Background Operations Queue List
On both interfaces there is an optional component at the very bottom, queue list of background operations. To show/hide the list use the main menu (View > Queue in Explorer interface, Options > Queue in Commander interface). The queue list have special view state Hide when Empty. This is the default state and makes the queue list visible, when there is some background operation in progress or scheduled, only.
Advertisement
- Information Displayed in the Queue List
- Interacting with Background Operations
- Managing the Queue
- File List
Information Displayed in the Queue List
Each entry in the queue list represents one background operation (not one file).
There are three groups of operations in the following order:
- Completed operations are optionally shown first in gray color. You can configure the period they show or turn them off completely in preferences. You can also delete all completed operations manually.
- Operations in progress show second. Each multi-file (batch) transfer in progress has two or more lines, where the first line shows overall batch progress, while the others lines are used to display information about files being transferred.
- Waiting operations show last.
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Operation | Icon representing the operation. Right-to-left arrow for downloads, Left-to-right icon for uploads, Cross for deletes. If the background operations needs interaction with the user, there is an additional icon representing the type of interaction (confirmation, error message or prompt) and both icons flash. |
| Source | Path to file if one file only is being transferred. Path to source directory if multiple files are being transferred. |
| Destination | Destination directory of the transfer including operation mask. |
| Transferred | Total number of bytes already transferred (for all files). Empty for waiting transfers. |
| Time | Estimated time till end of operation.1 Empty for waiting operations. |
| Progress | Status of operation. Percentage indicator for ongoing transfers. Query, Error or Prompt for operations that need interaction with the user. Waiting… for waiting operations. Suspended for suspended operations. Completed for completed operations. |
Advertisement
For ongoing transfers information being shown in the other lines is following:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Operation | None. |
| Source | Path to file being transferred. |
| Destination | Empty. |
| Transferred | Number of bytes transferred for current file. |
| Speed | Average speed of the transfer. |
| Progress | The same as in the first line, only the percentage indicator, if shown, is for the current file only. |
Interacting with Background Operations
Sometime the background operation needs to interact with the user. For example to confirm resuming the file transfer, to show an error message or to ask for a password.
There are two interaction modes. In the default mode, the message or an input box pops up whenever any of the background operation needs to interact (but only when the main connection is idle). Alternatively the box may not pop up automatically. Instead the respective line on queue list may visually indicate that the operation needs an interaction. The user must double-click the line or choose a respective command from queue context menu (or toolbar) to make the box pop up (see Managing the Queue). To switch to alternative mode uncheck Automatically popup prompts of background transfers when idle on Background page of Preferences dialog.
Some prompts of background operations may be avoided altogether. To disable overwrite confirmations (and similar prompts) check No confirmations on transfer options dialog. To avoid background operations asking for a password, WinSCP keeps the main session password in memory by default and reuses it for background operations connections.
Managing the Queue
You can manage scheduled operations using context menu of the queue list or using optional toolbar. To show the toolbar go to View > Queue > Toolbar in Explorer interface, Options > Queue > Toolbar in Commander interface.
Commands available in the menu (or on the toolbar) are:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| Show query/error/prompt | Available for ongoing operations only that needs to interact with the user. |
| Execute now | Available for waiting operations only. Use to instruct WinSCP to allow additional temporary connection for this operation despite the maximal background operations count limit. |
| Suspend | Available for ongoing operations only. Use to temporarily suspend the operation (e.g. to free bandwidth). |
| Resume | Available for suspended operations only. Use to resume suspended operation. |
| Cancel | Remove waiting operation from queue or abort ongoing operation. Keyboard shortcut is Del. |
| Speed | Limits speed of ongoing transfer. The limit is in KB/s. To remove speed limit, set it to “Unlimited”. |
| Move up/down | Available for waiting operations only. Use to change priority/order of the waiting operations. |
| Process Queue | Explicitly starts queue processing, if its processing is disabled by default. |
Advertisement
In submenu All you will find additional commands affecting all operations in particular state:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| Suspend All | Use to temporarily suspend all ongoing operations. |
| Resume All | Use to resume all suspended operations. |
| Cancel All | Use to remove all waiting operations and abort all ongoing operations. |
| Delete All Completed | Use to remove all completed operations. Particularly useful, when completed operations are configured to show forever. |
In submenu Once Empty or on the queue toolbar you can choose action to do once the queue is completed (all scheduled operations are finished). Note that the action setting is cleared whenever you switch sessions. Also the action will not be done, if WinSCP is not idle (i.e. there is some dialog box opened, etc.).
File List
You can display a complete list of files included in a queued transfer. To show the list go to View > Queue > File List in Explorer interface, Options > Queue > File List in Commander interface). The option is also available in the queue context menu.
The files there were already transferred (or skipped) or are currently being transferred are displayed in a gray color.
- Estimated time is shown only for transfers, when no directory was selected for transfer or when transfer setting Calculate total size is enabled. Total time already spent on operation is shown otherwise.Back