You can use MacUpdate to do background copying, thus freeing up the Finder to launch and run other applications, navigate through directories, or even copy more files! Just run MacUpdate and specify as the Source the folder that you want to copy. In the Destination, specify where you want to copy the Source folder to. Start the synchronization process, and then click in a Finder Window to get back to the Finder and continue working. MacUpdate does not "hog" the CPU like some other background applications. You should see very good response time, regardless of which application you are working with while MacUpdate is "doing its thing" in the background. If you are copying to an EMPTY folder or volume (as opposed to updating an existing, older copy), be sure that the "Automatically Create" option is on in the Pair and Loner Settings Dialog.
By un-checking the "Include Files" and "Exclude Empty Folders" checkboxes in the Criteria Dialog, you can duplicate a directory structure (folders only) without actually copying any files.
Additionally, you can easily configure MacUpdate to do selective duplication, or deletion of folders:
To do a selective duplication, create an empty folder. Set the folder to be selectively duplicated as the Source, and the empty folder as the Destination. Use the Criteria Dialog to specify criteria (that's the "selective" part) for the files that are to be duplicated, and configure Source Loners for "Automatically Create". There are no Destination Loners (the folder is empty), so the Destination Loners setting does not matter. Recommend you use the "Ignore" option. After synchronization, the "empty" folder will have selected files from the Source in it.
To selectively delete a folder (i.e., only delete certain files from the folder), again, create an empty folder. Set the empty folder as the Source, and the folder to be selectively deleted as the Destination. Use the Criteria Dialog to specify criteria for the files that are to be deleted, and configure Destination Loners for "Automatically Delete". There are no Source Loners (the folder is empty), so the Source Loners setting does not matter. Recommend you use the "Ignore" option. After synchronization, delete the empty folder (it will still be empty), and the original folder will have the specified files deleted from it.
Back-Up Bliss
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MacUpdate ONLY copies the files that have CHANGED to your backup volume, not wasting time by copying files that have remain unchanged since the last backup operation. Every day or week or however long you feel is prudent between your backups, run MacUpdate to back up the folders that have files in them that you may have modified. If you are lucky enough to be able to backup your ENTIRE volume to some other volume (SyQuest, Other Hard Drive, Network Server), this is very easy: just choose the backup volume as the Destination, and the volume to be backed-up as the Source. MacUpdate will search on both volumes to make the Destination be a "mirror-image" of the source. If you can only backup to floppies, you'll still choose the floppy volume as the Destination, but you will have to choose a specific Source folder to backup to the floppy. It is very unlikely that your entire Hard Disk will fit onto one floppy! Of course, be sure the folder you are backing up is small enough to fit on the floppy.
Synchronicity, or, Being in Two Places at Once
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If you work on a single project on multiple Macs, you always want to be sure you are working on the latest versions of the files for the project. Using the Finder to do this results in: at the end of the day at the office, copy the folder to a floppy, take the floppy home, copy the folder to your personal Mac, work on the files that night. The next day, copy the folder to the floppy, take it back to work, and copy the folder from the floppy back to the office Mac. With MacUpdate, you'll still have to carry the floppy to and from the two Macs (unless you are lucky enough to have a network connection of some sort). The time savings comes from the fact that ONLY the files that have changed are copied, plus you can keep working without seriously long delays while the updating is taking place. If you specify the "Create Source Loners on Destination" and "Delete Destination Loners from Destination" options, your two project folders on two different Macs will ALWAYS be identical.
Network Magic
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Make file changes on a server Mac for a network, and voìla! Each Mac on your network can have a copy of these latest changes. To do this, run copies of MacUpdate on each client Mac. Specify the Source folder where file changes take place as the source, and the Destination folder as the client's folder. Remember to configure MacUpdate on EACH Mac for "Synchronize All when File is Opened", and probably to AutoConnect with the proper User ID and Password.
Let's Outlaw Disorganization
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Hierarchical organization is a MUST for any succesful backup plan. If your programs and files are intermingled all over your desktop, MacUpdate or any other backup program will probably not be of much use to you for selectively backing up your files. It is best to pick just a few "top-level" categories: System Folder, Applications Folder, Personal Data Files, Significant Others' Personal Data Files, and maybe one or two more. Then, organize all other files and folders inside of these "top-level" folders. This makes it quite easy to skip updating of System and Applications folders (since they don't change very often), yet still perform daily backups of data files. In this case, the Source can simply be your Personal Data Files folder.
Automation Strategies
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Virtually any automation strategy should include use of the "Synchronize All when Document is Opened" setting. In many cases, it will also make sense to use the "Auto-Quit when Finished" setting. Keep in mind if you intend to automatically synchronize multiple Settings Files, only the *very last* Settings File should have the "Auto Quit when Finished" setting.
The combination of "Synchronize All when Document is Opened" and "Auto-Quit when Finished" results in a Settings File being "trasformed" into a double-clickable synchronization document (almost like an executable file): You just double-click on it to start it, and MacUpdate automatically synchronizes all Pairs in the document, and then quits.
You can change the sequence order of the Pairs in a Settings File by control-click-dragging a Pair in the Settings File Window to a new location. The first (top-most) Pair is synchronized first, the last (bottom-most) Pair is synchronized last.
Be sure to read the documentation titled "Automation Users Manual" if you are interested in automatically making MacUpdate synchronize at startup, shutdown, or at a specific time or interval.
You can also make an alias of a Settings File (or many Settings Files) and place the alias in the Startup Items folder inside of the System Folder. Then, when your Mac is powered on, those Settings Files will have the Pairs they contain synchronized. Note that items in the Startup Items folder are processed in alphabetical order.
If you are synchronizing AppleShare volumes, you probably want to use the Auto-Connect setting, and specify the Chooser user ID and password, so you are not prompted for this information (which you will have to enter manually). Auto-Connect is used to by-pass the Chooser. You can also specify Auto-Disconnect, so the volume is put away after synchronization is completed.
All that needs to occur to get MacUpdate to open (and optionally Synchronize All) is an "Open Document" Apple Event sent to MacUpdate, specifiying the Settings File as the doucment to open. So, in AppleScript, you can make your own script (to synchronize at a specific time, for example, or under specific circumstances) to start a synchronization:
Then just be sure the "Synchronize All when Document is Opened" setting is on, and possibly the "Auto-Quit when Finished" setting.
Criteria Strategies
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One of the best strategies available using Criteria is to use a label (from the Finder's Label menu) on the items you want to synchronize, then, in the Criteria Dialog, specify that label as the Criteria. Very close to this technique is to append an "extension" to the file names of items you want to back up. For example, change "My Folder" to "My Folder.BAK", and then specify Name Contains ".BAK" as Criteria.
It's also possible (and sometimes very useful) to make multiple synchronization passes over a single Pair of folders using different Criteria on each pass. To do this, just make duplicate Pairs in the Settings File Window, and assign the different Criteria, one to each pair. This is one way around a scenario where you want to backup multiple "sets" of items, each of which has different Criteria. Note MacUpdate currently only supports a single Criteria for a Pair (you can't "AND" or "OR" criteria together to make something like "Name end with .BAK or Label is Project 1" -- you'll have to do this in 2 passes: once for the Name criteria, and once for the Label Criteria.
Criteria is really very powerful. Please experiment with it and push it to it's limits!
Miscellaneous
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Making an older folder *exactly* like a newer folder: Set up Pair and Loner Settings so Loners on the Source are created in the Destination, and Loners on the Destination are deleted. This will make the Destination an exact duplicate of the Source (assuming no Criteria has been specified...)
