FolderSizes Help

FolderSizes provides the ability to analyze trends based upon previously captured file system analysis data.

 

Click the Trend Analyzer ribbon bar button in the main application window to begin.

 

Trend Analyzer Toolbar

 

Toolbar functions include:

 

•New Analysis - Used to start a new trend analysis from one or more folder size report data (XML) sources.

•Navigate Up - Navigates "up" a level in the current folder hierarchy.

•Export - Exports trend analysis result data.

•Start - Used to alter the start date of the current trend analysis time line (see below).

•End - Used to alter the end date of the current trend analysis time line (see below).

•Time Scale - Alters the time scale of the trend analysis chart panels (see below).

•Help - Accesses this help topic.

 

Time Line

 

The current trend analysis time line is formulated by a combination of two factors, the first of which is the snapshot date / time values extracted from the XML scan data files being analyzed (see new trend analysis help topic for details). The second factor is the start and end dates specified within the Trend Analyzer toolbar, which can be used to dynamically adjust the time line and thereby affect the presentation of all data presented within the Trend Analyzer window.

 

Informational Views

 

Upon successful completion of a new trend analysis, the various user interface views contained within the Trend Analyzer window will be populated with data.

 

Not all report detail view columns are shown by default. As with any FolderSizes detail report, you can right-click the column header to customize visible columns.

 

Folders

The folders panel presents a hierarchical (tree) view of file system nodes discovered during the data import process. The root Summary node provides a top-down look at summary information extracted from XML data files during import, and is selected by default. Clicking a node in the Folders panel tree will change the data displayed in most other areas of the Trend Analyzer window.

 

Snapshot History

The snapshot history view shows a history of data for the node currently selected within the Folders panel. Each data point within this view represents a point in time when file system analysis data was captured (exported) as XML.

 

•Snapshot Date - The export date/time captured from the source file system XML data file.

•Size - Size history for the selected node.

•Allocated - Allocated size (e.g. "size on disk") history for the selected node.

•Files - File quantity history for the selected node.

•Folders - Folder quantity history for the selected node.

•Avg. File Size - Shows the average size of all files in the selected node.

•% Change - Represents the percentage of change relative to the previous history entry (sorted by snapshot date). Values shown in red signify an increase in size, while green values indicate a decrease (or no change). This field will be shown as "---" when the starting value is zero.

•Abs. Change - Absolute change in size relative to the previous history entry (sorted by snapshot date). Values shown in red signify an increase in size, while green values indicate a decrease (or no change).

•Attribs - Attributes history for the selected node.

•Owner - Ownership history for the selected node.

 

Subfolder Change

A detail report that presents start/end size and change metrics for subfolders. You can double-click an entry within this report to "drill down" into that node.

 

•Name - Name of the subfolder.

•Starting size - Represents size of the object at the snapshot start date.

•Ending size - Represents the size of the node at the snapshot end date.

•% Growth - The percentage of growth having occurred across the current snapshot date range (e.g. from the start date to the end date).

•Abs. Change - Absolute change in size across the current snapshot date range.

 

Folder History

This docking panel view provides a graphical representation of the folder history, either by folder size or file count. It presents each history entry as a point on a bar graph, using the currently selected Time Scale (see below).

 

Owners by Size

This view offers insights to how data ownership has changed over time (across snapshot history).

 

Disk History by Used Space

Presents a static (fixed) view of used disk space by drive letter. A history of each drive is shown along a trend-line chart for the current snapshot time line. This information correlates to the data shown within the FolderSizes Drive Space docking panel.

 

TIP: For more information about disk level trend analysis capabilities within FolderSizes, please see the About Disk History help topic.

 

Time Scale

 

All charts shown within the Trend Analyzer window will show data plotted across the current trend analysis time line. By default, those data points will be broken down into a daily time scale.

 

You can use the Time Scale toolbar button to change the current time scale to provide an hourly, daily, monthly, or yearly view.