feature proposal: profile filter

[comox]

I would like to propose a new feature that would provide more flexibility and power for grouping profiles than the existing profile group feature.

A profile filter text box would be added to the toolbar. As text is entered in this box only those profiles that have names which match the text would be displayed. When the desired filtered group of profiles has been displayed the entire group could be selected (by clicking the select all box just like it works now with profile groups).

Justification and examples:

I backup 8 drive volumes.
Each volume has 3 or more root folders (sources) that I backup.
Each source is backed up to at least 2 destinations.

This means I have more than 8 x 3 x 2 = 48 profiles.

Each of the 48 profiles is duplicated with the option to binary compare files set which permits me to check data integrity from time to time.

This means I have more than 48 x 2 = 96 profiles in total.

In addition, the sources are classified into types such as Documents, Media, AppData, etc.

I use the following profile naming convention:

[Backup|Compare]-[Type] [Volume]-[Source]-[Destination]

This profile name provides some useful grouping for selecting subsets of profiles but does not handle all of my desired scenarios.

Here are some examples of how I would use the new profile filter feature:

1) Backup everything to a particular destination.
Enter "backup destination" in filter box and run all displayed profiles.

2) Backup up volume to all destinations.
Enter "backup volume" in filter box and run all displayed profiles.

3) Backup type of data to particular destination.
Enter "backup type destination" in filter box and run all displayed profiles.

4) Check integrity of data of particular source on specific volume at specific destination.
Enter "compare volume source destination" and run displayed profile.

I could provide many more examples. Given the flexibility of this new feature, I suspect other users might dream up other innovative uses.

Thanks for considering this idea and thanks for a great product.

Rob

[comox]

bump...

I continue to feel this would be an excellent enhancement to your product.

I saw in yesterday's release that you have been working on the grouping feature.

Fingers crossed that you will keep going and implement this filter proposal.

[superflexible]

Pretty good idea! I'll try it.

[superflexible]

This has been added to version 6.46!

[comox]

I just tested this new feature. It works great! Thank you very much.

One change would make it perfect.

I use the profile grouping feature to keep things organized. For a group to be displayed there must be at least 2 profiles with the same name prefix.

When using the new filter, I find it common that only one item from a group is displayed. This causes the grouping header for that profile to be lost which makes a mess of the filtered list of profiles.

Would it be possible to retain the grouping for profiles when a filter causes only 1 profile from the group to be displayed? This would keep profiles organized and easy to find when a filter is applied.

Thanks again for a great product.

[comox]

One more suggestion.

The filter would be more powerful if it allowed matches for multiple words anywhere in the profile name.

For example, setting the filter "backup photos" would display all profiles that have the strings "backup" and "photos" anywhere in their names.

[comox]

Think I found a small bug.

I use the profile select boxes as a reminder of what I need to backup in the future. This works well because the select boxes persist between sessions. When I get around to running that profile the select box is automatically cleared.

It seems the new filter feature is clearing the select boxes, even if the profile is not run.

For example, set filter to "xxxxx" then clear filter. All select boxes are now cleared.

I think this one is pretty important to fix.

[superflexible]

The new version 6.49a now implements / fixes these items.

[comox]

Confirming everything is working well.

Thanks again for adding this feature. I find it very useful.

[superflexible]

Great, you're welcome!