Files extensions to ignore
You can exclude all files with a given extension. For example, if you don't want to export bmp, cpp and h files, put 'bmp cpp h' in the extension field.

If you want to exclude specific directories or files, you can select them when browsing the entry and click on the right mouse button to edit the ignore status.

  Shortcuts to share files and folders
If a folder must be reflected on many entries, with the traditional scheme, you must build a complete copy of it on each local image. Other combinations , including pseudo deep entries and using folders exceptions may avoid multiple copies. But it is a very hard way to do and a little difficult to manage.

To resolve this difficulty, we adapt the meaning of the Windows 95 shortcut. When you create a shortcut with Windows 95, you indicate to the explorer that you have here another access to a remote file or folder and nothing else. For example , when browsing a shortcut folder, the parent button don't return to the shortcut owner but to the real parent of the folder. ( The new 97 Windows Explorer includes a 'previous folder' button ; try IE4 ! )

When using a shortcut folder with AblyFTP, you tell the tool that the entire content of the shortcut is present, like if you made a copy. When browsing a shortcut , the 'parent button' shows the shortcut owner and not the physical parent of the folder. Since, this content is dynamically evaluated, this way avoid multiple internal copies when sharing files and folders between multiple Web sites.

Shortcuts have an arrow added to their icons. The '.lnk' extension is cached.

It is a very powerful way to build complex sites, sharing common parts or non-moveable files.

  Filters
Using filters is another way to select the files to update.

Extensions to ignore : will be ignored locally and remotely. For example, if you need some intermediate files type, like bmp , you don't need to put them in another folder. You just need to add the bmp extension to this field : after that, all files with the bmp extension will be ignored in the hard disk and in the Web folder.

Take only the extensions : put here all the extensions to take. Files with other extensions will be ignored.

Note that you can dynamically specify that a group of files and folders is to ignore or to import. For that, you must make a selection in the files list and right click the mouse to see the property screen.

  Sub-accounts
Making a sub account is a way to access a reserved part of the Web site.

The FTP url and the login are the identifiers of the entries. To make multiple access to the same ftp space, you may prefix the login with 'name@', where name is an identifier of your choice.

For example, the 3 login toto, import@toto and export@toto indicate the same account to use with different parameters sets.

Note that clicking on the NEW button in the entry management, will create a new entry using the current shown parameters as default values.

  Web page for the managed entries
It is useful to have a Web page to access all the managed entries.

On each line ( or block ) you have a link to the local folder and another to the Web url.

To refresh it, you have an appropriate button in the management dialog. To see it, click on the explorer button on the main button bar.

It is a html file and its format is controled by the modele.htmlmm file ( html minus minus ), in the language texts folder ( '0 0systeme/us' ).

4 entry variables are used :
§i for the local folder ( ici folder ) ,
§w for WEB url ,
§f for the FTP url
and §l for the login ;

All the model lines between the two '#' are backed for each entry found .

The code before the first # and after the last is not changed and may be customized. Ask for other needed variables.

  local virtual FTP Server
To emulate locally FTP operations, a virtual FTP server is installed on each hard disk.
You can consider that you have a virtual network with FTP servers named ftp://X , where X is the Windows disk letter. This server has its root protected to avoid complete disk erasing. You can emulate any FTP project with read and write operations. Login and root sub-folder are used to differenciate the entries.

Emulation is a way to test an entries combination for complex management. It may be used also to build particular mirrors on a local optimized network.