<tech@datman.com>
Ready to download? Click here --> Start Download
The latest release (this page revised on 2000-01-29) XXCOPY Version 2.22.5 2000-01-30 XXCOPY16 Version 1.22.2 1999-11-30
(XCPY2225.ZIP) via FTP
If you have problem with FTP, try this --> Alternate Download via HTTP
XXCOPY Technical Bulletins (Reference)
XXTB #01 ... XXCOPY Command Parameters Reference
XXTB #02 ... What are the differences between XXCOPY and XCOPY?
XXTB #03 ... Problems in file name aliases (8.3 names) in Win32.
XXTB #04 ... What is and what is not included for copy.
XXTB #05 ... The Exclusion specifier.
XXTB #06 ... File Attributes: what are they and how to use them.
Phone = +1-630-369-7112 Fax = +1-630-369-7113 E-Mail = <sales@datman.com> Web Home = http://www.datman.com/
From: Kan Yabumoto tech@datman.com
To: XXCOPY user
Subject: XXCOPY Command Parameters Reference
Date: 2000-01-11
====================================================================
Basic Command Parameter Syntax:
XXCOPY source destination (simplified syntax)
In its simplest form, XXCOPY takes two parameters,
from WHERE to WHERE
This very intuitive command syntax has its root in the COPY command
introduced in 1981 as a PC-DOS (MS-DOS) built-in command.
The first parameter is the source specifier and the second one is
the destination specifier. These two parameters must be in this
order. As common to the COPY and XCOPY command syntax, the
destination specifier can be omitted. Then, by default, the
current directory in the current drive becomes the destination.
XXCOPY source [ destination ]
By convention, an optional parameter is denoted in the syntax
definition with a pair of square-brackets surrounding it.
In addition, you may add command switches (which is also called
options) to customize XXCOPY's behaviors. It is this extensive
set of switches that makes XXCOPY so versatile and powerful.
Full Command Parameter Syntax:
XXCOPY source [ destination ] [ switches... ]
Note that the positions of switches need not be at the end of the
command line. Switches may begin even before the source specifier.
The order of the switches is not generally important except when
a conflicting switches are specified, the rightmost switch will
prevail. More rules for special cases are discussed at the end
of this article. For a complete syntax and semantics for the
source specifier, see XXTB #04.
To distinguish the source and destination parameters,
All switches start with a slash (/) character and the source and
destination specifiers must be separated at least one blank (space)
character. So, it is easy to tell the source and destination
specifier (which are the most important parameters for XXCOPY).
Once you learn this simple rule, it is quite easy to understand a
long XXCOPY command line.
XXCOPY switches:
Here, a first time XXCOPY user may be overwhelmed by the sheer
number of the switches. Since the power of XXCOPY comes from
these switches, you have to learn to live with them. We try
our best to keep these (still increasing) switches under control.
Since the number of switches far exceeds the available alphabet,
many of the switches use multiple characters. For better or worse,
the syntax adheres to the original XCOPY's syntax very closely.
It is a mixed blessing, for sure. So, when we feel very strongly,
we took liberty in making improvements in a few exceptional cases.
But, overall, if you are very familiar with how XCOPY works, there
will be very little surprise for you.
Let us just take a look at the full list of XXCOPY switches with
a terse comment on each. For most switches, full explanation will
be given later.
----- The following switches use the archive attribute bit -----
/A Copies files with the archive attribute set.
Doesn't change the attribute.
/M Copies files with the archive attribute set.
Turns off the archive attribute.
/AC Copies specified files irrespective of the archive attribute.
Turns off the archive attribute after XXCOPY.
/A0 Ignores the archive attribute bit and does not change it.
(The archive bit is discussed in XXTB #06)
----- The following switches use other file attribute bits -----
/H Copies hidden and system files also.
/R Overwrites read-only files.
/K0 Keeps the source attributes except rdonly (default)
/K Keeps the source attributes including rdonly (same as /KS).
/KS Keeps the src attributes whose RDONLY bit is normally reset.
/KD Keeps the attributes of destination (overwritten) file.
/KN Sets the destination attributes to normal (only /A)
(File attributes are discussed in XXTB #06)
----- The following switches do NOT use the archive attribute bit -----
/BI Backs up incrementally, different (by time/size) files only.
/BB Backs up brand new files only (does not overwrite existing ones).
/BN Backs up newer files only (includes brand new files).
/BO Backs up older files only (includes brand new files).
/BX Backs up newer/older files only (includes brand new files).
/BU Standard Backup switch (same as /r/i/n/bi/q/c/h/e/v/y)
/B0 Undo all /Bx switches.
/U Updates the files that already exist in destination.
----- The following switches excludes a directory or files -----
/X<xspec> Adds an exclusion specifier (xspec) (see below for exclusion).
/EX<xlist> Specifies a text file which contains a list of xspec (see below).
Exclusion specifier (xspec) syntax (consists of up to 3 parts):
[ dir_spec ] [ *\ ] [ template ]
dir_spec Always ends with a backslash (\). It specifies
a directory (or directories with wildcard) which
are relative to the source directory unless it
starts with a \. A wildcard specifier is allowed
only in the last element of dir_spec
*\ This second part specifies that the exclusion
applies to all subdirectories under dir_spec.
template Must not contain backslash (\), but may contain
wildcard characters(s) (* and/or ?).
Any of the three parts can be omitted.
If dir_spec is omitted, the template applies to all directories
----- The following switches limit files by file dates -----
/D[:date] Same as /DA[:date]
/DA[:date] Copies files changed on or after the specified date.
/DB[:date] Copies files changed on or before the specified date.
/DO[:date] Copies files changed on the specified date.
/DA#<n> Copies files that were changed on or after <n> days ago.
/DB#<n> Copies files that were changed on or before <n> days ago.
/DO#<n> Copies files that were changed on the day <n> days ago.
/DA:. Copies files changed today or later.
/DB:. Copies files changed yesterday or earlier.
/DO:. Copies files changed today only.
/DA:date and /DB:date work as a pair if both are specified.
e.g., /DA:2000-01-01 /DB:2000-12-31 files made in 2000
/DA:2000-04-01 /DB:2000-04-30 files made in April 2000.
/DB:2000-03-31 /DA:2000-05-01 exclude files made in April
/DA:2000-01-02 /DB:2000-01-02 try shorter /DO:2000-01-02
If no date is given, copies only those files whose source
time is newer/older than the destination time. In that case,
it is very similar to /BN or /BO except it can be combined
with another /B switch (e.g., /BI)
Since the US and European conventions are not reconcilable,
we recommend the ISO 8601 standard (YYYY-MM-DD) with a 4-digit
2-digits, it is interpreted according to the system setting.
year value followed by month and day. If all values are with
2-digits, it is interpreted according to the system setting.
/D or /DA Copies newer files and brand new files.
/DB Copies older files and brand new files.
----- The following switches modify filetime semantics -----
/FW Filetime in Last-Write time (default)
/FA Filetime in Last-Access time
/FC Filetime in Creation time
Note: /FW, /FA and /FC are mutually exclusive choices.
/FL Filetime in Local time (default)
/FU Filetime in UTC(Universal Time Coordination - same as GMT)
Note: /FL and /FU are mutually exclusive choices.
----- The following switches deal with subdirectories -----
/S Copies directories and subdirectories except empty ones.
/SL Flattens subdirectories, add-name-Left (see below).
/SX Flattens subdirectories, add-name-Middle (see below).
/SR Flattens subdirectories, add-name-Right (see below).
/SL, /SX, and /SR are the same as /S except the output files
will be saved as a flat directory without adding levels of
subdirectories. The source subdirectory name will become a
part of the target filename. /SL and /SR add the subdir name
to the left or right or both of the name respectively.
/SX inserts the subdirectory name in the middle.
/S<d> Sets the directory delimiter character for /SL, /SX and /SR,
where <d> is any legal non-alphabetic, non-blank character.
The default delimiter is back-apostrophe (`).
/E Copies directories and subdirectories, including empty ones.
Same as /S /E. May be used to modify /T.
/T Creates directory structure, but does not copy files. Does not
include empty directories or subdirectories. /T /E includes
empty directories and subdirectories.
/I If destination does not exist and copying more than one file,
assumes that destination must be a directory (no prompting).
/Z Deletes extra files or subdirectories in destination.
/ZY Same as /Z without prompting.
/ZX Disables the use of the Environment Variable XXCOPYX
----- The following switches control the prompting behaviors -----
/P Prompts you before creating each destination file.
/PD Prompts you before starting each directory with options for...
Y (Yes), N (No), A (All), R (Remaining dirs), S (This & subdirs)
/W Prompts you to press a key at the start of copying.
/WS Same as /W.
/WE Prompts you to press a key at the end of copying.
/WD Prompts with a warning for copying a non-directory src (default).
/WD0 Suppresses warning for copying a non-directory source.
/C Continues copying even if errors occur (default).
/C0 Disables the /C switch (terminates upon error).
/Y Overwrites existing files without prompting (See /BB).
/-Y Prompts you before overwriting existing files.
/Y0 Same as above (/-Y).
----- Miscellaneous switches -----
/N Keeps the short filename consistent with the source (default)
/N0 Disables the /N feature (disables short/long name pairing)
/NL Renames long name to match the source (No copy operations)
/NS Renames short name to match the source (No copy operations)
/SZ<n> Size limit (only the first n bytes are copied).
/1 DATMAN One-pass copy (when copying from DATMAN tape, default)
/0 Disables DATMAN One-pass copy (not recommended, but allowed)
/V Verifies after copy default (same as /V1).
/V1 Verifies after copy (quick test --- file size match).
/V2 Verifies after copy byte-by-byte check (DATMAN 2-pass).
/V0 Disables verify switch (canceling /V, /V1, or /V2)
/VE Displays only error cases of DATMAN 2-pass verify (/V2)
/VX<fname> Exclude verify error output for the file specified.
/L Displays files that WOULD be copied (without actually copying).
/F Displays full source and destination file names while copying.
/FO<fname> Displays full source and file names and also saves into a file.
----- The following switches control the console output -----
/Q Does not display file names while copying.
/Q0 Displays all file names.
/Q Same as /Q1. Does not display files which are skipped.
/Q1 Does not display files which are skipped.
/Q2 Does not display directories which are excluded.
/Q3 Does not display file and directory names while copying.
/ON<fname> Outputs a new logfile, reporting errors (make a new log) file.
/OA<fname> Appends to a logfile, reporting errors. (does not overwrite log).
/O0 Cancels the /ON or /OA switch specified earlier
/OP Reports command switch parameters (also to logfile if enabled)
/OX Reports the exclusion parameters (also to the logfile if enabled)
/DEBUG Shows the command parameters and prompts you to start.
/DEBUGX Shows the command parameters and exits
/HELP shows the switches in detailed (print this output).
/? shows a summary of the switches on one page.
----- The following switches are DATMAN specific -----
DATMAN is a revolutionary tape control software also published
by Pixelab, Inc. It makes a tape drive behave almost like a disk.
/J Forces DATMAN catalog (journal) flush.
/J0 Suppresses DATMAN's automatic catalog (journal) flush.
/J1 Flushes DATMAN catalog when needed (default).
/J2 Flushes DATMAN catalog unconditionally at the end.
/G<n> Sets DATMAN N-Group (redundant) write. (>n< : 0 - 7).
e.g., /G1 writes the same data twice on DATMAN tape.
----- Environment variables that affect XXCOPY-----
COPYCMD Specifies file-overwrite prompting.
/Y suppresses the prompt (always overwrite)
/-y prompts you for a Yes/No/All option for a file overwrite
(This feature is for the COPY/XCOPY compatibility.)
XXCOPY Specifies XXCOPY's command argument. This argument string
is evaluated first and therefore the user-typed command line
can override it. The syntax is the same as regular argument.
XXCOPYX Specifies a list of exclusion specifiers (xspec).
Do not use switch prefix (/X). See the /X switch for details.
The /ZX switch nullifies the effect of XXCOPYX setting.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Source Specifier:
XXCOPY's first argument (without regard to command switches) is
the source specifier. The source specifier is usually a path
specifier for the source. But, for XXCOPY (as well as for XCOPY),
the source specifier may contain the "Base" directory and an
optional file pattern specification whose subtleties are not fully
appreciated by many XXCOPY users.
The source specifier has three parts:
[ volume_spec ] [ base_dir ] [ pattern ]
Example (the destination specifier is omitted here):
xxcopy c:\mydir\*.doc
xxcopy "c:\program files\mydir\myfile.doc"
xxcopy \\myserver\drivec\config.sys
Here, the three parts in the source specifiers are quite obvious. In
the second example, the double-quotes (") make XXCOPY to treat the
entire command argument as one source specifier. Without the double-
quotes, the embedded space character would make it two parameters
volume_spec
In most cases, the volume spec is a drive letter followed by a
colon (e.g., C: ). But, it can be a universal naming convention
(UNC) string for a volume in a network (e.g., \\myserver\drivec ).
If you omit volume_spec, the current drive is assumed.
base_dir
The name of the source directory. When the XXCOPY command
contains the subdirectory switch (/S and/or /E), the base_dir
specifier denotes the starting directory where the source
files and subdirectories are located. The base_dir part
must not contain wild card characters.
pattern
The last part within the source specifier denotes the pattern
matching string which may contain wildcard characters (* or ?).
It matches only the last components within a full filename.
You may omit any of the three parts, but you may need something
as the source specifier as the space holder so that you can specify
the destination specifier as the second non-switch argument. In
this case, you may use "." which denotes the current directory
as the source.
When you omit either the base_dir part or the pattern part,
that is, when a source specifier without a backslash separating the
two parts, the exact meaning of the command become ambiguous.
We will discuss the source specifier ambiguity in a later
article.
Destination Specifier:
The destination specifier has two parts:
[ volume_spec ] [ dest_dir ]
volume_spec
As for the source specifier case, the destination may contain
a volume specifier (e.g., C: ). If it is omitted, the volume
of the current directory will be used.
dest_dir
The name of the destination directory. Here, the destination
must be a directory name (which may or may not yet exist
in the destination volume). Unlike the original COPY command,
you are not allowed to specify wildcard characters in the
destination specifier which would be conveniently used to
perform renaming action while copying the files.
XXCOPY does not rename files while they are copied. therefore,
no wildcard characters have no place in dest_dir.
Unlike the source specifier counterpart, the destination specifier
consists of only two parts both of which are optional. When you
omit both of them, then the command line would have no explicit
argument as the destination specifier. Don't worry, the current
directory will be used as the default destination directory. Or,
you may just type "." which denotes the current directory explicitly.
Prefix and Delimiters:
Earlier versions of XXCOPY switch used to accept either a slash (/)
or a hyphen (-) followed by at least one letter or digit. That was
started with the DOS version (XXCOPY16.EXE) which did not have to
resolve the hyphen charactter from file name before the long name
was introduced. However, due to the fact that the hyphen is now
a legal character in Win32's long file name, this practice had to
be abandoned. It became clear lately that the over all price to
pay in the twisted syntax rules to support of the Unix-like switch
prefix has become too high for the now-questionable "benefit".
Usually, command line parameters are separated by blanks. However,
you may safely combine switches without separating blanks for the
command switches (e.g., /s/t/u/v). However, you must separate
the source and the destination specifiers by blanks.
From: Kan Yabumoto tech@datman.com
To: XXCOPY user
Subject: What are the differences between XXCOPY and XCOPY?
Date: 1999-11-27
====================================================================
Introduction:
When we designed XXCOPY, one of the key design principles is to
keep the command syntax and the behaviors of XXCOPY as close to
those of the original XCOPY program. Although we did not agree
with all the idiosyncrasies of XCOPY, modifying anything XCOPY
already implements would cause substantial confusion to the users.
If we change things arbitrarily, any incremental improvements we
may add would be more than offset by the burden of remembering
the specifics of changes we make. That would not benefit anyone.
Therefore, the changes we added to XXCOPY on purpose are kept to
the absolute minimum. The changes we made are those with
substantial benefits to the users.
The key arguments, source and destination:
Like XCOPY's predecessor, the built-in COPY command of COMMAND.COM,
XXCOPY has two basic arguments without counting any other switches.
XXCOPY source [ destination ]
Here, the semantics of the first argument (source) is almost the
same as the first argument of the traditional XCOPY command. It
is the source file/directory specifier which is a combination of
the source directory and optional filename pattern specifier.
To be precise, this combination of directory specification with
the filename pattern connected by a backslash does not conform
to a regular so-called pathname specifications. (We will discuss
the exact definition of the source specifier in another Technical
Bulletin article in full detail.) Just remember that the source
specifier is pretty much the same as that of XCOPY.
The destination specifier is optional as in the case of the
original XCOPY and COPY commands. When the destination is not
specified, XXCOPY uses the current directory as the destination
direction.
Destination specifier (Difference #1):
In XXCOPY, the destination specifier (when supplied by the user)
refers to the name of a directory whether it exists or to be
created by the command. In any event, the destination never
specifies any particular file name. It always specifies the name
of the destination DIRECTORY.
The reason for this change was the confusing and bothersome
behaviors of XCOPY. For one thing, when you specify a non-existing
directory as the destination of XCOPY, you would be greeted by the
familiar prompt:
Does XXXX specify a file name
or directory name on the target
(F = file, D = directory)?
In most cases, we intended that to mean the destination directory.
Yet, because XCOPY allows the action to include renaming the file
while it is being copied, this ambiguity arises. It is simply
carrying the legacy of the COPY command. While the copy command's
simplistic "rename-while-you-copy" features using a wildcard
specifier works, we considers the action even quite dangerous.
When you use a wildcard with "rename-while-copy" feature which
involves a large number of files, you may accidentally create a
filename collision which would abort the "rename-while-copy" action
in the middle. The result would be a big mess of partially
renamed files. We consider the "rename-while-copy" a source of
many troubles and therefore we discourage you to use it. After
all, XXCOPY is not designed to handle one or two files. You can
always use the simple COPY command to do just that. Therefore,
in our opinion, eliminating the double-meaning of the destination
specifier from the XXCOPY's second argument, we can avoid the
side-effects of the "rename-while-copy" operation altogether and
also eliminate the bothersome prompt of "Do you mean F = File, or
D = Directory". Also, we are sure that everybody has experience
with a huge file which is accidentally created by a simple COPY
command with a directory as the source and a non-existent directory
as the destination (and copy command treat the destination as
a monolithic file rather than a directory which accumulates all
the files in the source combined as a huge pile of useless bytes).
Anyway, we had enough confusion with the double meaning of the
destination specifier. XXCOPY dares to change this problem.
With XXCOPY, the destination is always a directory, never a file.
XXCOPY.EXE and XXCOPY16.EXE (Difference #2):
In the case of XCOPY, it automatically switches between XCOPY.EXE
(a 16-bit program) and XCOPY32.EXE depending on the environment.
In fact it is quite convenient for most users to forget about
the distinction between XCOPY and XCOPY32. Some users may not
even know the existence of XCOPY32.EXE. The actual mechanism is
that when you run XCOPY.EXE in the Win32 environment, XCOPY.EXE
automatically detects the current environment and will execute
XCOPY32.EXE in turn. We consider this feature also quite dangerous.
That is because the behaviors of XCOPY and XCOPY32 are not identical.
For example, the treatments of a pathspec with wildcard characters
in the DOS and Win32 environments are significantly different.
Therefore, any large scale batch file invocation should distinguish
the usage of XCOPY and XCOPY32 to be safe.
Due to the consideration, we feel the danger of having unintended
copy operations performed in the different machine environments
outweighs the convenience of the automatic invocation of the 32-bit
version. Therefore, XXCOPY (which is the 32-bit version) will NOT
automatically invoke the 16-bit counterpart. You must select the
appropriate version when you need the distinction. Since the
16-bit version, XXCOPY16.EXE is seldom used, we chose the scheme
where the shorter name is for the 32-bit version. Also, XXCOPY
does not have the overhead of XCOPY which always runs the two
programs (XCOPY.EXE and then XCOPY32.EXE next) unless you specify
XXCOPY32 in the first place.
XXCOPY is always in 32-bit and XXCOPY16 is always in 16-bit.
The /C switch as the default (Difference #3):
XCOPY32 added the much needed switch, "/C" which allows an
automatic continuation of the copy operations after encountering
an error condition. The C stands for to Continue.
Before Microsoft introduced Windows 95, and therefore, the new
XCOPY32.EXE utility, DATMAN-DOS users demanded a solution to
the "share-violation" problem in a backup job of NetWare server.
Even with a modest sized network, with a networked environment,
there are always a few files which are open at the time of a
server backup job. When a file which is currently opened by
a process is accessed by XCOPY, it results in the error condition
where the user had only three choices: Abort, Retry, or Fail.
None of these choices would let XCOPY continue the operation.
As a matter of fact, XXCOPY's predecessor (DCOPY.EXE) was born
to correct this problem even in the DOS-only days. The first
enhancement to the XCOPY command was the /C switch. Now, with
XCOPY32 which supplies the much needed switch, the problem was
pretty much behind us.
We had XXCOPY's /C switch exactly like the way XCOPY32's /C switch
works. When it was specified, an error condition will abort
the entire copy operations, but will continue until all the
qualified files are copied. Alas, the most frequent technical
support with the earlier versions of XXCOPY was the omission of
the /C switch. After answering many tech support Emails, we
have reached to a conclusion that Microsoft should have made
the /C switch its default mode with a provision to disable it.
For this reason, we broke our rule of adhering to XCOPY32's
behaviors exactly for better or worse. Here, we made XXCOPY's
implementation of the /C switch exact opposite of how XCOPY32
handles the case. We believe it is the best interest of the
users. As of this writing, Microsoft's 16-bit counterpart,
XCOPY does not have the /C switch.
With XXCOPY (also with XXCOPY16), the /C switch is automatically
implied as the default. You need to specify /C0 to disable this
feature and to allow XXCOPY to terminate at the first instance
of an error condition.
Other differences:
In almost all other cases, the differences between Microsoft's
XCOPY and our XXCOPY are a result of enhancements rather than
alteration of the XCOPY behaviors which already existed.
With the few notable exceptions discussed in this article, the
differences between XCOPY and XXCOPY are remarkably small.
For example, XXCOPY pays attention to the short name alias
which preserves the short name after the copy (TB#02). But,
this is a pure "improvement" rather than "changes" which does
not require much user attention for precautions.
Therefore, you need not worry much about how to use XXCOPY
if you already know XCOPY. You can pick just a few new
features when you want to learn XXCOPY. Over time, you may
come to like XXCOPY and exploit its unique features to write
your own very powerful batch script for a backup operation.
XXCOPY's major enhancements:
1. /X exclusion specifier and related switches (/EX)
2. /Bx variations in backup related switches
3. /N retains the short name exactly
4. /NS /NL renaming short name and long name based on the other
5. /D date matching with many variations
6. /Z deletes extra files in the destination
7. /ON /OA creating a log file for serious backup management
8. /SX flattening a directory tree
9. /SZ partial copy
If you have a suggestion for a new XXCOPY feature, tell us about
it. We will consider any user feedback very seriously.
Please send E-Mail to tech@datman.com for comments, suggestions,
questions, etc.
From: Kan Yabumoto tech@datman.com
To: XXCOPY user
Subject: Problems in file name aliases (8.3 names) in Win32
Date: 1999-11-27
====================================================================
Background:
When Microsoft implemented the long file name in Windows 95,
it came up with a scheme which assigns an alias (or short name in
the so-called 8.3 format) for every long name. Typically, a short
name starts with the first 6 letters in the long name followed by
a tilde and a digit, (numeric tail like XXXXXX~1.XXX), discarding
remaining characters except the three-letter extension. The short
name is synthesized by the file system driver for the volume, in
such a way that all file names become unique one another within
a given directory. The rule to assign the numeric tail is very
simple; it picks the smallest decimal value not yet claimed in the
directory.
As long as the aliases are used by legacy programs to access files,
the actual file name assigned to a file should not be very important.
But the truth is that even Windows 95 itself accesses certain files
using their short name aliases. One notable situation is when the
most primitive virtual drivers (VxD) are loaded at the beginning
of Windows 95 system start up sequence. Since the long name support
is provided by a module called IFSMgr (InstallableFileSystem Manager)
which is itself a VxD module, locating and accessing the VxD files
are all performed strictly using the short name alias. If you
examine various parts of the system registry, you will find many
8.3 name strings. In short, the system relies on the 8.3 naming
scheme in a very crucial manner.
The problem:
The problem arises when a directory contains a number of files
whose aliases share a common base part (differing only by the numeric
tails). When you copy these files to another directory, the
aliases will be assigned by the simple (first-come-first-served)
algorithm, the first such file copied to the destination directory
will have numeric tail of ~1 regardless of what was its alias
in the source directory. Therefore, the Windows operating system
does *NOT* preserve the alias after copying. We consider this a
very serious defect in the file system design. Most file copy
programs ignore this aspect in file copying. This includes
Explorer (drag-and-drop), COPY, and XCOPY.
Example:
Here, we make a simple sequence in a DOS Box to illustrate the point.
It is assumed that you have the \autoexec.bat file handy (can be any
file). Let us create a pair of files with names that would have the
same short name base for the alias.
C:\> mkdir \src
C:\> copy \autoexec.bat \src\LongNameA.bat
C:\> copy \autoexec.bat \src\LongNameB.bat
C:\> dir \src
LONGNA~1.BAT 1234 11-21-99 11:27p LongNameA.bat
LONGNA~2.BAT 1234 11-21-99 11:27p LongNameB.bat
Use the traditional method to copy the files. When you use another
method like Drag-and-Drop, you would get the same result. First,
pick the file whose short name numeric tail does not end with ~1.
C:\> mkdir \dst
C:\> copy \src\LongNameB.bat \dst
C:\> copy \src\LongNameA.bat \dst
C:\> dir \dst
LONGNA~1.BAT 1234 11-21-99 11:27p LongNameB.bat
LONGNA~2.BAT 1234 11-21-99 11:27p LongNameA.bat
Here, the first file created in the destination received the numeric
tail of ~1, even though its alias in the source was not that.
If you don't see the difference in the left hand side (the aliases),
see the long names to your right (---B and ---A are opposite).
Enter XXCOPY:
Now, try the same operation using XXCOPY in the \new directory.
C:\> mkdir \new
C:\> xxcopy \src\LongnameB.bat \new
C:\> xxcopy \src\LongnameA.bat \new
C:\> dir \new
LONGNA~2.BAT 1234 11-21-99 11:27p LongNameB.bat
LONGNA~1.BAT 1234 11-21-99 11:27p LongNameA.bat
Here, the files in the \src directory and in the \new directory
match exactly (both the long names and the aliases) albeit the
new order reflects the order of copying.
Other cases:
The above example is just one of the many problems with aliases.
For example, when you delete the file with the numeric tail of
---~1 in the source directory and copy the files; the first
files copied to the destination will be assigned with an alias
ending with ---~1. In essence, the short name alias is
systematically synthesized by Windows kernel without regard to
what the original alias in the source directory was. This kind
of discrepancies in file and directory names lead to subtle but
serious problems which are often very difficult to even diagnose.
How safe is XXCOPY?
XXCOPY performs the alias name change using only published
standard Win32 file I/O API. XXCOPY does not attempt to
manipulate the raw directory data structure of the file system.
Nor does XXCOPY perform any unorthodox techniques to implement
the alias matching feature. The operation utilizes a combination
of simple file-renaming system calls. Therefore, it is completely
safe.
On the other hand, when the destination directory already has
a file with the needed alias (i.e., a case of alias name
collision), XXCOPY does not perform such an operation which
would otherwise create an invalid directory data. Of course,
the same name for more than one file is No No in a file system.
From: Kan Yabumoto tech@datman.com
To: XXCOPY user
Subject: What is and what is not included for copy
Date: 2000-01-18
====================================================================
The problem of being "Too Powerful"...
With the huge set of command switches offered by XXCOPY, even
a serious user starts to wonder if a particular file is included
in the XXCOPY operation or not. Indeed, there are a number of
switches which sound very similar and become quite confusing
which of the switches has "precedence" over the other. Yet,
there is hardly any mention of precedence in the XXCOPY help
and documentation. This article will give you a simple rule
which resolves all such questions and gives you the confidence you
need when you use the XXCOPY in your day-to-day computing.
Combining switches:
Some XXCOPY switches suggest an inclusion of files with certain
characteristics. For example,
XXCOPY C:\mydir\ D:\newdir\ /H
It is understood by many XXCOPY users that with the /H switch,
hidden and system files (which would normally be excluded) will
be "included" in the copy operation. Let us add another switch.
XXCOPY C:\mydir\ D:\newdir\ /H /U
The /U switch is used to "update" existing files in the destination
directory. In this case (/H/U), hidden files will be included in the
operation by the /H switch, but the files which are not already
present in the destination will be excluded by the /U switch. Then,
what about the files which are hidden (to be included) but are
not present in destination (to be excluded)? The question seems to
be whether /H or /U has the precedence. Let's add some more.
XXCOPY C:\mydir\ D:\newdir\ /H /U /BI
/BI stands for "Incremental Backup" meaning that it will select
files which are different (by comparing the file date and file
size between the files of the same name in the source and the
destination). The /BI switch includes those files which exists
in the source but not in the destination. But, if you combine the
three, /H/U/BI, then the /U switch (which excludes new files to the
destination) and the /BI switch (which includes new files) seem to
contradict each other while the effect of /H seems fine.
Does the order of these switch makes the difference? The answer is
No. At least that is not the case because /U and /BI are not in a
mutually exclusive set of switches. But, clearly, these two switches
seems to have opposing effects on the files which do not exist in the
destination directory. What is the precedence? What is going on?
The golden rule:
XXCOPY's switches are all exclusionary.
Well, it has some element of over-simplification, but it is the
shortest rule that you can remember. Each XXCOPY switch excludes
certain group of files by some measure. By adding another switch,
some more files are excluded. Obviously, there are many
switches in XXCOPY which do not participate in the file selection
process. For example, the /W switch is to let XXCOPY wait for a
keyboard input before the copy action really begins. It has
nothing to do with qualifying files for inclusion or exclusion.
But, for all the command switches which determine whether a
file is to be copied or not, the above golden rule applies.
The exclusion process:
If you consider that all of XXCOPY file-selection switches are
exclusionary parameters, everything will start making sense.
And you will realize that the precedence of switches becomes a moot
point. You may need to view some of the switches from a different
angle. Here, we need some rephrasing of the nature of the switches.
XXCOPY C:\mydir\ D:\newdir\ /H
Earlier, we said /H was to include hidden/system files. Now, let
us rephrase it by saying "/H does not exclude hidden/system files".
Yes, it is still awkward. But, remember this is a case where the
default switch in the same category (/H0) did the exclusion and
you are simply negating it. Let us revisit the implied case;
XXCOPY C:\mydir\ D:\newdir\
XXCOPY C:\mydir\ D:\newdir\ /H0
These two lines produce exactly the same result. Since it is a
default, most XXCOPY users do not add such a switch. These lines
should read that "the /H0 switch excludes hidden/system files from
the copy operation".
Once more,
XXCOPY C:\mydir\ D:\newdir\ /H
We now know that the /H switch simply negates the default exclusion.
The wording, "/H does not exclude hidden/system files" sounds OK, now.
XXCOPY C:\mydir\ D:\newdir\ /H /U
Adding the /U switch, it becomes "/H does not exclude hidden/system
files" but "/U excludes files that are not present in the destination
directory". Here, the exclusion rule of /U goes by the face value.
XXCOPY C:\mydir\ D:\newdir\ /H /U /BI
Again, we have the /BI (incremental backup) switch which reads as
"/BI excludes files that exist in destination with identical time
and size". This does not contradict with the /U switch which
"excludes files that are not present in the destination". All of
the excluded files will be excluded. That's simple.
Exclusion by the name:
Of course, by far, the most obvious exclusion parameter must by the
filename itself. The directory name is also a convenient way to
say what to exclude. The /X switch gives you a whole new way
of excluding files and directories. As a matter of fact, this is
probably the most important way to exclude group of files and
directories. Therefore, the /X switch deserves its own treatment
in a separate article, XXTB #05.
The important thing is the /X switch adds yet another way of
specifying a group of files and directories to exclude. It is
indeed a very natural way of excluding a group of files. Now, to
come to think of it, how come, most other copy utilities do not
have this option?
Conclusion:
In essence, each command switch has its own way of specifying the
files to exclude. Each and every switch adds more exclusions.
Determining whether a file is excluded from the copy operation is
now easy. Once a file is excluded by a switch, it is out and gone.
Therefore, the more switches you add, the more files you are going
to exclude from the copy operation.
To further assist the user in constructing the right combination
of the command switches, XXCOPY now has a set of useful switches
which list pertinent command parameters.
/OP outputs parameter list (in exclusionary wording)
/OX outputs exclusion list (after optimization)
/DEBUG displays source and destination and prompts before continue
/DEBUGX displays source and destination and terminates
/W waits for user keyboard input after /OP and /OX switch
Many users find the output text generated by the /OP switch more
understandable than any other documentation of XXCOPY. So, if you
have any doubt on the effect of switches, just add "/OP | MORE"
at the end of the command line.
Or, if you have not seen it before, try the following:
XXCOPY . /OP | MORE (it results in error but shows you the switches)
From: Kan Yabumoto tech@datman.com
To: XXCOPY user
Subject: The Exclusion specifier
Date: 2000-01-18
====================================================================
Much of the mostly hidden power of XXCOPY lies in the exclusion
mechanism. We identified the /X switch to be one of the most
important enhancements we made in the XXCOPY. Because it is a
complex scheme with many implied rules, one cannot effectively
use the full potential of the exclusion feature without a detailed
explanation of the full scope of the syntax as well as the way
the exclusion scheme is implemented. This article will discuss
all the rules applied to the exclusion feature.
XXCOPY Exclusion switch syntax
/X<xspec> excludes the file or directory items given by
<xspec> which is an exclusion specifier.
If the specifier contains an embedded space,
the specifier must be surrounded by a pair
of double-quotes (").
/EX<xfile> specifies a text file whose name is <xfile>
which contains a list of <xspec> separated by space.
/ZX ignores the environment variable, "XXCOPYX".
XXCOPYX The environment variable XXCOPYX specifies a
(env var) list of <xspec> which are separated by a space.
XXCOPY The environment variable XXCOPY specifies a
(env var) list of XXCOPY switches which may be /X<xspec>.
Note that the difference between the two environment variables,
XXCOPY and XXCOPYX are that every item in the XXCOPY values
must be prefixed with a slash (/) followed by any XXCOPY switch
whereas XXCOPYX values is strictly for an exclusion specifier list
which does not use the /X prefix which is implied.
You may specify as many exclusion specifiers as you like.
Some examples of the /X switches
/Xc:\mydir\myfile.txt ; specifies just a single file
/X*.tmp ; all files that end with ".tmp"
/Xabc* ; all files that start with "abc"
/Xmydir\ ; the entire directory, "mydir" in the source
/Xmydir\*\* ; same as /Xmydir\ which is a shortcut
/Xmydir\*\*.tmp ; inside mydir, all files matching "*.tmp"
/Xmy*xyz\*\abc*.c ; inside mydir, all files matching "abc*.c"
Here, you may see the glimpse of the powerful syntax in the exclusion
specifier. The first example seems the most straight forward. The
fourth example which ends with a backslash is a shorthand of for the
common case of excluding a directory (it abbreviates "*\*" which follows).
Therefore, all of the above examples except the first one contain
or imply at least one wildcard specifier. The last example includes
one asterisks in each of the three parts.
Don't worry about the complexity yet. At least the first example shows
a case which you can use it immediately without any further reading.
Yes, if you have energy to list all of the files you want to exclude,
you may painstakingly list all of such files by giving the full
file specification of each file. Since you will soon run out of the
command line space, you will probably want to set up a text file using
the /EX switch.
E.g., /EXmyexcl.lst
and myexcl.lst contains the following specifiers:
:: this is a comment line
c:\win386.swp :: comment may start like this
c:\autoexec.bat myfile.tmp :: one line may have multiple items
"c:\program files" :: use quotes (") for embedded space
mydir\myfile.txt :: pathspec relative to the source dir
yourdir\ :: entire yourdir\*\*
Syntax rule for the Exclusion List File.
An "Exclusion List File" specified in the /EX switch is a plain
text file which contains a list of exclusion specifiers.
You may list as many exclusion specifiers in one line.
Exclusion specifiers are separated by one or more blank, tab,
and/or newline character. An exclusion specifier cannot be
broken into two or more lines. When a space character is
embedded, the exclusion specifier must be sourrounded by a
pair of double-quotes ("). A line may contain a comment field
which will be ignored by XXCOPY. A comment field starts with
two consecutive colons (::) and ends at the end of the line.
We suggest the use of a line for each exclusion specifier which
is followed by a comment.
Definition of the exclusion specifier.
Up to now, the exact meaning of the exclusion specifier has not
been defined. Now, we are going to analyze the syntax and its
meaning to its death.
The exclusion specifier has up to three parts.
[ dir_spec\ ] [ *\ ] [ template ]
Although any of the three parts can be omitted, you must not skip
both dir_spec and template at the same time.
Directory specifier ( dir_spec )
The dir_spec part specifies the base directory of the exclusion.
It is always followed by a backslash (\) character.
The directory can be specified in an absolute path (starting with
the root directory), or a relative path (without a leading
backslash) which is treated as relative to the source directory
(not the "current" directory).
The base directory may contain a wildcard specification in its
last part. For example
/Xc:\mydir\level1\abc*\*\template
/Xc:\mydir\level1\a*bc*.?oc\*\template
In both of the examples here, the last part of the directory
specifier (after \level1\) has asterisk(s) in it. The second
example goes one step farther by allowing multiple asterisks
and even a question mark which is another wildcard for a single
letter.
The middle part (*\)
It denotes that the exclusion specification will be applied
not only to the dir_spec directory, but also all of the
subdirectories underneath. It is equivalent of the familiar
/S switch which is applied to modify the source specifier
meaning that the XXCOPY action will include all subdirectories.
Since we do not have a luxury of a separate /S switch on each
exclusion items, we invented this notation which figuratively
suggests the fact that the directory starts with dir_spec,
ends with the template and anything in between is accepted by
the asterisk.
The following two examples highlight the effect of the middle part.
/Xmydir\myfile.* ; myfile in mydir\ only
/Xmydir\*\myfile.*c ; myfile in every directories under mydir\
Template specifier ( template )
The last part of the exclusion specifier is the template which
matches the actual filename part (as opposed to the path
specifier in the other parts). Here, the template denotes
a pattern of filename which may be applied to the filename
part which may actually occur in the source. You may use wildcard
specifier for template, with any number of asterisk(*) and/or
question mark(?).
Note: earlier versions of XXCOPY had more restrictive rules in
the usage of wildcard for template, but the restrictions are
now gone.
Common shortcut exclusion specifier notation.
1. template is interpreted as *\template
When a template alone (without any backslash) is specified,
it will be interpreted as a file pattern template which will
be applied in all the subdirectories under the source directory.
In order to specify a single layer pattern template, you should
use the following notation.
/X.\template ; the dot denotes the current directory
; relative to the source directory
2. dir_spec\ is interpreted as dir_spec\*\*
As another very common case of exclusion where the entire
directory, dir_spec will be excluded which is specified more
precisely as
/Xdirspec\*\*
Note that the following two are distinct:
/Xdir_spec\* ; one layer only (subdirectories not excluded)
/Xdir_spec\*\* ; the entire dir_sepc directory is excluded
The five classes of exclusion specifiers.
The exclusion specifier may be classified into the following five
classes.
Class A *\template ; applies to all subdirectories
Class B dir_spec\*\* ; the entire directory
Class C dir_spec\*\template ; template in all subdirectories
Class D dir_spec\* ; any file in a single layer dir
Class E dir_spec\template ; template in a single layer dir
The optimization of exclusion matching.
In a very large scale backup operation, an XXCOPY job may encompass
an entire volume as the source directory (such as c:\*). To make
the matters worse, the more files the source directory contains,
the more the need for the exclusion specifiers grows. Therefore,
it is entirely possible that the entire C: drive may contain
70,000 files and the total number of exclusion items the user specify
in the exclusion list file with the /EX switch may contain literally
hundreds of various exclusion specifiers. If we were to test every
file against this very large number of exclusion list, the combination
will easily reach tens of millions which would slow down the entire
backup process. Therefore, XXCOPY performs preprocessing steps
to analyze the set of exclusion specifiers. First by classifying
them into the five classes, some redundant exclusion specifiers can
be removed. For example, if a dir_spec is specified in Class B,
any subdirectories of the same directory in Classes C, D, or E
regardless of the template will be automatically excluded because
the same directory in Class B spec overshadow any subset of the
directory. Moreover, in the actual XXCOPY implementation, the
the active file pattern matching templates is computed to each
subdirectory to reduce the number of file name matching to
significantly reduced number of combinations.
Debug feature
Because of the complexities of the exclusion parameters when the
number of exclusion specifiers become substantially large, you may
analyze the list of exclusion parameters immediately after the
initial exclusion parameter optimization steps are completed by the
following two debug switches:
/DEBUG ; displays the parameters and prompt for continuation
/DEBUGX ; displays the parameters and exit XXCOPY.
/OX ; outputs the exclusion parameters in the log file
/OP ; outputs the regular parameters in the log file.
Automatically excluded files.
Since the few output files (e.g., the error log files) which are
generated by the XXCOPY program itself could not be successfully
included in the current copying job if any of them happens to be
in the source directory (or its subdirectories), those files will
be always excluded implicitly.
From: Kan Yabumoto tech@datman.com
To: XXCOPY user
Subject: File Attributes: what are they and how to use them.
Date: 2000-01-17
====================================================================
Since XXCOPY has features which interact with the file attributes,
a discussion of XXCOPY cannot be complete without touching the basics
of the file attributes. This article presents the fundamentals of
the file attributes and how XXCOPY manipulates them. In addition,
some common techniques with the file attributes are discussed.
What is the file attributes?
The operating systems (DOS, Win95/98, WinNT/2000) maintain certain
properties associated with every file and directories in addition to
the file contents (data inside the file). Such properties include
file size in bytes
file date/time (creation time, last-modify time, last-access time)
file attributes
archive bit (shows that the file has not been archived yet)
read-only bit (write-protect the file)
directory bit (distinguishes a directory from a file)
hidden bit (hides from an ordinary directory listing)
system bit (denotes a system file whatever that means)
These properties are mostly maintained by various components of
the operating system and they are handled automatically. So,
the users may not be concerned with them. However, manipulating
some of the properties are not very difficult and it can even be
quite useful at times. This article shows some common techniques
associated with the file attributes.
The file size is always determined by the actual size of the file
and the only way to change it is to increase by appending more
bytes to the existing file, or to decrease by overwriting with a
shorter file. The file date/time can be more easily changed.
Since changing any of the three date/time values is supported by
Win32 file I/O API, one can write a program to change them. In fact,
there are many utility programs available to do so. Here, we will
discuss the file attributes with greater details.
What is the file attributes?
Although one can say the file size and the file date/time are file
attributes (i.e., any properties associated with a file other than
the file contents), with the more narrow definition and popular
usage, the file attributes are collection of flags stored as a bit
mapped 32-bit quantity which describes various aspects of the file.
The original MS-DOS file attributes had only 8 bits in the file
attributes, the Win32 file attributes are stored as a 32-bit quantity.
Although the exact bit positions of the file attributes are not
officially guaranteed to remain the same by Microsoft, they will
probably never be changed.
Bit 0 Read-Only
Bit 1 Hidden
Bit 2 System
Bit 3 Volume Label
Bit 4 Directory
Bit 5 Archive
Bit 3 (Volume Label) was used in MS-DOS to store the volume label
just like an ordinary file in the directory. Bit 4 (Directory)
distinguish a file from a directory. These two bits cannot be
modified easily. But, the remaining four bits (bit 0, 1, 2, and 5)
can be examined and/or modified by the ATTRIB.EXE utility which is
supplied by DOS/Windows.
The Read-Only attribute.
This bit is useful to make a file write-protected by software.
For example, by setting the \AUTOEXEC.BAT file Read-only, you may
protect the file from accidental deletion. Or you may set a
few files with the Read-only attributes and delete all the files
using a "DEL *" (Delete all) command, the read only files will
not be deleted under normal circumstances. Certain files in the
Win95/98 system are kept as Read-only by default (e.g., the system
registry files).
Before you can delete or overwrite a Read-only file, you must
remove the Read-only file attribute bit.
XXCOPY can force overwriting of a Read-only file by the /R switch.
The Hidden and System attribute.
The purpose of the Hidden attribute bit is to make the file
invisible in certain applications' file list display. Since many
file applications has the feature to ignore the Hidden attribute
bit, the file with the Hidden attribute bit is not always invisible.
The System attribute bit is probably the least rigorously
defined in its usage. From the early days of MS-DOS, the System
attribute bit has been used in inconsistent manners that the bit
seldom has much meaning. The DIR command treat the System
attribute similarly to the Hidden bit for directory listing.
But, the COPY command does not care whether a file has the System
attribute or not for copying it (Interestingly the DIR and COPY
commands are both "built-in" commands which is implemented within
the COMMAND.COM program).
In most Win95/98 systems, you will find about twenty files in the
root directory which are marked both Hidden and System. These two
attributes are often go hand in hand. But, the choice seems
quite arbitrary.
While the usage of the Hidden and the System attribute bits are
not well defined, the presence (or absence) of these attribute
bits seldom change the actions of most system utilities except for
the DIR and COPY commands, in most case, removing the Hidden and
System attributes on most files do not cause any harm (except
maybe some layer of protection from accidental erasure).
XXCOPY by default (/H0) ignores a file with either Hidden or System
attribute. With the /H switch, you may include files with the
Hidden or the System attributes in XXCOPY's copy action.
The Archive attribute.
The Archive attribute was first introduced by MS-DOS version 2.0
when the XCOPY utility was also created. Therefore, the Archive
attribute is probably best explained by how XCOPY handles the
Archive attribute. The purpose of the Archive attribute was clearly
to quickly determine whether a file requires a back up (archiving).
The Archive attribute is set whenever an existing file is either
overwritten or modified (i.e., renamed or moved to another directory)
by the file system. A new file is usually created with the Archive
attribute set. The idea is to have a utility or application program
to take the responsibility of clearing the Archive bit when a
file is successfully backed up. The next system backup operation
will be made much more efficient by focusing only on the files with
Archive attribute which are either newly created or modified in any
way since all the Archive attributes are cleared the last time.
As the XCOPY the "officially" designated system archive utility in
MS-DOS with the feature to check and to clear the Archive attribute,
the Archive attribute had its usefulness. XCOPY (and also XXCOPY)
has the /A and /M switches which both performs a copy operation
only on files with the Archive attribute set. But, the /M switch
is the one which clears the Archive attribute after a successful
copy is made.
However, there are many backup and archive utilities that are
capable of clearing the Archive attribute. Then the question becomes
which utility or application program is responsible in clearing the
archive bit. Since there is no mechanism in any of the operating
systems to ensure that only one such utility is designated to handle
the Archive bit. If two or more backup schemes are used at the
same time, they will compete one another and none of them would
save a complete set of backup files.
Because of possible interference with other applications which might
clear the Archive attribute, we consider that the incremental backup
scheme based upon the Archive attribute too risky to depend upon.
Therefore, we do not recommend the use of the /M switch to perform
any system backup operation. Instead, XXCOPY's /BI switch performs
similar function with more confidence by comparing the files in the
source and the destination with regard to the file size AND file
date/time. If either of the two does not match (or the file does
not exist in the destination), the file will be copied. This method
is nearly as efficient as looking at the Archive bit.
Other usage of the Archive attribute.
Once you give up the use of the Archive attribute for your
incremental backup regime, the Archive attribute becomes even more
useful for temporary usage. We will show you two such uses.
1. You can determine which file(s) an application makes file
changes (creation and modification) in a directory. First,
clear the Archive attribute of all the files in the given
directory and run the application. Then, check to see which
files are marked by the Archive attribute.
2. When you need to copy a directory on a set of diskettes, you
can first set all the files with Archive attribute set first.
Then, run multiple runs of XCOPY /M (or XXCOPY /M). The
copy will terminate as soon as the diskette becomes full, but
the files which has already been copied are cleared of the
Archive attribute and therefore will not be selected in the
subsequent runs of XCOPY.
List of XXCOPY's file attributes related switches.
Archive bit
/A0 Ignores the Archive bit (default)
/A Excludes files without Archive bit set
/AC Ignores the Archive bit (always clears Archive bit)
/M Excludes files without Archive bit set (clears Archive bit)
Hidden and System bit
/H0 Excludes files with Hidden or System Attributes bits (default)
/H Ignores the Hidden or System Attributes bits
Destination Read Only bit
/R0 Excludes a file when it exists in dst as read-only (default)
/R Overwrites a read-only file if necessary
Destination file attributes
/K0 Keeps the source attributes except the Rdonly bit (default)
/KS Keeps the source attributes including the Rdonly bit
/KD Keeps the attributes of destination (overwritten) file
/KN Sets the destination attributes to norma (only /A)
============================================================================== XXCOPY is compatible with Windows95, Windows98, WindowsNT, and Windows2000. XXCOPY16 is compatible with practically all versions of MS-DOS, and non- Microsoft DOS variations such as DR-DOS. XXCOPY16 can also be executed in a DOS Box of Win95. ==============================================================================