Re: Synchronizing WAS [Re: [Usability] The ``Replace File'' dialog should display the two]

[Karim Nassar <karim nassar acm org>]

On Tue, 2005-08-09 at 13:16 +0200, Christian Neumair wrote:
> Am Freitag, den 05.08.2005, 15:44 -0700 schrieb Karim Nassar:
> > I have really really wanted a synchronizer program for about 3 years.
> > Well, starting in mid September I have about 20 hrs per week to dedicate
> > to programming this. Anyone know of any similar projects in this area? I
> > am not up to speed with the latest Nautilus, but it could very well be
> > fabulous if tightly integrated there.
>
> Before starting to write external programs, we should really try to get
> this functionality into Nautilus.
> 
> In general, we have two ways of dealing with conflicts
> a) "collect" all conflicts and - after copying the rest of the files -
> provide an UI for resolving them [1]
> b) stop at the first conflict, but offer an UI for setting how to deal
> with this and future conflicts

I think that there is a desire for a "heavyweight" synchronizing program
as well as your desire for Nautilus functionality. I imagine something
multi-platform. As such, a syncing lib would provide an programming
interface to:

* use available backends to do the sync (rsync, cp, mv, etc)
* support checking for conflicts (non-existent that I know of)
* support some sort of versioning (cvs, arch, svn, etc)

<Back to UI>

In the case currently under discussion (copy/move conflicts), we want to
incorporate some super slick, tightly integrated interface to Nautilus,
which, if I get my way, would use the aforementioned libs, which I am
offering to code.

I really liked Matthews suggestion of a simple interface, combined with
all the other suggested details listings, allowing spawning of a
synchronizer:

+---------------------------------------------------+
| This action will overwrite files <at destination> |
|                                                   |
| > Details                                         |
|                                                   |
| +-------------+        +--------+  +-----------+  |
| | Synchronize |        | Cancel |  | Overwrite |  |
| +-------------+        +--------+  +-----------+  |
+---------------------------------------------------+ 

"Details" would have a listing based on suggestions from previous
posters. The idea here is that "Details" allows one to (not) include
each individual conflict. "Synchronize" *would* be heavyweight, outside
of Nautilus, and have a robust interface specifically designed for that
task. I am arguing that the case we are discussing either can be simply
handled (a few same names, a few newer files will be stomped) or
requires a robust interface beyond the scope of Nautilus (lots of
problems, different sizes, conflicting versions, etc).

My suggestion meets your desire of tight integration, and my desire to
have a heavyweight program that can serve other purposes than just
conflict resolution: specifically, backups and bookmarks/desktop
configuration synchronizing.

PS: If we can check the conflicts ahead of time, that would be optimal,
but my interface suggestion does not require it. I have often been
highly annoyed at programs that don't at least multitask and copy/move
that which is "safe" and ask about the problems at the end.

Cheers,
-- 
Karim Nassar <karim nassar acm org>