Sync versus Copy to Dropbox

Mr_Noodle:

I have a folder with quite a large number of files and folders within it which I sync to Dropbox using Hazel's Sync function. Trouble is, when a new file is added to the folder being synced, it SEEMS to re-upload all the files in the folder to Dropbox; not just the one which was added or modified. I get OS X Notifications of each group of folders being updated, and a check of Dropbox shows all the files with blue circles and little arrows, showing uploading activity. Is Hazel forcing an upload of ALL the files? Seems that way.

Perhaps I should use a Copy command instead - the Dropbox is being used as a backup. Or perhaps I don't really understand the difference between Sync and Copy. Here's the rule I am using:

Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Try turning on debug mode (see sticky article). The logs will show what the sync is doing and might give more insight into what files are being copied over.

The Log is a bit opaque to me, but I've pretty we'll convinced myself that not everything is being re-uploaded by using test cases and Little Snitch to monitor the data flows to and from Dropbox. The blue circles with arrows in Dropbox folders and files apparently reflect Hazel checking the date information. At least that's my guess.

Maybe it's the access time being updated?

Mr_Noodle wrote:Maybe it's the access time being updated?

Could be. Perhaps the blue circles with little arrows in them indicate both updating the files or checking their modification dates. Anyway, it's pretty clear that not everything is being updated, since my abysmally slow DSL line could't handle the 2.5 GB data transfer! What got me started about this was I was getting notifications from Dropbox through OS X that each file was being updated. Hmmm.

Can you explane to me how i can use the function "sync" in hazel?
If i have a folder or one file in the my Mac, they sync automatically in the folder of Dropbox ......
Maybe the function "sync" of the hazel allow me to sync the file s And folders that aren't in the folder of Dropbox that i have in my IMac ?
But in this case i can use also the function "copy" of hazel (in the Dropbox).....
Maybe i don't understand something.........Help me pls....

If you only need a one-way sync, then the sync action should work for you. Check out this thread for more details on how to use sync: http://www.noodlesoft.com/forums/viewto ... 1593#p6500

Took me awhile to understand it, too. Say you have two folders - A and B. You tell A to sync to B using the Hazel Sync function. Then if you add something to A, it is added to B. If you take something out of A, it is removed from B. If you take something out of B, it is NOT removed from A, because it is a 1-way sync. I think.

It's similar to a Copy action,except that if you replace Sync with Copy in the example above, and you remove something from A, it is NOT removed from B.

I understand now....

Thank you very much..... :lol: