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Toucan 2 Alpha 2

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March 21, 2008 - 7:41am
#1
Steve Lamerton
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Toucan 2 Alpha 2

Application: Toucan
Category: Utilities
Description: Toucan is a custom built portable app for advanced users to synchronise, backup and encrypt their data, wherever they are.

Download Toucan 2 Alpha 2

Release Notes:
Alpha 2 (2008-04-22):

  • Backing up multiple locations
  • GUI rearrange (and a new icon from Neorame)
  • Settings rearranged (your settings from Alpha 1 will not work unless you move them to the data folder)
  • Loads of bug fixes

Alpha 1: Initial release

Additional Notes

Rules

The new Rules system allows you to use regex's as well as excluding by date modified or by file size (Use a greater than or a less than symbol followed by a date for date modified, or a greater or less than symbol, followed by a number and kB/MB/GB for a size).
Colour List (For when rules are used)

Sync
Red File overwritten
Blue File simply copied
Grey File removed (mirror)
Black Nothing happens

Backup
Red File will be ignored

Secure
Red File will be ignored

Roadmap

Alpha3

Portable variable
Linux support
Compression level slider
Scripting support
Tooltips

Alpha 4

Command line support
Language support

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March 21, 2008 - 7:48am
Steve Lamerton
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Oh

BACKUP your stuff before using Alpha 1, it has only been tested on two pc's.

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March 21, 2008 - 8:04am
Shawn Faucher
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Nice

Looks good! I love the tree view addition.

formerly rayven01

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March 22, 2008 - 4:23am
Steve Lamerton
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I

hate to be a PITA bumping my own thread, but 50 downloads and 1 comment is dissapointing. There is a lot of new stuff in this release and even a short comment with opinions would be nice Smile

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March 25, 2008 - 8:14am
(Reply to #4)
Frank D. Hubeny
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Larger Font

I like the way it looks very much. I do have one suggestion how ever.
Can you use a larger or bolder font on the Gui's text. The buttons and selections are real small.

I am wondering if you and other developers could not add a font or two that could be selected some how for those of us who need them. This may be a subject for when the themes come to be but I thought I would bring it up. I think Bit Stream or others have some open sourse bolder fonts that if not illegal could be use. Other then that it opened up fine and resized just nicely. I will play around with it.

Frank

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March 22, 2008 - 5:21am
PieterK
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Nice

It's looking really nice. Smile I really like the GUI (the icons are amazing). It looks cleaner then the 1.x versions.
I have a suggestion though: I'd rather have the "ok" and "preview" button at the bottom of the app or at the right of "Rules"-dropdown box then at the top now.
I haven't tested much of the functionality yet but i'll report back when i get to it.

Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper

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March 22, 2008 - 6:21am
(Reply to #6)
Steve Lamerton
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Indeed,

ever since the request post about making it fit on a EEE PC I have been thinking about ways to make the GUI shorter, it had never occured to me to remove the toolbar, but I think it would be a good plan, putting it next to the rules box sounds good too, I shall have this changed for the next Alpha. I love the new icons too, Neorame sent me one for backup yesterday and that too looks awesome! Thanks for the feedback Smile

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March 22, 2008 - 6:45am
(Reply to #7)
PieterK
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Typo

I just noticed a little typo: When you click on the tab "Backup" and then look at the "Type" field (bottom left) one of the options is "Resotre" which has to be "Restore" if i'm correct.
I really like the visual preview feature before Synchronization! Smile
I'll report back when i tested everything.

Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper

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March 22, 2008 - 7:01am
(Reply to #8)
Steve Lamerton
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Ooops

restore shouldn't even be in there, it doesn't work at the moment, I was thinking of splitting it off into a separate dialog as I can see a nice way of fitting it in the current layout.

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March 22, 2008 - 1:32pm
RogerL
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Bug: At startup Toucan 2.0

Bug: At startup Toucan 2.0 takes up the whole height of my screen. i.e it draws behind my task bar at the bottom. To see Function Equalise radio button and Ignore Daylight Savings Checkbox I have to auto-hide the task bar.

Personal preferences:1. I would prefer these radio buttons and check boxes to be next to the Rules in the spare space rather than tacked on the bottom of the window. 2. I would prefer to be able to switch off the tab icons, nice as they are, as they take up a lot of screen.

More comments to follow when I get more time.

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March 22, 2008 - 2:18pm
(Reply to #10)
Steve Lamerton
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OK

I think that is a good idea, having them all at the top will reduce the size and make the whole GUI flow a bit better hopefully. As for turning off the icons this will be added to the next release along with saving the size you set. I will also ensure that it doesn't draw itself larger than the screen! Thanks for the feedback Smile

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March 22, 2008 - 7:40pm
haustin
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Hmmmm.

I agree with all the GUI comments thus far.

When setting up to do my first Sync test, I tried to create an exclude rule for any directory named Archive. I named the ruleset ex-Archive and went to the Sync tab to see the "rules" -- no love. I tried to save the ruleset with the chosen name -- Dr. Watson. Oddly, Dr. Watson also crashed. Here's the Toucan's crash summary:

AppName: toucan.exe	 AppVer: 0.0.0.0	 ModName: toucan.exe
ModVer: 0.0.0.0	 Offset: 00053351

Hmmmm. It crashes (same summary) when clicking the "Save" icon, even if that's the first thing done on the "Rules" tab.

Some less important issues...

  1. When typing or pasting a path into the Sync source/dest fields, you should be able to press Tab/Enter or click "..." to register the change and update the tree panes. Clicking Preview does use the modified fields.
  2. Clicking "..." is unaware of the current path selection.
  3. Sync source/dest fields not labeled.
  4. The "Save rule set" dialog (which needs to be replaced :-)) prompts with "File to include".
  5. I think you should standardize on "rule set"/"rule sets" instead of using "rules" in some places and "rule set" in others.

Can't figure out how to get it to exclude that single little directory, so I haven't actually made it past Preview yet.

Looks good (and promising). Can't wait to see it mature!

Thanks. -hea

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March 23, 2008 - 7:17am
(Reply to #12)
Steve Lamerton
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I

have a sneaky suspicion why that crash happens, it shall be fixed in the second alpha, as for the rest:

  1. Ahh, yes, I think that updating on enter would be the best way, expect to see it in the next version.
  2. Good catch , I assume that you want the dialog to load with the same path as it in the text box?
  3. OK, labels will be added.
  4. Which is one of the reasons it needs to be replaced Smile
  5. I think I shall standardise on Rules, any other opinions on this?

Thanks for the feedback Smile

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March 23, 2008 - 8:46am
(Reply to #13)
haustin
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Let's see...

2. Yup.
5. The problem with "rules" is that you can't use it in the singular to mean more than one rule. How about "filter" and "filters"?

On the Sync tab, for instance, the drop-down would be called "rules" (plural) or "filter" (singular). From all tabs, there's a tab handle visible for defining the Rules or Filters (plural).

So when on the Sync tab, you'd see a drop-down for "Rules" and a tab for "Rules", or a drop-down for "Filter" and a tab for "Filters".

To my logic, the latter sounds more correct. Smile

-hea

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March 23, 2008 - 4:46pm
Steve Lamerton
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Your

opinions would be welcome on this screenshot. Assuming I can get the rules box to expand is this what people would prefer, or would it be better at the bottom like this.

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March 23, 2008 - 6:24pm
(Reply to #15)
RogerL
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I vote for the top

I vote for the top

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March 23, 2008 - 6:37pm
(Reply to #16)
Nathan9222
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I think...

The Top one looks best and looks easier to use everything

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
Mahatma Gandhi,
Indian political and spiritual leader (1869 - 1948)

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March 23, 2008 - 8:49pm
(Reply to #17)
Shawn Faucher
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Top

I like the top one.

formerly rayven01

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March 23, 2008 - 8:54pm
(Reply to #18)
ZachHudock
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I like the top better

I like the top better

The developer formerly known as ZGitRDun8705

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March 24, 2008 - 3:46am
(Reply to #19)
Ryan McCue
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Consensus says... YES!

I agree. The top looks the best Blum

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."

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March 24, 2008 - 4:54am
(Reply to #20)
PieterK
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Top

Smile

Optimism is a moral duty - Karl R. Popper

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March 24, 2008 - 2:43pm
(Reply to #21)
Steve Lamerton
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Well

it looks like it is going to be the top then, a shame as I preferred the bottom Wink

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March 25, 2008 - 7:36am
(Reply to #22)
Ryan McCue
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Both?

Is it possible to have it as a (hidden) option? Smile

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."

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March 25, 2008 - 8:02am
(Reply to #23)
Frank D. Hubeny
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Top

I like the top but some people like the bottomand then some like both both.
It is so confusing Smile

Perhaps you could option it out some way. All kidding aside I do like them all on top with every thing else.

Frank

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April 22, 2008 - 2:54am
Steve Lamerton
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Alpha 2

is now up, unfortunately although most of the portable variable code has been added I ran out of time (I have major exams in four weeks) to make it polished enough for release. It will be added in Alpha 3.

EDIT Just as a note, this will overwrite an existing copy of Toucan if you let it, you might want to make sure it goes into the same Toucan Test folder as Alpha 1.

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April 22, 2008 - 3:00pm
(Reply to #25)
Frank D. Hubeny
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Alpha 2 Sync Question

When in SYNC The two windows do not have any markings until you click on the browse button.

Can you add Source and Destination to these so a person would know or not make any mistakes.

First impression is very slick, I like this one very much it looks good, and very clean.

Frank

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April 22, 2008 - 3:40pm
(Reply to #26)
Steve Lamerton
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Thanks

and yes, they will be in the next beta (I knew there was something I forgot!)

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April 22, 2008 - 3:29pm
Frank D. Hubeny
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Alpha 2 Secure Problem

When I tried the Secure feature in Alpha 2 it worked fine on the files I tried it out on.

I did find one possible problem how ever. When it is finished either encrypting or decrypting the cursor just blinks and I did not get any message saying it was finished in the window. There are just greyed out buttons on the bottom of it.

Cosmetically can you not increase the fonts used or make them a bolder one it would make it easier for me to read.

Frank

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April 22, 2008 - 3:39pm
(Reply to #28)
Steve Lamerton
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Ahh,

I shall have a look at that as it sounds rather nasty Smile As for the fonts, yes indeed I can, look for it in the next release!

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April 22, 2008 - 3:46pm
Frank D. Hubeny
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Alpha 2 Secure One More Problem

First thanks for the quick reply.

I all so hope you can enlarge and bold the fonts. I hope that others may consider doing that.

The problem that i did not for some reason mention in my previous post concerns the start of the encryption procees. I did not fill out all of the required fields when I used it. It gave me the message saying all of the required fields were not filled out. But it did encrypt a file any way. When i later tried to decrypt this it did not decrypt it. It was a text file "04222008.txt". It got encrypted to "04222008.txt.cpl". It seems that the process was started even though I had made a mistake in setting it up.

Frank

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