Delete any globals that start with rg_MBU, and pick a new location for the database and backups the first time you launch the macro.
It may be that 3,000 macros is creating too much text for some of the steps, but try a full restart of the macro first and see what happens.
-rob.
I did the above and still got the error prompt
What happens if you choose File > Export > Export All Macros as Folder from Keyboard Maestro Editor's menu, and select the same location you chose to use with MBU?
-rob.
Those are not variables I use in MBU. Are they massively large, by chance? I still don't see why/how they'd affect your backup, but they're not part of MBU.
-rob.
hmmmm, when exporting all macros as folder,
I get the same error prompt.
I also tried another location and also the desktop and I get the same error prompt.
I don't know what's going on, but it's clearly outside the realm of MBU. Maybe there's something in one of the macros that causes the error on export? Might be worth opening a new topic and asking Peter about it.
-rob.
Just FYI - the error prompt comes up right after the macros are exported to the tmp folder.
In short, what is that for?
Can I rely on the macros that are created in the destination folder?
thanx
They're exported to the /tmp folder because that's a spot that doesn't require permission to write to, basically.
If you're getting that error, I have no idea if you can rely on what's there or not—that part of the macro is just calling the built-in export command I listed above.
-rob.
erg, found it...
Thank you for the basic analytical trouble shooting of 'doing a smaller set' and moving piece by piece thru the whole set.
I somehow managed to have a macro that had a crazy applescript as it's name!
As soon as I deleted that macro all was well...... =)
thanx again...
Hi, I use your macro daily. It's great. In my case with 8000+ macros it takes some time. I was wondering if you would consider 2 more variants
This would actually be a difficult change, because I wrote MBU to work like Time Machine: It backs up everything all the time. The way the files are saved, the way the analysis is done, etc., is all keyed on comparing the last backup to the most recent backup, and having all the files in each one. (And the export itself is a small amount of the total time—8 seconds of my last 134 second backup for my 1400 macros.)
And because MBU is working quite well now, and it's an incredibly complicated macro, I really don't want to dive into trying to make a bunch of low-level changes.
I have mine set to run three times a day—once early in the morning, once around lunch, and once late at night. I just know that when the green box appears, if I'm at the computer, I need to find something else to do for a couple minutes :).
I know it's not a perfect tool for everyone, but it does what I need it to do, and seems to do so quite reliably.
Again, this would go against how I designed the macro, but if that's all you need, and you don't want versioning and comparisons, it's a very simple macro to write. It would need to do the following:
Assign that to a hot key, then select a group and hit the hot key. Is that what you're trying to accomplish?
-rob.
Funny, I run my MBU on a server 3 times a day. 7am, 1pm and 7pm. Works like a charm and has saved me a ton of work at least 5 times....
Wonderful macro, thanx!
Hi, @ronald. One possible approach would be to use MacroBackerUpper at a lower frequency and, then to address your specific requirements, use a macro I recently shared: Zip Smart Group(s)
I'll more specifically address your requirements in that thread.
After reading your reply, I realize that it was a bad idea, and I should never have posted that question, so let's stick to the gem you created.
You are perfectly right that it defeats the purpose.
The only reason I posted the question is that MBU takes 20 mn, during which time I cannot work or either the app I am working in or KBM goes into a spinning ball.
Sorry again for my post and thanks very much
very interesting. I will try it out the next day. Very imaginative to use smart groups.
8,000 macros is pretty crazy, but even at nearly 6x what I have, that should still be about 12 minutes, so I'm not sure where it's slowing down. If you enable the detailed timing in the backup report...
...and then send me the backup report from a run, I can see where it's sticking and maybe see if there's anything I can improve there.
One downside of the way I designed the macro is that at least some level of analysis is required, because the macro needs to be able to identify duplicate groups, so it can make those backups hard links, thereby saving lots of drive space. So I can't really add an option to skip all the analysis, but if the time is being taken up by non-required analysis, I could probably figure out how to add a skip option for those things.
-rob.
It's allright. I will find a workaround like running once a day at night. I don't want to create more work for you. thank very much
I was following the thread via email and came to suggest this! This is what I do with an always on Mac mini around midnight daily.
Hi, according to MBU, I have 4800+ "uncategorized" macros. What does that mean? I am trying to figure out how I ended up with 7000 + macros. thank you
It just means that MBU couldn't put them in one of the first buckets it sorts things into (new, deleted, etc.), so it has to analyze each one in turn. As to 7000+ macros, MBU doesn't have anything to do with that, it just counts the number of macros in your exported backup.
-rob.
