Auto rename - adaption

Jasperosw · 10-05-2010, 07:40 AM

Hello,

As a bugfixer I really like the file exist rule: auto rename, for making local backups and to be able to compare similar named files. Creating remote backups is also a breeze with this feature.

However the addition of a (1) before the file extension is a bit too simple for some more complex fixes and I was wondering if this feature could be extended by providing the option to include the local or file date/time stamp as well as perhaps some definably prefix/suffix (such as coder/department initials) to appear between the brackets instead of this simple '1'.

That would make this feature really complete in my opinion.

Thanks in advance for any reply.

DayCuts · 10-06-2010, 03:31 AM

I like the idea of being able to use a date/time stamp instead of N (the number increases if a (1) already exists). This would of course have to require timezone detection on the destination and using a timestamp adjusted to the destination timezone/etc in order to work well.

Not sure if a custom tag is viable in the long term (as the main tag for this feature), as if it already exists you would still end up a (N) as well. But a separate (as well as the N or timestamp) might be useful for some like yourself.

Jasperosw · 10-08-2010, 03:10 AM

Hello DayCuts,

Yep, that's exactly what I would like. Didn't even think about the local/remote time zones, but I guess that would be handy as well for offshore developers. As an option we could also allow the use of an Unix time stamp, the readability goes down of course but then we have seconds specific stamps to reduce the already exists conflicts and save a bit on digits.

Also, I just noticed that the 'Auto Upload on Change' feature doesn't adhere to the file exists rules of 'auto renaming' for example, which makes certainly sense on some level. However if there was an option to include these rules for the 'Auto Upload on Change' feature as well (since it is sort of an upload from the temps map to the server), we have an instant remote editing and backup feature

Than it would be an easy double click on the remote file, edit away, ctrl-s, and poof! we have a nice original backup with time/date/initial stamp on the server and a edited file. Complete Awesomeness.

bigstar · 10-08-2010, 06:22 AM

There is an obvious problem with the logic of using the file transfer rule rename in this situation; It doesn't rename the existing file but rather the newly created file being uploaded.

For it to work this way several factors must be considered.

The original file would need to be renamed prior to uploading the new file, if the original file was created by another account on the server it could result in a permission denied error.
The new file may need to copy the file permissions of the original file (i.e. .php scripts), depending on the server configuration this may or may not be possible.
Now instead of being a single operation, it becomes a 3-step process. 1. rename the original. 2. upload the new file. 3. set the permissions to match the original file.
Using this logic for version control/backups would result in a backup for each edit, I can easily imagine seeing dozens of files each with dozens of backups, which in turn could overwhelm the person trying to manage everything.

I may consider a custom method for "upload rename" suffixes for future releases of FlashFXP but as it is right now the existing logic isn't what you want.

It doesn't really make sense for the remote editing to use the file transfer rules.

Jasperosw · 10-08-2010, 11:46 AM

Hi Bigstar,

thanks for responding. I see the error/difficulties in my secondary request now. This would indeed be a bit to cumbersome.

Having the custom rename method for upload/download would already be awesome.

MxxCon · 10-08-2010, 06:10 PM

Jasperosw, you should really think about using a proper version control software for what you are trying to accomplish.

the way we do development EVERYTHING is going through SVN. developers commit their code/changes to svn, at that point QA checks out those changes to their qa servers and do their testing. if everything passes, we use svn again to deploy the new code to the production servers.
this guarantees that no un-tracked change can get deployed into the production, all code changes are tracked per user account so you know who did what, and deployment with svn becomes atomic/transactional, ie you wont' get into a situation where you have one version of one file and another (old) version of another file.

Jasperosw · 10-10-2010, 04:50 PM

Hi MxxCon,

You are absolutely right, version control through a ftp client is everything but professional and funny enough my company is currently implementing an SVN service based on Redmine I believe. We have grown quite rapidly the last couple of months so we indeed needed a better way of handling version control with the explosion of colleagues that we had. Really looking forward to working/playing with it as well as my bugfixing ways will become a lot easier I hope.

However, for my own little custom developments @home and perhaps some small startups or other 'do it yourselvers' this custom auto rename feature could be really handy, if time/money doesn't permit a running SVN servive. Plus it makes flashfxp all the more better