Safety net: two configs?

[serendipity]

@Don: i just came from this thread:
http://www.xyplorer.com/xyfc/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6033

Is possible to have a safety net just in case something happens to the config? Like having last two configs?
So everytime i save config, XY saves two configs:
1) Config before saving (last config)
2) Config after saving (latest config)

On next save latest config becomes last config and so on.

[j_c_hallgren]

Sounds like a good idea, and I vaguely recall some other appl that did that (but not enough to know which one)...

It could make it much easier to test/try some features without risking not being able to get back...

Maybe have the older one as a .BAK file which is common for backup/prior vers...

[admin]

@Don: i just came from this thread:
http://www.xyplorer.com/xyfc/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6033

Is possible to have a safety net just in case something happens to the config? Like having last two configs?
So everytime i save config, XY saves two configs:
1) Config before saving (last config)
2) Config after saving (latest config)

On next save latest config becomes last config and so on.

Because it takes time and space, it would have to be made optional. And i bet, the people who need this safety net would not use it.

[TheQwerty]

I always thought lastini.dat provided this, at least to some degree, is that not the case?

[admin]

I always thought lastini.dat provided this, at least to some degree, is that not the case?

No, it just stores the name of the last INI.

[j_c_hallgren]

Because it takes time and space, it would have to be made optional. And i bet, the people who need this safety net would not use it.

Time and space? Huh?
I can't see that this would take more another second or so, if even that, and it's not something that is done all that often, I'd suspect...if others are anything like me, I only save config once every few days, or less as I do it on exit but keep XY running almost 100% of the time...and space? Maybe a few hundred KB, or less, for the most critical file(s) and the benefits would certainly outweigh the downsides, I think...I'd even suggest it be made the default to make sure thae newbies would use it.

[zer0]

Is possible to have a safety net just in case something happens to the config? Like having last two configs?
So everytime i save config, XY saves two configs:
1) Config before saving (last config)
2) Config after saving (latest config)

I would have thought that similar functionality can be achieved with scripting. A UDC/CTB that first copies the config somewhere and then actions a save. Too easy or am I missing something?

[admin]

Because it takes time and space, it would have to be made optional. And i bet, the people who need this safety net would not use it.

Time and space? Huh?
I can't see that this would take more another second or so, if even that, and it's not something that is done all that often, I'd suspect...if others are anything like me, I only save config once every few days, or less as I do it on exit but keep XY running almost 100% of the time...and space? Maybe a few hundred KB, or less, for the most critical file(s) and the benefits would certainly outweigh the downsides, I think...I'd even suggest it be made the default to make sure thae newbies would use it.

Time: I had been thinking of doing this automatically on each startup; now I read the OP and agree that time is not a factor in this context. Although it will slow down exiting the app because it should be also done on "Save Settings on Exit" as well, of course.

Space: tag.dat can easily grow to many many MBs... and soon we will have many tag.dats ...

[j_c_hallgren]

Time: I had been thinking of doing this automatically on each startup; now I read the OP and agree that time is not a factor in this context. Although it will slow down exiting the app because it should be also done on "Save Settings on Exit" as well, of course.

Also done on exit? The only time that I see it being done is when settings are actually saved, whether by user request or auto-on-exit.

Space: tag.dat can easily grow to many many MBs... and soon we will have many tag.dats ...

Well, I personally don't consider tag.dat to be part of config that I would be concerned about...it could be excluded from this...maybe the OP had another view, but to me, it was the INI's as 1st priority, then lastini.dat/ks.dat/udc.dat/fvs.dat/ as 2nd, and catalog.dat/action.dat as maybe 3rd but even those fall into a gray area as I wouldn't really consider them as config for these purposes.

Because when one does a "save config as", the only file that's saved is the INI, right?
So saving that file by itself would barely take any time or space...and those that I've listed as 2nd shouldn't take much more...I fully agree about tag.dat being large; however, yes, while it technically is part of user settings but if that wasn't saved by this auto-process, I'd still be satisfied because if I'm just experimenting/trying with some color settings or color filters or such, I wouldn't care about tags/comments.

[admin]

Time: I had been thinking of doing this automatically on each startup; now I read the OP and agree that time is not a factor in this context. Although it will slow down exiting the app because it should be also done on "Save Settings on Exit" as well, of course.

Also done on exit? The only time that I see it being done is when settings are actually saved, whether by user request or auto-on-exit.

Space: tag.dat can easily grow to many many MBs... and soon we will have many tag.dats ...

Well, I personally don't consider tag.dat to be part of config that I would be concerned about...it could be excluded from this...maybe the OP had another view, but to me, it was the INI's as 1st priority, then lastini.dat/ks.dat/udc.dat/fvs.dat/ as 2nd, and catalog.dat/action.dat as maybe 3rd but even those fall into a gray area as I wouldn't really consider them as config for these purposes.

Because when one does a "save config as", the only file that's saved is the INI, right?
So saving that file by itself would barely take any time or space...and those that I've listed as 2nd shouldn't take much more...I fully agree about tag.dat being large; however, yes, while it technically is part of user settings but if that wasn't saved by this auto-process, I'd still be satisfied because if I'm just experimenting/trying with some color settings or color filters or such, I wouldn't care about tags/comments.

So the minimal version would mean to add just one step before saving the configuration to XYplorer.ini:
Save XYplorer.ini as XYplorer.ini.bak
That would be easy to do. Is this what the OP intended?

[serendipity]

Time: I had been thinking of doing this automatically on each startup; now I read the OP and agree that time is not a factor in this context. Although it will slow down exiting the app because it should be also done on "Save Settings on Exit" as well, of course.

Also done on exit? The only time that I see it being done is when settings are actually saved, whether by user request or auto-on-exit.

Space: tag.dat can easily grow to many many MBs... and soon we will have many tag.dats ...

Well, I personally don't consider tag.dat to be part of config that I would be concerned about...it could be excluded from this...maybe the OP had another view, but to me, it was the INI's as 1st priority, then lastini.dat/ks.dat/udc.dat/fvs.dat/ as 2nd, and catalog.dat/action.dat as maybe 3rd but even those fall into a gray area as I wouldn't really consider them as config for these purposes.

Because when one does a "save config as", the only file that's saved is the INI, right?
So saving that file by itself would barely take any time or space...and those that I've listed as 2nd shouldn't take much more...I fully agree about tag.dat being large; however, yes, while it technically is part of user settings but if that wasn't saved by this auto-process, I'd still be satisfied because if I'm just experimenting/trying with some color settings or color filters or such, I wouldn't care about tags/comments.

So the minimal version would mean to add just one step before saving the configuration to XYplorer.ini:
Save XYplorer.ini as XYplorer.ini.bak
That would be easy to do. Is this what the OP intended?

Yes, that precisely was my point.
It's especially heart wrenching when someone comes up with a post "I lost all my setting!!".
Now you can say, "Just use your last config".

[j_c_hallgren]

maybe the OP had another view, but to me, it was the INI's as 1st priority, then lastini.dat/ks.dat/udc.dat/fvs.dat/ as 2nd, and catalog.dat/action.dat as maybe 3rd

Because when one does a "save config as", the only file that's saved is the INI, right?
So saving that file by itself would barely take any time or space...and those that I've listed as 2nd shouldn't take much more...

So the minimal version would mean to add just one step before saving the configuration to XYplorer.ini:
Save XYplorer.ini as XYplorer.ini.bak
That would be easy to do. Is this what the OP intended?

Yes, that precisely was my point.
It's especially heart wrenching when someone comes up with a post "I lost all my setting!!".
Now you can say, "Just use your last config".

Agree that that simple thing would certainly help a lot! After all, isn't it the INI that Don most often asks be sent to him?
However, at some point, adding a way to similarly do the other typically closely related files (ks/fvs/udc) should be considered. I think as some users may consider that part of config whereas tags is more data.

[admin]

Time: I had been thinking of doing this automatically on each startup; now I read the OP and agree that time is not a factor in this context. Although it will slow down exiting the app because it should be also done on "Save Settings on Exit" as well, of course.

Also done on exit? The only time that I see it being done is when settings are actually saved, whether by user request or auto-on-exit.

Space: tag.dat can easily grow to many many MBs... and soon we will have many tag.dats ...

Well, I personally don't consider tag.dat to be part of config that I would be concerned about...it could be excluded from this...maybe the OP had another view, but to me, it was the INI's as 1st priority, then lastini.dat/ks.dat/udc.dat/fvs.dat/ as 2nd, and catalog.dat/action.dat as maybe 3rd but even those fall into a gray area as I wouldn't really consider them as config for these purposes.

Because when one does a "save config as", the only file that's saved is the INI, right?
So saving that file by itself would barely take any time or space...and those that I've listed as 2nd shouldn't take much more...I fully agree about tag.dat being large; however, yes, while it technically is part of user settings but if that wasn't saved by this auto-process, I'd still be satisfied because if I'm just experimenting/trying with some color settings or color filters or such, I wouldn't care about tags/comments.

So the minimal version would mean to add just one step before saving the configuration to XYplorer.ini:
Save XYplorer.ini as XYplorer.ini.bak
That would be easy to do. Is this what the OP intended?

Yes, that precisely was my point.
It's especially heart wrenching when someone comes up with a post "I lost all my setting!!".
Now you can say, "Just use your last config".

But only if he saved only once. Many users who think they lost their settings try several times to open and close the app...

[serendipity]

Time: I had been thinking of doing this automatically on each startup; now I read the OP and agree that time is not a factor in this context. Although it will slow down exiting the app because it should be also done on "Save Settings on Exit" as well, of course.

Also done on exit? The only time that I see it being done is when settings are actually saved, whether by user request or auto-on-exit.

Space: tag.dat can easily grow to many many MBs... and soon we will have many tag.dats ...

Well, I personally don't consider tag.dat to be part of config that I would be concerned about...it could be excluded from this...maybe the OP had another view, but to me, it was the INI's as 1st priority, then lastini.dat/ks.dat/udc.dat/fvs.dat/ as 2nd, and catalog.dat/action.dat as maybe 3rd but even those fall into a gray area as I wouldn't really consider them as config for these purposes.

Because when one does a "save config as", the only file that's saved is the INI, right?
So saving that file by itself would barely take any time or space...and those that I've listed as 2nd shouldn't take much more...I fully agree about tag.dat being large; however, yes, while it technically is part of user settings but if that wasn't saved by this auto-process, I'd still be satisfied because if I'm just experimenting/trying with some color settings or color filters or such, I wouldn't care about tags/comments.

So the minimal version would mean to add just one step before saving the configuration to XYplorer.ini:
Save XYplorer.ini as XYplorer.ini.bak
That would be easy to do. Is this what the OP intended?

Yes, that precisely was my point.
It's especially heart wrenching when someone comes up with a post "I lost all my setting!!".
Now you can say, "Just use your last config".

But only if he saved only once. Many users who think they lost their settings try several times to open and close the app...

Yes, that would be a bummer. Only other way i can think of is, if the contents of the ini is not changed then don't overwrite last config.

[admin]

Yes, that would be a bummer. Only other way i can think of is, if the contents of the ini is not changed then don't overwrite last config.

Or, don't overwrite if is the same day (modified date), resp. < 24 hours? That way you would always have "Yesterday's INI".