John Fitzsimons said:
On 27 Mar 2004 01:47:41 -0800, (e-mail address removed) (Kan Yabumoto) wrote:
So do I. Perhaps you could consider a new program called
"ftp xxcopy" ?
With a command line like ;
xxcopy \\
http://www.xxcopy.com\resource\Windows\ c:\backup\ /clone
NO. XXCOPY will never be designed to be like that. Remember,
we try to keep XXCOPY's focus on file I/O. Not an Internet browser
(that's a big job and even if it were small, it's outside the
scope of XXCOPY). XXCOPY does not even know how to access the USB-disk.
You have to make the system transform the USB-disk to behave like
an ordinary disk (which the XP environment does and we all
enjoy the convenience --- contrast this to the fact the native
DOS does not and as a consequence, XXCOPY16 has no way of accessing an
external USB-disk unless the DOS environment recognizes it). XXCOPY
does not know how to directly access CD-ROM. But, thanks to the
MSCDEX (remember this on DOS 5 and newer) and Win9X/NT system which
provides the built-in CDFS (to transform a CD-ROM volume as
a read-only file system). Still, XXCOPY cannot write to CD-RW
but if you install a packet-writing tool which makes a CD-RW volume
behave like a hard disk, you can do it. It is best that XXCOPY
remain device-independent.
Even though we keep adding features into XXCOPY like a fiend, we draw
a clear line based on a widely accepted concept: "division of labor".
So do I. Perhaps you could consider a new program called
"ftp xxcopy" ?
There is a big market out there. Someone (not me) should write a
program that creates a file system which transforms an FTP server
to a virtual disk volume (I thought I've seen such a program once
but I can't locate it). It should be a general purpose file system
so that not only XXCOPY but all other programs can take advantage
of it (It would be much easier to put such a functionality within
XXCOPY. But again, that's against XXCOPY's design philosophy ---
such a feature belongs to the more universal level).
xxcopy \\66.246.77.100\resource\Windows\ c:\backup\ /clone
One can "map" a folder to a disk name like H:\ but apparently
not an IP address.
XXCOPY supports the above feature (that you access remote computer
using the raw IP address). As a matter of fact, I always suggests
not to use the drive letter mapping (by using the NET USE command).
As far as I'm concerned, this technique is a NetWare legacy and
the drive-letter mapping will add one (unnecessary) layer in
accessing the remote volume (still, a useful technique with
legacy programs which cannot deal with LFN nor \\server-name\
syntax). If the above does not work, then, the environment where
XXCOPY is run is to blame. This is why I'm saying the access
features should be provided in the system level rather than inside
each application.
Just try on your local area network with the following command:
xxcopy \\192.168.1.1\c\windows\ c:\backup\test\ /backup
This is as good as
xxcopy \\server_name\c\windows\ c:\backup\test\ /backup
The above two are equivalent --- one with raw IP address, and
the other with the symbolic name. It's already supported by
XXCOPY without any extra layer of tools.
As I always say, if you can do DIR command like
DIR \\192.168.1.1\c
then, you should always be able to run
XXCOPY \\192.168.1.1\c /L
It is the system's responsibility to arrange the file/directory
access by application programs such as XXCOPY.
Rather a pity. :-( If it could be done then the above
would be easy.
As far as I'm concerned, it is a pity that many XXCOPY users
do not know XXCOPY already accepts an raw IP address as a valid
way to specify source/destination volume. It's the system who
should provides access path and for LAN, it's already there.
(For computers connected by WAN (Internet), VPN setup is needed.)
I know the payware xxcopy apparently does (internal) network
connections but I was pretty sure it wouldn't do the above.
Please post after you make a quick test. So, non-user won't
get wrong impression. The distinction between the Freeware
and the XXCOPY-Pro is not the feature distinction.
http://www.xxcopy.com/xxcopy34.htm
Rather, XXCOPY freeware also supports the same features.
The freeware sometimes reminds the user what the limit of the
Freeware is in unattended operation (for those who do not read
the XXTB #34 article
Kan Yabumoto
