Backup and Restore

Two of the more frequently asked questions, by users of AstroPlanner V1.x, are:

  • How do I backup my AstroPlanner files, in case I have a crash and need to restore them?
  • How do I synchronise my AstroPlanner files and settings on my desktop computer with my observatory laptop?

Here’s a new feature in V2 that should target both of those concerns.The Backup feature takes selected files and compresses them into a single specially-formatted ZIP file.

backup1.jpg

You can choose to backup all your files, or only those that have changed or been created since the last backup or restore (an incremental backup). This includes all the preferences, observation databases, etc., and you can also add any data folders you might have created that you’d like to backup – not only AstroPlanner files.

Once you’ve backed up, you can store the ZIP file somewhere safe, or take it to your second computer and use the Restore feature to synchronise your files from the first computer.

The Restore feature opens one of the specially-formatted ZIP files created previously by the Backup feature.

restore1.jpg

It displays the files in the ZIP archive and if those files don’t exist, or are not the same as the existing files you’ll be able to select the one you want and update them.

You can map folders on the original machine to folders on the target machine (in case you have AstroPlanner on the C: drive on Computer A and the D: drive on Computer B, for example).

This should make backups/synchronisations a lot easier and less prone to user error.