Subfolder selection using a variable

[orfotech]

Hello,

I'm attempting to deploy Syncovery to my organization. I am only interested in backing up user data. I want to choose which folders within the user folder get copied.

I'm using $userprofile for the left-hand side so that this profile can be rolled to many people. Next, I choose the common folders that I want backed up for the users (such as dekstop, pictures, videos, etc).Up to this point everything seems fine.

The issue is that on export, the file structure is changed. The folder structure becomes static, not based on relative paths or using the $userprofile variable.

This is what the export from a newly created profile looks like, using a variable for the left-hand side:

<LeftPath>$userprofile</LeftPath>
<RightPath>ext://Box/</RightPath>
<LeftToRight>Yes</LeftToRight>
<UseSubfolderSelection>Yes</UseSubfolderSelection>
<SubfolderSelections>\Users\usernamehere\Archive*,\Users\usernamehere\Desktop*,\Users\usernamehere\Videos*

I can edit the .xml export to make the paths relative (\users\usernamehere\desktop would become \desktop), import the modified xml, and the backup works. However, if a user were to click on the "choose folders and files" dialog box, Syncovery will show no folders as being checked. If the user clicks on the ok button within the "choose folders and files" dialog box, the selections I made will be lost.

I've tried this multiple times using system variables and Syncovery variables without success.

My question is this. Is there a way to accomplish choosing common folders within a user directory with a variable such as $userprofile where the GUI "choose files and folders" window both reflects and can modify those selections?

[superflexible]

Hello,
the subfolder selection must be set to "All".

Then you can go to Masks & Filters and click on "Specify Folder Masks" and specify the names there, such as

Archive;Desktop;Videos

If the folders you specify are all on the top level, you can remove the checkmark "Scan the whole directory tree for matching folders".

As an alternative, you could work with Exclusions rather than positive masks.

On the Exclusion Masks tab, you could specify the folder names that you do not want, for example:

\.*
\AppData
\Downloads
\Contacts
\OneDrive
\Music
\Favorites

The leading backslash in these masks ensures that the exclusion is only considered on the top level.