1. Product Overview

DataClonePro is a cross-platform (Windows / macOS) professional data backup tool, supporting multi-target parallel copying, verification, and statistical reporting.

Core Features

System Requirements

2. Main Window

The main window uses a left-right split layout:

• Left: Task Configuration Panel (TaskConfigPanel) — create new backup tasks
• Center: Animated divider — flashes with animation during copy execution
• Right: Task List Panel (TaskListPanel) — manage all tasks

Menu Bar Functions

3. Task Configuration

Configure and create backup tasks in the left panel.

Configuration Items

Steps to Create a Task

1. Enter a task name
2. Select or drag in the source path
3. Select or drag in destination paths (click "+" to add more destinations)
4. Adjust checksum algorithm and options as needed
5. Click the "Create Task" button

Notification Warning

When "Notify on completion" is checked but the global email sending toggle is disabled, a yellow warning message appears at the bottom of the configuration panel: "Warning: Email sending is disabled, enable it in Settings if needed!". No email will be sent in this state.

Directory Tree Browsing

A directory tree is provided below the left panel for direct path selection. Supports:

• Expand/collapse directory nodes
• Click a directory to auto-fill the path input
• Right-click menu: safely remove drive (USB external drives only)
• Auto-refresh on drive changes

4. Task Management

The right panel displays all tasks, divided into "Task Queue" and "Archive" tabs.

Task List Columns

Task Statuses

Action Buttons

• Start/Pause: Start a pending task, or pause a running task
• Remove: Remove a task from the list (soft delete, recoverable)

Stopping Tasks

Running or paused tasks can be stopped (via batch stop or automatically when a drive is removed). A stopped task is marked as Failed and can be restarted directly from the failed state — no need to delete and recreate it. Pending/waiting tasks that are stopped are likewise marked as failed.

Context Menu (Task Queue)

Right-click a single task in the queue to open the context menu:

Archive Context Menu

Batch Operations

Select multiple tasks to perform batch actions: start, pause, stop, remove. Batch execution uses a LIFO (Last-In-First-Out) queue, starting tasks in reverse order.

Pagination

The task list supports virtual pagination with a default of 50 items per page. Pagination controls include: first page, previous 2 pages, previous page, page number input, next page, next 2 pages, last page.

Limits

5. Progress View

Click a task in the task list to display file-level progress details on the right side.

Progress View Structure

• Multi-destination tasks are divided into multiple tabs by destination path (e.g., "Dest1", "Dest2", "Dest3")
• Each tab displays the file list for that destination
• Columns include: file name, format, size, progress, status, checksum, etc.

File Statuses

Speed Calculation

An Exponential Moving Average (EMA) algorithm is used to calculate smooth transfer speeds, avoiding fluctuations caused by varying file sizes. Running tasks display real-time speed and estimated remaining time.

Historical Task Details

For completed tasks, the file list uses lazy loading — files are loaded on demand from the database with pagination only when a task is clicked, preventing excessive memory usage at startup.

Limits

6. Statistics & Queries

Open the standalone dialog via the "Statistics" menu item. It contains three tabs.

Task Query

Filter task records by conditions. Supports:

• Fuzzy search by task name
• Date range filtering (default: last 30 days)
• Status filtering
• Double-click a task row to jump to the File Query tab and display that task's files (only completed tasks respond; running/paused/failed tasks do not)
• Paginated query results

File Query

Search file records across all tasks. Supports:

• Fuzzy search by file name
• Multi-select filtering by file format
• Date range filtering
• Paginated query results
• Displays the associated task name and creation time

Statistics

Multi-task summary statistics. Features include:

• Check tasks in the selection table to include in statistics
• Generate summary: total files, success/failure/skipped counts, total data size, average speed, success rate
• File format distribution analysis
• Individual task statistics
• Preview report (paginated file details)
• Export report as HTML or ASC MHL (auto-split for large file counts)

Limits

7. Settings

Open the settings dialog via the "Settings" menu item. It contains three tabs.

General Settings

Notification Settings

The Notification tab is the global configuration center for SMTP email notifications.

Global Toggle

SMTP Server Configuration

Test Email

After filling in the SMTP configuration, click "Test Email" to verify. The test flow:

1. Validate all required fields are filled (empty fields highlighted with orange border)
2. Validate email format and server address format
3. Test TCP connectivity to the SMTP server (5-second timeout)
4. Send a test email via the SMTP protocol to the recipient
5. Display the result (success or detailed error)

The button shows "Checking..." and "Sending..." states during the process and is disabled to prevent duplicate clicks.

SSL/TLS Security

The system uses QSslSocket for encrypted communication. SMTP connection handshake modes:

• Port 465: Direct TLS encrypted connection (connectToHostEncrypted)
• Port 587: TCP plaintext first, then STARTTLS upgrade to TLS
• Port 25: Standard SMTP plaintext (not recommended)

SSL certificate verification provides special handling for self-signed certificates. Hostname mismatches and expired certificates are treated as critical security errors and are never ignored.

Verification Algorithm Settings

Configure which verification algorithms are visible in the task configuration panel and which is selected by default:

• Check/uncheck algorithms to control their visibility in the dropdown menu
• Select one visible algorithm as the default
• At least one algorithm must remain visible

8. Tools

System Information

Real-time monitoring of system resource usage:

• CPU: Usage bar chart and detailed information
• Memory: Used/total/available space
• Network: Upload/download rates
• Disk: Used/total/usage percentage for each disk

Disk Speed Test

A Blackmagic-style disk speed benchmark tool for measuring the sustained read/write performance of your backup target drives:

• Dual gauges: Separate write and read speed displays (MB/s), with real-time, average, and peak values
• Auto range upshift: Automatically switches to a higher range when speed exceeds 75% of the current range (steps: 500 / 1000 / 2000 / 5000 / 10000 / 20000 MB/s; never downshifts within one test run)
• Test flow: Select the target drive → click the start button → run write+read test cycles with round counting
• Pause/Resume: The test can be paused and resumed
• Settings menu: Select the target drive and adjust the stress test data size
• Temp files: Test data is written to the target drive and cleaned up automatically after the test

Database Management

View and manage database shard files:

• Displays all shard files; active shards are highlighted with a purple tint and an "(Active)" suffix
• Each shard shows: file name, size, creation time, task count (archived/active), time span
• Delete inactive shards (requires password verification; max 5 failed attempts per day)
• Compact inactive shards to reclaim disk space (see below)
• Auto-refresh task list after deletion/compaction
• Paginated display (10 items per page)

Compact Database

Click the "Compact db" button to reclaim free disk space from inactive shards (incremental cleanup — no database file rebuild required):

• The compaction scope always excludes active shards — active shards are in use and cannot be compacted
• When an active shard row is selected, the compact button is automatically disabled; it is available when an inactive shard is selected or nothing is selected
• A confirmation dialog appears on click (defaults to "No" to prevent accidental execution)
• A progress bar is shown during compaction; safely closing the window interrupts it without damaging the database

Database Limits

Log Viewer

View operation logs. Features:

• 4 log levels: Info, Warning, Error, Fatal
• Logs persistently stored in the database
• Clear logs / Save logs to file
• Paginated browsing

9. SMTP Email Notification Guide

DataClonePro includes a complete SMTP email notification system that automatically sends email notifications upon task completion. This section covers the workflow, configuration, and usage tips in detail.

Notification Workflow

1. Global Configuration: Under "Settings → Notifications", configure the SMTP server, port, account, authorization code, and recipient. Ensure "Enable/Disable Sending" is checked.
2. Task-Level Enable: Check "Notify on completion" in the task configuration panel, or right-click a task and select "Enable Notification".
3. Task Completion Trigger: When a task finishes (success or failure), the system automatically calls NotificationService to send an email.
4. Email Content: Includes the task name, execution status, and completion time.
5. Queue Mechanism: Multiple notification requests are automatically queued and sent sequentially to avoid concurrent connection conflicts.

Right-Click Notification Menu Details

Right-click any single task in the task queue to access notification-related options in the context menu:

The menu item uses a checkable style — the checked state directly reflects the current notification status for this task. This action is fully synchronized with the "Notify on completion" checkbox in the task configuration panel; changes in either location are instantly reflected in the other.

Common SMTP Server Configuration Reference

SMTP State Machine

Email sending follows the standard SMTP protocol state machine:

1. Connect → receive server greeting
2. Send EHLO → server returns supported commands
3. (Port 587) Send STARTTLS → upgrade to encrypted → EHLO again
4. (Port 465) Direct TLS encrypted connection, skip STARTTLS
5. Send AUTH LOGIN → send Base64-encoded username and password
6. Send MAIL FROM → RCPT TO → DATA → email body → QUIT

Security Mechanisms

• Authorization Code Storage: The authorization code is securely stored in the OS-native keychain (Windows Credential Manager / macOS Keychain), never written to configuration files in plaintext.
• SSL Certificate Verification: Strict certificate chain verification by default. Self-signed certificates may be allowed per configuration; hostname mismatches and expired certificates are always treated as critical security errors and rejected.
• Re-entry Protection: A failed email send does not retry infinitely. The next queued email is processed immediately after a failure.

Troubleshooting

10. Open Source Acknowledgments

DataClonePro would not be possible without the contributions of the following open source software:

11. FAQ

Q: Copy speed is slower than expected

A: Possible causes: 1) Source and destination are on the same physical disk; 2) Destination disk has low write speed; 3) Verification algorithm overhead. Use "Tools → Disk Speed Test" to benchmark the target drive, the "System Information" tool to check disk status, and verify whether source and destination are on the same disk.

Q: What to do when verification fails

A: Verification failure means the destination file content doesn't match the source. Possible causes: 1) Disk errors; 2) File was modified during copy; 3) Network transmission errors (network drives). Re-run the task.

Q: Database is taking up too much space

A: Use the "Database Management" tool to view shard sizes and delete unneeded inactive shards. Each shard automatically creates a new file when exceeding 2GB.

Q: How to recover accidentally deleted tasks

A: Task deletion is soft. You can right-click and select "Restore" in the "Archive" tab to move tasks back to the queue. Use "Permanent Delete" in the archive for complete removal.

Q: Import shows "already exists"

A: The import function automatically checks for existing task IDs. Duplicate tasks are skipped. To overwrite, delete the existing task first.

Q: External drive removal causes task issues

A: The system automatically detects drive removal events and pauses related tasks. Manually resume tasks after reconnecting the drive.

Q: Not receiving email notifications

A: Troubleshoot in order:

1. Verify "Settings → Notifications → Enable/Disable Sending" is checked
2. Confirm the SMTP server address and port are correct
3. Use the "Test Email" button to verify the configuration works
4. Make sure you are using an authorization code, not your email login password
5. Check your spam/junk folder
6. Try switching the SMTP port (587 → 465)

Q: What is the relationship between the context menu "Enable Notification" and the task config "Notify on completion" checkbox

A: They are fully synchronized and control the same per-task notification toggle. The context menu item uses a checkable style with a checkmark when enabled; the task config panel uses a checkbox. Changes in either location are instantly reflected in the other. This toggle only controls the current task; the global SMTP configuration under Settings must also be properly set up for emails to be sent.

Q: How to get a QQ Mail SMTP authorization code

A: Log into QQ Mail web → Settings → Account → POP3/IMAP/SMTP Service → Enable SMTP service → Follow the instructions to send a verification SMS → Obtain the 16-digit authorization code. Enter this code in DataClonePro's "Authorization Code" field.

Q: Supported verification algorithms