I want to clean up my daily backups. I have them grouped by month. I have already removed all files that have not changed since the first day of the month.
I would also like to remove all the double files that I have kept, after the first change in the month. I can use the Selection Assistent to select all but the "first" item in each duplicate group.
But I want to keep the last duplicate of each group as well.
However, I cannot get the Selection Assistent to select all in-between duplicates and remove those, because I can only select files and not unselect. If I were able to select all files but the first, then invert the selection and then unselect all last files in each group, I could delete all these in-between matches. But currently, the Selection Assistent only selects too much.
If options were negated, I could "not select the first item in each group" adn "not select the last item in each group" and voila, that's it. An alternative way would be to not select files in multiple master paths, but I would have to select them for each month then. This also would not solve the problem for series of duplicates during the month for versions different from the first and/or last day of the month.
More flexible Selection Assistent
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Fool4UAnyway
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DV
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Fool4UAnyway
This could be just a radio button option setting the action when pressing the "Process" button with the options to either:
- select files by the given criteria
- unselect files by the given criteria
I guess that would result in the most flexible way of getting a complete and possibly complex selection of files to be deleted (or copied or moved or whatever).
- select files by the given criteria
- unselect files by the given criteria
I guess that would result in the most flexible way of getting a complete and possibly complex selection of files to be deleted (or copied or moved or whatever).
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Fool4UAnyway
Just tested Duplicate Cleaner 2 Beta 3, 2.0.36813 (that's what the About screen shows).
I am confuzed by the working of the new Selection Assistent.
I can't get it to give me the desired results.
I am scanning daily backup folders per month, trying to keep the first and last version of files that haven't changed in the corresponding period of time.
So a file may be the same in the folders 20101101, 20101102, ..., 20101106, 20101107 and have changed on 20101108. I want to remove the copies for the folders 20101102 up to and including 20101106 in order to keep the first and last version of the "stable" period. So I want to not delete the 20101101 and 20101107 files.
I can select all but one file for each group. But I can't unselect _only_ the last file for each group.
I just discovered the "Work only on currently selected rows (1)" checkbox left of the Close button. It seems to kind of do what I would expect the "Leave other selections unchanged" checkbox below the Unselect button. However, that checkbox seems to not function properly. I do not know what its intention is.
I would like this flexibility:
- Select all files in each group (to start with and reduce by unselecting other files). There could be warnings anyway when closing the Selection Assistent or starting the deletion that in (a) certain group(s) all files are selected for deletion.
- Unselecting all files could be another button, to manually start all over again, instead of the obscure (mis)functioning of the "Leave..." checkbox.
There could still be a checkbox which handles starting anew with each button press, or working on the current results.
Then there may be the options to (un)select _only_ the first and _only_ the last files in the groups by some property.
I very much miss the Location property, because I want to simply keep files in the oldest ("least") and the newest ("highest") value of the Location (path). (The filenames themselves are the same. This is a starting condition.)
Then there is this inconsistency in the (Un)Select and (Un)Mark wordings. I guess they basically mean the same: (un)check files = (un)mark = (un)select to be deleted. This is still called the Selection Assistent, so I guess it would be best to use only the (Un)Select wording variants.
So, what I would like to do is:
- Select all files in each group
- Unselect the first occurrence by least Location value
- Unselect the last occurrence by highest Location value
- Go: remove all versions of the files that haven't changed within the periods of days
I am confuzed by the working of the new Selection Assistent.
I can't get it to give me the desired results.
I am scanning daily backup folders per month, trying to keep the first and last version of files that haven't changed in the corresponding period of time.
So a file may be the same in the folders 20101101, 20101102, ..., 20101106, 20101107 and have changed on 20101108. I want to remove the copies for the folders 20101102 up to and including 20101106 in order to keep the first and last version of the "stable" period. So I want to not delete the 20101101 and 20101107 files.
I can select all but one file for each group. But I can't unselect _only_ the last file for each group.
I just discovered the "Work only on currently selected rows (1)" checkbox left of the Close button. It seems to kind of do what I would expect the "Leave other selections unchanged" checkbox below the Unselect button. However, that checkbox seems to not function properly. I do not know what its intention is.
I would like this flexibility:
- Select all files in each group (to start with and reduce by unselecting other files). There could be warnings anyway when closing the Selection Assistent or starting the deletion that in (a) certain group(s) all files are selected for deletion.
- Unselecting all files could be another button, to manually start all over again, instead of the obscure (mis)functioning of the "Leave..." checkbox.
There could still be a checkbox which handles starting anew with each button press, or working on the current results.
Then there may be the options to (un)select _only_ the first and _only_ the last files in the groups by some property.
I very much miss the Location property, because I want to simply keep files in the oldest ("least") and the newest ("highest") value of the Location (path). (The filenames themselves are the same. This is a starting condition.)
Then there is this inconsistency in the (Un)Select and (Un)Mark wordings. I guess they basically mean the same: (un)check files = (un)mark = (un)select to be deleted. This is still called the Selection Assistent, so I guess it would be best to use only the (Un)Select wording variants.
So, what I would like to do is:
- Select all files in each group
- Unselect the first occurrence by least Location value
- Unselect the last occurrence by highest Location value
- Go: remove all versions of the files that haven't changed within the periods of days
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Fool4UAnyway
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DV2
'Work on selected rows' - when this is checked it means that any selection assistant command only affects rows currently selected (ie highlighted) in the main list view. This allows you to work on part of the list without affecting the rest.
'Leave other selections unchanged' - This allows different select actions to be used together, rather than resetting the list each time.
I agree the terminology has got confusing - checks, marks, selects, ticks. I need to be consistent and sort out the language file. I have a plan to make a US and UK version. 'Select' should just refer to highlighted rows. Ticks/Ticked (UK) or Checks/Checked (US) will refer to the tick in the box. I won't use 'Marked'. How does that sound?
'Leave other selections unchanged' - This allows different select actions to be used together, rather than resetting the list each time.
I agree the terminology has got confusing - checks, marks, selects, ticks. I need to be consistent and sort out the language file. I have a plan to make a US and UK version. 'Select' should just refer to highlighted rows. Ticks/Ticked (UK) or Checks/Checked (US) will refer to the tick in the box. I won't use 'Marked'. How does that sound?
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DV2
-There is a unselect all button (Unmark All) on the sel assistant and the right-click menu
-You can select everything at the start using the 'Invert Marked Selection' button/right click option
-Select by Location is still there (on a tab), other location selection options are on the right-click menu.
-You can select everything at the start using the 'Invert Marked Selection' button/right click option
-Select by Location is still there (on a tab), other location selection options are on the right-click menu.
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Fool4UAnyway
The feature is called Selection Assistent. Perhaps that name should be changed (as well). What is its intention? I think most clearly would be to Mark files for Deletion. I think Mark(ed) is a better indication than Checked or Ticked.
Highlighting is simply done by (multi)Selecting. So I guess a Select button should only highlight files but it seems to me it is intended the other way around here. In the current Assistent I do not see a way to Highlight any files, but I may be missing something here.
I think the basic options I suggest are much more clear than the "leave unchanged" and "work on" descriptions or features.
Select by Location only lets you specify absolute paths. I am asking for path sorting within groups, similar to sorting by date, size etc.
Highlighting is simply done by (multi)Selecting. So I guess a Select button should only highlight files but it seems to me it is intended the other way around here. In the current Assistent I do not see a way to Highlight any files, but I may be missing something here.
I think the basic options I suggest are much more clear than the "leave unchanged" and "work on" descriptions or features.
Select by Location only lets you specify absolute paths. I am asking for path sorting within groups, similar to sorting by date, size etc.