Presently the backup files names (with dates enabled) looks something like this
Family Paternal (2023-08-28).rmbackup
And if you have several edit sessions in one day or save every hour or so when you’re integrating a large chonk of new data you’re prompted to overwrite.
If the date also added a time in a 24 hour and minute format that would happen far less often
Family Paternal (2023-08-28 18-24).rmbackup
I got the actual timestamp for that file from the filesystem
I would very much like this feature and I would use it regularly. It should be easy for the RM developers to implement as well.
A minor fly in the ointment might be that you would probably wish for the timestamp to be local time, not UTC time (Coordinated Universal Time, also known as Zulu time or GMT time). If you move your computer from one time zone to the other, or if you live where the time changes in the spring or fall then a few timestamps in the file names could be out of order. But I think that’s a very minor fly in the ointment that shouldn’t prevent the implementation of a very good idea.
Once you put the time stamp as a filename it’s just plain text.
So to experience the “out of order” thing, you’d have to save a file, shutdown your computer. Move your computer to another time zone (driving or flying West for a few hours?) and then tell your computer that you have moved (Most PCs don’t get GPS updates like phones do these days, not even laptops). Then startup and get right back into RM and make a new backup. Then the new backup might be named in a way to make it look older than the more recent file.
Or another way to experience it whilst staying at home - wait for Daylight Savings Time day and work through 2am making a backup both before and after. But this problem is not just limited to RM, the stupid DST wreaks hell on sooooo many things - including my sleep quality.
Yes, local time over any “standard”.
Sort of reminds me about the old Bill Cosby routine. Something like:
(asking the priest) So Father, suppose I ate a hamburger on Friday and then crossed the international dateline so it was yesterday, would that, then, be a sin, Father?
Agreed, but…
Do be aware that the RM8/RM9 database includes a great many timestamps, many more than the RM7 database. Each row of each table seems to have its own timestamp. And these timestamps are all stored as UTC time and dates. As far as I know, the only one of these timestamps that is exposed to the user interface is the Date Last Edited field. It is displayed as a local date and the time is not displayed, even though the field is stored as a UTC timestamp. The other timestamps may or may not reflect plans for future new features in the product.
I think that storing a UTC timestamp and then displaying it as a local date is the best way to go. And really it’s the only logical way to go, considering time zones and changes in time in the spring and fall. I do wonder if there might be value in displaying the Date Last Edited field as a full date and time or if it’s better to display it only as a date as it is displayed now.
I just add a letter to the name Sullivan (2024-01-05a).rmbackup if I need to do multiple backups in a day
This is a filename, not an internal timestamp… It’s just the filesystem showing it to you, not the app.
My bad for being a little fuzzy in my description. I was talking about if/when RM ever makes use of those new internal timestamps that are in the database. If ever it displays them for the user, they would need to be converted to local time.
The timestamp that would become a part of the filename under your proposal would also need to be local, even if RM is working internally on UTC time.
I manually add a -HHMM to the date in my backups.
The only benefit to doing it manually is that it forces one to look at the clock and realize how much time was just spent.
so true. All those little data fixes that only take a minute or two. You don’t realize that doing 30 or 40 of them has taken more than an hour already!
My gosh, that might suggest a feature! I play games that have optional hourly warnings for how long you’ve been sitting on your keister in front of a screen. Maybe a timer that suggests taking a break - or better, suggests making a backup (if you’ve been making changes)?
+1
This is also what I do, takes all of 3 s to add the suffix.
And most programs STILL use an icon of a floppy disk for the save action. I’m sure that many younger users have no idea what that little picture is of.
Macs set their date and time based on your location so no problem. Really surprised pcs lack such a basic feature–perhaps you need to set a location in clock settings.
PCs have that feature to update timezone based on location, but they do not auto update their location. You have to tell them where they are.
Do Macs really have GPS in them? Or some other way to know where they are?
FROM THE WEB:
Macs don’t have GPS. Location services works by looking at what wireless network you’re connected to, and then checking a database of wireless networks to see where it is. Without wifi this information is simply unavailable.
If added, one would hope that it would have a separate config check box in settings so one could select ‘add a date’ and ‘add a timestamp’ to the backup filename.
\s\Rick
What a real pain in the arse! Some of us prefer to make adult decisions on whether we want our devices to remain on our home time as default or change to the time zone where we are temporarily located e.g an airport lounge on a 2 hour stopover. I know which I prefer
There is an option to select or deselect the setting of time zone automatically using your current location. The default is on but you can deselect this so as to stay at your home timezone.
Seems like they’d use your Ip address that your isp assigns. I’m fairly certain that there isn’t some massive db of everybody’s home wireless networks. Imagine the mess that would be. I’ve got several wireless networks in my house alone, plus one in each car.
Plus, what if you’re hardwired into your home router or wired in at work and not using a wireless network?