NAME

File::Xcopy - copy files after comparing them.

SYNOPSIS

use File::Xcopy;
my $fx = new File::Xcopy; 
$fx->xcopy("file1","file2", "action");
$fx->xcopy("from_dir", "to_dir", "action", "file_name_pattern");

# the same with short name
$fx->xcp("file1","file2", "action");
$fx->xcp("from_dir", "to_dir", "action", "file_name_pattern");

DESCRIPTION

The File::Xcopy module provides two basic functions, xcopy and xmove, which are useful for coping and/or moving a file or files in a directory from one place to another. It mimics some of behaviours of xcopy in DOS but with more functions and options.

The differences between xcopy and copy are

  • xcopy searches files based on file name pattern if the pattern is specified.

  • xcopy compares the timestamp and size of a file before it copies.

  • xcopy takes different actions if you tell it to.

The Constructor new(%arg)

Without any input, i.e., new(), the constructor generates an empty object with default values for its parameters.

If any argument is provided, the constructor expects them in the name and value pairs, i.e., in a hash array.

xcopy($from, $to, $pat, $par)

Input variables:

$from - a source file or directory 
$to   - a target directory or file name 
$pat - file name match pattern, default to {.+}
$par - parameter array
  log_file - log file name with full path
  

Variables used or routines called:

get_stat - get file stats
output   - output the stats
execute  - execute a action

How to use:

use File::Xcopy;
my $obj = File::Xcopy->new;
# copy all the files with .txt extension if they exists in /tgt/dir
$obj->xcopy('/src/files', '/tgt/dir', '\.txt$'); 

use File:Xcopy qw(xcopy); 
xcopy('/src/files', '/tgt/dir', '\.txt$'); 

Return: ($n, $m).

$n - number of files copied or moved. 
$m - total number of files matched

xmove($from, $to, $pat, $par)

Input variables:

$from - a source file or directory 
$to   - a target directory or file name 
$pat - file name match pattern, default to {.+}
$par - parameter array
  log_file - log file name with full path
  

Variables used or routines called:

get_stat - get file stats
output   - output the stats
execute  - execute a action

How to use:

use File::Xcopy;
my $obj = File::Xcopy->new;
# move the files with .txt extension if they exists in /tgt/dir
$obj->xmove('/src/files', '/tgt/dir', '\.txt$'); 

Return: ($n, $m).

$n - number of files copied or moved. 
$m - total number of files matched

execute ($act)

Input variables:

$act  - action: 
     report|test - test run
     copy|CP - copy files from source to target only if
               1) the files do not exist or 
               2) newer than the existing ones
               This is default.
overwrite|OW - copy files from source to target only if
               1) the files exist and 
               2) no matter is older or newer 
     move|MV - same as in copy except it removes from source the  
               following files: 
               1) files are exactly the same (size and time stamp)
               2) files are copied successfully
   update|UD - copy files only if
               1) the file exists in the target and
               2) newer in time stamp 

Variables used or routines called: None

How to use:

use File::Xcopy;
my $obj = File::Xcopy->new;
# update all the files with .txt extension if they exists in /tgt/dir
$obj->get_stat('/src/files', '/tgt/dir', '\.txt$'); 
my ($n, $m) = $obj->execute('overwrite'); 

Return: ($n, $m).

$n - number of files copied or moved. 
$m - total number of files matched

get_stat($from, $to, $pat, $par)

Input variables:

$from - a source file or directory 
$to   - a target directory or file name 
$pat - file name match pattern, default to {.+}
$par - parameter array
  log_file - log file name with full path
  

source       Specifies the file(s) to copy.
destination  Specifies the location and/or name of new files.
/A           Copies only files with the archive attribute set,
             doesn't change the attribute.
/M           Copies only files with the archive attribute set,
             turns off the archive attribute.
/D:m-d-y     Copies files changed on or after the specified date.
             If no date is given, copies only those files whose
             source time is newer than the destination time.
/EXCLUDE:file1[+file2][+file3]...
             Specifies a list of files containing strings.  
             When any of the strings match any part of the absolute 
             path of the file to be copied, that file will be 
             excluded from being copied.  For example, specifying a 
             string like \obj\ or .obj will exclude all files 
             underneath the directory obj or all files with the
             .obj extension respectively.
/P           Prompts you before creating each destination file.
/S           Copies directories and subdirectories except empty ones.
/E           Copies directories and subdirectories, including empty 
             ones.  Same as /S /E. May be used to modify /T.
/V           Verifies each new file.
/W           Prompts you to press a key before copying.
/C           Continues copying even if errors occur.
/I           If destination does not exist and copying more than one 
             file,
             assumes that destination must be a directory.
/Q           Does not display file names while copying.
/F           Displays full source and destination file names while 
             copying.
/L           Displays files that would be copied.
/H           Copies hidden and system files also.
/R           Overwrites read-only files.
/T           Creates directory structure, but does not copy files. 
             Does not include empty directories or subdirectories. 
             /T /E includes empty directories and subdirectories.
/U           Copies only files that already exist in destination.
/K           Copies attributes. Normal Xcopy will reset read-only 
             attributes.
/N           Copies using the generated short names.
/O           Copies file ownership and ACL information.
/X           Copies file audit settings (implies /O).
/Y           Suppresses prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an
             existing destination file.
/-Y          Causes prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an
             existing destination file.
/Z           Copies networked files in restartable mode.

Variables used or routines called:

from_dir   - get from_dir
to_dir     - get to_dir
fn_pat     - get file name pattern
param      - get parameters
find_files - get a list of files from a dir and its sub dirs
list_files - get a list of files from a dir
file_stat  - get file stats
fmtTime    - format time

How to use:

use File::Xcopy;
my $obj = File::Xcopy->new;
# get stat for all the files with .txt extension 
# if they exists in /tgt/dir
$obj->get_stat('/src/files', '/tgt/dir', '\.txt$'); 

use File:Xcopy qw(xcopy); 
xcopy('/src/files', '/tgt/dir', 'OW', '\.txt$'); 

Return: ($sr, $rr).

$sr - statistic hash array ref with the following keys: 
    OK    - the files are the same in size and time stamp
      txt - "The Same size and time"
      cnt - count of files
      szt - total bytes of all files in the category
    NO    - the files are different either in size or time
      txt - "Different size or time"
      cnt - count of files
      szt - total bytes of all files in the category
    OLD{txt|cnt|szt} - "File does not exist in TO folder"
    NEW{txt|cnt|szt} - "File does not exist in FROM folder"
    EX0{txt|cnt|szt} - "File is older or the same"
    EX1{txt|cnt|szt} - "File is newer and its size bigger"
    EX2{txt|cnt|szt} - "File is newer and its size smaller"
    STAT
      max_size - largest  file in all the selected files
      min_size - smallest file in all the selected files.
      max_time - time stamp of the most recent file
      min_time - time stamp of the oldest file 

The sum of {OK} and {NO} is equal to the sum of {EX0}, {EX1} and {EX2}.

$rr - result hash array ref with the following keys {$f}{$itm}:
    {$f} - file name relative to from_dir or to_dir
       file - file name without dir parts
       pdir - parent directory
       prop - file stat array
       rdir - relative file name to the $dir
       path - full path of the file
       type - file status: NEW, OLD, EX1, or EX2
       f_pdir - parent dir for from_dir
       f_size - file size in bytes from from_dir
       f_time - file time stamp    from from_dir
       t_pdir - parent dir for to_dir
       t_size - file size in bytes from to_dir 
       t_time - file time stamp    from to_dir 
       tmdiff - time difference in seconds between the file 
                in from_dir and to_dir
       szdiff - size difference in bytes between the file 
                in from_dir and to_dir
       action - suggested action: CP, OW, SK

The method also sets the two parameters: stat_ar, file_ar and you can get it using this method:

my $sr = $self->param('stat_ar');
my $rr = $self->param('file_ar');

output($sr,$rr, $out, $par)

Input variables:

$sr  - statistic hash array ref from xcopy 
$rr  - result hash array ref containing all the files and their
       properties.
$out - output file name. If specified, the log_file will not be used.
$par - array ref containing parameters such as 
       log_file - log file name

Variables used or routines called:

from_dir   - get from_dir
to_dir     - get to_dir
fn_pat     - get file name pattern
param      - get parameters
action     - get action name 
format_number - format time or size numbers

How to use:

use File::Xcopy;
my $fc = File::Xcopy->new;
my ($s, $r) = $fc->get_stat($fdir, $tdir, 'pdf$') 
$fc->output($s, $r); 

Return: None.

If $out or log_file parameter is provided, then the result will be outputed to it.

format_number($n,$t)

Input variables:

$n   - a numeric number 
$t   - number type: 
       size - in bytes or 
       time - in seconds 

Variables used or routines called: None.

How to use:

use File::Xcopy;
my $fc = File::Xcopy->new;
# convert bytes to KB, MB or GB 
my $n1 = $self->format_number(10000000);       # $n1 = 9.537MB
# convert seconds to DDD:HH:MM:SS
my $n2 = $self->format_number(1000000,'time'); # $n2 = 11D13:46:40

Return: formated time difference in DDDHH:MM:SS or size in GB, MB or KB.

find_files($dir,$re)

Input variables:

$dir - directory name in which files and sub-dirs will be searched
$re  - file name pattern to be matched. 

Variables used or routines called: None.

How to use:

use File::Xcopy;
my $fc = File::Xcopu->new;
# find all the pdf files and stored in the array ref $ar
my $ar = $fc->find_files('/my/src/dir', '\.pdf$'); 

Return: $ar - array ref and can be accessed as ${$ar}[$i]{$itm}, where $i is sequence number, and $itm are

file - file name without dir 
pdir - parent dir for the file
path - full path for the file

This method resursively finds all the matched files in the directory and its sub-directories. It uses finddepth method from File::Find(1) module.

list_files($dir,$re)

Input variables:

$dir - directory name in which files will be searched
$re  - file name pattern to be matched. 

Variables used or routines called: None.

How to use:

use File::Xcopy;
my $fc = File::Xcopu->new;
# find all the pdf files and stored in the array ref $ar
my $ar = $fc->list_files('/my/src/dir', '\.pdf$'); 

Return: $ar - array ref and can be accessed as ${$ar}[$i]{$itm}, where $i is sequence number, and $itm are

file - file name without dir 
pdir - parent dir for the file
path - full path for the file

This method only finds the matched files in the directory and will not search sub directories. It uses readdir to get file names.

file_stat($dir,$ar)

Input variables:

$dir - directory name in which files will be searched
$ar  - array ref returned from C<find_files> or C<list_files>
       method. 

Variables used or routines called: None.

How to use:

use File::Xcopy;
my $fc = File::Xcopu->new;
# find all the pdf files and stored in the array ref $ar
my $ar = $fc->find_files('/my/src/dir', '\.pdf$'); 
my $br = $fc->file_stat('/my/src/dir', $ar); 

Return: $br - hash array ref and can be accessed as ${$ar}{$k}{$itm}, where $k is rdir and the $itm are

size - file size in bytes
time - modification time in Perl time
file - file name
pdir - parent directory

This method also adds the following elements additional to 'file', 'pdir', and 'path' in the $ar array:

prop - file stat array
rdir - relative file name to the $dir

The following lists the elements in the stat array:

file stat array - ${$far}[$i]{prop}: 
 0 dev      device number of filesystem
 1 ino      inode number
 2 mode     file mode  (type and permissions)
 3 nlink    number of (hard) links to the file
 4 uid      numeric user ID of file's owner
 5 gid      numeric group ID of file's owner
 6 rdev     the device identifier (special files only)
 7 size     total size of file, in bytes
 8 atime    last access time in seconds since the epoch
 9 mtime    last modify time in seconds since the epoch
10 ctime    inode change time (NOT creation time!) in seconds 
            sinc e the epoch
11 blksize  preferred block size for file system I/O
12 blocks   actual number of blocks allocated

This method converts the array into a hash array and add additional elements to the input array as well.

fmtTime($ptm, $otp)

Input variables:

$ptm - Perl time
$otp - output type: default - YYYYMMDD.hhmmss
                     1 - YYYY/MM/DD hh:mm:ss
                     5 - MM/DD/YYYY hh:mm:ss
                    11 - Wed Mar 31 08:59:27 1999

Variables used or routines called: None

How to use:

# return current time in YYYYMMDD.hhmmss
my $t1 = $self->fmtTime;
# return current time in YYYY/MM/DD hh:mm:ss
my $t2 = $self->fmtTime(time,1);

Return: date and time in the format specified.

CODING HISTORY

  • Version 0.01

    04/15/2004 (htu) - Initial coding

  • Version 0.02

    04/16/2004 (htu) - laid out the coding frame

  • Version 0.06

    06/19/2004 (htu) - added the inline document

  • Version 0.10

    06/25/2004 (htu) - finished the core coding and passed first testing.

FUTURE IMPLEMENTATION

  • add directory structure checking

    Check whether the from_dir and to_dir have the same directory tree.

  • add advanced parameters

    Ssearch file by a certain date, etc.

AUTHOR

Copyright (c) 2004 Hanming Tu. All rights reserved.

This package is free software and is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty. It may be used, redistributed and/or modified under the terms of the Perl Artistic License (see http://www.perl.com/perl/misc/Artistic.html)