This option, checked as a default, enables full synchronisation between two folders. That is, the contents of both folders will be the same upon completion of the synchronisation. If this item is left unchecked, the destination folder is the only folder that is updated.
Report Before Synchronise
With this item checked, a synchronisation will produce a report detailing all the files to be updated. Usually you would scan this report to ensure that the synchronisation would proceed as you expect. You may then either cancel the proposed synchronisation or continue. Clicking the Cancel button stops the synchronisation process and returns you to the main SwitchBack window. Clicking the Continue button allows the synchronisation to proceed. Note that for very large synchronisations it is possible to exceed the capacity of the report window. You can, however, click the Save Text… button in the report window and open the entire text of the report in a word processor.
Start Automatically
When checked in a saved document, the synchronisation will automatically start when the document is double-clicked. If you have a regular synchronisation, you can set the required source, destination, exclusions etc. and save the document with this item checked. In future, when the document is opened, the synchronisation will begin without you having to press the Start button. Opening the document from within SwitchBack using the Open… item in the File menu will not cause the synchronisation to start automatically. Also, if the Command key is down when a document is double-clicked, the synchronisation will not automatically start.
Swapping Source and Destination Paths
Clicking on the arrow will swap the source and destination paths. If you do not want this change to be saved, you can option-click the arrow. Note that if Delete Obsolete Items is checked in the Special menu, it will be unchecked when you swap source and destination paths. This is to prevent accidentally swapping source and destination folders and deleting files that should have been copied. Command-clicking the arrow will leave Delete Obsolete Items turned on if it’s already on (but use this feature with caution).
Exclude Items…
Clicking this button brings up a window with more options. This set of options allows you to exclude certain files and folders from the synchronisation. Command-E is a keyboard equivalent for this item.
Add…
This button allows you to select a file whose type will be added to the list shown to the left of the Add… button. More file types can be added to this list by clicking the Add… button. Any file whose type matches one in the list will be excluded from the synchronisation. Command-A is a keyboard equivalent for this item. You can drag and drop individual file types into the list if you have “Macintosh Drag and Drop” enabled.
Remove
This button, initially disabled, allows you to remove items that you have previously added to the list of file types to exclude. Simply select an item to remove from the list, then click the Remove button. Command-R is a keyboard equivalent for this item.
Exclude Applications
This checkbox adds or removes applications from the exclusion list. This is the same as using the Add… button to choose an application as one of the excluded types.
Exclude SwitchBack Documents
This checkbox adds or removes SwitchBack documents from the exclusion list. This is the same as using the Add… button to choose a SwitchBack document as one of the excluded types.
Exclude Invisibles
With this item checked any file that is invisible in the Finder will be excluded from the synchronisation.
Exclude Aliases
With this item checked aliases will be excluded from the synchronisation. When you are synchronising two folders, it is often not important to copy alias files since they tend to be specific to a particular volume. If the Resolve Aliases item is checked, however, the setting of this checkbox is ignored.
Don’t Copy Items — Starting with
You may type any single character in this text field. If there is a character present in the text field, any file whose name begins with that character will be excluded from the synchronisation. If the text field is empty, this option will not apply.
Don’t Copy Items — Ending with
Similar to that above, any file whose name ends in the character present in the text field will be excluded from the synchronisation. If the text field is empty, this option will not apply.
Labels
Clicking this button will bring up a dialog which allows you to exclude items with a certain label from the synchronisation. For example, you could define a label “Don’t Sync” to exclude just some files and folders from the synchronisation. Command-L is a keyboard equivalent for this item.
