🔄 Faeweel - HDMI File Transfer Application

Faeweel is a powerful desktop application that provides continuous file transfer monitoring with real-time HDMI display output. Built with Electron, it offers a flywheel-based architecture for seamless, automated file synchronization with visual feedback on external displays.

🌟 Features

Core Capabilities

• Automated File Transfer: Continuously monitors source folders and automatically transfers files to destination
• Real-time Monitoring: Watch folder changes in real-time with instant file detection
• HDMI Display Output: Project transfer statistics and activity to external displays via HDMI
• Multi-Display Support: Choose from any connected display for output visualization
• Transfer Queue Management: Efficiently handles multiple file transfers with queue management
• Statistics Dashboard: Comprehensive real-time statistics including:
  • Files transferred count
  • Total bytes transferred
  • Transfer rate (bytes/second)
  • Uptime tracking
  • Queue length
  • Error monitoring

User Interface

• Clean, Modern Design: Intuitive interface with responsive layout
• Live Activity Log: Real-time logging of all transfer activities
• Folder Browser: Easy selection of source and destination folders
• Transfer Controls: Start/stop transfers with simple button controls
• Display Manager: Easy control of HDMI output windows

HDMI Display Features

• Full-screen Visualization: Beautiful gradient-based display for external monitors
• Real-time Stats: Live updating statistics on the external display
• Recent Transfers List: Shows the last 5 transferred files with timestamps
• Status Indicators: Visual indicators for active/idle transfer states
• Responsive Design: Adapts to any display resolution

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v16 or higher)
• npm or yarn
• Operating System: Windows, macOS, or Linux

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/DataWeX/Faeweel.git
   cd Faeweel

2. Install dependencies

   npm install

3. Run the application

   npm start

4. Run in development mode (with DevTools)

   npm run dev

Building for Production

Build standalone executables for your platform:

npm run build

Built applications will be available in the dist/ directory.

📖 Usage Guide

Basic File Transfer

1. Launch Faeweel

   • Start the application using npm start or the built executable

2. Configure Transfer

   • Click "Browse" next to "Source Folder" to select the folder to monitor
   • Click "Browse" next to "Destination Folder" to select where files should be transferred
   • Check/uncheck "Transfer existing files" based on your needs:
     • ✅ Checked: Transfers all existing files immediately, then monitors for new ones
     • ❌ Unchecked: Only transfers files added after starting the transfer

3. Start Transfer

   • Click "Start Transfer" button
   • Monitor progress in the statistics panel and activity log
   • Files are automatically transferred as they're detected

4. Stop Transfer

   • Click "Stop Transfer" when done
   • All pending transfers in the queue will be completed

Using HDMI Display Output

1. Connect External Display

   • Connect a second monitor or TV via HDMI or other display connection

2. Select Display

   • Click "Refresh" to detect all available displays
   • Choose your target display from the dropdown menu
   • Primary display will be marked with "(Primary)"

3. Open Display Window

   • Click "Open on Display" to launch the visualization window
   • The window will open in full-screen on the selected display
   • Real-time statistics will appear automatically

4. Close Display

   • Click "Close Display" to close the external display window

Understanding the Dashboard

Statistics Panel

• Files Transferred: Total number of files successfully transferred
• Data Transferred: Total amount of data moved (in bytes, KB, MB, GB)
• Transfer Rate: Current data transfer speed
• Uptime: How long the transfer has been running
• Queue Length: Number of files waiting to be transferred
• Errors: Count of any transfer failures

Activity Log

• Real-time log of all transfer activities
• Color-coded entries:
  • 🟢 Green: Successful transfers
  • 🔴 Red: Errors
  • 🔵 Blue: Informational messages
  • 🟡 Yellow: Warnings
• Shows timestamps, file names, and file sizes
• Automatically maintains last 100 entries

🏗️ Architecture

Flywheel Concept

Faeweel uses a "flywheel" architecture for continuous, efficient file transfers:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         Source Folder Watch             │
│         (File System Monitor)           │
└──────────────┬──────────────────────────┘
               │
               ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         Transfer Queue                   │
│    (Continuous Processing Loop)         │
└──────────────┬──────────────────────────┘
               │
               ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│      File Transfer Engine                │
│   (Copy with Progress Tracking)         │
└──────────────┬──────────────────────────┘
               │
               ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│       Destination Folder                 │
│    (Organized File Structure)           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
               │
               ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│      Statistics & Display Updates        │
│   (Main UI + HDMI Display Output)       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Technology Stack

• Electron: Cross-platform desktop application framework
• Node.js: Backend runtime for file operations
• Chokidar: Efficient file system watching
• HTML/CSS/JavaScript: Modern web technologies for UI
• IPC (Inter-Process Communication): Communication between main and renderer processes

Project Structure

Faeweel/
├── src/
│   ├── main.js              # Main Electron process
│   ├── fileTransfer.js      # File transfer logic
│   ├── hdmiDisplay.js       # Display management
│   ├── index.html           # Main window UI
│   ├── renderer.js          # Main window logic
│   ├── styles.css           # Main window styles
│   ├── hdmiDisplay.html     # HDMI display UI
│   └── hdmiRenderer.js      # HDMI display logic
├── package.json             # Project configuration
├── .gitignore              # Git ignore rules
└── README.md               # This file

🔧 Configuration

Transfer Options

• Source Folder: The folder to monitor for files
• Destination Folder: Where files will be copied
• Transfer Existing: Whether to transfer files that already exist in source

Advanced Configuration

Edit package.json to customize:

• Application name and version
• Build targets for different platforms
• Electron version

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Files not transferring?

• Ensure both source and destination folders are selected
• Check that you have read permissions for source folder
• Check that you have write permissions for destination folder
• Look for errors in the activity log

Display not showing?

• Ensure your second display is properly connected and detected by your OS
• Click "Refresh" to reload the display list
• Try selecting a different display

Application won't start?

• Ensure Node.js is installed: node --version
• Reinstall dependencies: npm install
• Check console for error messages

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit pull requests or open issues for bugs and feature requests.

📝 License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

🎯 Use Cases

• Media Production: Automatically sync rendered video files to storage servers
• Data Backup: Continuous backup of important files to secondary locations
• Content Distribution: Transfer files to multiple display stations
• Live Events: Monitor file transfers on external displays during events
• Development: Sync build outputs to deployment folders
• Photography: Auto-transfer photos from camera import folders

🚦 Roadmap

Future enhancements planned:

• Network transfer support (FTP, SFTP, SMB)
• File filtering by type/size/pattern
• Scheduled transfers
• Email notifications on completion/errors
• Cloud storage integration
• Transfer history and reporting
• Compression options
• Bandwidth throttling
• Multiple source/destination pairs

📧 Support

For issues, questions, or contributions:

• Open an issue on GitHub
• Check existing documentation
• Review closed issues for similar problems

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Built with ❤️ using Electron and Node.js

Faeweel - Where continuous file transfer meets visual excellence