More robust file-copy/move operation

[narayan]

During file copy/move operation (especially over the network), often windows shows a recalcitrant behaviour; and aborts the operation halfway.

The reasons could be broken network path, remote PC switched off, hub crash, etc..

Many times, the following strange reasons are also given for aborting:
1. "File name is too long" (then why was it allowed in the host PC?)
2. "file already exists." (Even when we are NOT merging different folders. How was a duplicate name allowed in host PC in the same folder?)

The aborting causes two major problems:
1. low-congestion periods (nights) wasted
LANs are faster during nights; and so you transfer a large load at night to avoid congestion. But, because of this problem, you can't leave it to the windows and go home: In the morning, you will find an error message waiting, and then it aborts anyway; wasting the precious night period.
2. Difficulty in finishing the remaining task
At least an aborted "move" command is easier to resume (just move the files that are still in the source folder). But an aborted "copy" command is difficult to resume: you have to find which folder is only partially copied. Else, you have to copy a few folders again, and allow overwriting. Either way you end up wasting time.

Can 2x/x2 solve this by introducing a more robust process, suggested below?
1. Skip problematic files and continue (keep a record of such files).
2. Abort only when the number of such problematic files exceeds n (a settable number).
3. Resume facility (just like internet download managers) that avoids the "start all over again!" approach. The user must be able to carry on from the precise point where the operation broke down.
4. Users should be able to deal with the skipped files manually from the "skipped files" report.
5. In case of external reasons (e.g. network not available), make r attempts to auto-resume. (Consecutive attempts to be mm minutes apart)
(both r and mm to be user-settable)

[BRX]

In the meantime while Nikos is working on the problem (or isn't) I suggest another little shell extension which could help you out for a while:

Total Copy

homepage: http://ranvik.net/totalcopy/

Doesn't work right now, but you still can find DLs at the big archives I think. I'm using it frequently for big copy actions since it can resume, is a little faster and gives me the chance to correct some things during the copy action (like renaming or copying duplicate files) which would abourt the normal copy process.

BRX

[nikos]

2x does suprisingly little when it comes to actual file operations. It just creates a list of filenames, passes them on to windows and requests a copy/move to the target. From that point onwards it just sits & waits for the result

i understand your problem but i can't see of an easy way to provide a solution.

for your resume copy problem you can use what is described in the advanced page using an xcopy command thus:

$ xcopy32 "$L" "$R" /D /E

this copies subfolders but only files that are newer, so you don't have to search for them yourself. There are loads of useful options for this xcopy32 command

i should add this deep/newer copy feature in x2 i suppose

[rsleegers]

This is an old topic, but I had to mention the following program:

http://www.xxcopy.com

It's freeware for personal use, and blows xcopy away. I use it for incremental backups mostly, but I've used it where I can start a backup, interrupt it and resume later. It plays well on the network with file errors.  Here's a partial summary from their web site.

   *  A Win95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP utility which runs in command line mode.
   * Duplicates the entire system drive which can boot Win9x (xxtb #10).
   * Keeps the same short name (8.3) in the destination as in the source (xxtb #03).
   * The source specifier accepts wildcards in directory names also (xxtb #28).
   * Backs up directory incrementally without the use of archive bit. (xxtb #06).
   * Synchronizes directories (xxtb #20).
   * Excludes directories or files from copying by wild cards(xxtb #05).
   * Qualifies files by file date/time (Before, On, or After) (xxtb #17).
   * Deletes files or directories using the same powerful selection mechanism (xxtb #12).
   * Copies hidden/system files, and overwrites Read-only files.
   * ... and many, many, intimidatingly more ... (over 200 command switches)
   * Copies security information for NTFS volume archiving.
   * Works very much like XCOPY with the same command syntax.

Richard