How to carry out one task before others ?

[Julien_FrKr]

Dear All, Good day,

I am using SyncBackFree v8550 (32bits) on a Windows 10 (64bits) and I want to carry out one specific task (= save one specific folder on an external hard-drive) before all the other tasks.

Is there any way to to do with SyncBackFree ?
If no, is there any way to do it with SyncBackPro ?

Thanks for your help

[cliffhanger]

Hi, you can do this with any current version of SB. Simply make a Group profile (run the New Profile wizard, give Group a name as appropriate and check the 'This is a group profile' checkbox).

In the Group Modify window that opens, add your desired profiles to the Group (note that if you close this window without adding any profiles, the Group will self-delete and you will need to start again). You should add your profiles in the same order as you want them to run (though you can change your mind and promote/demote member profiles that you already added using the list/arrows on the right; you can also add/remove profiles at any time during an edit).

By default a Group runs serially (a.k.a. 'sequentially'), and you should obviously leave it that way or you will defeat the object of having your profile #1 run first (on its own). Press F1 with the Group Modify window open for contextual Help.

Note that it is not possible to have a Group run one profile first (serially) then all the remaining profiles at once (parallel). Mixed-mode (some serially, some in parallel) is not supported. This includes nested Groups, which are possible, but if used, must all be set to run serially (the program will ignore any 'parallel' setting except in a single Group)

[edo]

Hi,

This post really helped me understand why my profile was not running as I intended. I have a profile designed to run all at once nested inside a sequential profile. Thanks!

My issue is that I need to stop Dropbox, run the group profiles "all at once" and then turn the dropbox back on again. Unfortunately the group profile is not able to run programs before and after which would solve my problem. Or am I doing something wrong?

It would be a cool feature to be able to run programs before and after in group profiles and/or group profiles in "all at once" even when the group profile is nested inside another group profile that is programmed to run sequentially.

Thanks,

Eduardo

[cliffhanger]

No, Programs Before & After are not directly supported in Group profiles. (IIRC from a very long time ago, the developer said this doesn't really 'fit' with the way a Group works internally, but I don't have the details). But you might be able to sidestep this restriction by using dummy profiles* in your Group at (in this case) the beginning and end of the member profiles in a Group. For example, you could specify a dummy profile to run a command-line to stop DropBox and another at the end of the Group to restart DropBox. You could use these dummy profiles anywhere in the Group's member profiles list, and/or in more than one Group (provided you don't effectively try to run them 'twice at once, or similar)

* by 'dummy profile' I mean one that exists only to carry out an auxiliary function (such as run Programs Before) and which does not process any live files (only a pair of dummy files created for the purpose). Here's an example:

• create two dummy folders called (e.g.) C:\DummySource\ & C:\DummyDest\
• make a dummy profile (with suitable name) to reference these two folders
• add an empty dummy file in C:\DummySource\ e.g. DummyFile.txt
• run the dummy profile manually once to copy that file to Dest / make the dummy folders' contents identical (and keep them that way) **
• add the command you want to achieve in Programs - Before/After of the dummy profile
• add the dummy profile/s to the group in the required position on the list
• repeat (using another dummy profile)for any 'reversal' actions you want to achieve afterwards
• run (schedule, etc) the Group

** this is to avoid any 'no files found' errors that might arise if the dummy folders were empty; making the dummy file identical on both sides should stop the profile prompting for anything found 'different'

[cliffhanger]

in bullet-2, by 'suitable name' I mean a name that reflects that the profile is a dummy and what it does, e.g. 'Dummy Profile - Stop DropBox')

[edo]

Hi,

Thank you for your kind explanation. That is exactly how I did it.
However, then we go for the first problem I had that is we cannot have a group profile sequential (with the dummy profiles) and nested inside another group running in simultaneous, hence my first comment on this thread.

Explaining a bit further, I have several profiles that I want to run simultaneously in order to take advantage of bandwidth. If I run them sequentially it takes much longer that simultaneously. Also I'm using the most comprehensive comparison, so time is a factor.

Do you have any data (percentages, etc) that supports that the standard file comparison will be worse/leave out stuff when compared with the most comprehensive one? Do you recommend using one or the other in any specific situations?

As for the problem at hand, I'm thinking about having the turn on/off of the dropbox in the longer profile and run them simultaneously. It should guarantee that it turns off in the beginning and on at the very end. Would you agree?

thanks