[<<]Message[>>]    [<<]Author[>>]    [<<]Subject[>>]    [<<]Thread[>>]

Number   :  41
Date     :  2001-05-16
Author   :  Kan Yabumoto
Subject  :  Re: xxcopy switches, etc.
Size(KB) :  4



Dear Jim:

The command switches what we regret now is

/SZn // limits the size maximum to n bytes <--- bad choice
/SZ:n // selects files that are n bytes long

Here, the colon after the /SZ makes the difference. In retrospect,
the first one /SZn was done in haste with little thought put into it
(long before XXCOPY was released under that name). Since I hate this
situation so much that we might one day come up with a totally
new way of specifying the /SZn to eliminate the unnecessary confusion
to new users.

Another problem is the Filetime related switches which starts with F.

/FT Truncates timestamp
/FR round up timestamp
/FU Filetime in UTC
/FL Fietime in local time
...

All of these should have been with T as the first letter.
But, that's too late :-(

Lately, I have given up to even memorize all. When the designer
himself sometimes forget what they are, how can we expect average
users to memorize them? This is a big issue indeed. And, we are
extremely aware of the problem and inevitability of this dilemma.

The more features we add, the harder the program to use.
I believe the user has to accept the fact the usefulness of this
product has its price --- the long list of switches to choose from.
That is why we spend considerable amount of time choosing the
way the command is specified.

It is quite common that we can implement certain feature within
a few hours, yet, it has taken many months before the command
syntax has been settled.

For that reason, the command switch classification page

http://www.xxcopy.com/xxcopy/xxcopy27.htm

became a vital reference page. And, like any other XXCOPY
problems, the randomness of the order of the technical bulletin
articles (the chronological order with no other organization)
makes the search of a given article more difficult... It
seems that the whole situation is quite recursive, isn't it?

---------------------------------

But, there is a good news for you if you have not seen the
recent beta test version. One of the new things we have added
to XXCOPY recently was the command file. Finally, with
a mechanism to specify an arbitrarily long command input data,
we can remove all the previous constraints on the design of
the command switches. Before the command file switch was
added, we had to keep the command line as short as possible.

The command file (/CF) feature allows you to add comments so that
the file (almost like a "script file" even though we don't
call it a script yet --- simply because we have not added any
flow-control command. If we add just a few more elements,
such as goto, loop, and variables, then it will be like BASIC
that people love to hate). Anyway, I have resisted to the
idea of making a script file and its own language which is
yet another way to torture the users with more stuff to
confront.

It won't be long before the command file stuff is officially
released. For now, for technical reasons, the official
beta version does not have a working download program.

But anyone interested in learning the new features which
will one day become the standard feature, please visit
the following page

http://www.xxcopy.com/xxcopy/newbeta/

Although the whole set of web pages in the subdirectory
(linked from the newbeta page), looks like a duplicate set of
the regular release pages, the technical bulletins inside
this directory are adjusted for the new beta version.
(you can even find the command syntax for the /CF switch).

Please do not ask for a working beta version program for
download. We will announce it shortly ---- but, we are
too busy spending time with this new XXCOPY discussion group!!!

(So far, I like this group's interaction).

Kan Yabumoto


==================================================================
At 2001-05-16 12:20, you wrote:
>Hi Kan,
>
>I think the mnemonics for the XXCOPY switches are very good. They are
>generally very consistent. For example, when found in another switch, "Z"
>means "size". I do have to remember that "X" sometimes means "different"
>and sometimes means "extra". For example, yesterday, I tried to use /DD to
>specify "date different" when in fact I needed to use /DX. :-D I just need
>more experience with XXCOPY, that's all.



This message if part of XXCOPY's message Archive.
The archive contains all the messages posted at Yahoo!Groups: XXCOPY.