Directory Backup Utility

Recursively copies a directory, generating an identical directory whose name is appended with the date and time.

The utility is intended for use on Windows or Linux.

Uses C++'s filesystem header.

Prerequisites

For Windows, Mingw-w64 is required to compile and / or run the program.

To install Mingw-w64, follow steps 3 and 4 under the 'Prerequisites' section of the following document, which are also listed below:
https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/cpp/config-mingw

1. Proceed to https://www.msys2.org/.

2. Follow the instructions under the red "Installation" header beginning with downloading the MSYS2 installer. For clarity, some of those instructions have been mirrored below.

3. Once the MSYS2 terminal has opened automatically, run the following command:
   pacman -Syu
   Note that this may take a minute...

4. Once the MSYS2 terminal closes, use the Windows Start menu to search for and open "MSYS2 MSYS".

5. Once the MSYS2 terminal has opened, run the following command:
   pacman -Su
   Note that this may take a minute...

6. To install mingw-w64, run the following command:
   pacman -S --needed base-devel mingw-w64-x86_64-toolchain
   Note that this may take a minute...

7. Now that Mingw-w64 is installed, it must be added to the windows PATH environment variable. To do so, begin by making note of the path to Mingw-w64's bin folder. By default it is C:\msys64\mingw64\bin.

8. Search "Edit the system environment variables" in the Windows Start menu and select the entry of the same name.

9. Click the "Environment Variables..." option.

10. Find the variable labeled "Path", click the entry, and then click the "Edit..." button.

11. Click the "New" button and paste in the Mingw-w64 path found in step 7.

12. Select OK to confirm. Close and reopen any active console windows.

Compilation

Windows

Open Command Prompt in the repository's directory and run the following:

make

To cleanup, run:

cleanup

Linux

Open Terminal in the repository's directory and run the following:

make

To cleanup, run:

make clean

Usage

When invoked, the program copies a directory recursively and places it in another directory named as the original copied directory concatenated with the date and time in ISO8601 format.

For example, when run to backup C:/Example/Folder on 2021.12.02 at 09:55, the program will create C:/Example/Folder_20211102T095500 whose contents will be identical to the source folder at the time of running.

---

Windows

1. Either compile the executable or download from the releases page.

2. Place the executable inside the directory to be copied.

The command line invocation includes two optional arguments, the absolute path to the output and absolute path to the input.

Note that command line arguments can be used by either opening Command Prompt and using the command line invocations as listed below, or by making a shortcut to the executable, right-clicking the shortcut, clicking Properties, and adding the arguments in the Target: field after .exe.

If the executable is downloaded and run directly, the program will use the default, no command line arguments invocation.

Command Line Invocation

via Command Prompt

---

No arguments will result in the program copying the executable's current directory and placing it one level above as a sibling of the current directory.

backup

---

One argument allows specification of the absolute path of the desired output. The program will still copy the executable's current directory, but will now place it into the directory specified by the argument.

backup C:/path/to/output/

---

Two arguments allows specification of the absolute path of the desired output and input. The program will copy the directory specified by the input path argument and place it in the directory specified by the output path argument.

backup C:/path/to/output/ C:/path/to/input

---

Linux

1. Compile the executable.

2. Place the executable inside the directory to be copied.

The command line invocation includes two optional arguments, the absolute path to the output and absolute path to the input.

Command Line Invocation

via Terminal

---

No arguments will result in the program copying the executable's current directory and placing it one level above as a sibling of the current directory.

./backup.out

---

One argument allows specification of the absolute path of the desired output. The program will still copy the executable's current directory, but will now place it into the directory specified by the argument.

./backup.out /path/to/output

---

Two arguments allows specification of the absolute path of the desired output and input. The program will copy the directory specified by the input path argument and place it in the directory specified by the output path argument.

./backup.out /path/to/output /path/to/input

Licensing

Copyright (C) 2021  Mit Bailey

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.