Drag'nBack uses a template to record the files you choose to back up, and to control backup. When you do a backup as described in the Quick Start topic, Drag'nBack creates a template and saves it in the same folder where Drag'nBack resides. The template is called Drag'nBack.CAT.
The template is also referred to as a catalog. The word template is used when the catalog is associated with backup .
When you double-click on the Drag'nBack application, this template will be opened and used for backup. When you double-click on the template, the files in the template will be displayed in a window line by line vertically. You can use the template to exclude files from being backed up, to update backup files, to restore files from backup disks, to delete unwanted files, to find files, or to open files.
During backup, the program selects a file from the template. It then checks whether the file is backed up (backup disk field is not empty) or has been changed since last backup. If the file needs to be backed up again, the program will ask you for the backup disk if it is not already in the drive.
Creating Multiple Templates
When you open the Drag'nBack application, it will open a template it created before. This template is the preferred template. A template dialog may appear allowing you to change the preferred template.
To create a new template, you can click the New button in the template dialog or use the New command from the File menu and then add files to the empty template.
To back up a small number of files and folders daily, use a new template. This can save you time by using a much smaller template.
Adding Files to Template
Dragging icons to the Drag'nBack icon tells Drag'nBack to back up the files associated with these icons. The files will be added to the preferred template. If the files are already in the template, Drag'nBack will back them up (if needed) without adding them again to the template.
System 7 Pro and 7.5 and later users can add files to a template by dragging icons directly into a template window.
The Catalog窶ｦ command in the Drag'nBack menu lets you add files to a template when System 6 is running. You can add files in a folder or in a whole disk using this command. Files or folders can be renamed or deleted from the dialog.
The Scan Folders command and option will scan the source disk for new files in each parent folder and its sub folder for the files in the template. When it finds a file that is not listed in the template, it will add it to the template. In contrast, the Scan Folders command in the Special menu restricts the search to only selected files in the template.
The Scan Folders command will scan the backup disks when the Shift key is pressed.
Template Window
The template is displayed in a list window. Each file in the template is listed on a line. Four attributes of the file are shown: the file name, the source disk name, the parent folder name, and the backup disk name. The backup disk name will be blank if the file has not been backed up. The source disk name will be blank if the file was deleted.
When a backup file is in a source folder or in an archives folder or in an incremental folder or is encrypted or is compressed, the - or * or + or 窶 or $ marker will appear before the backup disk name respectively. When the backup file is segment-copied from the source file, a sequence number will appear before the backup disk name.
When a source file has a comment in the Finder窶冱 Get Info window, the ! marker will appear before the file name. However, this attribute will be set only after the file is backed up with the Save Comment option selected.
You can see all the folders within which a file is nested on a volume by pressing the Option key and moving the mouse over the file窶冱 line. A small box will appear listing the source disk name, the hierarchical folders, the parent folder, and the file name. If the Shift key is also pressed, the backup disk name will be shown instead of the source disk name.
The width of an attribute field can be resized by clicking and dragging on the line separating two field names. The order of the attributes can be changed by clicking and dragging the middle of a field name. Simply clicking on a field name will sort the list according to the attribute. A field name is underlined if it is the primary sorting field.
If you have the scriptable Finder or the Finder Scripting Extension installed, the font and size of the file list will be the same as in the desktop.
File Exclusion Marker
窶｢: Mark a file with this symbol if you want to exclude it from backup. If you click the Next button in the backup dialog, Drag'nBack will flag the skipped file with this marker for you.
A backup file that is moved into the Archives folder will be marked (see the Preferences topic for more on the Archives folder).
The marker applies to individual files. To assign a marker to a file, click the space at the left of the file name. Clicking at a marker will remove it.
Editing a Template
To edit a template, you can open it from the desktop. You can select multiple files from the list by clicking and dragging, or by Shift-clicking a file name.
Drag'nBack provides menu commands for you to change the template by groups. From the Edit menu commands, you can select all files, mark selected files, delete selected files from the list, etc.
To select all files of the same kind, hold down the Command key and then click on any one of the files. Clicking again will deselect all the files.
When a backup disk becomes corrupted, you may want to replace it. When this happens, select the files in the template that are backed up to the corrupted disk, hold down the Shift key, and choose the Clear Disk Name command from the Special menu. You can then back them up to a different disk.
Sort
You can order the files by any one of nine attributes. You can also choose the Sort command, which allows you to order the list by up to four levels simultaneously. A template will be resorted after backup if the Resort option is checked.
You can sort source server, source zone, backup server, and backup zone for networked volumes.
The Path attribute refers to the hierarchical folders within which the file is stored on the source disk. The Backup Path attribute refers to the hierarchical folders within which the file is stored on the backup disk.
Find
There are two ways you can find files from the list window. You can type a search string, then press the Return key (the characters will not appear on the screen). If a file name matches the typed string, this file will be highlighted and brought into view. Press the Return key again and another search will be performed for the same name. Typing a new string will replace the previous string. If you use the vertical scroll bar to scroll the list to a new position, the search will resume from the top of the new displayed window.
You can also choose the Find窶ｦ command from the Edit menu to find files. A dialog will allow you to specify additional search criteria. For example, you can search a folder name by choosing the Parent Folder button and/or the Hierarchical Folders button. The criteria will stay in effect after you dispose of the dialog.
With a file selected, if you hold down the Shift key and then select the Find command, the file name with its type and creator will fill up the Find dialog when it appears. You can use this trick to find the creator and type characters of a file. The Enter command will do a similar trick.
Merging a Template File
After a template file has been opened and you open another template, the new one will replace the one already open. However, if you press the Control key and then open another template, the new template will be merged into the one already open.
Template Size Limit
The maximum number of files in a template is 16,000. The template needs approximately 60K of memory for a thousand files.
The preferred memory size is set at 1024K, enough to back up the startup disk. Drag'nBack will adjust memory size if more is needed. Drag'nBack can run with much less memory for small templates. You can set a smaller memory if you don窶冲 have 1024K free memory.
Template Dialog
When Drag'nBack is launched the second time on the same computer a template dialog will appear. This dialog displays a list of previously used templates. This dialog allows you to create a new template or do other things. Click at the Help icon will display another dialog explaining the options.
Backup Sets
The group of templates that are marked in the template dialog is called a backup set. The check marked templates will be opened one at a time for backup. You can create one backup set for daily backup and another set for weekly backup, for example. When you open the program to do backup you can choose the backup set you want at that time.
