The timeline is populated with points-in-time when Windows Explorer address
refers to a local and fixed disk and when the disk contains volume shadow
copies. When the address is not a local and fixed disk then the timeline does
not contain any point-in-time and its status indicates that no history is
available as shown in figure 1.
Figure 1: TimeTraveler with Windows Explorer address not set to a local and fixed disk
When Windows Explorer address is the root of a file system hosted by a local and
fixed volume the timeline is populated with all its points-in-time or, shadow
copies. In this case, TimeTraveler is populated with two types of shadow
copies: restore-points (dark green) and non-restore-points (dark blue).
Restore points are shadow copies that can be used by Windows backup utility to
restore the system. TimeTraveler treats both types the same way. However the
current release of TimeTraveler creates only non-restore points shadow copies.
There is a good reason for this: non-restore points are less taxing on the
system at creation time. Figure 2 shows a TimeTraveler showing the root of a
file system. Notice that the Explorer selection displayed to the upper left of
the timeline is the name of the volume and the drive letter.
Figure 2: TimeTraveler with Windows Explorer address set to the root of a file system
From there, if you select a file or a folder TimeTraveler will indicate when the
selection was modified by changing the color of the points-in-time. Dark green
and blue means that there is a new version of the file at the point-in-time and
pale green or blue means that the selection has not changed. The points-in-time
must be read from current time to the earliest time or from right to left. The
first dark point-in-time left to the current time is the most recent version
after the current version. Figure 3 shows all the versions for the file
Timeline.htm. Note that Windows Explorer Details Pane indicates that the date
modified of the file is 2:32 PM. On Figure 4 we have moved the time cursor on
the last previous version and the modified time is 1:24 PM. The two pale-blue
points-in-time left to this point-in-time contains the same version of the file
therefore their modified times are also 1:24 PM.
Figure 3: All available versions of Timeline.htm
Figure 4: The modified time of the previous version is 1:24 PM, 8 minutes prior to the current version
Because the computation to identify the versions among the points-in-time can be
lengthy TimeTraveler performs it in the background. When it is completed
TimeTraveler displays the new colored points-in-time along with the
corresponding selection in the upper-left corner. This means that you can still
interact with Windows Explorer while this is done. If you happen to change the
selection during a computation then TimeTraveler will cancel it and start the
new one. The configuration button is changed to a spinning wheel for the
duration of the computation as shown in Figure 5. You can still click it to
bring up the configuration form.
Figure 5: Busy indicator displayed when TimeTraveler is computing versions for the selection
Timeline
To navigate to points-in-time you can either use the mouse or the
keyboard. Using the mouse, you left-click the time cursor and drag it to a
point-in-time. If you stop in between points-in-time, TimeTraveler will move
the cursor to the nearest one. Using the keyboard, you can use left and right
arrows to navigate between points-in-time that are versions, the dark ones. Use
Control arrow keys to navigate between all points-in-time.
If the selection did not exist at certain points-in-time,
TimeTraveler does not show these points-in-time for this selection. Look at
Figure 6 where we just created a new test file and selected it.
Figure 6: Points-in-time are not displayed because TestNewFile.txt did not exist at these prior times
