path: root/doc/navigating.rst

Using the Synchronization Client
================================

.. index:: navigating, usage

The ownCloud Desktop Client remains in the background and is visible as an icon 
in the system tray (Windows, KDE), status bar (Mac OS X), or notification area 
(Linux).

.. image:: images/icon.png

The status indicator uses overlay icons to indicate the current status of your 
synchronization. The green circle with the white checkmark tells you that your 
synchronization is current and you are connected to your ownCloud server.

.. image:: images/icon-syncing.png

The blue icon with the white semi-circles means synchronization is in progress.

.. image:: images/icon-paused.png

The yellow overlay icon with the parallel lines tells you your synchronization 
has been paused. (Most likely by you, by opening the client and clicking 
Account > Pause.)

.. image:: images/icon-offline.png

The gray icon with three white dots means your sync client has lost its 
connection with your ownCloud server.

.. image:: images/icon-information.png

When you see a white circle with the letter "i" that is the informational icon, 
so you should click it to see what it has to tell you.

.. image:: images/icon-error.png

The red circle with the white "x" indicates a configuration error, such as an 
incorrect login or server URL.

Using the Desktop Client Menu
-----------------------------

A right-click on the icon opens the following menu:

.. image:: images/menu.png

**ownCloud Desktop Client menu**

The Desktop Client menu provides the following options:

* ``Open ownCloud in browser``: Launches the ownCloud Web interface.
* ``Open folder 'ownCloud'``: Opens your local ownCloud folder. If you have 
    defined multiple synchronization targets, the window displays each local 
    folder.
* **Disk space indicator**: Indicates the amount of space currently used on the 
  server.
* **Operation indicator**: Displays the status of the current synchronization 
  process or indicates ``Up to date`` if the server and client are in sync.
* **Recent Changes**: Displays the last six files modified, and shows the 
  current synchronization status listing all changes since the last restart of the 
  ownCloud client.
* ``Settings...``: The settings menu.
* ``Help``: Opens a browser to display ownCloud Desktop Client Guide.
* ``Sign out``: Stops synchronization.
* ``Quit ownCloud``: Quits the ownCloud Client, ending any currently running
  synchronizations.

Using the Account Settings Window
---------------------------------

.. index:: account settings, user, password, Server URL

The ``Account`` window provides a summary for your ownCloud account settings.  
You can manage which folders and files you want to synchronize, change your 
account settings, and pause and resume synchronization.

To access and modify the account settings:

.. image:: images/settings_account.png
   :scale: 50 %

The fields and options in this window include:

* ``Connected to <ownCloud instance> as <user>`` field:  Your user account on an ownCloud 
  server.

* ``Add Folder...`` button: Add another folder to the 
  synchronization process (see ``Adding a Folder``).

* ``Pause/Resume`` button: Pauses the current sync (or prevents the client from 
  starting a new sync), or resumes the sync process.

* ``Remove`` button: Removes the selected folder from the sync process.  This 
  button is used when you want to synchronize only a few folders and not the 
  root folder. 

* ``Storage Usage`` field: Displays how much space your files are using on the 
   ownCloud server.

* ``Edit Ignored Files`` button: Launches the Ignored Files Editor.

* ``Modify Account`` button: Use this to change your ownCloud server settings 
  by launching the account setup wizard (see :doc:`accountsetup`).
* ``Modify Account`` button: Use this to change your ownCloud server settings 
  by launching the account setup wizard (see :doc:`accountsetup`).

Adding a Folder
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The ``Add Folder ...`` button enables you to add a new local folder to the 
synchronization process.

To add a new folder:

1. Click the ``Add a Folder ...`` button in the Account window.

  The ``Add Folder...`` window opens

.. image:: images/folderwizard_local.png

2. Type a *unique* path and alias name to the folder, or use the ``Choose...`` 
   button to open a graphical file picker.

.. note:: Nested synchronizations are not supported.  You
    cannot add a folder that is already contained within another synchronized
    folder. In addition, you cannot add a higher level (parent) folder that
    contains a folder to which you are already synchronizing.  By default, the
    ownCloud Set Up Wizard synchronizes your entire ownCloud account to the root
    folder of the ownCloud server. If you wish to sync certain specific folders and not 
    the entire root, you must first remove the root folder.

3. Click 'Next' to continue.

  A window opens prompting you to select a remote destination folder on the
  ownCloud server to synchronize.

.. image:: images/folderwizard_remote.png

4. Select a folder on the ownCloud server to which you want to synchronize your 
   newly added local folder.

.. note:: A server folder can only be synchronized with a particular client 
  once. If you attempt to sync the root directory, you cannot sync with 
  other folders on the server. Similarly, if you sync with folder ``/a``, you 
  cannot create another sync with ``/a/b``, since ``b`` is already being 
  synched.

Editing Ignored Files
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The :guilabel:`Ignored Files Editor` provides a list of  files that are ignored 
(that is, not synchronized) by the client and server during synchronizations. 
You may add additional files or directories that you want to exclude from the 
synchronization process. In addition to using standard characters, the Ignored 
Files Editor enables you to use wild cards (for example, using an asterisk ‘*’ 
to indicate multiple characters or a question mark ‘?’ to indicate a single 
character).

For additional information see `Using the Ignored Files 
Editor`_

Using the Activity Settings Window
----------------------------------

.. index:: activity, recent changes, sync activity

The Activity window provides an in-depth account of recent synchronization activity.  It 
shows files that have not been synchronized because they are on the ignored files list, 
or 
because they cannot be synced due to containing special characters that cannot be stored 
on certain file systems.

.. image:: images/settings_activity.png

You can open the Activity window in one of the following ways:

- Click 'Activity' in the left frame of the ownCloud Settings window.

- Invoke the window from the ownCloud Desktop Client menu by selecting ``Recent
  Changes`` > ``Details...``.  (See Using the Desktop Client Menu.) 

Using the General Settings Window
---------------------------------

.. index:: general settings, auto start, startup, desktop notifications

The General settings window has options for launching the client at system 
startup, notifications, and using monochrome icons.

.. image:: images/settings_general.png

* ``Launch on System Startup`` checkbox: Provides the option to check (enable)
  or uncheck (disable) whether the ownCloud Desktop Client launches at system
  startup.  By default, this option is enabled (checked) after you have configured
  your account.

* ``Show Desktop Nofications`` checkbox: Provides the option to check (enable)
  or uncheck (disable) notifications about sync activity.

* ``Use Monochrome Icons`` checkbox: Provides the option to check (enable) or
   uncheck (disable) the use of monochrome (visually less obtrusive) icons.

.. note:: This option can be useful on Mac OS X platforms.

* ``About`` field: Provides information about the software authors along with
  pertinent build conditions.

.. note:: Information in this field can be valuable when submitting a support 
   request.

* ``Updates`` field: Notifies you of any available updates for the ownCloud Desktop 
  Client.

Using the Network Settings Window
---------------------------------

.. index:: proxy settings, SOCKS, bandwith, throttling, limiting

The Network settings window enables you to define network proxy settings, and also to 
limit download and upload bandwidth.

.. image:: images/settings_network.png

Specifying Proxy Settings
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

* ``No Proxy`` option: Do not use a proxy.

* ``Use system proxy`` option: Default setting. Follows the systems proxy
  settings.

* ``Specify proxy manually as`` option: Enables you to specify
  the following custom proxy settings:

  - ``HTTP(S)``: Used when you are required to use an HTTP(S) proxy server (for 
  example, Squid or Microsoft Forefront TMG). 
  
  - ``SOCKSv5``: Typically used in special company LAN setups, or in 
  combination with the OpenSSH dynamic application level forwarding feature 
  (see ``ssh -D``).
  
  - ``Host``: Host name or IP address of the proxy server along with the port 
  number. HTTP proxies typically listen over Ports 8080 (default) or 3128. 
  SOCKS servers typically listen over port 1080.

* ``Proxy Server requires authentication`` checkbox: Provides the option to 
  check (enable/require) or uncheck (disable/not require) proxy server 
  authentication. When not checked, the proxy server must be configured to 
  allow anonymous usage. When checked, a proxy server username and password is 
  required.

Bandwidth Limiting
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Synchronization of files between a client and server can use a lot of
bandwidth, so you can limit how much your ownCloud sync client uses.

- ``No limit`` option: The default setting for the client; specifies that there
  are no limit settings on the amount of data downloaded from the server. 

- ``Limit to <value> KBytes/s`` option: Limits (throttles) the bandwidth to
  a customized value (in KBytes/second).

The Upload Bandwidth field (for data flowing from the ownCloud client to the
server) provides the following options:

- ``No limit`` option: The default setting for the client; specifies that there
  are no limit settings on the amount of data downloaded from the server. 

- ``Limit automatically``: When enabled, the ownCloud client surrenders
  available bandwidth to other applications.  Use this option if there are
  issues with real time communication (for example, the use of IP phone or live
  streaming) in conjunction with the ownCloud Client.

- ``Limit to <value> KBytes/s`` option: Limits (throttles) the bandwidth to a
  customized value (in KBytes/second).


.. _ignoredFilesEditor-label:

Using the Ignored Files Editor
------------------------------

.. index:: ignored files, exclude files, pattern

You might have some local files or directories that you do not want to backup 
and store on the server. To identify and exclude these files or directories, you
can use the *Ignored Files Editor*.

.. image:: images/ignored_files_editor.png

For your convenience, the editor is
pre-populated with a default list of typical ignore patterns. These patterns
are contained in a system file (typically ``sync-exclude.lst``) located in the
ownCloud Client application directory. You cannot modify these pre-populated
patterns directly from the editor. However, if necessary, you can hover over
any pattern in the list to show the path and filename associated with that
pattern, locate the file, and edit the ``sync-exclude.lst`` file.

.. note:: Modifying the global exclude definition file might render the client
   unusable or result in undesired behavior.

Each line in the editor contains an ignore pattern string. When creating custom
patterns, in addition to being able to use normal characters to define an
ignore pattern, you can use wildcards characters for matching values.  As an
example, you can use an asterisk (``*``) to identify an arbitrary number of
characters or a question mark (``?``) to identify a single character. 

Patterns that end with a slash character (``/``) are applied to only directory
components of the path being checked.

.. note:: Custom entries are currently not validated for syntactical
   correctness by the editor, so you will not see any warnings for bad
   syntax. If your synchronization does not work as you expected, check your syntax.

Each pattern string in the list is preceded by a checkbox. When the check box
contains a check mark, in addition to ignoring the file or directory component
matched by the pattern, any matched files are also deemed "fleeting metadata"
and removed by the client.

In addition to excluding files and directories that use patterns defined in
this list:

- The ownCloud Client always excludes files containing characters that cannot
  be synchronized to other file systems.

- Files are removed that cause individual errors three times during a synchronization. 
  However, the client provides the option of retrying a synchronization three additional 
  times on files that produce errors.

For more detailed information see :ref:`ignored-files-label`.