Wayne,
Attached is a patch worth of suggested man page improvements for --no-implied-dirs and --keep-dirlinks. I think new users would find my explanations clearer and more complete, although you may want to make additional changes. I regenerated rsync.1 and the patch includes changes to it, but my yodl is somewhat weird, so I suggest you run yodl again yourself. -- Matt McCutchen [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://hashproduct.metaesthetics.net/
Index: rsync.1 =================================================================== RCS file: /cvsroot/rsync/rsync.1,v retrieving revision 1.370 diff -u -r1.370 rsync.1 --- rsync.1 23 Feb 2006 00:43:03 -0000 1.370 +++ rsync.1 24 Feb 2006 02:23:56 -0000 @@ -645,15 +645,20 @@ .IP .IP "\fB--no-implied-dirs\fP" When combined with the \fB--relative\fP option, the -implied directories in each path are not explicitly duplicated as part -of the transfer\&. This makes the transfer more optimal and also allows -the two sides to have non-matching symlinks in the implied part of the -path\&. For instance, if you transfer the file "/path/foo/file" with \fB-R\fP, -the default is for rsync to ensure that "/path" and "/path/foo" on the -destination exactly match the directories/symlinks of the source\&. Using -the \fB--no-implied-dirs\fP option would omit both of these implied dirs, -which means that if "/path" was a real directory on one machine and a -symlink of the other machine, rsync would not try to change this\&. +attributes of the implied directories in each path are not transferred and +are not applied in the destination\&. This makes the transfer smaller and stops +the receiving rsync from changing implied directories into symlinks to +directories and vice versa in order to match the sender\&. +For instance, if you transfer the file "path/foo/file" with \fB-R\fP +and "path/foo" is a symlink to "bar" in the destination, the receiving rsync +ordinarily deletes "path/foo", recreates it as a directory, and receives the +file into the new directory\&. With \fB--no-implied-dirs\fP, the receiving rsync +follows the symlink and the file ends up at "path/bar/file"\&. In the same way, +without \fB--no-implied-dirs\fP, the receiving rsync would replace an implied +directory with a symlink to match the sender, which would prevent files from +being received if the symlink is dangling on the receiver\&. See also +\fB--keep-dirlinks\fP, which stops the receiving rsync from changing symlinks +to directories into real directories\&. .IP .IP "\fB-b, --backup\fP" With this option, preexisting destination files are @@ -781,9 +786,19 @@ This option can be quite slow, so only use it if you need it\&. .IP .IP "\fB-K, --keep-dirlinks\fP" -On the receiving side, if a symlink is -pointing to a directory, it will be treated as matching a directory -from the sender\&. +Makes a directory on the sender match +a symlink to a directory on the receiver\&. Without this option, +the receiver\&'s symlink would be deleted and replaced with a real directory\&. +For example, suppose you transfer a directory "foo" that contains a file +"file", but "foo" is a symlink to "bar" on the receiver\&. Without +\fB--keep-dirlinks\fP, the receiver deletes "foo", recreates it as a directory, +and receives the file into the new directory; with \fB--keep-dirlinks\fP, +the receiver follows the symlink and the file ends up at "bar/file"\&. +.IP +Symlinks on the sender always replace directories on the receiver, but if +you use \fB--copy-links\fP, the sender will pretend the symlinks are directories +so that they match the receiver\&'s directories (and the receiver\&'s symlinks to +directories if you use \fB--keep-dirlinks\fP)\&. .IP .IP "\fB-W, --whole-file\fP" With this option the incremental rsync algorithm Index: rsync.yo =================================================================== RCS file: /cvsroot/rsync/rsync.yo,v retrieving revision 1.358 diff -u -r1.358 rsync.yo --- rsync.yo 23 Feb 2006 00:40:58 -0000 1.358 +++ rsync.yo 24 Feb 2006 02:23:58 -0000 @@ -559,15 +559,20 @@ ) dit(bf(--no-implied-dirs)) When combined with the bf(--relative) option, the -implied directories in each path are not explicitly duplicated as part -of the transfer. This makes the transfer more optimal and also allows -the two sides to have non-matching symlinks in the implied part of the -path. For instance, if you transfer the file "/path/foo/file" with bf(-R), -the default is for rsync to ensure that "/path" and "/path/foo" on the -destination exactly match the directories/symlinks of the source. Using -the bf(--no-implied-dirs) option would omit both of these implied dirs, -which means that if "/path" was a real directory on one machine and a -symlink of the other machine, rsync would not try to change this. +attributes of the implied directories in each path are not transferred and +are not applied in the destination. This makes the transfer smaller and stops +the receiving rsync from changing implied directories into symlinks to +directories and vice versa in order to match the sender. +For instance, if you transfer the file "path/foo/file" with bf(-R) +and "path/foo" is a symlink to "bar" in the destination, the receiving rsync +ordinarily deletes "path/foo", recreates it as a directory, and receives the +file into the new directory. With bf(--no-implied-dirs), the receiving rsync +follows the symlink and the file ends up at "path/bar/file". In the same way, +without bf(--no-implied-dirs), the receiving rsync would replace an implied +directory with a symlink to match the sender, which would prevent files from +being received if the symlink is dangling on the receiver. See also +bf(--keep-dirlinks), which stops the receiving rsync from changing symlinks +to directories into real directories. dit(bf(-b, --backup)) With this option, preexisting destination files are renamed as each file is transferred or deleted. You can control where the @@ -682,9 +687,19 @@ This option can be quite slow, so only use it if you need it. -dit(bf(-K, --keep-dirlinks)) On the receiving side, if a symlink is -pointing to a directory, it will be treated as matching a directory -from the sender. +dit(bf(-K, --keep-dirlinks)) Makes a directory on the sender match +a symlink to a directory on the receiver. Without this option, +the receiver's symlink would be deleted and replaced with a real directory. +For example, suppose you transfer a directory "foo" that contains a file +"file", but "foo" is a symlink to "bar" on the receiver. Without +bf(--keep-dirlinks), the receiver deletes "foo", recreates it as a directory, +and receives the file into the new directory; with bf(--keep-dirlinks), +the receiver follows the symlink and the file ends up at "bar/file". + +Symlinks on the sender always replace directories on the receiver, but if +you use bf(--copy-links), the sender will pretend the symlinks are directories +so that they match the receiver's directories (and the receiver's symlinks to +directories if you use bf(--keep-dirlinks)). dit(bf(-W, --whole-file)) With this option the incremental rsync algorithm is not used and the whole file is sent as-is instead. The transfer may be
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