http://www.anysim.net
http://www.bmw-eba.de.tl

Perhaps it’s time I really bit the bullet and got a Mac

HI, I am also very new in the world of Mac and very excited about Automator potential.
I would really like to implement the following : synchronize the data stored on various HD. Indeed, I have McBook + a desktop PC + a Time Capsule and my purpose is tthe following : whatever is the computer I work from to modify or create a file (ex : desktop PC), I want this modification to be reported accordingly onto the Time Capsule HD… and then, via an smart synchro, be reported onto the other computer HD (onto my MacBook in the current example).
Nota : In parallel to that, I use Time Machine to make sure I have a back-up containing the ‘historical” versions. So my question on Automator is really relatd to synchronizing the content of data stored on various HD.
Thanks in advance for your help, guys Chris

my problem is linking one action to a shell script ….
I need to be able to use the CP action in the shell script but I can’t seem to figure out how to tell the script to use the input item as the source for the script.

Automator is cool ….. but dont give it too much credit yet….. you guys are just playing with the user friendly functions….. when it comes to business …. it lacks alot of functions.

How had would it have been for apple to include “with adminitrative rights”
to the copy replace action ?

if any one knows the answer to my week old headache please email me .

Ducati9595fx@aol.com

Thanks,

David

The recording feature in Leopard is cool but not as cool as I would have liked it to be. It’s the equivalent to ScriptIT on Windows but I was hoping more for something like ZenWorks on Novell which is so much better.

That being said though it means anything can be scripted including closing down applications. The trade off is that it isn’t pretty as it picks up movement so your cursor will go all over the place which looks untidy, but then ScriptIT on Windows is similar.

XXXX_Backup_YYYY-MM-DDTHHMM

(this is based on the standard ISO 8601)
The ‘T’ is based on the standard but it’s not crucial, just make sure you use leading zeros on all numbers and use the 24-hr clock.

This way, all your like-named files will be chronological when sorted alphabetically
Filename_backup_2007-06-01T1403
Filename_backup_2007-06-01T1407
Other File_backup_2007-05-30T0743
Other File_backup_2007-05-31T0918

If you would rather have all files chronological regardless of content, the YYYY-MM-DDTHHMM can go at the start, I use a combination of both systems for different purposes – Date/Time at the start for time specific files (business expense receipts etc.) and Date/Time at the end for content specific files and versioning (this keeps like-named files together)

This dating system works without the dashes but they make the filenames easier to read (and to make Smart Folders with – Name contains “2007-06″ for a Smart Folder with all June 2007 files)

No, this action will make a copy of any files you select, even if they have not changed since your last ‘backup’.

Maybe with Leopard, we can make use of Time Machine as ‘subversion for the rest of us’ (and maybe some of the new features in Automator 10.5 will help this process)