Folder pairs: sort alphabetically

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Posts: 10
Joined: 16 Dec 2016

Charlie

Is there any way to have Freefilesync sort the listing of files alphabetically instead of by when they have been set up?
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Joined: 22 Aug 2012

Plerry

By right clicking in the header of the left or right compare result window, you can choose what to show, and then sort on that item by left clicking in the header of that field.
Probably you want to show "Item name" instead of "Relative path" and then sort on that field.
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Joined: 16 Dec 2016

Charlie

Thanks very much for your reply Plerry, but I'm not sure that I follow. Or perhaps I haven't explained properly.

When you say "compare result window" do you mean the window below where the folders are listed? It currently says "relative path" but, as you point out, can be changed to "item name". This is not what I want to sort.

What I want to sort is the listing of folders above this, underneath where it says "drag & drop".

Thanks Charlie
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Plerry

OK, rephrasing your question, it seems you have multiple left-right folder pairs and want to re-arrange their sequence.
This can (presently) not be done by sorting.
However, what you can do for your left-right pairs is to re-arrange their sequence by moving individual left-right pairs up or down. This can be done by using the black down-arrow in front of each (but the first) left-right folder pair (left of the red minus-icon) and then select the Move Up or Move Down action. Unless you have a huge number of left-right pairs, this hopefully comes sufficiently close.
In that same way you can also add a new left-right folder pair in between existing pairs.
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Joined: 16 Dec 2016

Charlie

Hi Plerry,

Thanks again for your reply. Unfortunately I do have a very large number of left right pairs and so sorting manually is not practical.

Thanks Charlie
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Plerry

It is uncommon that there is a need for a very large amount of left-right pairs.
You might consider to use one or a few left-right pairs one or two levels higher in the folder-tree and use the (local) Include filter to define the (sub)folders to be included in the sync. Generally, this keeps thing much clearer/cleaner.

Example:
Instead of using the left-right pairs
C:\\LeftPath1\Folder11 and D:\\RightPath1\Folder11
C:\\LeftPath1\Folder12 and D:\\RightPath1\Folder12
C:\\LeftPath1\Folder13 and D:\\RightPath1\Folder13
in order to assure that all other subfolders of C:\\LeftPath1 are not in the sync and
C:\\LeftPath2\Folder21 and D:\\RightPath2\Folder21
C:\\LeftPath2\Folder22 and D:\\RightPath2\Folder22
in order to assure that all other subfolders of C:\\LeftPath2 are not in the sync
consider using the left-right pairs
C:\\LeftPath1 and D:\\RightPath1
with as (local) Include filter Folder11\* | Folder12\* | Folder13\* (instead of just *) and
C:\\LeftPath2 and D:\\RightPath2
with as (local) Include filter Folder21\* | Folder22\* (instead of just *)

Conversely, if all but a few (sub)folders are to be included, consider using the Exclude filter:
Instead of using the left-right pairs
C:\\LeftPath1\Folder11 and D:\\RightPath1\Folder11
C:\\LeftPath1\Folder12 and D:\\RightPath1\Folder12
C:\\LeftPath1\Folder13 and D:\\RightPath1\Folder13
in order to assure that C:\\LeftPath1\Folder14 C:\\LeftPath1\Folder15 are not in the sync and
C:\\LeftPath2\Folder21 and D:\\RightPath2\Folder21
C:\\LeftPath2\Folder22 and D:\\RightPath2\Folder22
in order to assure that C:\\LeftPath2\Folder23 is not in the sync
consider using the left-right pairs
C:\\LeftPath1 and D:\\RightPath1
with as (local) Include filter * and Exclude filter Folder14\* | Folder15\* and
C:\\LeftPath2 and D:\\RightPath2
with as (local) Include filter * and Exclude filter Folder23\*
Posts: 10
Joined: 16 Dec 2016

Charlie

Hi Plerry,

Thanks very much indeed for this advice. It appears I haven't properly understood how to use the program. This may solve the issue in an unexpected way and bring other benefits as well!

Thanks so much!
Charlie