MacUpdate has been extensively tested with System 7.0, from the Classic to the IIci to the Quadras and Powerbooks. MacUpdate has been "reasonably" well tested with System 6 (6.0.5 and 6.0.7), but it's getting hard to find Beta Testers (or anyone else) who still uses System 6.
MacUpdate works well with Hard Disks, Floppies, Network Volumes, SyQuest Drives, and virtually anything else you can mount on your desktop as an HFS Volume.
Memory Considerations
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For sub-folders, MacUpdate uses recursion. This could cause the stack to become large if you have paths that are larger than 20 or 30 folders deep. If you know this is the case with your selected directories, you should increase MacUpdate's memory allocation in the Finder's Get Info window. A symptom of this problem is the System warning "Stack Collision with Heap". If RAM is not a scarce resource, try making the allocation value 500K. Otherwise, try increasing the allocation value in increments of 100K.
If you get Memory Manager Error -108, Memory Full Error, you'll have to increase MacUpdate's memory allocation in the Finder's Get Info window. This symptom is usually caused by a large copy buffer size setting.
Copy Buffer Size Issues
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The default memory allocation for MacUpdate should be fine in most instances, even when using copy verification, with a limit on the copy buffer size to 32K. In order to use the higher settings (128K and above), you'll have to increase MacUpdate's memory allocation in the Finder's Get Info window by a corresponding amount. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you use the copy verification option, MacUpdate actually needs to create TWO buffers of the requested size, one for the source file, and one for the destination file. If copy verification is on, you will need to DOUBLE the size of the increased memory allocation (i.e., if you set a 2 MB copy buffer AND use copy verifiaction, you'll neeed to increase the memory allocation by 4 MB [2 x 2MB]. If copy verification is off, the memory allocation only needs to increase by 2 MB).
Response time when MacUpdate is running in the background can be minimized by minimizing the copy buffer size. Unfortunately, this also maximizes total copy time. For Network Volumes and Floppy Disks, the copy buffer size should be set between 1/2K and 32K if performance of the foreground application is important. If your foreground application response is not as important as the total copy time, and you are copying large files, or you are copying to and from a SCSI Hard Disk, you can make the buffer as large as the largest file you are copying, or a corresponding value of as much RAM as you can spare. (ONLY do this if response time of the foreground application is NOT very important to you. MacUpdate was designed to work as seamlessly as possible in the background, allowing you to continue working in the foreground.) The default setting (32K) is optimized for the best "trade-off" between these important resources.
Full Path Name
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When MacUpdate displays the confirmation alert after "Synchronize Now", the strings displayed as the source and destination paths are limited to 255 characters. I think I have safeguarded against the violation of this restriction causing any error; but if the selected path's name is longer than 255 characters, it is truncated to the first 255 characters.
Files and Directories that Can't be Deleted
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Files that can't be deleted can usually be attributed to a setting in the "What to Synchronize" setup dialog. For example, if the Applications checkbox is not checked, and there is an application in a folder that needs to be deleted, MacUpdate will not delete it, because of the way the preferences are set up. If a file can not be deleted, the directory, and all parent directories can not be deleted either. This does not cause problems, but may leave unwanted folders around because of a single file type in one of the folders. The bottom line is ALWAYS check your settings before you run MacUpdate.
Some files and/or folders cannot be deleted because they are locked, or are on a read-only volume (you can't delete files from a CD-ROM, or a write-protected floppy, or an AppleTalk volume that is set up as read-only). You can unlock files and folders from the Finder's GetInfo window. Let me know if deleting Locked Files and Folders would be a useful option to add to MacUpdate.
Some files or applications may not be able to be deleted or copied because they are in use.
Desktop Files and Folders
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System 6 desktop files and folders will always and only be copied if the source is the root directory of a volume (i.e., "the volume", and not some folder in it). For System 7 desktop folders and files to be updated, the source must be a volume, and the Desktop Files/Folders checkbox must be turned on in the "What to Synchronize" setup dialog. Note that if the destination is a folder (i.e., and not a volume), the desktop folder will be invisible inside the destination folder. System 7 users can always make the Desktop Folder (located at the root directory of a volume) the source in order to update update ONLY those files and folders on the desktop.
Misc. Caveats
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MacUpdate will NEVER update or copy any MacUpdate programs or files. It checks the creator of files, and if the creator is 'mUd3', does not try to update or delete the file.
ONLY the resource fork's data and resource map are verified. The resource file header is NOT verified, because it is reserved for system and private application use.
