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Hi,
Could a options be added to PortableApps
so the zip backups files could be like
labeldrivename-2012-04-18-Documents.zip instead of
PortableAppsBackup-2012-04-18-Documents.zip
and
labeldrivename-2012-04-18-Drive.zip instead of
PortableAppsBackup-2012-04-18-Drive.zip
With such a options, many USB-KEY with different label could be made
to the same network drive.
Greatings
This is planned for an upcoming releases, though it'll be: PortableAppsBackup-DriveName-2012-04-18-Drive.zip
Great
I prepare PortableApps for use by other users and frequently make backups of multiple drives, frequently on the same date.
At present the backup facilities represent a disincentive to play around with more than one USB drive with PortableApps because the backups are all identically named and cannot be associated with a drive by any obvious means.
I have been getting around this - so I thought - by performing a backup and then modifying the backup filename from, for example,
PortableAppsBackup-2012-04-18-Drive.zip to
PortableAppsBackup-2012-04-18-DriveQualifier.zip
I have also been doing this to allow more than one backup per day of a specific drive (it would be good if you could add a qualifying sequence number if an existing backup with the same name exists, by the way).
However, a users needed to restore from backup and struck an apparent bug with a misleading error message.
The restore-from-backup function allows the user to navigate to a backup file, and I navigate to, for example,
PortableAppsBackup-2012-04-18-DriveQualifier.zip
...and am immediately rewarded with a puzzling error message that mis-identifies the problem. The message says:
"Could not determine the TYPE of backup from the file name. You will have to manually restore this file.
Since it is a standard archive file, you can use an application like 7-Zip Portable to open it."
I tested this on the old and the new platform; the problem is identical.
I played around and determined that the only way to make the restore function happy is to have the full path in default form,
PortableAppsBackup-2012-04-18-Drive.zip
Despite what the message says, the problem has nothing to do with the backup file TYPE.
I know the team is doing a lot of good work on this, but I am trying to convince not-very-technical users to use USB drives with PortableApps and KeePass for password management and backup, and there are quite a few user-friendliness issues that make it hard for normal humans to use these without getting into trouble. I'll post separately another series of issues. I'd like to see a lot of simple issues fixed so that it is hard for simple users to do the wrong thing and make mistakes, as a priority over beautifying the user interface and other recent work.
I'd like to see the restore allowing the user to navigate to a valid backup of a name and location of their choosing and then actually function correctly without demanding a very specific form of file name. If this is too much work, at least please change the error message so it identifies the problem correctly and does not attribute it incorrectly to file TYPE.
Thank you
The error message says nothing about filetype. It says it cannot determine the type of backup from the filename, which is very different. The "Drive" bit in the filename is the type of backup, and by changing the filename the way you are, you are also telling the restorer that it is a backup of type DriveQualifier, which confuses it as that is not a valid backup type.
I am guessing that the type is determined by a basic string split on the dashes in the filename, so there are two things I can think of that you could try. Please note that I haven't tested either myself and cannot guarantee the likelihood of either one working.
You could potentially try either PortableAppsBackup-2012-04-18-Drive-Qualifier.zip (this will work if the platform uses the fifth member of the split filename for restore type) or PortableAppsBackup-2012-04-18-Qualifier-Drive.zip (this will work if the platform uses the last member of the split filename for restore type).
If I am incorrect in my assumption about the way the type is determined, or if there is further validation done on the filename I am not aware of, neither will work.
Winterblood,
Thank you for your analysis of the issue.
Taking inspiration from your suggestions, tests show that restore accepts a restore from a modified backup file name in the following format:
PortableAppsBackup-xxxx-2012-04-18-Drive.zip
That works with PortableApps 1.6.1
I have not tested it with Platform 10 as yet.
That gets around the problem. I'd still ask the platform developers to improve the user-friendliness of this process and the error message when the restore is rejected. Possibly the reject message, or the restore utility, could advise what filename formats _are_ acceptable.
Thanks again.
The backup utility is very simple and designed for a single drive. This is unlikely to change as most users only use one install. You can rename things as you like and then unzip them using 7-Zip or similar to restore whatever you'd like.
I know you can do these things if you have a certain level of technical capability. If that is PortableApps' sole target user community, well, OK.
I tend to be involved in encouraging PC users to use KeePass for good password management wrapped in the PortableApps platform in order for them to have access to a simple backup and restore (otherwise they'll never back up their password store). This combination has considerable potential for very wide use in a non-technical community.
But I keep striking a lot of niggly user-friendliness issues - more with 10.0.1 than with 1.6.1 - that tend to be show-stoppers for less technical users, and that error message about the backup file name/type is an example.
That was my point.
Thank you.
That's my point, though. A non-technical user won't have more than one key and would never think to rename backup files for fear of breaking them.
PS
I notice that the 7-Zip bundled and installed with the PortableApps platform is quite an old version.
I don't know if this is for a specific reason or simply has gone unnoticed.
I have tried replacing it in the PortableApps platform with the current release and that appears to work identically.
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