Better iDisk sync using Transmit

Mar 04, '05 08:33:00AM

Contributed by: jweinberger

For those of you who, like me, have had endless problems with Apple's Local iDisk Sync (keeping a local copy and letting the system sync it either manually or automatically), here an alternative. This hint requires that you have Transmit 3.0.2 (earlier versions, including 3.0.1, will not work due to an applescripting bug that was fixed in 3.0.2). BTW, this also works with any FTP, webDAV, etc. server. Make sure you modify the connections and server info appropriately.

First, create a new disk image on your Mac that is read/write and of a fixed size that is equal to your iDisk storage. Mount that image. You can call it whatever you want (in this example, it's called "iDisk").

Next, make your iDisk a favorite in Transmit (you don't have to, but it keeps you from having to hardcode your password in the script -- it does NOT make the webDAV connection more secure, but it makes me feel better that I can share my script without having to remember to remove my password every time.

Then copy and paste this AppleScript into Script Editor, and save it as an application (or app bundle, they both work). You can just run that any time you want to sync, or you can set up a schedule using cron. First, create a shell script with just one command:

open -a idisksync.app
This assumes that idisksync is what you named the program when you saved the script as an application. Then create a cron job to run this as often as you like. I have mine run overnight every night, and then do manual syncs by running the application I created whenever I need to.

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Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20050304003134620