Maximum Output Software

[maxoutput_djohnson]

Recently we have been working feverishly on adding at least some support for Unicode filenames to FileBack PC. At this point this is considered experimental, but it does seem to be working.

We are making this pre-release version of FileBack PC available for testing. As this is a pre-release, and this new Unicode functionality is still experimental, it should be used at your own risk. However, with the testing that has been done internally, it seems to be working just fine.

http://devserver.maxoutput.com/FileBack.zip

This does not come without some restrictions, however. Below is a list of things that are and are not supported.

Supported:
* Backing up files and folders containing Unicode filenames
* On-screen display of Unicode filenames on the Status / Log page of the main window, including the log.
* Restoring files and folders containing Unicode filenames
* Running the cleanup wizard on folders and files containing Unicode characters.
* Including and excluding files and folders containing Unicode filenames from a backup job

Not supported:
* The window control that we use for selecting folders for the backup source and destination does NOT support Unicode, and will therefore not allow the main source or destination folder (or any of its parent folders) to contain Unicode filenames. Subfolders containing Unicode are supported, however.
* Any place in FileBack PC where filenames are shown on screen besides the Status / Log page will not show the Unicode version of the name. Instead, the files will be displayed with an encoded version of the name, with only ANSI characters being displayed properly.
* The additional translation required to handle Unicode filenames will slow down backup operations to some degree, even for non-Unicode files. The amount that performance degrades will vary based on the CPU and memory in your computer.

How it works

When we have been asked to provide Unicode support in the past we have always declined, mainly due to the fact that the development language used to create FileBack PC does not truly support Unicode. This continues to be true, but we have developed an internal translation layer that interfaces between the normal FileBack PC disk requests and Windows. This layer now translates Unicode filenames going both directions. So the backup engine and other portions of FileBack PC which access files are not dealing directly with the Unicode names, but they can access the Unicode-named files by making all file calls go through the translation layer.

For example, if a folder name contains Unicode character 0400, the translation layer converts this to "#0400;" and reports this encoded version of the filename to FileBack PC. The encoded portions therefore use only characters that are legal and are recognized by FileBack PC, so it can process the files as if Unicode weren't involved. Later, whenever FBPC makes a request to read, copy, or move the files, the translation layer converts the "#0400;" back to the original Unicode character before requesting that the file operation take place.

If you are running the September 2008 release of FileBack PC you are already running an early version of this translation layer. The same methods used to deal with Unicode files in the current pre-release of FileBack PC were introduced in the September release to handle file and folder names longer than 250 characters. They have just been enhanced to translate Unicode characters in addition to long names.

This translation technique generally works quite well. However, there are a few things that we are not able to address. Any popup windows, for example, are only allowed to use ANSI characters, so they will appear with the translated version of the name. Most other controls and objects that appear on screen do not support Unicode either, and these will also show the encoded versions of the text. There are two exceptions that we chose to address, however. We elected to re-write portions of the code that display the Status / Log page so that Unicode characters are displayed properly there, and also the Subfolder / Files page of the Advanced Backup Job Editor. All of the controls used in these three locations were developed by Maximum Output Software, so we are able to control how text is displayed. Most other areas of FileBack PC use either standard Windows controls (without a supported Unicode interface in the language used to develop FileBack PC) or controls provided by third parties without any possibility of modification to decode the encoded text.

We likely won't be addressing the bulk of the on-screen display issues; most will not be possible to fix without re-writing the basic on-screen controls used. But we will be supporting the ability to include Unicode files and folders in a backup from this point forward.

The above link will continue to be live for updated pre-release versions of FileBack PC. As new pre-release builds are created and seem to be ready for wider testing the .zip file at the above link will be updated periodically.
_________________
Doug Johnson, Software Author
Maximum Output Software
info@maxoutput.com