NAME

weex - fast WEb EXchanger non-interactive FTP client

SYNOPSIS

weex [ Options ] HOSTID [HOSTID...]

DESCRIPTION

weex is a utility designed to automate the task of remotely maintaining a web page or other FTP archive. With weex the maintainer of a web site or archive that must be administered through FTP interaction can largely ignore that process. The archive administrator simply creates a local directory that serves as an exact model for the offsite data. All modifications and direct interaction is done locally to this directory structure. When the administrator wishes to coordinate the data on the remote site with that of the local model directory, simply executing weex accomplishes this in the most bandwidth-efficient fashion by only transferring files that need updating. The program will create or remove (!) files or directories as necessary to accurately establish the local model on the remote server.

The mandatory HOSTID argument is the user-defined name that represents a particular FTP account or configuration specified in the ~/.weexrc file. This file, the contents of which are described below, can alternatively be named ~/.weex/weexrc. Multiple HOSTID arguments to a single weex command are supported to affect multiple archives or configurations in immediate succession. In addition, the actual HOSTID can be substituted with the number representing its relative sequential position in the ~/.weexrc file (the first HOSTID definition is 1, and so on).

OPTIONS

Options at the command line take precedence over any specified in the configuration file.
-f, --force
If the caching mechanism is inhibiting the uploading of files that should be transferred, this option will force the actual transfer to always occur.
-h, --help
Outputs a usage summary to stdout. based on the operation being performed. This option suppresses that.
-s, --silent
The default mode outputs a helpful status message for each action taken, including file transfer progress meters. This mode suppresses output.
-V, --version
Prints the version of the weex program.

CONFIGURATION FILE

Because this program is meant to be non-interactive, a properly set up configuration file is essential. weex looks for this file either in ~/.weexrc or ~/.weex/weexrc.

The general format of the configuration file is a bracketed section heading followed by parameters that define that section's configuration. This section name is what is provided to weex at run time to indicate the FTP arrangement you wish to update. A parameter is only valid for the most recent section heading that preceeded it. The exception to this is the [default] section which creates settings for unspecified parameters in every section. In the case of parameters that accept multiple values, the default section augments any specifically designated values.

Lines that begin with the "#" character are safely ignored as comments. Neither section names nor parameter variables are case sensitive in any way. Section names can not begin with numbers. Some parameters can be assigned multiple values. Where this is not possible, the last value is used. To quote special characters, use single quotes (') or double quotes ("). To quote a particular quote symbol, use the other quote. The general syntax format for the configuration file is: 

[hostid1]
        Parameter1 = Value
        # Frist method for multiple values
        Parameter2 = Value
        Parameter2 = Value
        ...
[hostid2]
        Parameter1 = Value
        # Second method for multiple values
        Parameter2 = {
         }
        ...
[default]
        Parameter = Value
        ...

PARAMETER LIST

These parameters are used to define the properties of a particular host configuration named in brackets. When specifying directory names, the trailing "/" is optional. Also, both files and directories can be specified with either shell wildcards or POSIX extended regular expressions. When specifying binary states, you may use any of the following: True/False, Yes/No, T/F, 1/0. None are case sensitive.
AsciiFile
Filename patterns that will be transferred using ASCII mode. The default mode for files not specified in this way is IMAGE(BINARY) mode.
ChangePermission
The access permissions of the files in the directories specified with ChangePermissionDir are changed to this parameter. The format is a three digit octal number.
ChangePermissionDir
Files in directories assigned to this parameter will have their access permissions changed after sending.
ConvToLower
If set to true, the filenames are converted to lower case before sending. This feature allows interaction with FTP servers that do not support case sensitive filenames. If a naming conflict arises due to a lower case name already existing, an error occurs. Furthermore, the cache is totally unaware of original uppercase filenames.
DestDir
Destination directory on the remote FTP server where the mirrored information will be sent. This setting corresponds to the "pwd" command on tradi- tional FTP clients.
Force
If the caching mechanism is inhibiting the uploading of files that should be transferred, this option will force the actual transfer to always occur if set to true.
HostName
Hostname to connect to. The "ftp://" protocol specifier is implied and shouldn't be used. An IP address is also valid and may save lookup time.
IgnoreLocalDir
This parameter contains one or more protected local directories that are completely ignored during the transfer process. This is useful if you want to have subdirectories that are part of a project but don't need to be in the final, online version (i.e., old versions).
IgnoreLocalFile
This parameter contains one or more protected local file specifiers that will be completely ignored during the transfer process. If a file or file pattern is given without a path, it is assumed to be protected when encountered in any directory. An explicitly specified path/file combination only protects files in that directory.
IgnoreRemoteDir
This parameter contains one or more protected remote directories that are completely ignored during the transfer process. This is useful if you want to have other material on the remote FTP site that is not related to the specific project that weex is dealing with. This could include, for example , data administered through a different FTP client or process.
IgnoreRemoteFile
This parameter contains one or more protected remote file specifiers that will be completely ignored during the transfer process. If a file or file pattern is given without a path, it is assumed to be protected when encountered in any directory. An explicitly specified path/file combination only protects files in that directory.
Monochrome
The default mode generates a helpful color coding based on the operation being performed. A true setting suppresses that.
NestSpaces
An integer that controls the indent spacing of the output. The default is 4.
OverwriteImpossible
If the FTP server has trouble overwriting files, set this parameter to true.
Password
Plaintext password granting access to the account. Note that this file uses no special facilities to safeguard passwords. Make sure that the file permissions of a configuration file containing passwords are set conservatively. If they are not, a warning will be issued at execution.
Silent
The default mode outputs a helpful status message for each action taken, including file transfer progress meters. A true setting suppresses output.
SrcDir
Top of the source directory tree containing the local copy of the information to be mirrored. This setting corresponds to the "lcd" command on traditional FTP clients.

EXAMPLES

Here is an example of what a typical .weexrc file might look like: 
#-=-=-=-=-=Sample Configuration file=-=-=-=-=-
# My favorite FTP account...
[Ninja]
HostName = ftp.ninja-rights.org
LoginName = chrisxed
Password = '"mYsEcReT!"'
SrcDir = /home/chrisxed/project/weex
DestDir = /
ASCIIfile = *.c
IgnoreLocalFile = notes2myself.txt
IgnoreRemoteDir = /offsitearchive/

# Another FTP account...
[Veggie]
HostName = ftp.vegetable-advocacy.com
LoginNAME = waxedbean
Password = "X'sBean"
SrcDir = /home/chrisxed/project/legumes
DestDir = /souppot/

# Global configuration settings
[default]
AsciiFile = {
*.htm
*.html
*.txt
*.asc
}
IgnoreLocalFile = {
.bak
.tmp
.swp
}
With a configuration like this, executing:
$ weex Ninja
would cause the file system assigned to SrcDir to be completely mirrored on the remote server. Executing:
$ weex ninja veggie
would cause the FTP update to occur for the "Ninja" configuration and then for the "Veggie" configuration. This could also be specified like this:
$ weex 1 2

NOTES

Timestamp Cache Facility

weex implements a cache of file timestamps. This makes updating much faster when you have a lot of files. If, however, you administer the remote files with another FTP client, the cache file will (most likely) not be correct. The simple solution to this problem is to remove the cache file completely, forcing weex to formulate a new, correct one the next time it runs. This cache file is located in ~/.weex/weex.cache.HOSTID.

Tested Operating Systems

Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 Red Hat Linux 5.1

AUTHOR

This very handy program was written by:
Yuuki NINOMIYA <gm@smn.enjoy.ne.jp>
The original man page was written by:
Chris X Edwards <chrisxed@usa.net>

The copyright of this software and documentation belongs to Yuuki NINOMIYA. It is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any later version. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the GPL.

This software uses shhopt for parsing command line options. Shhopt is released under the Artistic License. You may use it separately under the Artistic License.

YN-cxe ~ 1999.11.02