Macros
All directory paths may contain macros that are expanded during
synchronization. The beginnings and ends of each macro are marked by a
% character. In addition to special macros
handling time and date, the
operating system's environment variables may also be used.
Internal Macros
Macro |
Example |
Format |
%Date% |
2016-12-31 |
[YYYY-MM-DD] |
%Time% |
112233 |
[hhmmss] |
%TimeStamp% |
2016-12-31 112233 |
[YYYY-MM-DD hhmmss] |
|
%Year% |
2016 |
%Month% |
12 |
[01–12] |
%MonthName% |
Dec |
short name |
%Day% |
31 |
[01–31] |
|
%Hour% |
11 |
[00–23] |
%Min% |
22 |
[00–59] |
%Sec% |
33 |
[00–59] |
|
%WeekDay% |
1 |
[1–7] |
%WeekDayName% |
Mon |
short name |
%Week% |
52 |
[01–52] calendar week |
Environment Variables (Windows)
Macro |
Example |
%AllUsersProfile% |
C:\ProgramData |
%AppData% |
C:\Users\Zenju\AppData\Roaming |
%ComputerName% |
Zenju-PC |
%LocalAppData% |
C:\Users\Zenju\AppData\Local |
%ProgramData% |
C:\ProgramData |
%ProgramFiles% |
C:\Program Files |
%ProgramFiles(x86)% |
C:\Program Files (x86) |
%Public% |
C:\Users\Public |
%Temp% |
C:\Windows\Temp |
%UserName% |
Zenju |
%UserProfile% |
C:\Users\Zenju |
%WinDir% |
C:\Windows |
Special Folder Locations (Windows)
Macro |
Example |
%csidl_Desktop% |
C:\Users\Zenju\Desktop |
%csidl_Documents% |
C:\Users\Zenju\Documents |
%csidl_Pictures% |
C:\Users\Zenju\Pictures |
%csidl_Music% |
C:\Users\Zenju\Music |
%csidl_Videos% |
C:\Users\Zenju\Videos |
%csidl_Downloads% |
C:\Users\Zenju\Downloads |
%csidl_Favorites% |
C:\Users\Zenju\Favorites |
%csidl_Resources% |
C:\Windows\Resources |
%csidl_QuickLaunch% |
C:\Users\Zenju\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch |
%csidl_StartMenu% |
C:\Users\Zenju\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu |
%csidl_Programs% |
C:\Users\Zenju\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs |
%csidl_Startup% |
C:\Users\Zenju\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp |
%csidl_Nethood% |
C:\Users\Zenju\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts |
%csidl_Templates% |
C:\Users\Zenju\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates |
Note: Most of the macros above have a variant for public folders, e.g.
%csidl_Documents% has %csidl_PublicDocuments%.
Hint: You can add flexibility to an ffs_batch configuration file
by creating new temporary environment variables in a bat or cmd file that are evaluated by FreeFileSync at runtime:
Example:
The FreeFileSync batch file
C:\SyncJob.ffs_batch contains
macro
%MyVar% instead of an absolute target folder and is invoked by a cmd file:
set MyVar=C:\Target
"C:\Program files\FreeFileSync\FreeFileSync.exe" C:\SyncJob.ffs_batch
::%MyVar% is resolved as C:\Target during synchronization
Note
Temporary environment variables created with the set command are only valid if the synchronization is started by calling the
FreeFileSync executable directly. Using start /wait would create a new program context without these temporary variables.