WiseCopy

When you start WiseCopy the main window shows up. The last sessions settings are used, so you do not have to rewrite them the next time. This is handy if you use to run always, or almost always, the same settings.

Now you just state from where to where you want to copy: Source is the folder to copy. Destination is the place you want to copy to.

Note that the source folder must exist. Therefore you can not write directly the folder name, you have to use the button to the right instead, or drag and drop a folder from a Windows Explorer window, as described below. The destination folder may not exist however, and in this case it will be created.

To get the result of the example (this is an example: you probably don't have a www folder on your D disk drive, and it can be you don't even have a D drive):

• Open My Computer, and hence D
• Move the cursor on the www folder, press the left button and hold it
• Without releasing the button, drag the cursor to the Source text box
• Release the mouse button: the full pathname of the folder is copied

You can also click the button to the right, the one with the 3 dots, and select the folder using the folder selection dialog, browsing through the computer's or network's resources.

Please take note that WiseCopy does NOT automatically access to protected areas (disks or folders), and does not require credentials for access. You must make sure you have access rights to all folders involved. If you need to copy any folders you know is password protected, you must first secure the access rights: the easiest way is to open the folder in question, and enter your username and password as required.

At this point, if you have no special needs, which are described below, click OK, and WiseCopy starts to copy; it can take more or less time, depending on the number and size of the files actually to copy.

If, however, you click Line up, WiseCopy does this first in one direction (from source to destination), and then backwards (from destination to source). Thus, the source and destination folders will end up with the same content, they will contain the same files in the same version, obviously taking into account the copy options selected (see below).

Suspending and resuming

At any time, as the copy is in progress, you can click the Stop button. Any single file being copied is completed, after what the program stops.

Click OK, or Align, the execution resumes. Actually, WiseCopy starts over, but, unless you set options that force the copy of all files (see below), it browses very quickly what was already done, and start with the files not yet reviewed.

Copy options

To handle special needs, it is possible to modulate the copy activity of WiseCopy. In particular, you can specify what to copy, and how to copy it. The program should be fairly self explanatory, but below the details are shown.

Files to copy and files not to be copied

You can specify the types of files to copy, and the ones you do not want to copy.

If you want to copy everything, as it happens in most cases, assign *.* (ie, any file) for the file type to copy, and leave blank the box for the files not to copy.

If, for example, you want to copy all your Microsoft Word text documents, and all your Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, input as files to copy, *.doc;*.xls. If you want to copy everything, but not, for example, movies, the files to copy are *.*, and for the not to copy input *.avi;*.mpg;*.wmv. If you want to copy all and only those Word documents that start with a certain sequence of characters, such as F2009, set for the files to copy F2009*.doc. And so on.

What to copy

You can chose to copy:

• All: it means that all the files in the source folder are copied to the target one, in the way defined by the other options. It is equivalent to the usual copy & paste, or the usual Windows style drag & drop, but as set by the options (for example, the copy does never stop to ask before overwriting an existing file or folder, unless you have explicitly asked to do so)

Or:

• Only more recent files: this is the normal WiseCopy usage. All and only the files that exist in Origin and do not in Destination are copied, and also those that exist, but have a newer time signature. That is, any newer file replaces the oldest. No other file is copied. It is clear that this second option is certainly not slower than the first (it will take exactly the same amount of time if the destination folder does not exist, of course).

Whatever stated above, you can decide to:

• Copy also the read-only files: if this option is selected, the files marked as read-only are copied as well, without asking for further confirmation (unless you have otherwise specified in the how to copy options). Otherwise, the read-only files are ignored.
• Copy all the subfolders: if this option is selected, all the files and folders and subfolders are copied, that is, all the directory tree. Otherwise, just the files of the source folders are copied, anything contained in any subfolders is ignored.

How to copy

Choosing one of the options below, you specify the WiseCopy behaviour when any file to be copied already exists in destination. Only one of the options can be selected, the others are automatically excluded. Any file existing in Origin and not found in Destination is copied in any case, regardless what indicated here.

• Copy all files of the same name, and overwrite with no further confirmation: this is the normal way to handle WiseCopy. If you do choose to copy only newer files, and you have this option enabled, WiseCopy actually copies all the new or updated files from origin to destination, thus actually implementing an incremental copy.
• Never overwrite an existing file: with this option, only the new files are copied, those that do not exist in destination. It is a way to copy the new files only, without overwriting the old ones. It is useful if you are not sure that you can give up the old version of certain files. Of course, in doing so, you will not have an updated copy of all the files form source.
• Ask before overwriting: it is the normal Windows way. Each time a file coming from source is found in destination, WiseCopy stops and asks you the permission to copy it. During the copy, you can cancel the entire operation, or confirm that all subsequent file shall be overwritten.
• If a file exists, but has a different time stamp, do not overwrite but copy with a new name: if you do not want to run any risk, select this option. When finished, you will have two copies of each file, the old one and the new one with a new name. Obviously, running WiseCopy with this option enabled several times, you will get a proliferation of files that probably after a while you will not be able to control.

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