Little BackerUpper: I just wrote a proggie for file backup :)

  • Thread starter Thread starter R.L
  • Start date Start date
R

R.L

Hi, there was a recently discussion in this NG about how hard
to find a program to backup individual files (from different
directories) to one location. I, therefore, just for the fun
of it, made one with Autoit and called it "Little File Backer-
Upper" :) It is about 100kb, standalone and system green.

I have been using it in XP, and it should also work in 9x and
2000 systems, please let me know if it doesn't.

Here is the screenshot:
http://home.earthlink.net/~ringomei/LittleBackerUpper.jpg

And, here is the downloading page:

http://home.earthlink.net/~ringomei/page2.html

(Note, I forgot to add this in the Readme file: you can use
command switch to do automatic backup of the list, just add
"auto" with no quotes to the end of the exe commandline.)

It is, of course, free-free-free-ware :-)

I just wrote it for fun, but if someone find it useful and
want to give suggestions for other features, just post it in
this NG. If I am going to add something next, I may add
filesize checking and custom file list support, and finially,
perhaps zip support.
 
(e-mail address removed) (CHarneyCHRIS) says in
whers the download link,all i see is adaware and lefty cursor.
Click to expand...


Just scroll down the page :)

(I will change the page layout soon to make it easier to go
about, but for now, I'm afraid the mouse needs to go abit lower
to see it :) ).
 
(e-mail address removed) (CHarneyCHRIS) says in



Just scroll down the page :)

(I will change the page layout soon to make it easier to go
about, but for now, I'm afraid the mouse needs to go abit
lower to see it :) ).
Click to expand...
oh, forgot to mention, you might also want to refresh the page
(you might have an stored an old version of the page in your
cache).
 
Hi, there was a recently discussion in this NG about how hard
to find a program to backup individual files (from different
directories) to one location. I, therefore, just for the fun
of it, made one with Autoit and called it "Little File Backer-
Upper" :) It is about 100kb, standalone and system green.
Click to expand...

Cool little program. Useful! Great for backing up config files, registry and
such.

Any plans for scheduling? (I don't like the Windows Scheduler)

Bob

Remove "kins" to reply by e-mail.
 
R.L said:
(e-mail address removed) (CHarneyCHRIS) says in



Just scroll down the page :)

(I will change the page layout soon to make it easier to go
about, but for now, I'm afraid the mouse needs to go abit lower
to see it :) ).
Click to expand...

There's only so much one can do to dumb things down... :)

--
dadiOH
_____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.0...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
____________________________
 
R.L said:
Hi, there was a recently discussion in this NG about how hard
to find a program to backup individual files (from different
directories) to one location. I, therefore, just for the fun
of it, made one with Autoit and called it "Little File Backer-
Upper" :) It is about 100kb, standalone and system green.

I have been using it in XP, and it should also work in 9x and
2000 systems, please let me know if it doesn't.

Here is the screenshot:
http://home.earthlink.net/~ringomei/LittleBackerUpper.jpg

And, here is the downloading page:

http://home.earthlink.net/~ringomei/page2.html

(Note, I forgot to add this in the Readme file: you can use
command switch to do automatic backup of the list, just add
"auto" with no quotes to the end of the exe commandline.)

It is, of course, free-free-free-ware :-)

I just wrote it for fun, but if someone find it useful and
want to give suggestions for other features, just post it in
this NG. If I am going to add something next, I may add
filesize checking and custom file list support, and finially,
perhaps zip support.
Click to expand...
Just a thankyou - haven't tried it yet but it is downloaded and it
appears to be exactly what I was after. Thanks for sharing R.L.

miskairal
 
Just a thankyou - haven't tried it yet but it is downloaded
and it appears to be exactly what I was after. Thanks for
sharing R.L.
Click to expand...

U're welcomed, hope that you'd find it useful.
 
Cool little program. Useful! Great for backing up config
files, registry and such.

Any plans for scheduling? (I don't like the Windows
Scheduler)
Click to expand...

For now, I don't have any plans for giving a build-in
scheduler for the program because it will mean the program has
to constantly be running in the background, just to do one
task that it is designed for. And it is not, IMO, resourse-
worthy to have just a scheduler running the whole time for
only one task. Although Windows scheduler is not the most
perfered one to use, I will recommand to use other free ones
out there because it is more flexible that way (different jobs
share one scheduler is better than different jobs have
different schedulers all running in the background).
 
Hi, there was a recently discussion in this NG about how hard
to find a program to backup individual files (from different
directories) to one location. I, therefore, just for the fun
of it, made one with Autoit and called it "Little File Backer-
Upper" :) It is about 100kb, standalone and system green.

I have been using it in XP, and it should also work in 9x and
2000 systems, please let me know if it doesn't.

Here is the screenshot:
http://home.earthlink.net/~ringomei/LittleBackerUpper.jpg

And, here is the downloading page:

http://home.earthlink.net/~ringomei/page2.html

(Note, I forgot to add this in the Readme file: you can use
command switch to do automatic backup of the list, just add
"auto" with no quotes to the end of the exe commandline.)

It is, of course, free-free-free-ware :-)

I just wrote it for fun, but if someone find it useful and
want to give suggestions for other features, just post it in
this NG. If I am going to add something next, I may add
filesize checking and custom file list support, and finially,
perhaps zip support.
Click to expand...

This is awesome R.L.! I only just found this thread yesterday at work
doing a search via google on the ng for the original thread! I dl the
file and tried it at the office, and yes, it's exactly what I was
looking for! Great work!

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
You say that you were looking for suggestions for other features,
there are 3 things that right away came to mind although only one is
absolutely vital:

1) In my bat in the first message that I posted re this in the other
thread, the first line of code was something like this:

md a:\bkp

By making the directory ("md"), I never have to worry about the folder
being there or not. If it already exists, "md" isn't be bothered by
that; but if it isn't, the md makes the folder.

If the folder put in the path to copy to isn't present for this AutoIt
script, it doesn't get created properly. After a "successful" backup,
all one is left with is the name of the folder, i.e., an unusable
file called BKP in this case. <g> No backed up files or anything,
just that one file.

That's about all that I would change that is vital.

2) The other 2 things would make life much, much easier so I feel
it's worth mentioning - maximize and minimize.

The paths for files here at home are small, but on the network at work
they're incredibly long. After entering the files to back up, one
can't see the name of the files at all in the window. One has to
click on each file one-by-one to see the entire path but underneath
the main window. Helps but it's not at-a-glance.

Whenever I don't use the A drive, I use the desktop, but even a small
folder like the BKP one I used yesterday has an incredibly long path
as it's put under our usernames at work so it's nearly 3 times as long
as the c:\windows\desktop path to the desktop here at home! <g>

I feel maximizing would eliminate this problem; but if it's too
difficult to make the interface have maximize and minimize buttons,
then just making the interface window about 2 inches bigger _should_
do the trick for most situations.

p.s., the minimize button is a third wish, but again, one can live
without this.

p.p.s., oh, if the maximize feature doesn't do anything for the window
size and it just increases all the grey around the interface so that
it fills the screen, then maximizing won't help in this case. The
size of the window would still just need increasing.

Just a wish list but hope it's of use.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Thanks so much for this! It's totally awesome as it is and exactly
the easy, small, uninstallable thing one would look for for these
simple yet repetitive backup needs. Excellent job!
 
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- You say that you were looking for
suggestions for other features, there are 3 things that
right away came to mind although only one is absolutely
vital:

If the folder put in the path to copy to isn't present for
this AutoIt script, it doesn't get created properly. After
a "successful" backup, all one is left with is the name of
the folder, i.e., an unusable file called BKP in this
case. <g> No backed up files or anything, just that one
file.
Click to expand...

Yes, that is a problem, I will try to work on it, to build in
some error checking/fixing feature there.

2) The other 2 things would make life much, much easier so
I feel it's worth mentioning - maximize and minimize.
Click to expand...

I think minimizing would be easy, but maximizing would not
help to create an at-a-glance view. I can totally make the
list box bigger, though :) .

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Thanks so much for this! It's
totally awesome as it is and exactly the easy, small,
uninstallable thing one would look for for these simple yet
repetitive backup needs. Excellent job!
Click to expand...
This is awesome R.L.! I only just found this thread
yesterday at work doing a search via google on the ng for
the original thread! I dl the file and tried it at the
office, and yes, it's exactly what I was looking for! Great
work!
Click to expand...

Thanks :) Never thought that one can do AutoIt to make such a
neat thing.


-- RL

*******************************************
Unofficial Adaware Updater:
http://home.earthlink.net/~ringomei/Unofficial_adaware_update
r.html

Little (File) Backer Upper:
http://home.earthlink.net/~ringomei/page2.html
*******************************************
 
You say that you were looking for suggestions for other
features, there are 3 things that right away came to mind
although only one is absolutely vital:
Click to expand...

Hi, fitwell, 2 of them fixed, except that there is not a
minimize function yet (because it seems that the AutoIt GUI
beta version still has some bug on window style, and there
isn't anything I could do about it for now).

http://home.earthlink.net/
~ringomei/Backup_tool_Backer_Upper.html


--
RL
*******************************************
Unofficial Adaware Updater:
http://home.earthlink.net/
~ringomei/Unofficial_adaware_updater.html

Little (File) Backer Upper:
http://home.earthlink.net/~ringomei/page2.html
*******************************************
 
[snip]
If the folder put in the path to copy to isn't present for
this AutoIt script, it doesn't get created properly. After
a "successful" backup, all one is left with is the name of
the folder, i.e., an unusable file called BKP in this
case. <g> No backed up files or anything, just that one
file.
Click to expand...

Yes, that is a problem, I will try to work on it, to build in
some error checking/fixing feature there.
Click to expand...

Is the coding not like the "md" one in batch? md or "make directory"
doesn't create a second folder if it's already present, yet creates
the folder if it's not there. So in batch, it's as easy as this:

md a:\bkp

or whatever folder one needs. Was hoping AutoIt's coding was as easy
(?).

I think minimizing would be easy, but maximizing would not
help to create an at-a-glance view. I can totally make the
list box bigger, though :) .
Click to expand...

If you can make the list box bigger to accommodate the much, much
longer paths for networked computers then maximizing is not needed at
all.

Minimize would be icing on the cake. Very nice to have.

As I said, your little app is so terrific, that if you could just make
it a little bigger and add the ability for it to create the backup
file, it'd be about as perfect as it could be. Seriously!
Thanks :) Never thought that one can do AutoIt to make such a
neat thing.
Click to expand...

It is an incredible little app you built and small with no install!
What more could one want?

***************
Seeing what neat thing you were able to make with AutoIt is very
encouraging. I'll be looking into this nifty little app myself over
the next little while. I'm currently tackling Excel and Word and
custom menus and VBA scripting, etc., etc., so that's taking up all my
spare - and non-spare - computer time <g>. They're demanding things
of me at work but not allowing for the time to do things the right way
(a database). I was also specifically requested to use Excel instead.
Well, as many might know, when a database is called for but a
spreadsheet is used, the task becomes nearly impossible! <sigh> But
I'm not the average office worker so have been able to really make the
Excel solution work - I've given the file quite a bit of database
functionality with buttons/macros built right into the sheet itself
rather than the toolbars. I never knew one could do that so I never
learned how to do this until now. So no matter where the file is
moved to or who accesses it, it carries its own macros with it so no
problems.

So all that to say that as soon as all this extra work is out of the
way, I intend to direct my energies to AutoIt, a program now much
better documented than the other downloads I'd tried. Make the
script, convert to EXE and then change the icon. Neat! Instant
freeware program, like your great Little Backer Upper one!

Cheers!
 
Hi, fitwell, 2 of them fixed, except that there is not a
minimize function yet (because it seems that the AutoIt GUI
beta version still has some bug on window style, and there
isn't anything I could do about it for now).
Click to expand...

No worries. To minimize would just have been icing on the cake! said:
http://home.earthlink.net/
~ringomei/Backup_tool_Backer_Upper.html
Click to expand...

Awesome! I gave it a try.

But you changed a few things, I think. Just a question, in the BROWSE
for the folder to save to, there was a CREATE button in the earlier
version that is no longer there. That was really handy. Is there a
way to get that back, by any chance? It's great that the app now
_does_ create the folder on backing up wherease it didn't before but
without that CREATE button the first time, there's no way to add the
name of the folder so one has to travel to the destination it seems,
_then_ create the folder before being able to add the path to the app
(unless I'm missing something?? <g>).

Just curious, we could live without the minimize because the WINDOWS+M
_would_ minimize the earlier version, but now that doesn't work. Any
ideas why? <g>

And last question, the earlier version would let me add Outlook files
even if Outlook was open. It just wouldn't allow them to be backed
up. This newer one doesn't allow for that. Any ideas what happened?
<g>

Ah, RL, so much work yet still questions, eh? I know how much work
all this can be, so feel free to leave as is. Despite the problems
with the earlier version, I actually feel that for me it's better
suited for what I need despite not creating the folder and smaller
window size.

Kudos for a job well done. It's so neat to see these things in
development.

Best of luck and thanks muchly once again!
 
No worries. To minimize would just have been icing on the


Awesome! I gave it a try.

But you changed a few things, I think. Just a question, in
the BROWSE for the folder to save to, there was a CREATE
button in the earlier version that is no longer there.
That was really handy.
Click to expand...

It should be still there (I am seeing it here). I really did not
change anything. Click browse for place to backup to and there
is an option saying "make new folder" here in XP, I didn't
change anything. It should be still there. But you do need to
go to the main path first.

On the AutoIt document it says "The "Create Folder Button"
option may require Windows XP with IE6 in order to work."
May be you are trying it in a different PC?? (i.e., it may not
show in 98).
Just curious, we could live without the minimize because
the WINDOWS+M _would_ minimize the earlier version, but now
that doesn't work. Any ideas why? <g>
Click to expand...

No, I don't know why, the minimize button does not work. It
makes the program "exit" instead of minimize. I am guessing
that it has to do with the fact that I am using the beta version
of AutoIt that provides GUI creation.
And last question, the earlier version would let me add
Outlook files even if Outlook was open. It just wouldn't
allow them to be backed up. This newer one doesn't allow
for that. Any ideas what happened? <g>
Click to expand...

I didn't change anything on this, either. I have no problem
adding things to the list even when they are open. Again, did
you try both your office and home? It could sometimes be a
temporary thing (some files access conflict).
Kudos for a job well done. It's so neat to see these
things in development.
Click to expand...

Finally, since for a few minutes I realized that the uploaded
file wasn't the right one and actually corrected the upload
shortly after, please make sure your exe file is this one:

size: 102,512 bytes
created: June 22, 2004, 7:11:00 PM

If not, you might want to download it again.


--
RL
*******************************************
Unofficial Adaware Updater:
http://home.earthlink.net/
~ringomei/Unofficial_adaware_updater.html

Little (File) Backer Upper:
http://home.earthlink.net/~ringomei/page2.html
*******************************************
 
[snip]
But you changed a few things, I think. Just a question, in
the BROWSE for the folder to save to, there was a CREATE
button in the earlier version that is no longer there.
That was really handy.
Click to expand...

It should be still there (I am seeing it here). I really did not
change anything. Click browse for place to backup to and there
is an option saying "make new folder" here in XP, I didn't
change anything. It should be still there.
Click to expand...

Must be my OS because it's gone. And the really weird thing is that I
just tried the original one again and now it's gone, too (very, very,
very weird!!) <g>.

Is there any way, then, to have the path _not_ greyed out? Allowing
one to dump the path in _without_ using the browse button is a way
around this whole thing.

But you do need to
go to the main path first.
Click to expand...

You lost me here said:
On the AutoIt document it says "The "Create Folder Button"
option may require Windows XP with IE6 in order to work."
May be you are trying it in a different PC?? (i.e., it may not
show in 98).
Click to expand...

Well, I have IE6 but I am in Win98SE and it's no longer there. I'll
check to see how things fare on the one at work.

Hmmm, again, seems to me that having the ability to edit the path in
the window would get around that. Worth looking into.
No, I don't know why, the minimize button does not work. It
makes the program "exit" instead of minimize.
Click to expand...

Must be my OS again. It minimized perfectly before I tried using the
the newer version and now it doesn't work. So AutoIt still doesn't
work perfectly in all OSs. Just like when I used it before and in my
script it wouldn't copy certain files; I thought that since your app
did, you were getting around certain glitches, this proves that AutoIt
is _not_ reliable as you're not getting the errors that I am. Wonder
if this is all OS-related and it's just a question of it not liking
Win98SE all the time?? <g>

I have IE6, though. Hmmm, do the inconsistencies stem from my older
OS totally, then, I wonder?

I am guessing
that it has to do with the fact that I am using the beta version
of AutoIt that provides GUI creation.
Click to expand...

Despite the glitches that are very apparent with AutoIt, I'd like to
take a look at this beta. I'm at the site now but can't see anythign
that looks like it can create GUIs
(http://www.autoitscript.com/AutoIt/downloads.php). Am I missing it
somewhere, and is it freely available? And if so, can you pass along
the URL?
I didn't change anything on this, either. I have no problem
adding things to the list even when they are open. Again, did
you try both your office and home? It could sometimes be a
temporary thing (some files access conflict).


Finally, since for a few minutes I realized that the uploaded
file wasn't the right one and actually corrected the upload
shortly after, please make sure your exe file is this one:

size: 102,512 bytes
created: June 22, 2004, 7:11:00 PM

If not, you might want to download it again.
Click to expand...

That seems to be the one I have.

Well, I'd like to get to the bottom of this. I won't touch the backup
one at work as it's working perfectly. Well, it was yesterday anyway.
Maybe it won't today <lol>.

The thing that I did notice is that the ini file is completely
editable so instead of re-doing everything in a new contract I go to,
I can just along the old ini along with the app itself and just edit
it. That would solve a lot of problems <g>.

Thanks once again! You are very patient to go through all of this.
The app still is superb and does the job where nothing else did. <g>
 
On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 22:18:25 GMT, "R.L"

fitwell <[email protected]> says in
news:p[email protected]:
Click to expand...
[snip]
Click to expand...
No, I don't know why, the minimize button does not work.
It makes the program "exit" instead of minimize.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Must be my OS again. It minimized perfectly before I tried
using the the newer version and now it doesn't work. So
AutoIt still doesn't work perfectly in all OSs. Just like
when I used it before and in my script it wouldn't copy
certain files; I thought that since your app did, you were
Click to expand...

If it is about AutoIt, the problem should just be temporary, I
am using almost a nightly build (perhaps I shouldn't, but I
just want to keep up with the latest so I don't need to change
much things after the standand release has come out). But it
seems that the standard release is very close to finish.

Anyhow, I will try to use it in 98 to see if the problem is
there, also I may think about letting one to enter destination
directly, but there'd involve a bit more coding. In the
meantime, I am really wonder if there is something going on
with your OS (you know, sometimes some hidden setting got set
up that no one know about).
Despite the glitches that are very apparent with AutoIt,
I'd like to take a look at this beta. I'm at the site now
but can't see anythign that looks like it can create GUIs
(http://www.autoitscript.com/AutoIt/downloads.php). Am I
missing it somewhere, and is it freely available? And if
so, can you pass along the URL?
Click to expand...
<sigh> Holy Hannah, then. I don't know what's up.
Click to expand...
That seems to be the one I have.

Well, I'd like to get to the bottom of this. I won't touch
the backup one at work as it's working perfectly. Well, it
was yesterday anyway. Maybe it won't today <lol>.
Click to expand...
The thing that I did notice is that the ini file is
completely editable so instead of re-doing everything in a
new contract I go to, I can just along the old ini along
with the app itself and just edit it. That would solve a
lot of problems <g>.
Click to expand...

Actually, the old version has two seperate ini file and I
combined both ini-s into one in the new version
(filedata.ini), all the entries are in the filedata.ini now.
This is to perpare for potiential future profile support (you
know, you can use a seperate ini for seperate profiles).
Thanks once again! You are very patient to go through all
of this. The app still is superb and does the job where
nothing else did. <g>
Click to expand...

Thanks.



--
RL
*******************************************
Unofficial Adaware Updater:
http://home.earthlink.net/
~ringomei/Unofficial_adaware_updater.html

Little (File) Backer Upper:
http://home.earthlink.net/~ringomei/page2.html
*******************************************
 
Well, I'd like to get to the bottom of this. I won't touch
the backup one at work as it's working perfectly. Well, it
was yesterday anyway. Maybe it won't today <lol>.
Click to expand...


Ok, spent a few hours digging around the documentation, here
it is :-), should do the trick:

http://home.earthlink.net/~ringomei/FilebackerUpper062304b.zip


New in beta 062304
- User can add destination directly.
- Maximize and minimize window available
- Shortcuts to desktop will only occur on first use (to reduce
cluster).




--
RL
*******************************************
Unofficial Adaware Updater:
http://home.earthlink.net/
~ringomei/Unofficial_adaware_updater.html

Little (File) Backer Upper:
http://home.earthlink.net/~ringomei/page2.html
*******************************************
 
Ok, spent a few hours digging around the documentation, here
it is :-), should do the trick:

http://home.earthlink.net/~ringomei/FilebackerUpper062304b.zip


New in beta 062304
- User can add destination directly.
- Maximize and minimize window available
- Shortcuts to desktop will only occur on first use (to reduce
cluster).
Click to expand...

<DANCING A JIG AROUND THE APARTMENT>

Brilliant! I am just in awe. This worked beautifully! I don't know
why the instabilities occurred with yesterday's version but this new
one works like a charm! You even got the minimize and maximize
functions. Sheesh, nothing missing here! <g>

The folder to save to worked great after using APPLY for a folder that
didn't exist. The NEW FOLDER button is still gone on my OS even
though I imagine yours is still showing up, but this doesn't matter
now as the APPLY makes sure the folder gets made during the backup.

And the window size is bigger. It will be perfect, I know. I'll take
to work tomorrow so that I can take care of backing up those precious
files on a daily basis starting tomorrow.

Congratulations! A nifty, compact standalone app with a whole lot of
power, in my view. With the rate that I'm learning customs menus and
VBA in MS office products and my toolbar and standard templates files
are getting modified every day, this more than ever will help me keep
on top of the latest versions of these files.

Also, there are a ton of uses on a home computer for this app. I have
my hdd partitioned so keep copies of vital files on the D drive. LFBU
will take care of all that now where I used to do it in PowerPro.
What I plan to do, and hope this works alright, is to just have
different instances of LFBU for those back up jobs that need to be
split up because they go into different destination folders.

Thanks so much, RL! I imagine there was a lot of blood, sweat, tears
(and cursing <g>) to get this far! I write databases myself and such,
so I know what an achievement this tiny big app is! <g>

Cheers! :oD
 
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