctrl key has the effect of keeping previous selections while adding new ones. ═══ 32. All Files ═══ Click on this button to select all files. ═══ 33. Selected Files ═══ Click on this button to restore only those files you wish to select. ═══ 34. Archive Name ═══ Key in the name of the archive to be verified, or select from the drop-down list. In order for the drop-down list to work, you specify the location of the archive before viewing the list. ═══ 35. Integrity Check ═══ Select this option if you wish to check the arhive for integrity only. This option is faster than a content comparison, but it does not compare the contents of the data in the archive to that on your system. ═══ 36. Content Verification ═══ Select this option if you wish to compare the data in the archive to that on your system. This option is slower than an integrity check, but is more thorough because is actually compares the data in the archive to that on your system. This operation compares data only. File dates & times are not compared, as they change frequently. ═══ 37. Group List ═══ This listbox shows all defined groups, in alphabetical order. To add a new group, press the Add button. To change an existing group, select the group you wish to change and press the Change button, or double-click on the group you wish to change. Both actions have the same effect. To delete a group, select the group you wish to change and press the Delete button. ═══ 38. Default Group ═══ The default group checkbox is used to mark the default backup group. There can be only one backup group, so checking this box for one group removes it for the previous default group. ═══ 39. Add Group ═══ Press the Add button to add a new group. You will then be taken to the group definition window. ═══ 40. Change Group ═══ Press the Change button to change the selected group. When you press this button, you will be taken to the group definition window. ═══ 41. Delete Group ═══ Press this button to delete the selected group. You will be prompted for confirmation before the group is actually deleted. ═══ 42. Activate Group ═══ Press this button to activate the currently selected group. ═══ 43. Backup Modes ═══ Back In A Flash! can start a backup in three different ways, or backup modes, as follows : Manual - The backup must be initiated manually. Scheduled - The backup is run at a predefined day and time. Note that since the day of the week is specified instead of a single date, the backup group does not need to be changed after every backup. For example, the group may be defined to backup every Monday at 17:30 (5:30pm) or every day at 2:00am. Timed - The backup is run at a predefined timed interval ranging from 15 to 1439 minutes (15 minutes to 23 hours and 59 minutes). ═══ 44. Include Patterns ═══ This listbox specifies the include file patterns to be used for finding files to be backed up. You specify a pattern by pressing the Add button located underneath the include file pattern window. You then key in the path name you wish to have backed up. Wildcards '*' and '?' are allowed. Subdirectories are automatically backed up, so the pattern 'D:\*' would include all files located on the D: drive of your system. Note: Since OS/2, unlike DOS, can store extended attribute information on a directory, you must explicitly specify that directory as to backup any extended attributes attached to that directory. For example, to back up the OS/2 desktop directory tree, you would need to specify 'C:\DESKTOP' as well as 'C:\DESKTOP\*'. To remove a file pattern(s), select them and press the remove button located underneath the include file pattern window. ═══ 45. Exclude Patterns ═══ This listbox specifies exclude file patterns, a powerful feature of Back In A Flash! that allows you to exclude certain files or types of files from a backup operation. The wildcard characters '*' and '?' are supported. A typical example would be excluding '*.TMP' and 'SWAPPER.DAT'. These patterns would exclude any files found by the include patterns that had a file name of swapper.dat or had an extension of '.TMP'. To add an exclude pattern, press the add button located underneath the exclude patterns listbox. To remove an exclude pattern, select that pattern and press the remove button located underneath the exclude patterns listbox. ═══ 46. Backup Priority ═══ This slider bar allows you to adjust the priority at which the read and compress thread runs at during a backup operation. If you want the backup to run a little faster, increase the priority. If you want your applications to be more responsive during the backup, lower the priority. ═══ 47. I/O Block Size ═══ You can adjust the maximum size of the I/O block used by Back In A Flash! from 32K to 128K. A good rule of thumb is to make the block size smaller on slower systems and larger on faster systems. Note however, that by increasing the block size, more memory will be used by Back In A Flash!. Since up to 32 buffers can be allocated during the backup process, the amount of memory used for buffers can range from one megabyte (32K block size) to four megabytes (128K block size). In a low-memory situtation, increasing the block size may actually slow the system down dramatically due to memory paging activity. ═══ 48. Locked Files ═══ Back In A Flash! can be set so that it obtains a shared lock for a file before backing it up. A shared lock means that any other program can read the file while it is being backed up, but no program may make changes to the file during back up. The number of file lock retries can also be set. If Back In A Flash! requests a lock on a file, it will automatically wait one second for that file lock to become available. If that lock does not become available, the lock attempt is retried up to the number specified. If after the number of retries has been reached, no lock has been obtained, an error is generated and the file is skipped. To have files locked during backup, check the Lock Files checkbox and set the number of retries. ═══ 49. Miscellaneous Options ═══ You can opt to have Back In A Flash! automatically quick format diskettes during the backup procedure. A quick format erases all data on the disk and requires that the diskette has already been formatted at least once before. If you wish to have diskettes quick formatted before they are used, check the Quick Format Diskettes box. ═══ 50. Group Name ═══ The name of a backup group can be up to eight characters long. No spaces are allowed; if a space exists in the name it will be replaced with an underscore before the group is saved. ═══ 51. Backup Status Window ═══ This window shows the current progress of the backup operation. The reading/compressing field shows which file is being read and compressed, the writing field shows which file is being output to the backup device, the completed field shows how many files have been successfully backed up, and the elapsed time field shows how many minutes and seconds have passed as well as the backup throughput in kilobytes per second. The progress indication bar shows how many kilobytes of data have been backed up in relation to the total number of kilobytes that will be backed up. ═══ 52. Restore Status Window ═══ The restore status window shows the current status of the restore operation. The restoring field shows the name of the file currently being restored, the volume field shows the current volume being restored from, and the completed field shows how many files have been restored. The progress indicator bar shows the percentage of files restored in relation to the total number of files to be restored. ═══ 53. Verify Status Window ═══ The verify status window shows the current status of the archive verify operation. The verify field shows the current file being verified, the volume field shows the current volume being read, and the completed field shows how many files have been verified. ═══ 54. Backup Groups ═══ These windows are used to add, modify, and delete backup groups for Back In A Flash!. A backup group is a set of parameters that define which files should be backed up, which device the files should be backed up to, how the backup should be initiated, and whether or not data compression should be used. Related Information Backup/Restore Devices Eligibility Compression ═══ 55. Back In A Flash! Options ═══ Back In A Flash! allows you to adjust several parameters which have an effect on backup throughput and system performance. The default settings will provide the best all-around performance, however, you may wish to adjust the block size and priority depending on what kind of data you are backing up and the device you are backing up to. Related Information Backup Priority I/O Block Size Locked Files Miscellaneous Options ═══ 56. Log Name ═══ Select the log file to view by pressing the drop-down button and selecting the log from the displayed list. ═══ 57. Log Contents ═══ You may scroll the log contents either vertically or horizontally using the scroll bars provided. The entire log is loaded, however, it may not all be visible at