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Number   :  7158
Date     :  2004-02-04
Author   :  wjaiv
Subject  :  Re: Command File Dir Exclusions
Size(KB) :  4


--- In xxcopy@yahoogroups.com, Kan Yabumoto  wrote:
> Michael wrote:
> > On stardate Tue, 03 Feb 2004 14:30:16 -0000, while visiting
> > Deep Space 9, the changeling Founder wjaiv spake thusly:
> >
> >> What is the proper syntax for excluding directory, *wherever* 
they
> >> may exist... be it at the root of a volume, in a subdirectory, 
or
> >> even buried deep in a subdirectory? I've tried a few 
variations:
> >> /X:\*\BADDIR\
> >> /X:BADDIR\
> >> /X:\BADDIR\
> >>
> >> Which way is correct? Thanks!
> >
> >
> > /X:"\*\*\baddir\"
> 
> Well, the \*\*\ sequence will be folded into the shortest
> equivalent form \*\.
> 
> Therefore, the following lines are equivalent.
> 
> /X:\*\*\*\*\BADDIR\
> /X:\*\*\*\BADDIR\
> /X:\*\*\BADDIR\
> /X:\*\BADDIR\
> 
> (the shortest one in this case is preferred).
> 
> Don't be confused this from the special endings
> 
> /X:dir_name\
> /X:dir_name\*
> /X:dir_name\?\*
> /X:dir_name\*\*
> 
> All these are explained in the XXTB #05 article but
> let me show some of the essence.
> 
> XXCOPY views a directory as made up of two types
> of components.
> 
> files
> subdirectories
> 
> We wanted XXCOPY to exclude either of these
> types of components rather than just a directory
> with everything in it. With the extremely tight
> budget in the allowed characters, we came up with
> the following notation to denote the two types.
> 
> files in a directory /X:dir_name\*
> subdirectories in a directory /X:dir_name\?\*
> 
> If you combine the two types of components in
> a directory, it become a "whole" (everything in it).
> 
> So, /X:dir_name\* and
> /X:dir_name\?\*
> 
> combined, then you get,
> 
> /X:dir_name\*\* (i.e., everything in it)
> 
> which is also the same thing as
> 
> /X:dir_name\
> 
> Here, the point I wanted to make is the following
> two are distinct:
> 
> /X:dir_name\*
> /X:dir_name\*\*
> 
> But, the following three are equivalent
> 
> /X:*\dir_name\
> /X:*\*\dir_name\
> /X:*\*\*\dir_name\
> 
> But, these are different from
> 
> /X:?\*\dir_name\
> 
> -------------------------------------------------
> Note the ?\ sequence everywhere except at the
> ending that is shown earlier has the regular
> meaning of one character-pathname followed by
> zero-or-more levels of directory of anything
> which is followed by the pattern, \dir_name\
> which is different from the four special way
> ending of a directory pattern.
> ------------------------------------------------
> 
> -----------
> 
> Let me further clarify a few cases of the
> syntax rules that may be confusing
> 
> 
> /X:\*\BADIR\
> /X:BADIR\
> 
> The difference between the two is that
> the first one is a directory that matches
> \BADIR\ at any level including the root level
> (\*\ may collapse to nothing), whereas the
> second one does not have wildcard to the
> left and therefore it does not have the
> specification for the "any-level-of" meaning.
> 
> Similarly, /X:\BADIR\ simply denotes the
> pattern (in this case without a wildcard)
> at the root level.
> 
> 
> Finally, what is the difference betwee the
> following two?
> 
> /X:\*\BADDIR\
> /X:*\BADDIR\
> 
> Even though the mechanism to arrive the
> result is different, the second one is
> equivalent to the first one.
> 
> 1st: any \BADDIR\ at any level under root
> 2nd: any \ABDDIR\ at any level under the
> source base directory.
> 
> Actually, the scope of the 2nd pattern is
> smaller than the first one (parent directory
> of the base directory and any level above
> are not included). But, the XXCOPY operations
> always affects objects which are at the base
> directory level or lower levels (to the right),
> the 2nd (narrower) set of directories covers
> all the affected directories and therefore,
> the two always become equivalent in practice.
> 
> ----------
> 
> TIP:
> 
> To know which exclusion patterns are taken
> by XXCOPY, you should verify the result of
> the "pre-processing" step inside XXCOPY by
> adding the /oX switch.
> 
> E.g., (compare the two)
> 
> xxcopy \src\ /X:\*\BADDIR\ /oX/DEBUGX
> xxcopy \src\ /X:\*\*\BADDIR\ /oX/DEBUGX
> 
> (The /DEBUGX switch will show you the
> list of exclusion items and terminate the
> command after the command line processing
> before the actual file copy actions take
> place).
> 
> Kan Yabumoto
Thanks for the information... I did not realize the #5 documentation 
file was there. I am working with your responses and that file to 
see if I can get what I need. I appreciate everyone's help.



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