Feature Request: Cloud Sync config/settings

Would it be possible to in the future have a way for the .sas file to sync to say, Google Drive/DropBox/OneDrive and allow synchronization of settings across multiple installs?

Currently when I make a change at work, and I want it at home I have to remember to export my settings, email it to myself or send it up somewhere and import it. It would be great if there was a way to cloud sync those.

Why not simply drop a symbolic link of the .sas file somewhere in those folders?

I've used to put the symbolic link of the folder found in "C:\Users\gemis\AppData\Roaming\SQL Assistant" in the past but I've switched to git-ing that folder to gitlab instead. It provides much greater control over what happens (and when does it happen). It's also better when implementing ideas for new snippets as I can keep those not-yet-working ideas in a side branch and switch back and forth between master instantly.

Yes, it's not as convenient as having it sync automatically with GD/DB/OD, but pulling from the repo is still much faster and easier than exporting, mailing it to yourself, and then importing it. If the contents of the .sas were sliced into separate files, eg. connections (as they will contain sensitive data), the snippets, and the rest of the settings, it would work like a charm. You could have common parts while still keeping the relevant differences.

If you do it on a regular basis, you can automate the process. Create a scheduled job on the work system to copy every evening %APPDATA%\Sql Assistant\11.0\SqlAssist.sas file to the cloud drive. By the way the cloud drive can be mapped like a regular network share and assigned a drive letter, here is an example for OneDrive https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/map-onedrive-network-drive).

On the home system schedule another job to copy it to local drive and then execute SqlAssist.exe /merge:[path to a copy of SqlAssist.sas]

Last edited by SysOp on Sat Oct 12, 2019 3:33 pm; edited 1 time in total

These are good ideas, but I don’t have the google drive or drop box app and “virtual folder” to drop into. I use the web interface.

The only reason I thought of this is because Reddit Enhancement Suite has just what I requested and it was totally painless.

In my mind syncing files and folders to and from shared network drives or cloud based drives is a function of the operation system or utilities provided by cloud drive vendors. There are many solutions available supporting automatic syncing. For example, Windows 10 offers built-in support for OneDrive https://support.office.com/en-us/article/choose-which-onedrive-folders-to-sync-to-your-computer-98b8b011-8b94-419b-aa95-a14ff2415e85, and here are tips for how to use Google's Backup and Sync utility to do the same for Google Drive https://www.howtogeek.com/228989/how-to-use-the-desktop-google-drive-app/

I hope you can use one of the above to achieve the stated goal.

I agree with SysOp on that matter. It's much better to leave syncing to the app dedicated to that task rather than making all the apps we could possibly want to sync something have that feature. They'd be competing for network resources for accessing cloud storage, instead of having one app that does it in a (hopefully) organized manner. It also makes setting up access to the cloud a one-time hassle.

I've abandoned DropBox a long time ago, and the last time I've seen the sync app for Google Drive, it was a POS. There were 3rd party apps that had done a much decent job than the one released by Google. Though I'd expect that to be fixed since then. My solution is another app (GoodSync) that is able to sync whatever you want, wherever you want it to multiple different targets (Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon, Box.com, MS Azure, [S]FTP, WebDAV, or simply any network address you can access). It offers greater control over what/where/when/how/whatever.

Anyway, if you can't or simply don't want to install another app for just syncing, that makes sense. However, OneDrive is a Win 10 native, you just have to configure it. I'd use that one before the other two.