Full path filter detection false positives (11.24+)

[Orange]

The full path filter detection introduced in 11.24 appears to be returning many false positives.

The alert is displayed for such paths whenever confirming the filter settings, or when switching to the filter settings of a different folder pair in the same sync job. Strangely, the suggested path changes are exactly the same as the original paths, so the same alert is displayed each time you return and then attempt to confirm the filter settings.

Unfortunately, even though it says the path changes are "suggested", clicking the "Cancel" button simply returns you to the current folder pair's filter settings. There is no way to actually exit the filter settings without accepting the "suggested" changes.

Ideally the suggested path changes would actually be optional, and your choice to ignore the suggested changes would be respected on subsequent visits to the filter settings. An option to disable path change suggestions would also be appreciated.



• FFS Version(s): 11.24+ (tested up to 11.27)
• Platform: MacOS 12.6
• Sample sync job:

Test_Filter_Relative-Paths.ffs_gui

Sample sync job

(1.46 KiB) Downloaded 112 times

Please let me know if there are any other details required to resolve this issue.

Thank you.

[Zenju]

Fixed. Thank you for the report! https://www.mediafire.com/file/b3jca2lbhssyavv/FreeFileSync_11.28_beta_macOS.zip

[Orange]

Thanks! 11.28 beta seems to have eliminated most of the false positives. However, there are still some false-positives.

For example, here's one filter change still being suggested:

/Users/Orange/Parallels/ → /


The original path is a valid relative path. It seems like the full path detection is triggered if a matching absolute path exists, even if a valid path relative to the source directory also exists. It would not be good if FFS changed this path without me noticing it (e.g. in a long list of path change suggestions).

Also, we are still unable to make any other changes to the sync job (view filters for a different folder pair, etc.) unless the suggested path changes are accepted.

I've used FFS for years and understand that filters need to be relative paths. A way to disable this beginner-friendly feature would be greatly appreciated.

[Zenju]

Do you have an example ffs_gui file that shows the second issue?

[Orange]

Since the filter settings cannot be saved without accepting the suggested changes, I can only provide a base file:

Test_Filter_Relative-Paths_02.ffs_gui

(2.62 KiB) Downloaded 93 times

Then, for the 2nd folder pair (/ → /Volumes/Files), add the following path to Include or Exclude filter list:

/Users/Anything/Anywhere/


This has consistently triggered the full-path detection dialog.

[Zenju]

Also fixed: https://www.mediafire.com/file/fewu7c4olq04j5e/FreeFileSync_11.28_beta2_macOS.zip

[Orange]

A false positive is still being triggered by adding

/Users/Anything/Anywhere/


to the "All folder pairs" filter settings (include or exclude) of the 2nd sample file.

Also, please make it possible to decline the suggested changes, as the sync settings dialog cannot be closed without accepting the filter changes, which would mess up the sync settings.

But really, an option to completely disable this detection from being forced upon us would be best, as these false positives are preventing us from even running sync jobs.

While full paths are easy to detect on Windows since they are prefixed with a drive letter, it seems a bit more fragile on MacOS/Linux, where absolute paths start with a slash, but FFS filters relative to the base folder also need to start with a slash.

[Zenju]

A false positive is still being triggered by adding

/Users/Anything/Anywhere/


to the "All folder pairs" filter settings (include or exclude) of the 2nd sample file.

Is this really a false-positive? I'm not sure such a filter setting makes sense to put for all folder pairs instead of the one that has "/" as base folder.

Also, please make it possible to decline the suggested changes, as the sync settings dialog cannot be closed without accepting the filter changes, which would mess up the sync settings.

As long as the check is accurate, it shouldn't be ignored.

[Orange]

A false positive is still being triggered by adding

/Users/Anything/Anywhere/


to the "All folder pairs" filter settings (include or exclude) of the 2nd sample file.

Is this really a false-positive? I'm not sure such a filter setting makes sense to put for all folder pairs instead of the one that has "/" as base folder.

It's definitely a false positive if it is being interpreted as an absolute path when it is not one.

A filter at the "All folder pairs" level makes complete sense if multiple folder pairs may have matching path(s) that you want to filter from all of them at once, rather than having to duplicate the filter(s) for every single folder pair.

Also, please make it possible to decline the suggested changes, as the sync settings dialog cannot be closed without accepting the filter changes, which would mess up the sync settings.

As long as the check is accurate, it shouldn't be ignored.

The problem here is that the check is not accurate. Case in point, according to the documentation, this should be a valid filter for a path relative to the base directory:

/Users/Orange/Parallels/


Yet FFS 11.24+ is interpreting it as an absolute path and forcing it to be changed to a "/", which means no files would be synced if the forced change replaced the single filter in the Include field.

Curious why you've decided to change FFS to be so heavy-handed? Prior to 11.24, an absolute path (e.g. with a drive letter, etc.) in the filter settings wouldn't have broken a sync job like these forced changes would, right? It simply wouldn't have matched anything until the user read the documentation and set up their filters properly.