software to sync 'wirelessly' and automatically

**Andrew Chappell** · 10-02-2002, 08:00 AM

Originally posted by bombboyer
Glad to hear it, I know that I'm waiting with baited breath. Are you just simulating a wireless network by "instead of 'driving in range', just plugging in a network cable"? That's probably how I'm gonna run it permanently. Thanks again for doing this, it sounds awesome. Let us know when it's done

Yeah I am doing exactly that - and all seems to be well so far. I hope it lives up to expectations!

**Andrew Chappell** · 10-02-2002, 08:04 AM

Originally posted by Mad Jad
If you'd like some help with some C/C++ code, I'd be happy to. I'm going to want to use your automatic synchronization module with my setup, so just give a holler if you need anything (I'm thinking more from a time, not a skill standpoint). Depending on how the program is structured, the network connection detection could be really easy to do. Using standard WIN32 libraries can greatly simplify some parts of the synchronization task, almost to a VB level.

If you are using C/C++, and I definitely hope you are, I have code snippets I've written and tested for recursive directory scanning, removable disk enumeration, and many similar tasks. Might save you some headache

Thanks,
Jad

Hi Jad. Currently the whole app is written in VB, cause I'm far too busy to learn c++ - believe me I tried but I've got too much school work to do b4 I get into uni. I've got a book titled "The Beginners Guide to C++", and so far I've covered about the first chapter so can understand some syntax, but that's about it!

You are more than welcome to use the program as part of your mp3 car app, but I fear that it may be a bit of a nightmare porting it from vb to c++, especially as vb has very poor / no dll support! When I've finished the project (hopefully soon!) the source will be available to download and modify in any way you want. Can't wait to see your app - haven't got round to downloading your preview yet as I've been too busy with school work.

Happy Synching!

Andrew

**phat_bastard** · 10-03-2002, 11:41 PM

Andrew-

How are you handling the file transfers? Also, if you're multithreading, how did you handle that? I'm curious because I've been working for the last 6 months or so on an app to sync directory trees between hosts using raw IP. There's a bit to do before it's ready for prime time, but all it's functionally lacking to be used in your application is a pinger/scanner to start a job based on host availability. It's written entirely in VB5 and uses all native Win32 API calls for the sockets interface. I don't intend to release it as freeware, but I'd be happy to share some of the directory recursion and file transfer functions if you're interested.

**Mad Jad** · 10-04-2002, 12:21 PM

Hmmm VB would not integrate well with my app, which isn't even in the parallel universe VC++. I'll have to figure something out...

Good luck with the synchronizer.

Thanks,
Jad

**arsalan_altaf** · 10-15-2002, 09:47 PM

Bump! Any progress? I am really really looking forward to this, on a side note, a setup to sync between two ftps at work is used quite well.... if you guys are interusted I can get some more info...
I am pretty sure it uses "FileSync" and webdrive so that you can map a ftp to a drive letter, similiar to mapping a network drive. You could then setup FileSync to sync files, it uses timestamps to work...

Bj · 10-20-2002, 08:29 AM

Hi Guys, I didn't realise that this topic had already been covered, but I wrote some software to do this exact thing a while back.

If you want to try mine out, go here http://www.bjblaster.com

and download the Hostpingsyncer software. It's still developmental, as in I haven't released it offically, but if you want to test it for me, go right ahead.

I found that it works very well for me, but it may be a different story for you, so proceed with caution. I would sync two directories that are full of useless data, until you understand how it works. That way you won't lose anything important.

Anyway let me know what you think, and I hope I'm not treading on anyone's toes.

catcha

Bj

**Andrew Chappell** · 10-20-2002, 09:33 AM

Wow! Beaten to the release. Mine is coming along nicely and should have a few more features. But it is still some time off from release.

Not treading on your toes, but for the final release I plan to include overwriting support when the file modification or creation date is later than the one you are syncing to.

I presume your program decides what files to sync by generating a list of files on the source machine and a separate list on the destination machine, then copying the ones that don't appear on both. My program works differently, by listing the files on the source machine and then if necessary applying an extension filter (just re-written this so it is quicker) and syncing the files that don't exist on the other machine by checking for the existance of the file. I have used this method as the function that checks for the existance of the file will be modified to also check additional parameters of the file such as the modified or created date or filesize, and overwrite files that have changed.

How does your program handle files that are on the destination but not on the source? From a quick look at your program, it is designed to be run from the source pc rather than the destination. This is where my program differs - it is primarily designed to run from the destination pc and therefore sync files automatically when you drive in to your garage / connect your network lead. This means it has to cope with the possibility of you driving out of range while a sync is in progress. At the moment, the sync software re-checks the existance of each file before attempting to copy it (sloppy I know but I couldn't think of a better way to do it!) and creates an error.log of any files that failed to copy on the last sync. It can also create a log file entry for all the successfully copied files.

Cheers for the questions - nice to see i'm not the only one who's written one of these. If you are not in vb, perhaps you could pm mad jad who was looking for sync software for his grand project, but wouldn't be able to use vb code.

Andrew

**Andrew Chappell** · 10-20-2002, 09:42 AM

Ok, re-read your page and realised that it already answers many of my questions. Should code less and read more...

My program will support the same synching techniques as yours does - either duplicate the source and destination, or erase the excess files on either. The main advantage of my program over yours (again, not wanting to tread on toes) is that mine supports more syncing - it can sync registry entries (not in first release, although the code is already in place), ini entries (again not in first release), any number of individual files (useful when you want to copy one file such as some stats to a website not an entire folder) and any number of directories.

By having multiple folders, it allows me to have an incomming folder on the mp3car which has all the mp3's that you have added to the car. This then means that this folder can be synced to your other pc without the risk of files being deleted or overwritten - a kind of safe mode for those who dont want the risk.

Cheers

Andrew

Bj · 10-20-2002, 10:17 AM

Andrew,
it's good to see you have thought of the other things this type of software needs. I just put this together to do a simple sync, but it sounds like yours has far more to offer! Anyway I hope this gives you some ideas to develop your a little more.

Keep up the good work.

Bj