XML Errors after updating from 3.16 to 3.17

[refturner]

I am getting the following message repeatedly when I upgrade from 3.16 to
3.17:

Error parsing configuration file: "XXXXX.ffs_batch"

Could not read values for the following XML nodes:
<Variant> <LeftOnly> <RightOnly>

The message continues, but I cannot copy and paste the text. I have a large
number of these .ffs_batch files I use for defining synchronising operations
and am getting the message with all of them.

I have now downgraded to 3.16 and it still seems to work, but am concerned
that 3.17 may include a bug fix that could cause sync problems if not applied.
I cannot find release notes on 3.17 anywhere (nor previous versions) to verify
this.

Please can you advise?

Many thanks,
Richard

[Zenju]

> I cannot find release notes on 3.17 anywhere
Changelog can be found equally named file "changelog.txt" located in
installation folder or here:
[link broken]

> concerned that 3.17 may include a bug fix that could cause sync problems
This is due to structural changes in the configuration xml file and expected.
It is advised to manually migrate (e.g. using an editor) or recreate new
configurations.

[garyjennings]

Getting exact same errors. Tried to reinstall 3X. Returning to V3.16....

[hannes123]

Grudgingly returned to 3.16.

Always remembering that the program is free, I overlooked the little things I
do not like.
FreeFileSync works better than many others. every update made it safer and
more convenient.
I was very happy with it.

But now this mess!

Sorry, but this is a no-go.

Changing the file structure of the USER files without providing an import or a
converter shows no resposibility.
Too bad, that I have to start searching again for a reliable sync program.
Bye-bye.

[refturner]

Is there anyway of doing the migration of the ffs_batch files automatically? I
have more than 50 of them and doing it manually is a nightmare and I am bound
to get someting wrong. Please can I suggest that if this happens again that it
is made clear to users that there is going to be an issue, or include some
sort of auto migrate?
Many thanks,
Richard

[Zenju]

Added a link to a converter:
[404, Invalid URL: https://sourceforge.net/projects/freefilesync/files/freefilesync/v3.17/]

[garyjennings]

I downloaded the converter, but without instructions, still no luck. If I put
this converter in my Free FileSync folder and run it, I would expect it to
automatically convert all of my ffs_gui files. Not so. What am I doing wrong?

[hannes123]

Wow! What a great service!

I used a two-line-batch to convert. Works perfect.




for %%f in (*.ffs_gui) do "Convert Config to v3.17.exe" "%%f"
for %%f in (Settings *.ffs_gui) do "Convert Config to v3.17.exe" "%%f"



Thank you, I'm back.

[Zenju]

Weren't you like mad or something an hour ago? ;) SCNR

>without instructions, still no luck
Simple, just drag and drop a config file onto the .exe.

[garyjennings]

Thank you Zenju and hannes123. With the converter and a minor modification to
the bat file, all converted and works like a charm now !

[refturner]

Thank you for the converter program (and for FreeFileSync itself!). When I use
the converter on some of my lesser used ffs_batch files I get the following
error message:

Error parsing configuration file: "XXXXX.ffs_batch"
Could not read values for the following XML nodes
<LogfileCountMax>

I recall on a previous upgrade having to make totally new ffs_batch files and
I may have not updated these ones and so they may well not be 3.16 ffs_batch
files (and the date stamps are much older than those which convert with no
message). The conversion seems to continue and the ff_batch file seems to have
been modified. Would I be correct assuming that these are now okay for use
with 3.17 regardless of the error message?

Many thanks,
Richard

[Zenju]

>Would I be correct assuming that these are now okay for use with 3.17
regardless of the error message?
Short answer: yes:
Long answer: FFS error reporting is very strict. If it doesn't complain,
everything is fine 100%. In this case it complains about not having found xml
node "LogfileCountMax" (= limit on number of log files). All other data has
been read successfully, while "LogfileCountMax" is defaulted to 200.

[grobbla]

Hi there,

I just liked to say that I am glad that you released the converter :-)

best regards

[Zenju]

Everyone complains about conversion, but nobody notices the awesome fine
granular sys-tray progress indicator ;)

[dcarter_za]

I can't believe that a change was made like this where the new version mis-
reads a previous version's file format.

>FFS error reporting is very strict.
Yes, I saw the warnings and took them to just be an indication that tags for
new features were not there, so just resaved the config files using version
3.17 a while after using that I realized that the configuration had changed
substantially, including a change to the synchronize type of my backup runs
from "Mirror" to "Automatic".
That means that that backup runs have probably messup up both my original file
sets and my backups.

Surely it would not have been difficult to refuse to open config files from
ver 3.16, and instead offer to automatically convert them to 3.17 formats as
soon as an attempt was made to open them.

[coogrrr]

I appreciate FFS and the programmer. I appreciate the input from people on
this issue. I think that for a FREE product this is pretty stellar. Did you
donate? I would never presume I could be critical of a product I got for free.
I do think constructive feedback is helpful. I agree with dcarter_za that
there is a good and simple solution as suggested but as a developer I know how
items can be missed and how sometimes it is a large item.

@Zenju you rock keep up the good work and I will test and give whatever
feedback I can. The alternative products simply dont keep up at all. This
product is stellar and the price makes it even better! I would gladly pay
retail prices for a product like this and one day I look forward to doing so!

[dcarter_za]

Is it too late to say many thanks @Zenju for a really useful utility? :-)
There is nothing I've seen that comes close to it.

It has all the features that I need (and I guess most others need) - I would
upgrade for bug-fixes only (without breaking existing config files) if that
were possible.

So thanks again Zenju for a great job.

[Zenju]

If I introduce a breaking change to user configuration, I make sure to break
big and fix all design flaws that have accumulated since the last break. This
reduces the number of such occasions. While potentially painful at one point
in time, this investment will certainly pay off in the long run. In general I
am not hesitant to fix design flaws early on, before they become a bigger
problem. (This happens frequently within the source code even at larger scale
if required, but you never notice.) The good thing about this very strict
approach is, that it is very seldom that big changes are required like the one
discussed in this thread. In fact I don't expect another one, but I can't
promise.

However it is important to note that I will never introduce any changes that
put the users precious files in jeopardy! It may be that changes entail
certain discomfort by defaulting to a conservative but safe approach which
copies more data than required, so that some files need to be deleted
manually. But it is not possible for the user to accidently delete data
because of a breaking change in configuration.

Having said that, thanks a lot for the support and feedback! :) Open Source vs
commercial is always a tradeoff. For new projects open source is a better way
to quickly reach a broader audience and get more feedback, but you don't earn
money. In contrast to "real-life" programming you have no dead-lines or are
mandated by business decisions. This allows to optimize on the product rather
than for maximum revenue. This makes a huge difference in overall quality.
Combined with great user feedback this makes programming almost feel like
"vacation" which is probably payment enough.

[nosbischs]

FFS is awesome software. Great job! I tried the 3.17 conversion tool and it
works great. However, I noticed that the custom synchonization settings do no
convert.

This:
<Synchronization>
<Automatic>false</Automatic>
<Directions>
<LeftOnly>right</LeftOnly>
<RightOnly>none</RightOnly>
<LeftNewer>right</LeftNewer>
<RightNewer>none</RightNewer>
<Different>right</Different>
<Conflict>none</Conflict>
</Directions>
</Synchronization>

Converted to this:
<SyncConfig>
<Variant>Custom</Variant>
<CustomDirections>
<LeftOnly>right</LeftOnly>
<RightOnly>left</RightOnly>
<LeftNewer>right</LeftNewer>
<RightNewer>left</RightNewer>
<Different>none</Different>
<Conflict>none</Conflict>
</CustomDirections>
<DeletionPolicy>MoveToRecycleBin</DeletionPolicy>
<CustomDeletionFolder></CustomDeletionFolder>
</SyncConfig>

Also, my custom deletion folder got changed to recycle bin. Why don't all the
settings get converted? Any chance of getting an updated converter? Or should
I manually edit all my batch files (there are a lot).

[Zenju]

@nosbischs: They do convert in my tests, so I have no idea what goes wrong in
your case. Maybe the config file is in an older format than v3.17? Anyway I
wouldn't expect too much from this little converter as it's nothing more than
a quick hack. So if you fear that the configuration is not properly mapped I'd
check and adapt manually.