syncronising macs

[Black Sheep]

i've got a powerbook G4 and an imac that i want to be able to swap files between without having to resort to usb sticks and replacing files,

idealy i'd like to have a folder on each computer for my work and be able to tell it to update to the newest modification of a file

is this possible?

thanks,

 

[Carwash]

Never tried synching quite like that myself. I suppose you could share the folders in question over the network and have a cron job running rsync every so often to check for changes.

(Any other Mac-heads have a more GUI-friendly solution than cron and rsync?!)

 

[alecstilleyedye]

as long as only one user has the file open at any one time, why not use aliases over the network? that way there is only one (backed up of course) copy, ergo it's always up to date.

 

[Black Sheep]

as long as only one user has the file open at any one time, why not use aliases over the network? that way there is only one (backed up of course) copy, ergo it's always up to date.

i don't know how to do this

i'm presuming this involves dropping it somewhere on the network and working on it there?

the laptop is intended for being able to work elswhere than my desk, would that affect it at all?

 

[alecstilleyedye]

keep the original file on your laptop. make an alias of it (apple-L) and copy the alias file to your desktop machine. as long as the two computers are networked, you can open the file on the laptop by opening the alias on the desktop, which will save any changes to the original file on the laptop.

 

[Black Sheep]

does that require them to be networked together just to update the file or does it require them to be networked for the file to be accessed


ah, i get it, the desktop is modifying the file thats on the laptop which i can then take with me?

can i do this technique with an entire folder?

 

[alecstilleyedye]

does that require them to be networked together just to update the file or does it require them to be networked for the file to be accessed


ah, i get it, the desktop is modifying the file thats on the laptop which i can then take with me?

can i do this technique with an entire folder?

yes. the aliased folder will open on the desktop (over the network) and can be used to drop things onto to put them in the real folder on the laptop.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

effectively yes. it's a bit of a workaround, but there you go. and avoids the uncertainty over which version of the file is open.

 

[Black Sheep]

Alecs, I guess this means the other mac has to be permanently on, as it won't wake up on a network event will it? So the other mac is effectively a fileserver?

yes, but only when working on the file

 

[alecstilleyedye]

does it work as a solution pushing tin?

 

[Black Sheep]

not had chance to have a go yet, i'll do so sometime this week and let you know.