TIP: On using vars
Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 10:17 am
TO ALL:
The beta of Synchronize It! makes it possible to use predefined PATH strings (called: vars). Already defined vars are:
My Documents
Program Files
Windows
Using vars instead of folder names is useful when Synchonize It! is used to keep two (or more) PC's in sync. Synchonize It! can run on a USB stick and you only need to define your sync-session ONCE. Synchonize It! will automatically convert the 'My Documents' var to the actual path of the 'My Documents' folder on any of the PC's.
Users can define more vars under 'Options - Vars'. One powerful possibilitiy is to make use of predefined folder names available in Windows (at least on Win 2000 and above).
For instance a var pointing to the folder 'Favorites' can be defined by:
%UserProfile%\Favorites
Likewise %AppData% can be used to point to the current user's Application Data Folder. This folder stores a lot of configuration information. For instance the User's custom dictionaries for MS-Office can be found in this folder:
%AppData%\Microsoft\Proof\
and my MS-Office templates are stored in:
%AppData%\Microsoft\Templates
I recommend you make use of this possibility.
But do not forget that vars can only point to folders. So if you want to sync only to a specific ini-file found under %AppData%\SomeSoftware then you first define a var that points to the folder. For instance 'SomeSoftware' points to '%AppData%\SomeSoftware'.
When you make your sync session you write '$(SomeSoftware)\settings.ini' as source or target.
I still miss a var that point to the drive name/letter that Synchronize It! runs from. The USB stick that Synchronize It! runs on here, does also contain the target Package files. The USB stick usually gets a drive letter assigned automatically, and this might differ from PC to PC. I hope this var will be implemented too.
Gerrit
The beta of Synchronize It! makes it possible to use predefined PATH strings (called: vars). Already defined vars are:
My Documents
Program Files
Windows
Using vars instead of folder names is useful when Synchonize It! is used to keep two (or more) PC's in sync. Synchonize It! can run on a USB stick and you only need to define your sync-session ONCE. Synchonize It! will automatically convert the 'My Documents' var to the actual path of the 'My Documents' folder on any of the PC's.
Users can define more vars under 'Options - Vars'. One powerful possibilitiy is to make use of predefined folder names available in Windows (at least on Win 2000 and above).
For instance a var pointing to the folder 'Favorites' can be defined by:
%UserProfile%\Favorites
Likewise %AppData% can be used to point to the current user's Application Data Folder. This folder stores a lot of configuration information. For instance the User's custom dictionaries for MS-Office can be found in this folder:
%AppData%\Microsoft\Proof\
and my MS-Office templates are stored in:
%AppData%\Microsoft\Templates
I recommend you make use of this possibility.
But do not forget that vars can only point to folders. So if you want to sync only to a specific ini-file found under %AppData%\SomeSoftware then you first define a var that points to the folder. For instance 'SomeSoftware' points to '%AppData%\SomeSoftware'.
When you make your sync session you write '$(SomeSoftware)\settings.ini' as source or target.
I still miss a var that point to the drive name/letter that Synchronize It! runs from. The USB stick that Synchronize It! runs on here, does also contain the target Package files. The USB stick usually gets a drive letter assigned automatically, and this might differ from PC to PC. I hope this var will be implemented too.
Gerrit