kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Jon Evans <jon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

What is the scenario that they guard against today?  I claim that they
don't do this anymore.

Scenario 1:

1) Save, which succeeds
2) Do some work, but don't hit save
3) KiCad crashes

Result: data after last save is lost

Scenario 2:

1) Save, which succeeds
2) Do some work, hit save
3) KiCad crashes while saving file

Result: The same as Scenario 1, since my recent change to save behavior.

-Jon

On Tue, Jun 30, 2020 at 11:09 AM Andrew Lutsenko <anlutsenko@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> I don't think removing the current backup system before implementing a new one is the right thing to do.
> As limited and simple as it is, the current system provides valuable safeguard against data loss on crashes that may corrupt the main save file. And no, VCS is not a replacement, most people hit ctrl-s a lot more often than they do "git commit".
>
>
> On Tue, Jun 30, 2020 at 7:13 AM Jon Evans <jon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> 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
>> >
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