kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Jon Evans <jon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

JP, I agree that true backups are useful.

Maybe even it is a good idea for KiCad to have a built-in backup function.

I just don't think the current backup function is actually useful
because of my first point (backups are overwritten on each save).

I would propose:

1) Remove the current backup file generation

2) Create a spec (in GitLab issue) for a better backup system that:

- Can be turned on or off
- Backs up the whole project in a zip file
- Can keep the last N backups
- Runs on a schedule, not necessarily every time you click Save.

Anyone opposed to this?

-Jon

On Tue, Jun 30, 2020 at 3:32 AM jp charras <jp.charras@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Le 30/06/2020 à 00:13, hauptmech a écrit :
> >
> > While I agree that it is not KiCad's job to do archival backups or version control, I do think that KiCad should preserve the integrity of users data through a crash. Even better if the work between the last save and the crash is also preserved and recovered on restart.
> >
> > I have had to use the backup files to recover data in the past. I have no idea if that recovery was related to something that is now no longer a possible issue.
> >
> >
> > -Hauptmech
> >
> >
>
> I am also thinking a backup can be useful when something unexpected happens.
>
> Backups, like any security system, bothers you as long as you do not need to use them.
> But you are happy to find them in case of trouble.
>
> I like the way some CAD tools manage backup:
> only one zip archive is created (for instance projectname_backup.zip) and contains all saved files
> (in our case: *.kicad_sch (and sub paths) and .kicad_pcb)
> This is not a full project backup, just main files are saved.
>
> This is not invasive (only one file, or a few .zip if one want to keep last n saved versions)
> and is a security against  unexpected cases.
>
> For me, backups are like a accident insurance: you need them and you hope never use them.
>
> And about VCS use:
>
> Many good electronics guys do not even know what is it, and have never compiled any source code.
> Electronics world and Software world are not exactly the same world.
>
> --
> Jean-Pierre CHARRAS
>
> _______________________________________________
> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers
> Post to     : kicad-developers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers
> More help   : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp