If so (to make it more clear) there are three steps: So maybe my script is useful for someone. ), which you have to use after running the temporary shell-script. Skipped files will then be handled by your preferred sync tool (e.g.

Files which are only on the remote side.

Files with same (beginning) names on every side.

Since I only take care of the file names the script is no perfect solution.įor safety, several files will be ignored: (on github) which is trying to detect the most moved files and then creates a new temporary shell-script with several commands to adjust the remote directory. I made a small script reorg_Remote_Dir_detect_moves.sh If you can use Linux, maybe my personal approach can then help:īecause I sync my files to a webdav mount, Synchronization to the webdav destination without move detection would mean large file operations.

If you don't allow it to keep a database it is not possible for it to detect and handle moved files. If you reorganized your folders by moving files to different locations, Syncovery will detect this and quickly perform the same moves on the other side of the sync, rather than deleting and re-copying the files. Syncovery does the job if you have used it before you reorganize the source side: Then you can sort by filename or checksum, and directly compare the lists of files. If you just want to compare drives, not sync them, you could just write a small script that lists all files with their filenames (and maybe a checksum), and import that into a spreadsheet or small db. That said, most sync programs do have the option to remove files in the destination if they are missing from the source, so a move should be replicated as new+delete, which requires more copying, but would work. This will not work if you move files between directories, though. If found, rsync uses the fuzzy basis file to try to speed up the transfer. The current algorithm looks in the same directory as the destination file for either a file that has an identical size and modified-time, or a similarly-named file. This option tells rsync that it should look for a basis file for any destination file that is missing. Rsync does have a limited version of what you are looking for: The feature was once proposed as a patch for rsync (google for 'rsync detect-renamed'), but apparently it was never accepted into rsync.

That would be fairly slow, as it would have to scan all files to compare them. I don't know of any software that detects renames/moves across a whole folder hierarchy.

Free file synchronization software