On Thu 31 May 2007 11:18:29 NZST +1200, Ross Drummond wrote:

> > --exclude /home/roger/dvd \
> > --exclude /home/roger/software \
> > --exclude "/home/roger/.mozilla/" \
> > --exclude "/home/roger/.mozilla-thunderbird/" \

The problem arises from the trailing slash on the paths, not from the
leading period. tar is sensitive to that - trailing slashes are not allowed
for specifying paths other than for what to pack up.

> As you are using the back-slash to escape the end of line character it should 
> not be necessary to use the ---exclude option on each subsequent line.

Wrong, sorry. tar's --exclude (and rsync's too) only takes a single
argument. Repeated --exclude are allowed however.

> shopt -s dotglob
> 
> The dotglob suggestion is of the "try it and see if it works" variety rather 
> than authoritative advice.

You can *not* use shell globs with command arguments that only accept a
single argument, as the shell's expansion of the glob creates multiple words
(well if more than one thing matches). You might however find that tar's
--exclude handles shell glob patterns on its own. If so, you will need to
quote the glob so the shell doesn't expand it. You could also use
--exclude-from.

Volker

-- 
Volker Kuhlmann                 is list0570 with the domain in header
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