Using SyncBackPro > Technical Reference > Restoring and Selections

warning

This section is rather complex, so in simple terms: if you are running a restore and have chosen to restore from a sub-directory of your destination directory then you should switch off the selections and filters when asked in the restore wizard.

One of the configuration options for a profile is the ability to select which files and folders to include or exclude and also filter out certain files and folders. The selections and filters use relative paths, i.e. they don't specify a specific folder on a specific drive but instead specify a sub-folder. This is so that the selections and filters apply to both the source and destination. If the folder used the entire path then it would only apply to one side, e.g. the source, and that wouldn't make any sense.

For example, you have a backup profile and your source is C:\My Files\Pictures\ and your destination is D:\My Backup\Media\Pictures\. You decide to exclude a folder from the backup, e.g. C:\My Files\Pictures\Drafts\. Using the file & folder selection window you actually deselect \Drafts\ because the file & folder selection window shows sub-directories. So when you run the profile SyncBackPro knows to ignore C:\My Files\Pictures\Drafts\ and D:\My Backup\Media\Pictures\Drafts. In other words, when you make selections you should keep in mind that you are choosing from sub-directories. Filters are the same in that you specify a filter using a relative path, e.g. \Drafts\* (or similar).

Generally when you are restoring then you will not choose a different folder to restore from or to. However, if you do you may decide to restore to an empty folder. Or perhaps your destination is using variables, e.g. %DAY%, and so you want to restore from a specific day and so need to choose which folder to restore from. This is fine and won't cause any problems. If you aren't using selections or filters then there won't be any issues. However, if you have file & folder selections and decide to restore from a sub-folder, or restore to a sub-folder, then issues will arise.

For example, let's say your backup directory is D:\My Backup\Media\Pictures\. You decide to restore from a specific sub-folder in the backup directory instead, e.g. D:\My Backup\Media\Pictures\2012\June\. In your file & folder selections you've de-selected \Drafts\. So let's say you have the folder D:\My Backup\Media\Pictures\2012\June\Drafts. SyncBackPro will skip that folder entirely during the restore because the selections specify that the \Drafts\ sub-folder should be ignored. However, you actually wanted D:\My Backup\Media\Pictures\Drafts\ to be ignored, but you've changed the base folder and the selections are relative to the base folder. This is why SyncBackPro will suggest that filters and selections be switched off when restoring and the source and/or destination has been changed. With them switched off you won't be accidentally skipping and files and folders.

This same situation would occur if you use the -source or -dest command line parameters and are using a sub-folder of the profiles base folders. In that case you should use the -noselect and -nofilter command line parameters.