Synchronization Modes in Hitonic FTPSync

Synchronization modes (sync modes) allow you to update only the necessary set of files and directories on an FTP server.

Each file and directory is attributed to one of the sync modes. The sync mode for a file or directory can be explicitly specified or be inherited from a parent directory.

Synchronization Mode

Icon
(explicitly specified)

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(inherited)

Full Sync

All files or directories are updated on an FTP server.

Files and directories that still present on an FTP server, but have been removed from a local computer, are removed from the FTP server.

Merge Sync

Files and directories are updated on an FTP server only if they exist on a local computer.

Files and directories that still present on an FTP server, but have been removed from a local computer, are NOT removed from the FTP server.

No Sync

Files or directories are NOT updated on an FTP server.

The synchronization modes are specified in a context menu of items.

The root directory synchronization mode is set in the Project/Root Sync Mode main menu item.

When you open a project contents of non-synchronized directories are not loaded from an FTP server. It reduces the download time. The contents of these directories can be seen when you open the directory in the project tree. In this case the contents are loaded from the FTP server at the same time.

Example. Directory of server logs

Suppose one of an FTP server directory contains web server log files. If you do not change the sync mode of this directory, then the log files are deleted every time you update changes on the FTP server, because these files are absent on the local computer.

To resolve the problem, set the sync mode to "No Sync" for the directory.

Example. Root directory contains a lot of service files and directories

Suppose there are many different service files and directories in an FTP server root directory. But you want to update only a few project directories.

In this case, the best solution is to set the root directory sync mode to "No Sync" and the project directories sync mode to "Full Sync".