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PhilipHerlihy -> Uploading made easy (5/25/2006 16:32:19)
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It's easy for a FrontPage website to contain hundreds, even thousands of files, especially if you are using Navigation bars. Getting all of them onto the server can be a pain, even with broadband. I've used WebDrive (www.webdrive.com) for a couple of years. Webdrive "maps" your webserver as a "Network Drive" transparently, so any software (including scripts) that can write a file can write to your server.
Up to now I've used scripts based on "Robocopy" (Windows server 2003 Resource Kit tools - free download from MS). Robocopy is a fantastically capable (and complex) tool for synchronising folders - used with WebDrive you can publish to a folder on your PC and then synchronise accurately with the server, so that all the right files (and no leftovers) remain on the server.
I've now discovered that recent versions of Robocopy have added a facility to make Robocopy unnecessary. The new "File Transfer Manager" lets you set up a pair of folders - one on the PC, and one on the server - to be synchronised. Publish to the local folder, and WebDrive will "mirror" it on the server. Just leave WebDrive running and however slow your link, or flaky your server, you'll end up with an exact mirror on the server. WebDrive will retry, and re-login, as many times as are necessary, while you have a beer...
(I've no connection with WebDrive - just think it should be better known).
Phil Herlihy, London
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