PowerBook File Assistant User’s Guide
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Contents How the PowerBook File Assistant Can Help You What is file synchronization? v What is the Assistant Toolbox? 1 Installing Your Software Do you have what you need? Using the Installer Easy Install Custom Install v vi 1 1 1 2 3 2 Using the PowerBook File Assistant Why synchronize your files? 5 5 Using a PowerBook with your desktop Macintosh Using a PowerBook with a network 7 Using a PowerBook Duo with a Duo Dock Starting the PowerBook File Assistant 6 8 9 iii
Linking files or folders for synchronization 9 If your PowerBook has a system software version 7.1 or later 10 If your PowerBook has a system software version earlier than 7.
How the PowerBook File Assistant Can Help You The PowerBook File Assistant is software that synchronizes files on your PowerBook and desktop Macintosh by automatically updating files whenever you make changes. With the File Assistant, you can always be sure that the file you are working on is the current version. What is file synchronization? As a user of both a desktop Macintosh and a PowerBook, you may often have the same file or folder on both computers.
What is the Assistant Toolbox? Also included with the PowerBook File Assistant is the Assistant Toolbox.
1 Installing Your Software Do you have what you need? To use the PowerBook File Assistant, you’ll need: m a PowerBook computer with at least 4 megabytes of RAM m system software version 7.0 or later (System software version 7.1 or later is required to use the drag-and-drop feature for file synchronization, as described in Chapter 2.) Be sure you’re acting within the terms of the software license agreement before you install programs on a computer.
If you want to install all of the software, use Easy Install. It installs both the PowerBook File Assistant and the Assistant Toolbox on your PowerBook. It also installs system software that lets you drag icons from the Finder to the PowerBook File Assistant’s Setup window, which makes using the program very simple. (You need system software version 7.1 or later to support this feature.) If you only want to install a portion of the software, use Custom Install. Easy Install 1 Turn on your PowerBook.
5 Make sure the hard disk named in the box is the one on which you want to install the PowerBook File Assistant software. If it’s not, click the Switch Disk button until the name of the disk appears. 6 Click Install. Messages appear on the screen describing the progress of the installation. 7 When you see a message saying that installation was successful, click Restart. Your PowerBook restarts and the floppy disk is ejected. You are ready to use the PowerBook File Assistant software.
3 Click the software you want to install. Shift-click to choose more than one item. A description of each item appears in the box below the item names. 4 Click Install. Messages appear on the screen describing the progress of the installation. 5 When you see a message saying that installation was successful, click Restart. Your PowerBook restarts and the floppy disk is ejected. You are ready to use the software you installed.
2 Using the PowerBook File Assistant In this chapter m why synchronize your files? m starting the PowerBook File Assistant m linking files or folders for synchronization m synchronizing linked folders or files m understanding alert messages m setting completely automatic synchronization Why synchronize your files? The PowerBook File Assistant allows you to keep the most recent version of a file or folder on two different computers or disks.
Using a PowerBook with your desktop Macintosh Working with both a PowerBook and a desktop Macintosh often means that you have two copies of the same document—one on your PowerBook and one on your desktop Macintosh. Keeping track of which file has been changed, deleted, or added can be difficult. The PowerBook File Assistant keeps files on both your PowerBook and your desktop Macintosh up to date.
Using a PowerBook with a network If you are on a network and have access to servers, you are probably familiar with downloading or copying files from network servers to your PowerBook’s hard disk. You may find yourself downloading files that are updated weekly and sorted on a file server, such as a price list or weekly inventory update.
Using a PowerBook Duo with a Duo Dock As a user of a PowerBook Duo and Duo Dock, you store files on your Duo and on your Duo Dock’s internal hard disk, or on a hard disk that is connected to your Duo Dock through a SCSI connection. Often, you may find that you have copies of files and folders in several places.
Starting the PowerBook File Assistant Once you have installed the PowerBook File Assistant, you are ready to decide which files you want to synchronize. m Open the PowerBook File Assistant Icon. The File Assistant Setup window appears: Linking files or folders for synchronization The first step to synchronizing files is to link two files or folders. Linking joins two files together so that when one file or folder in the pair is modified, the corresponding file or folder in the pair is also changed.
If your PowerBook has a system software version 7.1 or later If you installed the PowerBook File Assistant with Easy Install (or installed the Finder with drag and drop through Custom Install), you can drag the icons of the files or folders you want to synchronize to the Setup window. Follow these steps: 1 Drag the icon of the folder or file you want to synchronize from one of the disks to one of the item selection boxes in the File Assistant Setup window.
If your PowerBook has a system software version earlier than 7.1 You cannot drag the icon to the screen. Instead, follow these steps to link files: 1 Click the item selection box to select it. A box appears around the pair when it is selected. 2 Choose Select An Item To Synchronize from the File Menu. A dialog box appears displaying the files and folders on your PowerBook. Name of disk where the file you want to synchronize is saved. Click here to find files on the desktop or another disk.
Setting the direction of the link Notice the arrow between the two linked files; this is how you can tell the direction in which the files are linked. Normally the PowerBook File Assistant synchronizes files in both directions, but you can set the direction to be one way, from either left to right or right to left. This type of link is helpful if you want to receive updated versions of a document from a file server on a network. 1 Click the pair of linked files you want to synchronize one way.
1 Choose Preferences from the File Menu. The following dialog box appears: Click here to be able to link folders with different names. 2 Click the checkbox to allow non-matching folder names. 3 Click OK. Now you can link folders that have different names and contents. The first time you synchronize a pair of non-matching folders, PowerBook File Assistant copies all the files from one folder to the other folder.
Synchronizing linked folders or files To synchronize files or folders you linked in the Setup window, you must do two things: m Mount whatever disks contain the two files you are synchronizing (for instance, your PowerBook and desktop Macintosh, or your PowerBook Duo and Duo Dock). m Run the PowerBook File Assistant program. Once you have the disks mounted and the program running, you are ready to synchronize the pairs of files or folders you linked.
The way the PowerBook File Assistant updates files in a linked pair depends on what kinds of changes are made. There are three kinds of changes: m modifying the file or folder m deleting the file or folder, or moving it to another place on the disk m replacing the file with another file with the same name When the PowerBook File Assistant notices these changes, it does the following: If the left file is And the right file is This is what happens Changed Unchanged Right file is updated.
Manual synchronization When you manually update your linked files, you decide when you want to update a linked pair. When you make a change to a file on one disk, the PowerBook File Assistant doesn’t update that file on the other disk until you tell it to. You can manually synchronize linked files at any time: 1 Choose Manual from the Synchronize menu with the pair selected. 2 Click the arrow between the two files in the synchronization window. Click the arrow to synchronize the pair.
1 Choose Preferences from the File menu. The following dialog box appears: 2 Click the Warn When Can’t Synchronize checkbox to deselect it. The alert messages that appear when files cannot be synchronized only appear when the checkbox is selected. If you deselect the checkbox, the messages do not appear. If you don’t want the alert message to appear when a file or folder is put in the trash, click the checkbox next to Warn Before Deleting to deselect it.
To turn alert messages off temporarily: m Hold down the Option key. While you hold down the Option key, the alert messages for any commands you execute are turned off. Setting completely automatic synchronization The PowerBook File Assistant needs to be running in order to synchronize your files. To set up your system to automatically synchronize linked files: 1 Select the pair and then choose Automatic from the Synchronize menu. 2 Use the AutoRemounter control panel to reconnect to shared disks.
3 Using the Assistant Toolbox In this chapter m controlling automatic screen dimming m using persistent RAM disk m putting your PowerBook to sleep m spinning down the hard disk m automatically remounting to shared volumes m printing later m improving pointer display 19
Extending your PowerBook’s battery life Controlling automatic screen dimming To save power and increase the life of the screen, your PowerBook’s screen dims automatically when the PowerBook is left idle. Screen dimming also conserves power, since the screen’s backlight is the single biggest consumer of your computer’s battery power. You can specify the delay before the screen is dimmed. You set this option in the PowerBook Display control panel.
Using persistent RAM disk You use the Memory control panel to select the option of having any files that are copied to the RAM disk saved in the System Folder on the hard disk when you shut down your PowerBook, and copied back to the RAM disk the next time you start up. This allows you to use your PowerBook’s RAM disk without needing to rebuild it every time you restart your PowerBook. 1 Choose Control Panels from the Apple (K) menu and open the Memory control panel. The Memory control panel appears.
Putting your PowerBook to sleep With the Assistant Toolbox you can put your PowerBook to sleep with one touch. Putting your PowerBook to sleep more often gives you longer battery life. To put your PowerBook to sleep: 1 Hold down the Shift, x (command), and 0 (zero) keys at the same time. Your PowerBook goes to sleep. 2 Press any key to wake your PowerBook up. Spinning down the hard disk Sometimes (for example, in a meeting) you may want to use your PowerBook without the subtle hum of its hard disk.
Automatically remounting to shared volumes Your PowerBook disconnects from any shared disks it’s connected to when you either turn it off or restart it. With the Assistant Toolbox, your PowerBook can reconnect to those shared disks when you turn it back on (or wake it from sleep). In addition, if you connect a hard disk to your PowerBook while it’s asleep, the hard disk appears on the desktop when you wake it up. 1 Choose Control Panels from the Apple (K) menu and open the AutoRemounter control panel.
Printing later If you use a PostScript™ laser printer (such as a Laserwriter Pro 600) on a network, the Assistant Toolbox allows you to send documents to print from your PowerBook while it’s not hooked up to the network printer. The next time you connect to the network printer, the documents you sent to print will be printed. 1 Choose Print from the File menu in the application in which you are working.
Improving pointer display You may notice that the pointer sometimes disappears from your PowerBook’s screen if you have an LCD screen. The Assistant Toolbox allows you to set your mouse so you can always see the pointer on the screen. You do this in the Mouse control panel. 1 After you have installed PowerBook File Assistant, choose Control Panels from the Apple (K) menu and open the Mouse control panel. The following control panel appears: 2 Click the mouse tracks length you want.
The Apple Publishing System This Apple manual was written, edited, and produced on a desktop publishing system using Apple Macintosh computers and QuarkXPress. Proof pages were created on Apple LaserWriter printers and on the QMS and Tektronix color printers. Final pages were output directly to separated film on a PostScript™-driven imagesetter. Line art was created with Adobe Illustrator. Cover art was produced with Adobe Photoshop.
